COUNTRY

Written Agreements

Lithuania's Labour Code makes it mandatory to conclude employment contracts in writing and duplicate copies. Employment contracts must contain the following information:

• Necessary terms including job function, remuneration, extra pay, allowances, bonuses or other additional payments, and place of work
• Additional terms including monthly salary, working hours, bonuses, probationary period, conflict resolution, and other details.

An employment contract is considered to have been concluded when the parties agree on the necessary terms.

Oral Agreements

Lithuania's Labour Code mandates the use of written employment contracts. There are no provisions regarding the use of oral agreements in labor law.

Implied Agreements

Lithuania's Labour Code mandates the use of written employment contracts. There are no provisions regarding implied agreements in labor law.

An employee's working hours are fixed under their employment contract. Usually, working hours total 40 hours per week. An employee's average working hours can be 48 hours a week maximum. Working time, including overtime and work done according to an agreement on additional work, may not exceed 12 hours per workday/shift and 60 hours over 7 days. The working time of employees working the night shift cannot exceed 8 hours per shift.

Working remotely is done at the employee's request or through mutual agreement between employee and employer. An employee's refusal to work remotely is not a legal reason to terminate the employment contract or change the working conditions.

The employer is responsible for proving that remote work is incongruent with production or the type of work the organization performs and would result in excessive costs.

New Year’s Day (January 1), Day of restoration of the state of Lithuania (February 16), Day of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence (March 11), Christian Easter (date may vary), International Labor Day (May 1), Mother’s Day (date may vary), Father’s Day (date may vary), Day of Death and Jonah (June 24), Day of the State (July 6), Herbaceous (August 15), All Saints Day (November 1), Christmas Eve (December 24), Christmas Day (December 25 and 26).

Lithuania's Labour Code provides employees working 5 days a week an annual leave of 20 working days and employees working 6 days a week an annual leave of 24 working days. Annual leave must be granted at least once per year. For the first year of work, employees are entitled to full leave after working for at least half of the number of working days in the year. During annual leave, employees are paid their average remuneration.

A part of the annual leave can be transferred to the next year at the employee's request, provided they have taken an annual leave of at least 10 days in the current year. This leave is to be used within 3 years of the entitlement.

Sickness benefits are covered under the Law on Sickness and Maternity Social Insurance for insured employees who have paid contributions for at least 3 months in the last 6 months. If an employee becomes sick and is temporarily unable to work, the employer pays the first 2 days of sickness at 80-100% of the employee's average salary. From the third day, sickness benefits are paid by the State Social Insurance Fund at 80% of the employee's average salary for a maximum of 90 days in a calendar year.

Sickness benefits are also paid at the rate of 85% of the employee's average salary for up to 7 days to employees taking care of a sick family member, or for up to 14 days to employees taking care of a sick child under 14 years of age.

Lithuania's labor law mandates maternity leave of 70 days before and 56 days after the delivery. In case of delivery complications or multiple births, the leave is extended to 70 days after childbirth. If the employee does not take maternity leave, the employer must give 14 days immediately after birth, regardless of whether the employee requests it.

The State Social Insurance Fund pays maternity benefits. To be eligible for the benefit, the employee must have a record of social security payments for at least 12 of the previous 24 months under the sickness and maternity social insurance scheme. Maternity benefit is paid for 70 calendar days before the child's birth up until 56 days after the birth. In the event of birth complications or multiple births, an allowance is paid for an extra 14 calendar days. Maternity benefit is equal to 77.58% of the compensated recipient’s wage. The minimal maternity benefit is EUR 440 per month. The maternity benefit is paid once for the 126 calendar days (except in specific cases).

In Lithuania, the father of a newborn is entitled to an uninterrupted period of 30 days-long paternity leave. Men can go on such leave anytime until the baby turns 3 months (or 6 months of birth in case of complications or multiple births). The benefits are paid if the father has a record of social security payments for at least 12 of the previous 24 months until the first day of the paternity leave.

Paternity benefits are paid to the father until a child is 1 month old. The paternity benefit equals 77.58% of the compensated recipient’s wage. The paternity benefit can be no less than EUR 440 (Euros). If a father receives any additional income during the paternity leave, they will receive the difference between the paternity allowance and your income.

Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum monthly wage is EUR 1,038 (Euros).

No employee can be paid less than the minimum wage. Collective agreements may establish minimum hourly rates and minimum monthly salaries higher than the government's.

Employees are to be paid twice a month unless they request to be paid once a month, but no later than 10 working days after the end of the month. Employers must pay employees all employment payments upon contract termination or within 10 days if the employee accepts it. The employer is fined if they are late in paying the employee.

Overtime, Holiday & Vacation Pay

Lithuania's labor law provides that any overtime performed by the employee is to be compensated with a salary of at least 1.5 times the employee's regular salary. Employees working on their days off are entitled to twice their remuneration. Overtime at night is to be compensated with twice the normal remuneration. For overtime work on a holiday, employees must be paid at least 2.5 times their usual wages. At the employee's request, overtime hours multiplied by their corresponding premium rates can be added to their annual leave time. During annual leave, employees are paid their normal wages.

Notice Period

Notice period requirements vary as follows:

• No notice period is required when the contract is terminated due to disciplinary issues.
• A notice period of 1 month is generally required when an employee who has served the employer for more than 1 year is dismissed due to no fault of their own, such as when there are organizational changes or work changes.
• No notice period is required when the contract is terminated due to reasons beyond the employee and employer's control.
• An employee can terminate their employment contract by giving a notice of at least 5 days in case of a valid reason and 20 days in case of no valid reason.

Severance Benefits

Per Lithuanian labor law, employees are eligible for severance pay from their employer as follows:

• If an employee resigns due to their employer's fault (salary not paid on time for 2 or more consecutive months, or the employee being idle for more than 45 days) or because of illness, disability, or to take care of a family member, the severance pay is 2 times the employee's average monthly remuneration, provided the employee had worked for more than a year. Employees who have worked for less than a year are eligible to receive 1 month's salary as severance.
• Employers are also allowed to terminate employment contracts at will by giving a notice period of 3 days to their employees and a severance pay equal to 6 times their monthly remuneration.
• Fixed-term employees who have worked for more than 2 years with the same employer are entitled to severance pay in the amount of 1 month's remuneration upon their contract's termination.
• Employees whose contract is terminated during probation are not entitled to severance benefits. Employees terminated for gross violation of their duties are also not entitled to receive severance benefits.

Pension

The retirement age in Lithuania is 64 years and 8 months for females and 64 years and 10 months for males, increasing to 65 years for both men and women by 2026. A person becomes eligible for an old-age pension when they reach retirement age and have at least 15 years of insurance record for state social pension and an obligatory 34 years of work experience, gradually increasing to 35 years by 2027.

The pension consists of a basic pension and a supplementary part. The basic portion of the pension equals 110% of the state social insurance basic pension (EUR 65 (Euros) per month), provided the person has completed 32 years of work experience with an insurance record.

The funds for this pension are sourced from contributions by employees and employers.

Dependents/Survivors Benefits

The spouse (must be of retirement age or declared incapable of work), children, and adopted children of a deceased person are eligible for the survivors pension. The deceased employee must have acquired the right to receive the state social insurance work incapacity pension or old-age pension or had at least 15 years of insurance coverage. The widow or widower is entitled to the basic amount of the state social insurance survivor’s pension approved by the government on the Ministry of Social Security and Labor's recommendation. This amount cannot be less than EUR 42.29. For the deceased’s children under 18 years of age or disabled children, the pension varies depending on their situation.

The funds for this pension are sourced from contributions by employees and employers.

Invalidity Benefits

In Lithuania, persons who are assessed as incapacitated or partially able to work (with at least 45% incapacity for work) are eligible for an incapacity pension. The minimum number of contributions required for the pension varies from one year to 35 years, depending on the employee's age.

The incapacity pension is calculated as the sum of a basic work incapacity pension, its supplementary portion, and a bonus for the service's length. Pension recipients who have lost 60% or more of their ability to work and earn less than the minimum consumption requirement in Lithuania are entitled to a pension supplement.

The funds for this pension are sourced from contributions by employees and employers.