Labour code amendments as of 1 August 2022

New amendments to the Labor Code of Lithuania are entering into force on August 1, 2022. Please check below the main changes that come into effect:

1. Language of an Employment Contract. Information related to employment relations, such as an employment contract, or job description, for an employee who is a foreigner, must be provided in Lithuanian and another language understood by that particular employee. This means that if the company concludes a contract with an English-speaking person, the employment contract, job description, and other documents related to employment relations must be written not only in Lithuanian but also in English;

2. Probation period. The probationary period of the employee is adjusted, when the employment contract is concluded for a period of fewer than 6 months - the probationary period must be shortened proportionally to the contract period;

3. Termination of the Employment Contract. The employment contract may be terminated at the employee's initiative for important reasons, giving the employee the right to terminate the employment contract by a written statement, after notifying the employer 5 working days in advance, if the employee cannot properly perform his work function due to the fact that he is caring for a person living with the employee;

4. Employment termination notice period. The notification period for terminating the employment contract at the initiative of the employer without fault of the employee for employees suffering from a disease included in the list of serious diseases is tripled. If in a normal case, the notice period for an employee who has been working for more than a year is 1 month, the notice period for a person suffering from a serious illness is 3 months;

5. Dismissal date. The employee may terminate the employment contract on his own initiative without valid reasons by notifying the employer 20 calendar days in advance, but the dismissal date may be earlier when the employer agrees to shorten the notice period or not to apply it;

6. Part-time and remote work. The group of employees who have the right to demand part-time work and whose request to work remotely must be met is expanded: employees who raise a child up to 8 years of age and employees who care (supervise) for a person living with them are included;

7. Preferred working time regime. The employer is obliged to comply with the request to work in the working time regime preferred by the employee submitted by a pregnant, recently given birth or breastfeeding employee, an employee raising a child up to 8 years old, an employee raising a child up to 14 years old or a disabled child up to 18 years old alone, an employee, after submitting an application based on a health care institution's conclusion about his state of health or the need to nurse (look after) a family member or a person living with the employee, if due to production necessity or specifics of work organization, this would not result in excessive costs for the employer;

8. Mother's/ Father's day. Employees raising one child under the age of 12 are entitled to "mother's day/"father's day" for 1 day per 3 months;

9. Taking care of a person living together. Employees caring for a person living together can take advantage of unpaid leave for the time recommended by the health care institution;

10. Urgent family/ personal cases. The employer is obliged to provide free time off to the employee if the request is related to urgent family reasons in the event of an illness or an accident when the employee must participate.

We hope you will find this information useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our legal department at lithuania.legal@leinonen.eu.