Living and working in Lithuania

As of 1 January 2023, an updated collective agreement applicable to public sector employees entered into force. During 2023, 94 new collective agreements were concluded, about 25% of which are in the private sector. Of these agreements, four were sectoral, one territorial and one national (all upper-level collective agreements were concluded in the public sector). The updated National Collective Agreement, valid for 2024–2025, was signed on 12 October 2023. Employees of state-owned and municipally owned enterprises and public bodies who are members of trade unions were granted additional days for self-education, volunteering or health improvement.

During sittings of the Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania, the social partners focused on amendments to the Labour Code, the Law on Occupational Health and Safety, the Law on Employment, and other labour-related legislation. These amendments related to changes in the regulation of working time, the organisation of strikes and the remuneration of public sector employees. The social partners also agreed on a minimum wage level for 2024.

The new minimum hourly and monthly wage rates were established by government resolution, based on the recommendations of the Tripartite Council, taking into consideration the following: developments in the national economy, the average wage, recommendations of the Bank of Lithuania and an increase in the tax-exempt amount of income. The Minimum Wage Directive was presented to the social partners at the Tripartite Council in February, but by the end of the year neither the government nor the social partners had taken any significant steps in the directive-relevant areas.

As the inflation rate in Lithuania was among the highest within the EU during 2022 (18.9%) and still high in 2023 (8.7%), the government initiated a series of measures to reduce the negative impact of inflation on the population. Among other actions, a full package of measures was adopted to compensate for the increase in energy prices, and pensions and social benefits were increased.

According to the State Data Agency, 201 strikes took place in Lithuania between 2018 and 2023: 196 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 2 in 2022 and 1 in 2023. The Lithuanian Education Employees Trade Union organised a warning strike in the education sector in 2023. The main demand was a salary increase, but teachers also aimed to draw the public’s attention to high workloads and poor working conditions in educational institutions.

In order to improve work–life balance, as of 1 January 2023, employees of budgetary institutions raising children under 3 years of age have the right to a reduced working time of 32 hours per week; no such agreement has been reached in the private sector.