In June 2008, parliament adopted amendments to the collective labour relations provisions of the Labour Code (LC), as well as to the Law on Public Services (LPS) and Law on Works Councils (LWC). The amendments, which came into force on 1 July 2008, were drawn up by a group of lawyers, on the initiative of the parliamentary Social and Labour Affairs Committee (Socialinių reikalų ir darbo komitetas, SRDK [1]), and were subject to lengthy discussions among the social partners. The main amendments are summarised below.[1] http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w5_show?p_r=152&p_k=1
In June 2008, the Lithuanian parliament adopted a series of amendments to the legislation governing collective labour disputes, collective labour disputes, employer organisations, information and consultation, public services industrial relations, and works councils. The basic aim of the changes is to promote social dialogue.
In June 2008, parliament adopted amendments to the collective labour relations provisions of the Labour Code (LC), as well as to the Law on Public Services (LPS) and Law on Works Councils (LWC). The amendments, which came into force on 1 July 2008, were drawn up by a group of lawyers, on the initiative of the parliamentary Social and Labour Affairs Committee (Socialinių reikalų ir darbo komitetas, SRDK), and were subject to lengthy discussions among the social partners. The main amendments are summarised below.
Employer organisations
As Lithuania has no specific law on employer organisations, the amendments to the LC have provided a definition of such bodies, stipulating that: ‘Employment organisations mean public legal persons operating under the Law on Associations, representing, in accordance with their articles of associations (statutes), the rights and interests of their member employers in social partnership’. The amendments also stipulate that in the public sector ‘employers shall be represented on national, sectoral and territorial levels by the founder of the mentioned enterprises, agencies and organisations or a body authorised by the founder to exercise the rights of obligations of employers, as defined in the LC’.
Collective labour disputes
The LC formerly defined collective labour disputes, in respect of which employees may lawfully take collective action, as including disputes over non-compliance with collective agreements by employers. This provision has now been amended to include non-compliance with the regulatory provisions of labour legislation. This reflects the reality that in Lithuania strikes are rarely held over non-compliance with collective agreements, but more often over failure to comply with legislation.
One of most important amendments to the LC is the introduction of a conciliation procedure for resolving collective labour disputes (LT0607029I). If requested by any party to a dispute, an intermediary may now be called in to attempt to reconcile the interests of the parties and reach an agreement satisfactory to both parties. The intermediary must be selected, within three working days of a request for conciliation being made, by agreement between the parties to the dispute from a list approved by the Minister of Social Security and Labour.
The amendments to the LC relax the requirements for calling a strike. Previously, strikes could be called (LT0510102F) if the decision was approved, prior to the strike, in a secret ballot: in the case of a strike affecting the whole enterprise, by at least two-thirds of the enterprise’s employees; or, in the case of a strike in a particular structural unit of an enterprise, by at least two-thirds of the employees of that unit, and by at least half of the employees in the whole enterprise. Now, a strike may be called if the decision is approved, prior to the strike, in a secret ballot, by at least half of the enterprise’s employees in the case of a strike affecting the whole enterprise, or by at least half of the unit’s employees in the case of a strike affecting a particular structural unit of an enterprise.
The amendments further stipulate that the calling of a short ‘token’ strike does not require prior approval by the employees.
Information and consultation
The LC’s provisions on workplace information and consultation procedures have been amended to: stipulate the consultation procedure in more detail; provide for legal sanctions for non-compliance with the procedure; and define obligatory cases where employers must consult employees or employees’ representatives. Further, the amendments strengthen the obligation on employers to inform, on a regular basis, employees’ representatives on the situation of the enterprise, and to keep employees informed in cases when there are no employees’ representatives – trade unions or works councils – functioning in the enterprise.
Amendments to the Law on Public Services
The amendments to the LPS place state authorities on the same footing as employer organisations. This enables a clear identification of the employer-side social partner in public services and should make it easier to sign national and sectoral collective agreements. In addition, provisions on working and rest time, remuneration of civil servants and ‘additional terms and conditions related to additional funds of national and municipal budgets as well as state monetary funds’ are now allowed not only in national-level collective agreements in public services, but in sectoral collective agreements too.
Amendment to the Law on Works Councils
The LWC previously provided that the election of a works council should be organised by the employer if this is requested in writing by at least a fifth of the enterprise’s employees (LT0411101N). Given that works councils have been set up in only a small number of companies, the LWC has been amended to relax this requirement. The written request to elect a works council now requires the signature of only a 10th of the workforce.
Jolanta Cinaitienė, Inga Blaziene, Institute of Labour and Social Research
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2008), Collective labour legislation amended, article.
