Lithuania Approves New Pay Transparency Laws for Worker Equality
The Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) has taken a decisive step toward dismantling the culture of salary secrecy by approving significant amendments to the national Labor Code. These changes, passed following a rigorous second reading, are designed to ensure pay transparency and enforce the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.
The legislative move is a direct response to the European Union Directive 2023/970, which mandates transparency across member states. By transposing these provisions into national law, Lithuania aims to provide workers with the legal tools necessary to identify and challenge wage discrimination, particularly the gender pay gap which remains a persistent issue in the Baltic nation.
New Rights for Employees to Access Salary Data
Under the newly approved amendments, the traditional “salary taboo” is being replaced by a legal right to information. Employees will now have the statutory right to request and receive specific wage data from their employers in writing. This is not limited to a simple statement of their own earnings; rather, it allows for a comparative analysis within the workplace.
Workers will be entitled to receive data on their own annual salary, as well as their average monthly and annual hourly rates. Crucially, the law allows employees to see the average pay levels of colleagues within the same job category, broken down by gender. This means a worker can officially see if their peers—performing the same or equivalent tasks—are being compensated at a higher rate based on gender or other non-performance factors.
To facilitate this, employers are now required to group positions based on four objective criteria: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. This grouping ensures that “equal value” is determined by the nature of the work rather than just job titles, preventing companies from masking pay disparities behind different departmental labels.
Accountability and Compensation for Pay Gaps
The legislation introduces robust enforcement mechanisms. If an employee suspects they are being underpaid compared to their peers for work of equal value, they can seek mediation or resolution through formal institutions, including the Labor Inspection, Labor Dispute Commissions, and trade unions.
| Implementation Detail | Specifics |
|---|---|
| Legislative Status | Approved after second reading (80 votes in favor) |
| Implementation Deadline | June 2024 |
| Job Grouping Criteria | Skills, Effort, Responsibility, Working Conditions |
| Gender Pay Gap (2024) | Approximately 9.4% in Lithuania |
Should a labor dispute body determine that an employer has violated the duty of equal pay, the consequences are significant. The law mandates that the affected employee be awarded full compensation. This is not limited to the recovery of unpaid wages; it also includes compensation for both material and non-material (moral) damages. Furthermore, the employer may be liable for damages related to discrimination and the loss of career opportunities resulting from the pay disparity.
Bridging the 9.4% Gender Pay Gap
Social Security and Labor Minister Jūratė Zailskienė, who presented the project to the Seimas, highlighted that while Lithuania has made strides in employment opportunities, the “wage gap remains.” As of 2024, the difference between men’s and women’s earnings in Lithuania stands at approximately 9.4%. While this figure has been slowly decreasing, the government views these Labor Code amendments as the necessary catalyst for more rapid change.
The minister emphasized that the mechanism is not intended to create workplace conflict, but to foster a culture of fairness. By requiring companies to be transparent about how they value different roles, the government hopes to eliminate systemic biases that have historically disadvantaged women in the workforce.
What Happens Next for Employers and Staff
With the amendments receiving broad support—80 votes in favor, only three against, and 19 abstentions—the path is clear for the final adoption and implementation by the June deadline.
For employers, the immediate priority will be the internal audit of job roles and the establishment of the four-criteria grouping system. Companies will need to ensure their payroll data is organized and ready for potential requests from staff. For employees, the next phase involves understanding these new rights and the process for requesting data through official channels. The role of trade unions is expected to expand significantly as they become the primary advocates for workers seeking to exercise their new rights to transparency.
Source: ELTA
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