Employee benefitsin Lithuania

Compulsory health insurance funds access to Lithuania’s national healthcare system. Employees contribute 6.98% of gross pay through payroll. Public coverage and private medical insurance serve different purposes; supplementary cover can add services and faster access.

Employers provide safe work, risk assessment, instruction and appropriate equipment. Mandatory health checks apply to employees under 18, employees exposed to workplace health risks, night and shift workers, and specified workers with disabilities. Time spent on the checks is paid at average remuneration. Remote employees retain occupational safety protections.

Supplementary medical insurance is a common employee benefit. Employers fund private care alongside the public system, often extending access to dependants; other arrangements share premiums or provide discounts. Policies can cover consultations, annual checks and services outside public coverage.

Many employers provide mental and emotional health support in person or remotely. Employee assistance programmes give employees confidential access to support for personal and work-related difficulties; covered services and access rules depend on the programme.

Employer medical policies can include dental care beyond public coverage. Dental treatment has its own policy limits and reimbursement conditions; inclusion in medical insurance does not mean every dental bill is fully funded.

Employer medical cover can include vision aids and optical care. The insurer’s policy sets eligible items, reimbursement limits and any employee contribution.

Some employers subsidise gym membership, offer discounted memberships or provide a fitness stipend for chosen sports. Employer policies also include access to online exercise classes.

Employee social contributions total 19.50% of gross pay: 8.72% pension, 1.99% sickness, 1.81% maternity and 6.98% health insurance. The non-health portion is capped at 60 national average monthly wages per calendar year across employers; compulsory health insurance continues above the ceiling. An additional pension accumulation contribution is separate.

Eligible jobseekers receive unemployment insurance for nine months. For entitlements under the rules current from July 2026, the monthly payment combines 15% of the current minimum monthly wage with 45% of previous average insured income for months 1–3, 35% for months 4–6 and 25% for months 7–9. The cap is 70% of the relevant national average wage and the floor five statutory Basic Social Benefit units, a public benefit measure adjusted separately from salary; employment-service registration and the normal 12 insured months in 24 are required.

Life and disability cover is a common supplementary benefit. Reported lump-sum protection is often linked to annual salary, with role-based cover of three, four or five times annual pay. The insured event and beneficiary rules depend on the policy.

Employers commonly provide accident protection alongside life cover. This adds insured financial support for covered serious injury or resulting disability; the policy defines covered events and payout conditions.

Voluntary employer pension contributions are a common benefit. Reported contributions to personal retirement savings range from 3% to 8% of gross salary. These employer additions are separate from employee social-insurance deductions and the employee’s pension-accumulation contribution.

Employees receive at least 20 working days of paid annual leave on a five-day week or 24 on a six-day week; other schedules receive at least four weeks. Employees under 18, employees with disabilities and single parents raising a child under 14 or a child with a disability under 18 receive 25 or 30 working days respectively, or five weeks on other schedules. Leave pay maintains average remuneration.

Ten years of continuous employment with the same employer adds three working days of annual leave. Each further five years adds one more working day. Listed occupations involving particular stress, risk or working conditions receive extended annual leave of up to 41 working days on a five-day week, 50 on a six-day week or eight weeks on other schedules.

An insured person who becomes temporarily unable to work because of living donation of tissues, cells or organs receives sickness benefit from Sodra, the State Social Insurance Fund, from the first day. Payment is 77.58% of compensatory earnings while qualifying incapacity continues. Compensatory earnings are calculated from insured income over three consecutive calendar months before the month immediately preceding entitlement.

For illness or injury, the employer pays 62.06%–100% of average remuneration for the first two calendar days that fall on the employee’s work schedule. From day three, the State Social Insurance Fund, known as Sodra, pays 62.06% of compensatory earnings. Eligibility normally requires three insured months in the previous 12 or six in the previous 24. Medical certification and the applicable incapacity rules govern duration. Compensatory earnings are calculated from insured income over three consecutive calendar months before the month immediately preceding entitlement.

Sodra, Lithuania’s State Social Insurance Fund, pays 65.94% of compensatory earnings from the first day when an insured worker nurses a sick family member or cares for a child under the statutory conditions. General limits are 14 calendar days for a sick family member and 21 for a child under 14; serious childhood illnesses have longer specified periods. Compensatory earnings are calculated from insured income over three consecutive calendar months before the month immediately preceding entitlement.

Parents of one child under 12 receive one paid day off per three months. A child with a disability under 18, or two children under 12, entitles the parent to one day per month; three children under 12, or two under 12 with one disabled, entitles them to two. The alternatives are eight hours less work per three months, two hours less per week or four hours less per week respectively, at average remuneration. Parents outside these groups with a child under 14 in qualifying education receive at least half a paid working day for the first school day.

Technology employers commonly add four to eight days above the 20-day statutory annual-leave baseline. Extra leave also supports retention of key employees. The employment contract or policy sets eligibility and scheduling.

Employers commonly supplement the State Social Insurance Fund’s sickness payment to maintain 100% of salary. The employer policy sets the covered period and eligibility; the top-up is separate from the employer’s initial statutory sick pay.

Some employers give employees their birthday off as an additional day away from work. The policy determines eligibility, payment and how a birthday falling on a non-working day is handled.

A breastfeeding employee receives a paid break of at least 30 minutes at least every three hours, in addition to the normal rest and meal break. At the employee’s request, feeding breaks can be combined, added to the meal break or moved to the end of the working day so that work finishes earlier. Pay follows the employee’s remuneration.

Pregnancy and childbirth leave normally covers 126 calendar days: 70 before birth and 56 after. Complications or multiple births add 14 days. Sodra, the State Social Insurance Fund, pays 77.58% of compensatory earnings when the insured parent normally has 12 maternity-insured months in the preceding 24. The benefit floor is eight statutory Basic Social Benefit units per month; this public unit is adjusted separately from salary. Compensatory earnings use insured income over 12 consecutive calendar months before the month immediately preceding entitlement.

Fathers receive 30 calendar days of paternity leave before the child turns one, taken in no more than two parts. Sodra, the State Social Insurance Fund, pays 77.58% of compensatory earnings. Benefit eligibility requires six maternity-insured months during the previous 24. The monthly floor is eight statutory Basic Social Benefit units, a public benefit measure adjusted separately from salary; compensatory earnings are capped at twice the relevant national average monthly wage. Compensatory earnings use insured income over 12 consecutive calendar months before the month immediately preceding entitlement.

Childcare leave can continue until age three. Insured parents choose benefit payments until age 18 or 24 months: 60% of compensatory earnings under the 18-month option, or 45% in the first year and 30% in the second under the 24-month option. Each parent has two non-transferable months, paid at 78% for 62 calendar days. Qualifying lone parents receive two additional months; adoption benefits run for 18 or 24 months rather than stopping at those child ages. Benefit eligibility normally requires 12 maternity-insured months in the previous 24; compensatory earnings use the preceding statutory 12-month insured-income reference. Income earned during leave can reduce the payment, with separate rules for transferable and non-transferable periods.

Annual performance bonuses are common. Awards depend on individual and company results, with the payment basis and conditions set in the contract or bonus scheme.

Many technology startups use stock options to attract and retain employees. An option gives the right to acquire shares under the award’s exercise terms. Vesting means earning the right to use the option over time or by meeting conditions. The plan sets the vesting conditions, price, exercise window and treatment when employment ends.

Remote work is agreed with the employee or requested by them. Employers must normally accept requests from pregnant, recently delivered or breastfeeding employees, parents of children under eight, single parents raising a child under 14 or a child with a disability under 18, and employees whose healthcare assessment supports remote work because of their health, disability or caring duties. Refusal requires proof of excessive costs arising from operational necessity or work organisation. Refusing an employer’s remote-work proposal does not justify dismissal or changing employment terms.

Flexible schedules, hybrid work and homeworking are common in Lithuania’s technology sector. Employers combine core availability hours with employee choice over other hours or location. Shorter Friday schedules are also reported, sometimes ending around 15:30.

Technology employers commonly fund professional learning through courses, conferences, personal budgets, mentoring and internal training. In the 2026 survey of Lithuanian global business services and information and communications technology companies, 89% of centres provided artificial-intelligence training. The survey covered 64 companies overall; this finding describes that sector.

Some expatriate packages cover fuel expenses. The employer policy defines eligible travel, limits and reimbursement requirements.

Some expatriate employment packages reimburse moving costs associated with taking up work in Lithuania. The agreement sets eligible expenses, reimbursement evidence and any repayment conditions.

Some expatriate packages contribute to residential expenses in Lithuania. The contract determines covered accommodation costs, payment duration and whether support is a cash allowance or direct payment.

The 2026 minimum is EUR 1,153 gross per month or EUR 7.05 per hour. The minimum rate applies to unqualified work: work requiring no special qualifications or professional skills. Qualified work must be paid above the statutory minimum, and applicable collective agreements can set higher rates.

Ordinary overtime and night work pay at least 150% of the regular rate. Work on an unscheduled rest day or public holiday pays at least 200%. Night overtime and unscheduled rest-day overtime also pay at least 200%; overtime on a public holiday pays at least 250%. At the employee’s request, the corresponding multiplied time can be added to annual leave.

The normal working week is 40 hours. Average hours including overtime must not exceed 48 per week; work including overtime and additional work is generally capped at 12 hours daily and 60 weekly. Overtime is limited to eight hours per seven days, or 12 with written consent, and 180 per year unless a collective agreement permits more. Daily rest is at least 11 hours and weekly uninterrupted rest 35 hours; a 30-minute to two-hour meal break is due after no more than five hours.

Employers fund unemployment insurance at 1.31% of pay for indefinite contracts and 2.03% for fixed-term contracts. Work injury and occupational-disease insurance adds a risk-category rate of 0.14%, 0.49%, 0.70% or 1.40%. Guarantee and long-term employment fund charges are separate payroll components.