Lithuania Approves New Salary Transparency and Equal Pay Laws

The Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) has moved a significant step closer to eliminating workplace pay secrecy. Following a decisive second reading, lawmakers approved amendments to the national Labor Code designed to enforce wage transparency and ensure that men and women receive equal pay for work of equal value. The move is part of a broader effort to align Lithuanian law with European Union standards, specifically the EU Directive 2023/970, which must be fully integrated into national legislation by June.

The legislation, which passed with 80 votes in favor, three against, and 19 abstentions, represents a fundamental shift in the power dynamic between employers and employees. For the first time, workers will have a clear legal mechanism to verify whether they are being paid fairly compared to their peers, removing the traditional veil of confidentiality that often surrounds corporate payrolls.

New Rights for Employees to Access Pay Data

Under the newly approved provisions, employees will gain the right to request specific, written data regarding salary levels within their organization. This is not limited to a simple statement of their own earnings; rather, it allows workers to see the broader context of how their compensation compares to others in similar roles.

Employers will be required to provide data on several key indicators upon request. These include the employee’s own annual salary and average hourly rate, but more importantly, the average annual and hourly pay for the specific group of positions to which the employee belongs. Crucially, this data must be broken down by gender, allowing workers to identify potential pay gaps that may be based on discrimination rather than performance or seniority.

To facilitate this, companies are now mandated to group their positions using at least four objective criteria: skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. This systematic approach is intended to prevent employers from using arbitrary job titles to justify pay discrepancies between men and women performing essentially the same tasks.

Enforcement and Compensation for Pay Inequity

The amendments do more than just provide information; they provide teeth for enforcement. If a labor dispute body—such as the Labor Disputes Commission or a court—determines that an employer has violated the principle of equal pay for equal work, the affected employee is entitled to comprehensive compensation.

This compensation package is designed to be restorative. It includes the full recovery of unpaid wages or payments in kind, as well as compensation for both material and non-material damages. This also covers damages resulting from discrimination and compensation for lost career opportunities that may have arisen due to the pay disparity. By making the financial consequences of pay inequity significant, the law aims to incentivize proactive compliance among Lithuanian businesses.

Addressing the 9.4% Gender Pay Gap

During the presentation of the projects, Minister of Social Security and Labor Jūratė Zailskienė highlighted that while Lithuania has made progress, the gender pay gap remains a persistent issue. In 2024, the gap stood at approximately 9.4%. While the difference in employment opportunities between men and women in Lithuania is negligible, the disparity in what they take home at the end of the month remains a structural challenge.

“The gap is narrowing slightly, but not as significantly as we would like,” Zailskienė noted. She emphasized that the transparency mechanism is a vital tool for the government’s program to ensure that the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ moves from a theoretical right to a practical reality.

Implementation and Oversight

Workers who suspect they are being underpaid will not have to navigate the legal system alone. The law empowers several institutions to assist in the process of comparison and dispute resolution. Employees can seek assistance through the State Labor Inspectorate, Labor Dispute Commissions, and trade unions to verify if their pay aligns with the group averages.

For businesses, the immediate next step involves a rigorous audit of their internal pay structures. Companies must begin the process of categorizing roles and preparing the necessary data reporting systems to meet the June deadline. While the administrative burden on HR departments is expected to increase, proponents of the law argue that the long-term benefits of a fairer, more transparent labor market will outweigh the initial transition costs.

Source: ELTA

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Source check Legislative Update

This report is based on the official proceedings of the Lithuanian Seimas and statements from the Ministry of Social Security and Labor regarding the transposition of EU Directive 2023/970.

Checks

• Verified the vote count (80 for, 3 against, 19 abstentions) against parliamentary records.
• Confirmed the specific data points employees are entitled to request (hourly and annual av...
• Cross-referenced the 9.4% gender pay gap figure with official 2024 Lithuanian labor statis...

elta Check Lithuanian Labor Code updates

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elta

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Lithuania

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2026-05-19 08:52

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Article contextPeople & topics1#5

Jūratė Zailskienė

#EU directives#gender pay gap#labor rights#Lithuania#salary transparency

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