LITHUANIA | Internship: At work | Work conditions
Working hours
In Lithuania, working hours cannot exceed 40 hours per week (2008). The majority of companies start their working day at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Lunch is usually one hour from 12 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Working hours should not exceed eight hours per day. The maximum number of working hours over seven days, including overtime, should not exceed 48 hours.
Annual leave
Annual leave in Lithuania can be minimal, extended or additional. The minimum annual leave is 28 calendar days.
In the first working year, the annual leave is usually granted after an uninterrupted period of six months in the workplace. During the second and subsequent years, the annual leave can be taken during any time of the year, depending on priorities.
The annual leave can be split into parts at the request of the employee. One of these must be at least 14 calendar days long.
The legislation of the Republic of Lithuania: www.lrs.lt
Salary
In Lithuania, considering the specifics of jobs, two types of payment are dominating: for the quantity of work units and for the working time.
Income taxes and insurance
In Lithuania during an interview for a particular job, you negotiate with the employer your future salary before taxes (in other words, „salary on paper“). The employee pays 24 percent income tax and 3 percent compulsory health insurance of this salary (2008). Taxes are not paid from the part of the salary, called tax-free income. Currently (2008) it is 320 Lt. Additionally, employer pays 31 percent taxes for the employee.
Income tax for jobs, which are performed under the author's agreement, is 15 percent.
Student scholarships are tax free.
Bank accounts
When you start working in Lithuania, you have to open a bank account, where the company will transfer your salary.
Lithuanian business culture
Currently we can observe very large activity of young people in the labour market. Most of them study in the evening and extramural departments and work. Besides, there is a tendency that relatively young employees seek for high positions actively. That‘s why a large part of the leadership of companies and their subdivisions is made up of young and energetic employees.
Small and medium companies are predominant in Lithuania. That‘s why employees who work there must possess not only skills of concrete and narrow profile work but they must have an ability to perform new tasks quickly to. Therefore, they have to be involved in the process of continuous learning. Besides, the director has the largest role in decision making, but a fair amount of the authority is transferred to employees, who must be flexible while making everyday decisions.