During this difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state pays subsidies to employers to compensate for the salaries of downtime workers.
From January 2021, 100% will be reimbursed from the salary calculated by the employer, but not more than 1.5 MMA (963 euros). It is important to know that the calculated salary cannot be higher than the salary specified in the employment contract of the employed person until the day of the announcement of quarantine.
The subsidy is available to employers who meet all of the following conditions:
- Legal form is not a budgetary authority.
- Have not been declared bankrupt and are not being liquidated, a resolution of the creditors’ meeting to conduct bankruptcy proceedings out of court has not been adopted.
- Manager or other responsible person has not had a fine imposed for the violations specified in Articles 56, 57 and 58 of the Law on Employment and / or administrative penalties imposed under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Lithuania for illegal work during the last one year prior to the date of submission of the tender, or has no more than one administrative penalty imposed in accordance with this Code during the last one year prior to the date of submission of the tender for violations of labour laws, occupational safety and health regulations, concealment of accidents at work, established notification and investigation procedures, wage calculation and payment procedures, labour violations of time accounting, working conditions of temporary staff and procedures of commercial or economic activity.
- Due to the state of emergency declared by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and quarantine for employees as stated in Item 2 of Paragraph 1 of Article 47 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania declared downtime in the prescribed case and thus retain their jobs.
Social enterprises or enterprises with the status of a social enterprise for the disabled, as well as enterprises employing other supported groups, non-governmental organizations and associations may also benefit from subsidies during downtime.
From this year, the grounds for termination of the subsidy have been supplemented / clarified. Payment will be terminated:
- Upon cancelation of the state of emergency or quarantine declared by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or upon expiry of the term of declaration of at least one of them, and one month after this date.
- If the State Labour Inspectorate identifies that employed person, to whose employer a wage subsidy has been granted and paid, performs work functions during the downtime announced to him in the case specified in Item 2 of Paragraph 1 of Article 47 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania.
- At the end of the employment contract with the employee for whom the wage subsidy is paid.
- When international financial sanctions have been imposed on the employer.
If the State Labour Inspectorate identifies that an employed person whose employer has been granted and paid a downtime subsidy performs (performed) work functions during downtime announced to him, the employer, who was found to have committed the violation, will be obliged to repay the full amount of the wage subsidy paid to the employee from the date the violation was identified.
The following documents must be submitted when applying for a grant for the first time (before the end of the month for the previous month):
- A completed and signed Proposal for the implementation of the supported employment measure in respect of the wage subsidy provided for in Part 21 of Article 47 of the Law on Employment.
- A completed and signed Application for a wage subsidy in the prescribed form for employees who have been declared inactive in the case provided for in Item 2 of Paragraph 1 of Article 47 of the Labour Code. Note: when submitting electronic documents, it is necessary to submit the Application to the Employment Service completed in MS Excel format and together with other documents, in a single package, signed by e-signature.
- A certified copy of the documents certifying the announcement of the downtime. Important: no later than 3 working days after the cancellation or expiry of the downtime, a copy of the document(s) confirming the cancellation or expiry of the downtime must be submitted to the Employment Service.
- Supporting documents for the payment of the previous month’s salary to each employee (bank statement or copy of the electronic banking order, signed by the employer; copy of the payment order if the payments are made with non-electronic means or copy of the cash flow order if the payments are made in cash).
When applying for a subsidy in the following months (by the 15th day of the month), the documents referred to in points b, c and d above shall be provided.
In the case specified in Item 2 of Paragraph 1 of Article 47 of the Labour Code, if the employee’s downtime is declared as part-time, the amount of the subsidy shall be calculated in proportion to the employee’s downtime declared by the employer.
Important: new document forms have been approved, look for them at https://uzt.lt/covid-19/.
Regarding the subsidy, please contact the Customer Service Department of the Employment Service, in the territory of which the employer’s registered office is registered. You can apply by submitting the specified documents by e-mail to the Customer Service Department e-mail addresses, signed electronically or sent by post to the nearest Customer Service Department in which territory the company is registered. Customer service e-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], panevezys@uzt.lt.
Employers who receive a subsidy must maintain at least 50 percent of their jobs for at least 3 months after the end of the wage subsidy.
You can find the latest information on the support administered by the Employment Service, as well as the contacts of the consultants working in the Customer service on the website of the institution www.uzt.lt.
