APPROVED

APPROVED APPROVED by Law No. IX-926 of 4 June 2002 LABOUR CODE PART I GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER I LABOUR LAWS AND RELATIONS REGULATED BY THE LABOUR LAWS Article 1. Relations Regulated by the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania 1. This Code regulates labour relations connected with the exercise and protection of labour rights and performance of obligations established in this Code and other regulatory acts. 2. The limits of regulation of individual spheres of labour relations shall be determined by this Code and by other laws and Government resolutions in accordance with the limits determined by this Code. Article 2. Principles of Legal Regulation of Labour Relations 1. The following principles shall apply to the regulation of relations specified in Article 1 of this Code: 1) freedom of association; 2) freedom of choice of employment; 3) state aid to persons in realising the right to employment; 4) equality of subjects of labour law irrespective of their gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, language, origin, citizenship and social status, religion, marital and family status, age, opinions or views, political party or public organisation membership, factors unrelated to the employee's professional qualities; 5) provision of safe and healthy working conditions; 6) fair remuneration for work; 7) prohibition of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; 8) stability of labour relations; 9) uniformity of labour laws and their differentiation on the basis of and psychophysical qualities of the employees; 10) freedom of collective bargaining for the purpose of reconciliation of  interests of the employees, the  employers and the state; 11) liability of the parties to the collective bargaining agreement for their obligations. 2. The state shall support the exercise  of labour rights. The labour rights may be in exceptional cases restricted only by law or court judgement, if such restrictions are necessary in order to protect public order, the principles of public morals, public health, property, rights and legal interests. Article 3. Sources of Labour Law 1. The sources of labour law are the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, this Code, other laws and regulatory acts, regulatory provisions of collective agreements. 2. The Government resolutions and other regulations may regulate labour relations only in the cases and to the extent determined by this Code and other laws. Article. 4. Labour Laws and other Regulatory Acts 1. The labour laws shall determine: 1) the scope, tasks and principles of application of labour law; 2) legal grounds of employment of the population; 3) rules of conclusion and implementation of collective agreements as well as the liability of the parties for the obligations; 4) the amount of the minimum wage as well as the conditions of remuneration for work in the enterprises, agencies and organisations financed from the state and municipal budgets; 5) maximum working time and standard minimum rest periods; 6) the amount of minimum benefits, guarantees, compensations and the level of other labour rights; 7) basic employee safety and health standards and rules; 8) rights of trade unions and other employee representatives in the sphere of labour; 9) basic provisions of professional training and in-service training; 10) principles of ensuring labour discipline; 11) conditions and amount (limits) of liability; 12) basic provisions of supervision of and control over compliance with the main labour laws. 2. The Government, other state and municipal institutions shall have the right to adopt, according to their respective competence, regulatory acts on the issues relating to the regulation of labour relations. The provisions of the regulations of the Government, other state and municipal institutions, establishing for the employees condition less favourable than those established by this Code and other labour laws, shall be invalid.  3. Enterprises, agencies, organisations may adopt, according to their respective competence and in the manner prescribed by laws, local (internal) regulatory acts establishing working conditions that are not regulated by labour laws specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 above and by other regulatory acts as well as granting work, social and everyday-life privileges to employees or their groups in addition to those established by laws and other regulatory acts.   4. Tripartite agreements, collective agreements and local (internal) regulatory acts relating to working conditions, under which the position of the employees is made less favourable than that established by this Code, laws and other regulatory acts, shall be null and void. In the cases where this Code and other laws do not directly prohibit the subjects of legal relations pertaining to labour to establish, of their own accord and by way of an agreement, mutual rights and obligations, the above subjects shall guided by the principles of justice, reasonableness  and good faith. Article 5. The Scope of Application of Labour Laws 1. Labour laws and other regulatory acts shall be applied to labour relations in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania regardless of whether the person is employed in Lithuania or has been posted by his employer abroad. 2. Labour relations which arise when persons are employed on board ships or on board aircraft shall be regulated by the labour laws and other regulatory acts of the Republic of Lithuania when the ships are flying the national flag of the Republic of Lithuania or the aircraft is marked with the symbols of Lithuania. The labour laws, other regulations of the Republic of Lithuania shall be applied to persons working on other means of transport if the employers who own the means of transport are within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Lithuania. 3. Where the employer is a foreign state, the Government or an administrative unit or a unit operating as a diplomatic mission, foreign organisation or person, the laws and other  regulatory acts shall  apply to labour relations with the residents of the Republic of Lithuania to the extent they do not violate diplomatic immunity. 4. The labour laws, other regulatory acts of the Republic of Lithuania shall not be applied to the labour relations which occur between foreign employers and employees, when the employees are posted by the employer in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 6. Application of Foreign Law 1. Foreign law shall be applied to labour relations where this is established by the international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, laws of the Republic of Lithuania or agreements between the parties to the employment contract. 2. Foreign law shall not be applied where the application thereof would be contrary to public order established by the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania. In such cases labour laws of the Republic of Lithuania shall be applied. 3. The mandatory provisions of the labour law of the Republic of Lithuania shall be applied regardless of the fact that the parties have chosen to apply foreign law. Article 7. Law Applicable to Labour Relations of International Character 1. Parties to the employment contract may choose the law applicable both to  the entire employment contract and to a part thereof. The choice must be explicit or implicit from the conditions of the employment contract or other circumstances. The choice by the parties of the applicable law shall not invalidate in the sphere of employee protection the mandatory legal provisions of the state the laws whereof would apply in the absence of an agreement on the applicable law concluded between the parties. 2. In case of failure by the parties to choose the applicable law by an agreement between them, the said law shall be chosen based on the following principles: 1) in case of permanent employment in one state, the labour law of the state shall be applied irrespective of the employee's temporary employment in another state; 2) if the employee has no permanent employment in any state, the labour law of the state where the employer has his principal place of business (headquarters) shall be applied; 3) if all the existing circumstances allow to conclude that labour relations are connected to a greater extent with the state other than the one whose law is applicable according to the principles listed in paragraph 2 (1) and (2) of this Article, the labour law of that other state with the law of which the labour relations are connected to the greatest extent shall be applied. Article 8. International Agreements 1. Where international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania establish rules other than those laid down by this Code and other labour laws of the Republic of Lithuania, the rules of the international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania shall be applied. 2. International agreements of the Republic of Lithuania shall be directly applied to labour relations, except in cases where international agreements establish that the application thereof requires a special regulatory act of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 9. Analogy of Law and Legislation 1. Where the labour law has no direct provision regulating a certain relationship, the provisions of labour law regulating similar relations shall apply.  2. Where the analogy of labour regulatory acts cannot be applied, the provisions of other branches of law regulating similar relations shall be applied according to the basic principles and substance of labour laws. 3. Application by analogy of special legal provisions establishing exceptions from the general rules shall not be allowed. 4. If the relations specified in Article 1 of this Code are not regulated by labour laws and regulatory acts, and provisions of other branches of law which regulate similar relations are not applicable to them, the principles listed in Article 2(1) shall be applied when settling the arising disputes. Article 10. Principles of Interpretation of Provisions of the Labour Code 1. The provisions of this Code shall be interpreted having regard to the system and structure of the Code in order to ensure the uniformity of the Code and compatibility of its individual constituent parts. 2. Words and word combinations used in the Code shall be interpreted in their general meaning except for the cases when it can be inferred from the context that the word or combination of words is used in its special - legal, technical or other meaning. In case of a contradiction between the general and special meaning of a word, the special meaning of the word shall be given priority.     3. When determining the actual meaning of the provisions, the tasks and objectives of the Code and the interpretation provision shall be taken into account. Article 11. Implementation of Labour Laws 1. In case of a contradiction between a provision of this Code and provisions of another law or regulatory act, the provision of this Code shall apply. 2. Should there be contradictions between the provisions of regulatory acts regulating labour relations, the provision which is more beneficial for the employee shall apply. Article 12. Validity of Labour Laws Labour laws and other regulatory acts regulating labour relations shall have no retroactive effect. CHAPTER II SUBJECTS OF LABOUR LAW Article 13. Natural Persons’ Legal Capacity in Labour Relations 1. All citizens of the Republic of Lithuania shall be recognised to have legal ability to exercise labour rights and undertake labour obligations (legal capacity in labour relations). Foreign nationals and stateless persons, who are permanently residing in the Republic of Lithuania, shall have the same legal capacity in labour relations in  the Republic of Lithuania as its citizen. Laws may establish cases of exception from the above provision. 2. A person shall acquire full legal capacity in labour relations and ability to acquire labour rights and undertake labour duties when he reaches the age of 16 years. Cases of exception shall be established by this Code an other labour laws. Article 14. Employers' Legal Capacity in Labour Relations 1. Employers shall acquire legal capacity in labour relations from the moment of their establishment. 2. Employers shall acquire labour rights and undertake labour duties as well as exercise the above rights and fulfil the above duties through their bodies (administration). The said bodies shall be formed and shall act in accordance with laws and employers' activity documents. Owners of individual (personal) enterprises, farmers and employers -natural persons may exercise labour rights and fulfil labour duties themselves. Article 15. Employee An employer is a natural person possessing legal capacity in labour relations according to Article 13 of this Code, employed under employment contract for remuneration. Article 16. Employer 1. An employer may be an enterprise, agency, organisation or any other organisational structure irrespective of the form of ownership, legal form, type and nature of activities, which has labour capacity according to Article 14 of this Code. 2. An employer may also be any natural person. Legal capacity of the employer shall be regulated by the Civil Code Article 17. The Staff The staff shall comprise all employees connected with the employer by labour relations. CHAPTER III REPRESENTATION OF LABOUR LAW SUBJECTS Article 18. Basic Principles of Representation 1. Employers and employees may acquire, change, waive or defend labour rights through the entities representing them. Employees and employers may be represented both in collective and individual labour relations. Representation in collective labour relations shall be regulated by this Code, whereas representation in individual labour relations shall be regulated by the Civil Code, unless such regulation is contrary to this Code. 2. Representation in collective labour relations based on the effective labour laws shall occur without the expression of will of an individual employee provided that such entity or person are representative of the will of the majority of the employees. Joint obligations assumed during such representation are binding on all employees who fall within the scope of such obligations, even though individually they have not given special authorisation to the entity of collective authorisation.    Article 19. Representatives of Employees 1. In labour relations the rights and interests of employees may be represented and protected by the trade unions. Where an enterprise, agency or organisation has no functioning trade union and if the staff meeting has not transferred the function of employee representation and protection to the trade union of the appropriate sector of economic activity, the employees shall be represented by the labour council  elected by secret ballot at the general meeting of the staff. 2. One and the same person may not represent and protect  the interests of both  the employees and the employers. Article 20. Trade Unions When protecting labour, professional, economic and social rights and interests of the employees, trade unions shall be guided by laws regulating trade union activities, this Code and their respective regulations. Article 21. Labour Council 1. The status of labour councils and the procedure of their formation shall be established by law. 2. The labour council shall possess all rights of the entities of collective representation if there is no functioning trade union in the enterprise, agency or organisation and the staff meeting has not transferred the function of employee representation and protection to the trade union of the appropriate sector of economic activity (Article 19(1) of the Code). 3. The labour council may not perform functions recognised under laws as the prerogative of trade unions. Article 22. Rights of Employees' Representatives 1. The representatives of the employees shall have the following main rights of collective representation: 1) to conclude collective agreements, supervise the implementation thereof; 2) to submit proposals to the employer on the organisation of work in the enterprise; 3) to organise and manage strikes and other lawful measures which the employees have the right to undertake; 4) to submit proposals to state and municipal institutions; 5) to exercise non-governmental supervision and control of compliance with labour laws; 6) to protect the rights of the employees when concluding and implementing contracts of purchase-sale of an enterprise, assignment of a business or part thereof, concentration of market structures or reorganisation of enterprises; 7) to receive information from the employers about their socio-economic situation and projected changes which might affect the employees' situation; 8) appeal to the court against the decisions and actions of the employer and persons authorised by him if the said decisions and actions are contrary to legal norms and agreements or violate the rights of the represented person. 2.  The entities representing the employees shall also carry out other actions by means whereof the interests of the employees are represented in the labour relations and which comply with the laws and do not interfere with bona fide relations between the parties.  If the remit of competence of the employees' representatives is not defined in laws, the remit of their competence shall be determined  by the staff in the collective agreement. Article 23. Employers' Rights and Duties Relating to the Employees' Representatives  1. An employer must: 1) respect the rights of the representatives of the employees and not interfere with their activities. The activities of the representatives of the employees may not be terminated at the employer's will; 2) when making decisions that may affect the employees' legal position, hold consultations with the representatives of the employees and , in cases provided for by laws, obtain their consent; 3) not delay collective bargaining; 4) consider the proposals submitted by the representatives of the employees within the term set in this Code and where such term is not set - within one month and give a reasoned  response thereto in writing; 5) provide free of charge the indispensable information on issues relating to work of the enterprise; 6) provide conditions for the representatives of the employees to perform their functions; 7) perform other obligations provided for by collective agreements; 8) ensure other rights of the representatives of the employees established by laws. 2. Should the representatives of the employees violate the employer's rights, laws or agreements, the employer shall have the right to apply to the court according to the procedure established by law requesting termination of activity violating his rights, laws or agreements. Article 24. Representatives of Employers 1. An employer shall be represented both in collective and individual relations by the manager of an enterprise, agency or organisation. Employers may also be represented in enterprises by other persons (the administration) under the law or authorisation. The administration shall be comprised of officers who are entitled according to their competence to give binding directions to the employees subordinate to them. The officers of the administration shall carry out operational management of the enterprises, agencies and organisations in accordance with laws and documents of establishment of the respective enterprise, agency and organisation. 2. The manager of an enterprise, agency or organisation shall be entitled in accordance with his competence to delegate part of his powers in the sphere of labour law to a natural or legal person. CHAPTER IV TERMS Article 25. Definition of the Term 1. The term set by a labour law, agreement or decision of a labour dispute (conflict) resolution body may be defined by a calendar date or a certain time period.  2. A term  may also be defined by  a reference to a certain foreseeable event. Article 26. Calculation of Terms 1. A term defined by a certain time period shall start on the day following the calendar day or event signifying the beginning of the term. 2. The terms calculated in years, months or weeks shall end on the relevant day of the year, month or week. Where a term which is calculated in months end in the month which doe not have an appropriate day, the term shall end on the last day of the month. Where it is not possible to determine exactly the starting month of the term which is calculated in years or the starting day of the term which is calculated in months, the last day of the term shall be considered to be, accordingly, the thirtieth day of June or the fifteenth day of the month.    3. The term defined by weeks or calendar days shall also cover days off and holidays. Should the last days of the term fall on a non-working day, the working day following it  shall be considered as the end of the term. Unless otherwise established by law, a term calculated in days shall be calculated in calendar days. 4. If a term is set for the performance of a certain action, the action may be performed by 24.00 h of the last day of the term. However, if the action is to be performed in a certain enterprise, agency or organisation, the term shall expire at the hour when appropriate operations are terminated in the enterprise, agency or organisation. 5. Written applications and notices submitted to the post office, telegraph or any other communications institution by 24.00 h of the last day of the term shall be considered filed on time. Article 27. Limitation of Actions 1. Limitation of actions means a period of time specified by law within which a person may bring an action in defence of his infringed rights. 2. The general period of limitation for relations regulated by this Code is three years, unless shorter periods of limitation of actions is established for individual claims  by this Code or other labour laws. 3. There shall be no limitation of actions regarding employee's claims for defence of his honour and dignity. 4. Labour laws may prescribe non-application of limitation of actions clause with respect to certain other claims. 5. If this Code and other labour laws contain no special provisions regarding application of the limitation of actions clause, the provisions of the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure shall be applied to limitation of actions.    Article 28. Extinguishing Terms 1. Labour laws may establish the terms upon the expiry whereof rights and duties related thereto shall extinguish (extinguishing terms). 2. The extinguishing terms, save for the exceptions established by laws, may not be suspended, extended or renewed. Article 29. Procedural Terms The procedural terms set in labour laws (terms for the resolution of labour disputes by dispute resolution bodies, terms for appealing against the decisions of the said bodies, etc.) shall be subject to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to the application and calculation of the above terms, save for the exceptions provided for by labour laws.  Article 30. Length of Service 1. Length of service is the period of time during which a person had employment relations regulated by this Code as well as other periods which under the regulatory acts and collective agreements may be counted into the length of service with which certain labour rights or additional guarantees and privileges are associated under labour laws, other regulatory acts and collective agreements. Length of service may be: 1) general, covering all periods of time when the person was connected by employment legal relations as well as other periods that may be counted into the length of service; 2) special, covering the period of employment in any profession, speciality or in a certain office or under certain conditions of work and periods that may be counted into the special length of service; 3) length of service in a certain enterprise, agency or organisation which covers the period of employment with the respective employer and the periods which may be included into the above length of service. Change of the owner of the enterprise, agency or organisation or changes in their subordination, or change of their founders or names, also their merger, division,  or take-over shall not affect  the length of service in the respective enterprise, agency or organisation; 4) uninterrupted period of service covers the period of employment in one enterprise, agency organisation or several enterprises, agencies or organisations if the person was transferred from one workplace into another by agreement between the employers or on other grounds without interrupting the period of service or provided that the break in the period of service is within the prescribed time limits.  2. The procedure of calculation of the length of service, specified in this Article, paragraph 1, subparagraphs 2, 3 and 4, in enterprises, agencies and organisations financed from the state or municipal budgets shall be laid down by the Government and in other places of employment - by collective agreements. CHAPTER V CONTROL OVER COMPLIANCE WITH LABOUR LAWS Article 31. Bodies Exercising Control over Compliance with Labour Laws Control over the compliance with labour laws, other regulatory acts and collective agreements shall be exercised by state and non-state bodies. Article 32. State Control over Compliance with Labour Laws, Collective Agreements and Prevention of Violations Control over compliance with the regulatory provisions of this Code, labour laws, other regulatory acts and collective agreements shall be exercised  and prevention of violations of the said acts shall be effected, according to the competence established by laws, by the State Labour Inspectorate and other  institutions. Article 33. Non-state Control over Compliance with Labour Laws, Collective Agreements Non-state control over compliance with labour laws, other regulatory acts,  collective agreements shall be exercised by trade unions, inspectorates within their chain of  command and other institutions operating in accordance with laws and other regulatory acts. CHAPTER VI EXERCISING AND PROTECTING LABOUR RIGHTS Article 34. Grounds for Arising of Labour Rights and Obligations Labour rights and obligations may arise, change or expire: 1) under this Code and other laws, employment contracts, collective agreements and other covenants which, thought not stipulated by laws, are not contrary to them; 2) under court judgements; 3) under administrative acts which result in legal consequences in labour matters; 4) due to the damage inflicted; 5) due to legal facts. Article 35. Exercising Labour Rights and Fulfilling Labour Duties 1. While exercising their rights and fulfilling their duties employers, employees and their representatives are bound to comply with laws, observe the rules of communal life and act  adhere to the principles of reasonableness, justice and honesty. Abuse of one's rights shall be prohibited. 2. Exercise of labour rights and fulfilment of labour duties may not violate other persons' rights and interests protected by law. It shall be prohibited to hinder the  formation of trade unions by the employees and to interfere with the lawful activities of the unions. Article 36. Protection of Labour Rights 1. Labour rights shall be protected by laws except in cases when the rights are exercised in violation of their purpose, public interests, peaceful work, good customs or principles of public morals. 2. Labour rights shall be protected by the court or any other dispute resolution body in accordance with the procedure established by  laws and in one of the following ways: 1) by recognising the said rights; 2) by restoring the situation that existed before the violation of the right and preventing performance of the acts which violate the right; 3) by obligating to perform the duty; 4) by terminating or modifying the legal relation; 5) by making the person guilty of violation of labour rights repair the property or moral damage inflicted or, in the cases prescribed by law, also exacting from  the above person penalty or default payment; 6) in other ways established by laws. 3. By way of exception, only the courts shall have the prerogative to protect the labour rights under laws in the following ways: 1) by recognising as invalid the acts adopted by state institutions, municipalities or individual officers if the said acts are contrary to laws; 2) by not applying the act adopted by a state institution, municipality or individual officer, which is contrary to laws. 4. Labour rights shall be protected by trade unions according to the procedure established by the laws regulating their activities. 5. In the cases specially established by labour laws labour rights shall be protected according to the administrative procedure. 6. A person whose right has been violated may claim recovery of damages unless otherwise established by labour laws. 7. Labour honour and businesses repute shall be protected pursuant to  the Civil Code except in cases where this Code or other laws establish other procedure and  ways of protection of labour honour and business repute. Article 37. Protection of  Labour Rights by the Employees themselves The employees shall be permitted to protect their  labour rights without applying to the competent bodies only in the cases established by this Code. Article 38. Liability Liability for the violations of the rights and duties established by this Code shall be determined by this Code, laws, other regulatory acts, collective agreements and other covenants. PART II COLLECTIVE LABOUR RELATIONS CHAPTER VII GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 39. Reconciliation of Interests of Labour Relations Subjects In order to actualise social partnership, this Code and other laws shall establish that social partnership may be realised by way of  bargaining and agreements. Article 40. Concept and Principles of Social Partnership 1. Social partnership means the system of interrelations between the employees’ and employers' representatives and their organisations and, in certain cases specified by this Code and other laws, also the system of interrelations between the state institutions with a view to reconciling the interests of the subjects of labour relations. 2. Social partnership shall be based on the following principles: 1) free collective bargaining; 2) voluntary and independent assumption of obligations binding the parties; 3) inviolability of the existing legal system; 4) actual fulfilment of the obligations; 5) furnishing of objective information; 6) mutual control and accountability; 7) equality of parties, goodwill and respect for lawful mutual interests. Article 41. Parties of Social Partnership Representatives of employees and employers and their organisations shall be considered to be parties of social partnership - social partners. In case of a tripartite social partnership the Government and municipal institutions shall participate in the partnership on an equal basis with the representatives of the employees and employers and their organisations. Article 42. Levels of Social Partnership  1. Social partnership may be developed on the following levels: 1) national; 2) sector (production, services, professional); 3) territorial (municipality, county); 4) enterprises, agencies, and their structural subdivisions. Article 43. Forms of Social Partnership 1. Social partnership shall be realised: 1) by forming tripartite or bipartite councils  (commissions, committees); 2) by applying information and consultation procedures; 3) by conducting collective bargaining in order to conclude a collective bargaining agreement; 4) through the employees' participation in the enterprise management. Article 44. System of Social Partnership The system of social partnership shall be comprised of: 1) the Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania; 2) other tripartite and bipartite councils (commissions, committees), formed according to the procedure established by laws or collective bargaining agreements. Article 45. Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania 1. By agreement between the social partners the Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter - Tripartite Council) shall be formed from equal number of members enjoying equal rights: representatives of central (national) trade unions, employers' organisations and the Government. 2. The functions, rights, procedure of formation, organisation of work of the Tripartite Council shall be established in the Regulations of the Tripartite Council. The Regulations shall be approved by the parties specified in paragraph 1 of this Article. The Regulations of the Tripartite Council shall be amended and supplemented according to the above-indicated procedure. The Regulations of the Tripartite Council, amendments and supplements to the Regulations shall come into force in the manner specified therein. 3. The Regulations of the Tripartite Council, amendments and supplements to the Regulations shall be published in "Valstybės žinios" (Official gazette). 4. The representatives of trade unions, employers' organisations and the Government shall furnish the Tripartite Council with the necessary information on the issues under consideration. 5. The Tripartite Council may conclude trilateral agreements on labour relations and social and economic conditions,  also on the regulation of mutual relations between the parties to the agreement.  6. The Tripartite Council's agreements shall be published in "Valstybės žinios" by the Prime Minister's orders and shall come into force in the manner prescribed for the Government resolutions. Article 46. Other Trilateral and Bilateral Councils (Commissions, Committees) 1. Other trilateral or bilateral councils (commissions, committees) may be established according to the procedure prescribed by laws or collective bargaining agreements for addressing and resolving the issues of labour, employment, employee safety and health and social policy implementation on the basis of trilateral and bilateral co-operation on equal rights basis.  2. The procedure of formation of the above trilateral or bilateral councils (commissions, committees) and their functions shall be established in the regulations of the relevant councils (commissions, committees). In the cases stipulated by laws the regulations shall be approved by the Government or subjects of collective bargaining agreements. Article 47. Information and Consultation 1. Employees shall have the right to information and consultation. 2. The employer (employers' organisation) shall present all information relating to labour relations to the representatives of the employees and their organisations having regard to the level of social partnership. 3. Consultation shall mean discussions between the representatives of the employees and their organisations and the employers and their organisations on the adoption of certain covenants or joint decisions. 4. Information and consultation shall embrace: 1) information relating to the current and future activities of the enterprise and its economic and financial condition; 2) information on the current state and structure of labour relations, and potential changes in employment; 3) information about the measures application whereof is intended in case of a possible redundancy; 4) other information connected with labour relations and activities of the enterprise, unless this information is considered a state, official or commercial secret. 5.. The conditions and procedure of furnishing of information and consultation shall be established in collective bargaining agreements. 6. This Code shall guarantee the right of the employees of EU enterprises or groups of enterprises to receive information and consultations through the European Labour Councils. The status of the Councils, the conditions of their establishment and activities shall be determined by special laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 48. Collective Bargaining 1. The subjects of collective labour relations and their representatives shall co-ordinate  their interests and settle disputes by way of negotiations. The party willing to negotiate shall present itself to the other party in the negotiations. The presentation shall be effected in writing and shall specify the reason for  negotiations. The party seeking negotiations must present clearly formulated demands and proposals. 2. The parties shall agree on the opening and procedure of the negotiations. In case of failure by the parties to reach an agreement  on the above issue, the negotiations  must be conducted within two weeks from the day  the other party received the presentation for negotiations. 3. Collective bargaining must be conducted in good faith and without delay. 4. Parties to the collective bargaining agreement and their representatives shall have the right to demand from the other party to submit information on all issues relating to the negotiations. The information must be presented within one month from the day it was requested, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. 5. The party which is bound to submit information shall have the right to demand that the other party should not disclose the submitted information on other grounds. Disclosure of the confidential information shall make the other party liable under law. 6. The parties shall consult on the received information, satisfaction of the submitted claims and their settlement procedure, the progress of negotiations and other issues. 7. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, the negotiations shall be deemed completed upon the signing of the collective agreement, drawing up of the protocol of disagreement or upon delivery by one of the parties to the other of a written notification of its withdrawal from the negotiations. Article 49. Types of Collective Agreements Collective agreements may be concluded on the following levels: 1) state (national) level; 2) sectoral (production, services, professional) level or territorial (municipality, county) level; 3) enterprise (agency, organisation) level or on the level of its structural subdivision. CHAPTER VIII NATIONAL, SECTORAL AND TERRITORIAL COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT Article 50. Contents of a National, Sectoral and Territorial Collective Agreement 1. A national, sectoral and territorial collective agreement shall be an agreement concluded in writing between the trade union organisations (association, federation, centre, etc.) and employers' organisations (association, federation, confederation, etc.). 2. A collective agreement concluded on a sectoral level shall define the socio-economic development trends of the sector, the conditions of labour organisation and remuneration for work as well as social guarantees of the employees (professional groups). 3. A collective agreement concluded on a territorial level shall specify the conditions of dealing with certain labour, socio-economic problems which reflect territorial peculiarities. 4. As a rule, the following shall be specified in a collective agreement concluded on the national, sectoral or territorial level: 1) terms and  conditions of remuneration for work, working and rest time, safety and health of the employees; 2) system of remuneration for work in case of price increases or increasing inflation; 3) conditions of speciality acquisition, in-service training and retraining; 4) social partnership support measures which help to avoid collective disputes , strikes; 5) procedure for determining, changing and revising work quotas, time worked, supply of services, number of employees; 6) other labour, social and economic conditions which are important to the parties; 7) procedure for amending and supplementing the collective agreement, period of validity, control of execution, liability for the violation of the agreement, etc.  shall be established in the labour agreement. Article 51. Parties to a National, Sectoral and Territorial Collective Agreement 1. Parties to a national collective agreement shall be the central (national) trade union organisations and employers' organisations. 2. Parties to a sectoral collective agreement shall be the trade union and employers’ organisations of an appropriate sector of industry (production, services, profession). 3. Parties to a territorial collective agreement shall be the trade union and employers’ organisations acting in the specified territory (municipality, county). Article 52. The Scope of Application a National, Sectoral or Territorial Collective Agreement 1. A national, sectoral and territorial collective agreement shall be applied in the enterprises whose employers: 1) were members of the associations of employers which signed the agreement; 2) joined the above associations after the signing of the agreement. 2. Where the provisions of a sectoral or territorial agreement are of consequence for an appropriate sector of production or profession, the minister of social security and labour may extend the scope of application of the sectoral or territorial collective agreement or separate provisions thereof, establishing that the agreement shall be applied with respect to the entire sector, profession, sphere of services or a certain territory if such a request has been submitted by one or several employees' or employers' organisations which are parties to the sectoral or territorial agreement.   3. Where several collective agreements are applicable in an enterprise, the provisions of the agreement which provide for more favourable conditions for the employees shall apply. Article 53. Procedure for Drawing up a National, Sectoral or Territorial Collective Agreement 1. The drawing up of a national, sectoral and territorial collective agreement according to the procedure established in Article 48 of this Code shall be initiated by the parties specified in Article 51 of the Code. 2. The procedure and time limits for drawing up, signing, supplementing and amending a national, sectoral and territorial collective agreement as well as other related issues shall be determined by the parties to the agreement. Article 54. Registration of a National, Sectoral or Territorial Collective Agreement 1. A national, sectoral and territorial agreement shall be subject to registration upon application. The registration procedure shall be established by the Government. The national, sectoral and territorial agreement shall be within twenty days from the signing thereof submitted for registration by the party - the employers' organisation. 2. If the employers' organisation fails to register the national, sectoral and territorial agreement within the time limit set in paragraph 1 of this Article, the other party to the agreement - the trade union - shall acquire the right to submit the national, sectoral and territorial agreement for registration. The trade union shall submit the national, sectoral and territorial agreement for registration within ten days from the expiry of the time limit specified in paragraph 1 of this Article. Article 55. Validity of a National, Sectoral and Territorial Agreement A national, sectoral and territorial agreement shall enter into force from the day of its registration and shall be valid until the date specified therein or until the conclusion of a new national, sectoral or territorial collective agreement. Article 56. Termination of a National, Sectoral and Territorial Agreement A national, sectoral and territorial agreement may be terminated in the cases and in accordance with the procedure established therein. Article 57. Control over the Implementation of a National, Sectoral and Territorial Agreement The implementation of a national, sectoral and territorial agreement shall be controlled by the parties to the agreement or persons authorised by them therefor as well as by the institutions for the control of compliance with labour laws. Article 58. Resolution of Disputes Arising during the Conclusion and Implementation of a National, Sectoral and Territorial Agreement Disputes arising over the conclusion and implementation of a national, sectoral and territorial agreement shall be resolved according to the procedure established in Chapter X of this Code. CHAPTER IX COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT OF AN ENTERPRISE Article 59. Collective Agreement of an Enterprise and the Scope of its Conclusion 1. A collective agreement of an enterprise shall be a written covenant between the employer and the staff of the enterprise about the work, remuneration for work and other social and economic conditions. A collective agreement of an enterprise shall be concluded in all types of enterprises, agencies and organisations. 2. A collective agreement concluded in an enterprise shall be applicable to all employees of the enterprise. Collective agreements may be concluded in branches, representative offices and structural subdivisions of enterprises in accordance with the procedure established by the collective agreement of the enterprise and within the scope of the said collective agreement. 3. The specific features of conclusion of a collective agreements of an enterprise in the national defence, police and state public administration services shall be established by laws regulating the activities of the respective services. Article 60. Parties to a Collective Agreement of an Enterprise 1. The parties to a collective agreement of an enterprise shall be the staff of the enterprise and the employer, who shall be represented, for the purposes of conclusion of the agreement, by the trade union acting in the enterprise and the manager of the enterprise or authorised administrative officers. 2. Where several trade unions are acting in an enterprise, the enterprise's collective agreement shall be concluded by the joint representation of the trade unions and the employer. 3.  The joint representation of the trade unions shall be formed by agreement between the trade unions. If the trade unions fail to reach an agreement on the formation of a joint representation of the trade unions, the decision on the representation shall be adopted by a meeting (conference) of the employees. 4. If the enterprise has no acting trade union and if the staff meeting has not delegated the functions of representation and protection of the employees to the trade union of the appropriate sector of economic activity, the collective agreement may be concluded between the employer and the labour council in accordance with the regulations for the conclusion of collective agreements established in this Chapter. Article 61. Contents of Collective Agreement of an Enterprise 1. The parties to a collective agreement of an enterprise shall lay down in the agreement the work, professional, social and economic  conditions and guarantees that are not regulated by laws and other regulatory acts or by a national, sectoral or territorial collective agreement or which are not contrary  to the above-mentioned acts and do not make the position of the employees less favourable. 2. The following conditions may be included in the  collective agreement of an enterprise: 1) conditions for conclusion, changing and termination of employment contract; 2) conditions of remuneration for work (provisions regarding wage rates, basic salaries, bonuses, additional pay, other benefits and compensatory allowances, systems and forms  of remuneration for work and provision of incentives, setting of work quotas,  indexing and payment of wages and salaries and settlement procedure as well as other provisions); 3)working time and rest time; 4) provision of safe and healthy working conditions, granting of compensatory allowances and other privileges; 5) acquisition of  profession or speciality, in-service training, retraining, as well as  related guarantees and privileges; 6) procedure for implementing the enterprise's collective agreement; 7) exchange of information and consultations between the parties; 8) other work, economic and social  conditions and provisions which are of consequence for the parties. Article 62. Drafting of a Collective Agreement of an Enterprise and its Consideration 1. A commission shall be formed by the parties on parity grounds for drafting a collective agreement of an enterprise. The composition of the commission shall be given in the protocol of agreement of the parties. The date of signing of the protocol shall be considered to be the date of commencement of  collective bargaining. 2. Commencing the negotiations, the parties shall discuss what information they will present, the time limit of presentation thereof, the procedure and time limit of drafting of the collective agreement of an enterprise. 3. If no agreement is reached on the information that must be furnished, on the procedure of drafting of the collective agreement, the time limit of negotiations, the contents of the enterprise's collective agreement, a protocol of disagreement shall be drawn up. The protocol shall specify the measures proposed by the parties with a view to eliminating the reasons of disagreement and the time limit for resuming the negotiations. 4. The draft of the enterprise's  collective agreement approved by the parties shall be submitted to the employees' meeting (conference). If the meeting (conference) does not approve of the submitted draft, it will decide to either resume the negotiations or to initiate a collective labour dispute. A collective labour dispute may also be started in case of failure to eliminate disagreements specified in paragraph 3 of this Article. If the meeting (conference) of the employees approves of the enterprise's draft collective agreement, the agreement shall be signed by the representatives of the employer and employees. 5. The employees' meeting shall be lawful if attended by at least a half of the employees of the enterprise (structural subdivision), the conference - if attended by at least two thirds of the delegates. If the required number of employees (delegates) are not present at the meeting (conference), a repeat meeting (conference) of employees shall be convened within five days. A meeting shall be held valid if attended by one-fourth of the employees, and a  conference - by a half of the delegates. 6. A meeting of the employees may be convened in the structural subdivisions of the enterprise according to the procedure laid down in the enterprise's collective agreement. Voting results shall be determined on the basis of the number of votes received at the said meetings. 7. Decisions shall be passed by majority vote of those present at the meeting (conference), voting, at the choice of the employees' meeting (conference delegates), by secret or open ballot. Article 63. Coming into Force and Period of Validity of a Collective Agreement of an Enterprise's 1. A collective agreement of an enterprise  shall enter into force upon its signing, unless otherwise established in the agreement. 2. A collective agreement of an enterprise shall be valid until the signing of a new  collective agreement of the enterprise or until the deadline set in the agreement. Where a fixed-term collective agreement of the enterprise has been concluded, the parties shall start negotiations for its renewal two months before the termination of its validity.    3. If an enterprise or a part thereof passes over from one employer who concluded a collective agreement of the enterprise to another employer, the provisions of the collective agreement shall be valid for the new employer as well. 4. If the enterprise files a petition for bankruptcy or initiates performance of extrajudicial bankruptcy procedure, the validity of the collective agreement of the enterprise shall be restricted based on laws. Article 64. Amendments and Supplements to the Collective Agreement of an Enterprise The procedure for amending and supplementing a collective agreement of an enterprise shall  be established in the collective agreement of the enterprise. If the procedure has not been established, the collective agreement of the enterprise shall be amended and supplemented in the manner in which the agreement is concluded. Article 65. Termination of a Collective Agreement of an Enterprise A collective agreement of an enterprise may be terminated in the cases and according to the procedure specified in the agreement by any party after giving an at least three-month advance notice to the other party. Termination of a collective agreement of an enterprise before the lapse of a six months period after the coming into force of the agreement shall be prohibited. Article 66. Control over the Implementation of a Collective Agreement of an Enterprise 1. Control over fulfilment of the obligations under the collective agreement of an enterprise shall be exercised by the representatives of the parties as well as by the institutions authorised under laws. 2. Representatives of the parties to the collective agreement of an enterprise shall report to the meeting (conference) of the employees for the implementation  of the agreement. The procedure and time limit of reporting shall be established in the agreement. Article 67. Procedure of Settlement of Disagreements and Disputes Arising during the Conclusion and Implementation of Collective Agreement of an Enterprise    1. Disputes arising during the negotiations for conclusion of a collective agreement of an enterprise also about the changing of the conditions established by laws, other regulatory acts or collective agreements or establishment of new work conditions shall be settled according to the procedure for settlement of collective labour disputes (conflicts of interests) (Chapter X of the Code). 2. Disputes between individual employees and the employer (administration) concerning failure to implement or improper implementation of the collective agreement of the enterprise shall be settled according to the labour disputes resolution procedure (Chapter XIX of the Code). CHAPTER X REGULATION OF COLLECTIVE LABOUR DISPUTES Article 68. Collective Labour Dispute A collective labour dispute means disagreements between the trade union of an enterprise and the employer or the subjects entitled to conclude collective agreements, arising about the establishment or changing of work, social and economic conditions when conducting the negotiations or when concluding and implementing the collective agreement (conflict of interests), in case of failure to meet the demands made and submitted by the parties according to the procedure established by this Code. Article 69. Submitting Demands 1. Demands to an employer, subjects of collective agreements may be submitted by: 1) the trade union of the enterprise or the joint representation of trade unions or organisations of trade unions; 2) the labour council if there is no trade union in the enterprise and if the staff meeting has not delegated the function of employee representation and protection to the trade union of a relevant sector of economic activity. 2. The demands must be exactly defined, motivated, set out in writing and handed in to the employer or subject of the collective agreement. Article 70. Consideration of Demands The entity to whom the demands are submitted shall consider the demands and within seven days from the receipt thereof communicate his decision in writing to the entity who made and submitted the demands. If the entity who made and submitted the demands finds the decision unsatisfactory, the parties may enlist the services of the mediation officer or refer the dispute for hearing according to the procedure established in Articles 73-77 of this Code. Article 71. Bodies Hearing Collective Labour Disputes Collective labour disputes shall be heard by: 1) Conciliation Commission; 2) Labour Arbitration or third party court Article 72. Formation of Conciliation Commission 1. The Conciliation Commission shall be formed from an equal number of authorised representatives of entities who made the demands and those to whom the demands were submitted. The number of Commission members shall be set by agreement between the parties. The Commission shall be formed within seven days from the day of refusal to meet the demands by the entity who received the demand or if no response was received during the said period. 2. If parties fail to reach an agreement on the number of Commission members, they shall at their discretion delegate their representatives to the Commission.  Each party may have not more than five representatives on the Commission. 3. The Conciliation Commission shall elect its chairman and its secretary from its members. By agreement between the parties an independent mediation officer may be appointed chairman of the Conciliation Commission. Article 73. Hearing of Collective Dispute in the Conciliation Commission 1. Hearing of a dispute in the Conciliation Commission is a mandatory stage of collective dispute resolution. 2. The Conciliation Commission shall hear the collective dispute within seven days from the day of formation of the Conciliation Commission. The time limit may be extended by agreement between the parties. 3. Representatives of the parties shall have the right to invite specialists (consultants, experts, etc.) to the Commission meeting in which  the labour dispute is heard. 4. The employer must provide the Conciliation Commission conditions  for work: assign premises and furnish the necessary information. Article 74. Decision of the Conciliation Commission 1. Decisions of the Conciliation Commission shall be adopted by agreement between the parties, executed by drawing up a record and must be implemented  by the parties within the time limit and according to the procedure specified in the decision. 2. If the Conciliation Commission fails to reach an agreement on all or part of the demands, the Commission may refer them for hearing to the Labour Arbitration, third party court  or wind up the conciliation proceeding by drawing up a Protocol of Disagreement. 3. The decision of the Conciliation Commission shall be announced to the employees. Article 75. Labour Arbitration. Third Party Court 1. The Labour Arbitration shall be formed under district court within the jurisdiction whereof the registered office of the enterprise or the entity which has received the demands made in the collective dispute is located. The composition of the Labour Arbitration, the dispute resolution procedure and the procedure of execution of the adopted decision shall be specified by the Regulations of Labour Arbitration approved by the Government. 2. Parties to the collective dispute shall each appoint one or several arbitrators of the third party court and execute the appointment by a written contract. The procedure of dispute resolution and execution of the adopted decision shall be established by the Statute of Third Party Court approved by the Government. 3. The Labour Arbitration, the third party court shall within fourteen days resolve the collective dispute referred to them. The decisions of the Labour Arbitration and the third party court shall be binding upon the parties to the dispute. Article 76. Strike Strike means a temporary cessation of work by the employees or a group of employees of one or several enterprises if a collective dispute is not settled  or a decision adopted by the Conciliation Commission, Labour Arbitration or …