Background information

On 7 March 2020, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Law XIII-2845, amending Article 32 and adding Article 32(1) to Law No. I - 1553 on Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases in Humans, which improved social guarantees for healthcare workers in the event of incapacity for work and increased wage supplements for employees working in particularly dangerous conditions (virus hotspots). The aim is to support healthcare workers and other employees working during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Content of measure

Amendments to the Law stipulate that employees belonging to the Lithuanian national health system (physicians, nurses, cleaners, etc.), including resident doctors working in particularly dangerous conditions, outbreaks of infection, will be paid wage supplements from 60% to 100% (depending on the employees’ pay system in the institution), taking into account the nature, complexity and level of responsibility of the functions performed by, the workload and the scale of the activity of a particular healthcare professional. The said salaries of healthcare employees will be recalculated and paid for the period from the date of entry into force of the quarantine, i.e. from 16 March 2020. Around €130 million from the reserve of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund will be allocated for this purpose. The total salary fund for medical staff will increase by 18%.

Use of measure

No information yet available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Particular professions	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Social partners jointly	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

N/A

Views and reactions

Only ad hoc consultations with social partners; tripartite meeting has not been held.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 07 April 2020: LR žmonių užkrečiamųjų ligų profilaktikos ir kontrolės įstatymo Nr. I-1553 32 straipsnio pakeitimo ir Įstatymo papildymo 32-1 straipsniu įstatymas (2020-04-07) (e-seimas.lrs.lt)