Background information

On 15 June 2020, the Law amending Articles 5-1, 20, 25, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47 and 55 of and adding Article 48-1 to the Law on Employment of the Republic of Lithuania No XII-2470 came into effect, which provides that self-employed people who were unable to carry out their activities and lost income as a result of the quarantine introduced in the country can apply to the public employment service (PES) for a subsidy of almost €7,000 to change their economic activities. The aim is to enable self-employed people who had to discontinue their activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic to continue self-employment by switching to another field.

Content of measure

The Law provides that self-employed people who were not able to carry out their activities and lost income, and to whom the €257 monthly benefit was paid during the quarantine period, may apply to the Public Employment Services (PES) for a subsidy to change their economic activity. The €257 benefit was paid to eligible self-employed persons throughout the quarantine period and for two months thereafter.

The flat-rate benefit was paid if a self-employed person meets all of the conditions below:

• self-employment has been registered for at least three months in the last year and has not been de-registered until the date the Government declared the state of emergency and quarantine;
• during the state of emergency and quarantine period, monthly gross earnings of the person working under an employment contract or on the grounds of legal relations deemed to be equal to labour relations do not exceed the minimum wage (€607 gross);
• the person does not have the status of a legal person in liquidation or bankruptcy.

The maximum amount of aid requested for the change of self-employment activities is €6,980.50, and the person will have to carry out the activity for which the subsidy has been received for 12 months. Jobs may not be created for seasonal or temporary work. The subsidy may be used exclusively for the purchase of work equipment/implements, services and works related to the direct work functions.

Use of measure

The total allocations for the measure amount to €5.1 million. According to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, a total of 379 applications have been received by the PES by 9 June 2020 for the total amount of €2,418,312. A total of 93,049 self-employed persons have applied for the €257 benefit by 1 July 2020.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Self-employed	Solo-self-employed	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Social partners jointly Public employment service	European Funds 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:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners (SPs) consulted only ad hoc, the tripartite meeting was not held. On 24 April 2020, the Advisory Group for Post-Quarantine Social Issues under the MSSL started its work in Lithuania, discussing measures to reduce social effects during the post-quarantine period in Lithuania. SPs were also invited to participate in the group

Views and reactions

SPs positively assessed measures planned in Lithuania for the post-quarantine period (including subsidies for self-employed) and appreciated that their proposals had been taken into account.

Sources

• 24 April 2020: The 1.3 billion euro social support scheme launched (Pateikta 1.3 mlrd. eurų socialinės paramos programa) (www.lps.lt)
• 07 May 2020: Law amending Articles 5-1, 20, 25, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47 and 55 of and adding Article 48-1 to the Law on Tourism of the Republic of Lithuania (LR užimtumo įstatymo Nr. XII-2470 5-1, 20, 25, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 55 straipsnių pakeitimo ir Įstatymo papildymo 48-1 straipsniu įstatymas) (www.e-tar.lt)