Lithuania

Labour Inspection Structure and Organization

Name of institution that manages work issues

The Ministry of Social Security and Labour is responsible for labour and social security issues in the country.

Department(s) responsible for Labour Inspection

The State Labour Inspectorate is the national institution under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour responsible for the enforcement of labour legislation.

Law that covers organization and functional composition

  • Law on State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania, 14 October 2003 No. IX-1768
  • Regulations on the State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania,
  • Operational Regulations of the State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania.

Scope of labour inspection

The Labour Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing legislation relative to labour conditions and safety and health issues as well as overseeing compliance with collective agreements. It also has responsibilities over the prevention of accidents at work and occupational diseases. Labour inspectors provide advice to workers and employers on how better to implement labour and OSH legislation and collective bargaining agreements. Labour inspectors are also mandated to submit comments and proposals regarding draft laws under preparation in the areas of occupational safety and health and working conditions.

Labour inspectors are also competent for supervising undeclared work and coordinating the activities of institutions working on the subject.

Local divisions

The law provides for the possibility of creating a labour inspection structure in regional divisions.

Programming and communication

Since 2000, a weekly electronic newsletter of the State Labour Inspectorate is issued for employees of the Inspectorate. It has become the acknowledged means for systematic exchange of internal information between inspectors. In this publication, regional divisions are informed about decisions of top management, activities and events organised by the Inspectorate and jointly with other institutions. Experiences from events, business trips, study visits are also shared. The State Labour Inspectorate also publishes news from regional divisions, advice and recommendations on improving inspection activities, data and indicators.

Current reforms

The Labour Inspection Service is currently implementing a project to introduce a quality management system to enhance the labour inspection service. It will develop and introduce systems to assess risks in companies along with a monitoring system based on specific indicators.

Human Resources and career development

Permanency of inspectors

Labour inspectors are public servants protected against dismissal.

Background required

Newly hired labour inspectors receive 420 hours of training in accordance with the Programme for the Basic Training of Labour Inspectors. The main topics covered by the theoretical training include the organisation of the labour inspector’s work, the organisation of occupational health and safety in a company, the fundamentals of occupational hygiene, the technical legal framework and occupational safety in specific fields of industry and basic computer skills. Additionally labour inspectors receive a 290 hour training on labour law.

Every year, the Labour Inspectorate, in accordance with the Law on Public Service, draws up a plan for the training of civil servants and staff with employment contracts.

Visits and functions

Types of visits

Labour inspectors carry out planned visits as well as visits at the request of individuals. Requests can come in the form of complaints, but can also be at the initiative of an employer who wishes to receive advice on certain topics.

Inspection visits are carried out in pairs to ensure ethical behaviour and also to increase the knowledge and skills of new labour inspectors. When conducting an inspection, inspectors use general or thematic checklists to ensure transparency and uniform interpretation of legislation by inspectors.

Role of preventive measures

In order to enhance a culture of prevention, the Labour Inspectorate uses various information channels including on-going cooperation with national media, providing information on inspection activities through, for example, national radio broadcasts with labour inspectors. Regional inspection divisions also cooperate on regular basis with local media to disseminate their messages.

Specific campaigns are also organized within the framework of the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, including for example on working with stress, dangerous substances, construction and noise. The inspectorate also organizes regular seminars and conferences for employers, SMEs and employers’ organisations on a variety of issues to ensure better working conditions in the enterprises and better compliance with the law. The inspectorate website is also a source of information that includes prevention fact sheets, answers to frequently asked questions and recommendations from specialists on diverse subjects. Posters, stickers, video clips and flyers are also a very common tool used by the inspectorate in specific campaigns.

Registries and reporting of accidents/diseases at work

Employers are required to report accidents at work and occupational diseases to the relevant State institutions. Accidents in companies are also investigated by bilateral commissions assisted by labour inspectors. In the event of fatal accidents, employers must immediately notify the prosecutor’s office of the appropriate district and the labour inspectorate. The procedures for reporting accidents are set out in the Regulations for Investigation and Registration of Accidents at Work and the Regulations for Investigation and Registration of Occupational Diseases.

Sanction and administrative processes

Labour inspectors may give notice to employers requiring them to eliminate any identified violations within a specified period of time, stop work that endangers life or health of workers, write protocols of administrative law violations and assign fines.

Social dialogue and labour inspection

The law requires that labour inspectors cooperate and exchange information with state and municipal institutions as well as establishments, trade unions, labour councils, organisations of employers and analogous authorities of other countries.

ILO Conventions ratified

Lithuania ratified Convention No. 81 in 1994 and has not ratified Convention No. 129.