In May 2025 Lithuania formally proposed draft legislation to align national labour law with the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970). This builds on a long-standing domestic framework.
Since 2019, Lithuanian employers have already been required to include salary ranges or fixed pay in job advertisements and refrain from asking applicants about their prior salary history. The draft was presented to the social partners via the Tripartite Council of Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labour on 27 May 2025.
What the Draft Proposes
Recruitment and Hiring Transparency
Salary information in job ads remains mandatory. Employers are prohibited from asking about applicants’ past or current pay. If a role falls under a collective bargaining agreement, the employer must disclose the relevant agreement before hiring. These elements mirror the aims of the EU Directive by preventing historical pay discrimination from carrying forward.
Pay Structures and Job Classification
The draft requires all employers, regardless of size, to implement formal remuneration systems based on objective and gender neutral criteria. Job value must be evaluated using factors such as skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. Companies with 50 or more employees must document procedures for pay increases. This ensures that pay decisions rely on measurable criteria rather than subjective considerations.
Right to Information and Pay Comparison
Employees will have the right to request a written comparison between their own pay and the average pay for comparable roles. The comparison must show differences by gender. Employers must inform employees annually of this right. Employees will also have the freedom to discuss their own pay and disclose it for the purpose of promoting pay equality. Employers cannot forbid such discussions.
Pay Gap Reporting and Remediation
Lithuania already had a system requiring employers with 20 or more employees to establish pay systems and report pay gaps internally. The new draft extends these obligations. Pay gap data must be available at the job category level upon request. If differences exceed 5 percent and cannot be justified objectively, the employer must correct them within six months. Detailed rules for joint pay assessments, which involve cooperation with employee representatives, will be developed separately.
Enforcement and Penalties
The draft removes previous thresholds so the rules apply even to very small employers. Penalties for non compliance include fines ranging from 400 to 6,000 euros. Confidentiality clauses that label pay as secret cannot be used to prevent employees from sharing information needed to enforce equal pay rules.
Implications
For employees and job seekers, the draft increases transparency and provides tools to identify potential pay inequalities. For employers, the changes signal a shift toward structured pay systems with clear documentation. HR teams will need to reassess job classification, pay evaluation and salary increase procedures. Larger employers will have additional procedural requirements.
Timeline
Lithuania aims to adopt the amendments by the EU’s transposition deadline of 7 June 2026. Work remains on several elements, including joint pay assessments and external reporting requirements. Employers should begin preparing now by reviewing their job architecture, mapping pay structures and establishing procedures for responding to pay information requests.
This draft positions Lithuania as one of the more proactive EU member states in addressing pay transparency and equal pay.
