Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Lithuania (Ratification: 1994)

Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Labour inspection activities in the area of irregular work. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates in its report that: (i) in 2023, the State Labour Inspectorate (SLI) conducted more than 5,600 on-site inspections and remote investigations to control and prevent illegal work; (ii) these inspections accounted for nearly 53 per cent of the inspections and investigations carried out by the SLI in 2023, representing an increase of 22 per cent in this type of inspection in comparison to 2022; (iii) between 2022 and 2024, 50 additional inspectors were assigned to the prevention of illegal and undeclared work; (iv) the number of foreign workers found to be working illegally in the country has been increasing in the past five years; (v) on 1 July 2024, amendments to the Law on Employment came into force which introduced effective and dissuasive sanctions for illegal and undeclared employment, incentives for entities that regularize irregular workers, and measures to encourage individuals who have worked illegally to report such work; and (vi) in 2023, 750 cases of illegal work were regularized following labour inspections, representing 38.7 per cent of the 1,940 total cases identified (compared to 36.3 per cent in 2022). While taking note of the continued efforts of the SLI in preventing and combating irregular work and of the amendments of the Law on Employment, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures adopted by the SLI to ensure the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of the workers found to be working illegally, including migrant workers.

Article 3(1) and (2). Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. Labour inspection activities with regard to resolution of labour disputes. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous request, the Government indicates that the civil servants of the SLI who perform duties related to dispute resolution as provided for in the Labour Code, do not perform any other functions within the SLI. The Committee takes note of this information that addresses its previous request.

Articles 5(a), 17 and 18. Cooperation between the SLI and the judiciary, legal proceedings and penalties. The Committee notes that in reply to its previous request, the Government refers to the work of the SLI in combating human trafficking and forced labour. It indicates that, in 2022–2023, the SLI completed eight victim identification forms related to trafficking in human beings and submitted them to the pretrial investigation authorities. One case is currently under investigation by those authorities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of cases referred to the prosecutors by labour inspectors in relation to all types of offences, and on the outcome of those proceedings, including sanctions assessed and collected, and any instances of imprisonment.

Articles 12 and 16. Free initiative of labour inspectors and notification of their presence to the employer on the occasion of an inspection visit. Inspections as often and as thoroughly as is necessary. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous request, the Government provides information on the number of scheduled and unscheduled inspections conducted in 2023 (4,600 and 4,200 respectively) and indicates that (i) scheduled inspections are only notified in advance in cases of inspections on occupational safety and health (OSH) and the prevention of psychological violence at work, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Law on Public Administration; (ii) in 2023, the SLI informed economic operators in advance of scheduled inspections in 38.8 per cent of the cases; (iii) around 47.3 per cent of the unscheduled inspections were carried out in response to complaints and reports of infringements of the public interest; (iv) in about 50 per cent of inspections following a complaint, violations were identified and a report of administrative offences was drawn up; and (v) the most common offences discovered after a complaint were illegal and undeclared work, undeclared self-employment, violations of the procedure for employment of foreigners, and work without a transparent worker identification code. The Committee notes that section 21 of the Order No. V-334 of 29 July 2014, on the Approval of the Rules for the Inspection of the Activities Economic Entities by the State Labour Inspectorate, as amended, still provides that unscheduled inspections can be carried out only in the presence of a justified decision of by the competent authorities and only in specific cases determined in the Order. The Committee recalls that the requirement to obtain prior authorization before conducting an inspection, as well as the restriction of unscheduled inspections to specific cases, limits the free initiative of labour inspectors and is contrary to Article 12(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to section 32 of the same Order, unscheduled inspections are notified upon arrival, except for inspections related to controls of illegal work, in which cases the notification occurs after the inspection is completed. The Committee recalls that, according to Article 12(2), during an inspection visit, labour inspectors should have the discretion not to notify the employer of their presence if they believe that such notification may be prejudicial to the performance of their duties. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measure adopted in order to ensure compliance with Articles 12(1)(a) and 12(2), and to ensure that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of legal provisions, in accordance with Article 16. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 21 and 32 of the above-mentioned Order.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that information on the items listed in Article 21 of the Convention are provided to the European Union Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee (SLIC) in the following documents: the SLIC Handbook, the annual Statistical Annex and the SLI’s Activity Report for the previous calendar year. The Committee notes that it does not have access to the SLIC Handbook and to the Statistical Annex mentioned by the Government and that the SLI’s Activity report for 2023 does not cover all the elements of Article 21. The Government further indicates that, when preparing the report on the activities of the SLI for 2024, the SLI will transfer the indicators referred to in Article 21 into special statistical annexes to the Government report on Convention No. 81. While taking note of this information, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that the annual labour inspection report, which contains information on all items listed in Article 21, is compiled, published and sent to the ILO in accordance with Article 20.