President signs Labour Code amendments into law

“The president signed the amendments on Wednesday,” Skaiste Plausinyte, an advisor to Grybauskaite, told BNS on Thursday.

The president’s office gave no further comment on the reasons for the president’s decision to sign the amendments.

The Seimas passed the amendments to the Labour Code, which comes into force on Jul. 1, last week.

Supporters say that more flexible labour relations are necessary to create new jobs and attract new investments. Critics warn, however, that the new Labour Code will make it easier for employers to dismiss employees.

The more liberal Labour Code was passed in June 2016, but it was vetoed by Grybauskaite shortly afterwards.

The Seimas overrode the president’s veto after the government and trade unions agreed to improve the code by the end of the general elections.

The code was slightly adjusted in early November, but the new ruling majority of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Social Democrats postponed its entry into force for half a year to allow time for further amendments.

The president’s office has said that the Seimas took 18 out of 22 comments and proposals made Grybauskaite into consideration while amending the code.

This is Lithuania’s second Labour Code since independence. The existing code has been in place since 2003. Before that, labor relations in Lithuania were regulated by separate laws.