RegRally Insights: Employment & Migration Law Updates, September 2026

By 31 December 2026, every employer in Lithuania, irrespective of size, must have a pay structure that groups positions by objective and gender-neutral criteria. New pay transparency reporting rules will come into force in 2027, requiring employers to submit pay data to Sodra on a monthly basis, while employees will gain the right to request pay information for their category.

We also highlight an important change to the procedure for paying business trip daily allowances, which takes effect on 1 October 2026.

In addition, this edition of migration and employment law updates discusses the State Labour Inspectorate’s reminder regarding employers’ obligations to prevent violence and harassment at work, as well as a recent EU Advocate General’s opinion on workplace dress codes.

This month at a glance

• Pay structure deadline: by 31 December 2026, all employers, irrespective of size, sector or nature of activities, must approve or review their pay structure (darbo apmokėjimo sistema, DAS) under Article 140(3) of the Labour Code, grouping positions by objective and gender-neutral criteria.
• Pay transparency reporting: Order No A1-433 sets up the Pay Transparency Notification (Form SDUP), submitted to Sodra monthly via EDAS. The first form is due by 28 February 2027 for January 2027, and from 1 March 2027 employees may request their own and their category’s monthly indicators.
• Business trips: from 1 October 2026, new rules for paying business trip daily allowances (per diems) apply under Government Resolution No 518. For trips shorter than 7 calendar days without a collective agreement, per diems can no longer be reduced unilaterally, reduced rates for longer trips may not fall below 65% of the maximum rates in an internal normative act or 50% in a collective agreement, a first or last trip day shorter than four hours pays 20% of the per diem, and no per diems are paid for a one-day business trip within Lithuania.
• Violence and harassment: a VDI survey of nearly 300 employers found that some have still not implemented obligations that have been mandatory for over three years, from conduct rules and a named contact person to training every three years.
• EU case law: Advocate General Ćapeta considers that a tattoo ban combined with a skirt requirement for women’s ceremonial uniforms amounts to direct sex discrimination. The Court’s judgment will follow.

All employers must have a compliant pay structure by 31 December 2026

Source: Labour Code, Article 140(3) | Deadline: 31 December 2026
Link | Our overview of the Pay Transparency Directive implementation in Lithuania

What happened?

31 December 2026 is the deadline for employers to approve, or review and, where necessary, amend the pay structure (darbo apmokėjimo sistema, DAS) under Article 140 of the Labour Code and Article 23(4) of Law No XV-969. By that date, all employers, irrespective of their size, sector or nature of activities, must have objective and gender-neutral pay systems ensuring employees’ right to fair remuneration.

The pay structure will be mandatory for all employers and must be made available to all employees. Before approving or amending it, the employer must complete the information and consultation procedures required under the Labour Code.

The pay structure must group positions according to objective and gender-neutral criteria and set out the forms of pay, salary amounts or ranges, rules for additional remuneration, allowances and bonuses, and the criteria and procedure for salary indexation and increases. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the obligation to set salary increase criteria and procedure.

Positions involving the same work or work of equal value must be assigned to the same position group, and equal pay must be ensured for men and women performing the same or equal-value work.

Why does it matter for employers?

There is no small-company exception. The obligation applies to all employers, irrespective of size, sector or nature of activities.

The grouping decisions made now will carry forward. The same position categories will be used for pay transparency reporting from 2027, so inconsistencies in the grouping will carry into the reported data.

Recommended actions

Employers should:

• complete the preparation or review of their pay structure by 31 December 2026 and ensure that all positions are grouped using objective and gender-neutral criteria in line with Article 140(3) of the Labour Code
• map all existing roles against the pay structure and assign each employee to the appropriate position group
• check whether information and consultation procedures are required before approval or amendment
• align the internal categories with the categories that will later be used for pay transparency reporting

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Pay transparency reporting takes shape: Form SDUP goes to Sodra monthly from 2027

Source: Ministry of Social Security and Labour (SADM), Order No A1-433 | Date: 17 July 2026, in force from 31 July 2026
Link

What happened?

SADM adopted Order No A1-433 of 17 July 2026 approving the Procedure for the collection and publication of information on employees for the purpose of implementing their right to fair remuneration and for the joint pay assessment. The Order is the implementing measure for the pay transparency amendments to the Labour Code (Law No XV-969 of 21 May 2026, transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970).

The Procedure introduces the Pay Transparency Notification (Form SDUP), submitted monthly to Sodra via EDAS by the last day of the month for the preceding month. It defines the key data concepts: the category of workers (grouped under the objective, gender-neutral criteria of Article 140(3) of the Labour Code and denoted by its number in the pay structure), gross monthly pay, gross complementary pay and paid working time.

The Order sets out the full methodology by which Sodra calculates average hourly pay, pay gaps, medians and quartiles, returns monthly indicators by the 15th day of the month and annual indicators, and lists the additional data required when the form is completed for the first time.

Key dates: the first Form SDUP is due by 28 February 2027 for January 2027. From 1 March 2027, an employee may request their own and their category’s monthly indicators, earlier than the annual indicators, which apply from 2028 for employers with 150 or more insured employees and from 2031 for those with 100 to 149.

Chapter VIII sets out the joint pay assessment procedure, which applies where an unjustified pay gap of 5% or more within a category of workers is not remedied within six months. Temporary employment agencies do not receive Sodra indicators but must calculate them themselves and submit Form SDUP by 1 March.

Why does it matter for employers?

From 2027, pay transparency is a monthly payroll obligation with fixed dates and a set data format.

From 1 March 2027, employees can request their own and their category’s monthly indicators, well before any annual indicators are published. And a gap of 5% or more within a category that stays unjustified for six months triggers a joint pay assessment.

Recommended actions

Employers should:

• prepare in advance for the new monthly data reporting obligation and the new employee category requirement
• review the pay structure, assign all positions to objective and gender-neutral categories, and ensure the internal categories correspond to the data that will have to be submitted in Form SDUP via EDAS
• map existing roles against the pay structure and confirm each employee’s category before the first reporting period, so the payroll team can generate consistent monthly data for submission to Sodra

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New rules on business trip daily allowances from 1 October

Date: 15 September 2026 | Source: State Labour Inspectorate (VDI)
Link

Date: 3 July 2026 | Source: Government Resolution No 518 of 1 July 2026 (TAR)
Link

What happened?

From 1 October 2026, new rules for paying business trip daily allowances (per diems) apply, adopted by Government Resolution No 518 of 1 July 2026. The State Labour Inspectorate has urged employers to review their business trip procedures, pay systems and other related internal documents ahead of the change. The new rules change when per diems can be reduced, add information guarantees for employees and introduce a new calculation method for certain trips.

• For business trips shorter than 7 calendar days, where there is no collective agreement, per diems can no longer be reduced unilaterally by the employer through an internal policy.
• For business trips lasting 7 calendar days or longer, reduced per diem rates may be established in an internal normative act, but may not be lower than 65% of the maximum rates established by the Government.
• Reduced per diem rates may also be established in a collective agreement, but may not be lower than 50% of the maximum rates.
• An employee must know in advance what reduced per diem rate will apply to the business trip.
• If the first or the last day of a trip lasts less than four hours, 20% of the applicable per diem rate is paid for that day.
• No per diems are paid for a one-day business trip within Lithuania. For trips abroad, the Labour Code duty to pay per diems remains.

Why does it matter for employers?

The changes concern every employer whose employees travel on business. The Inspectorate stresses that the review should cover not only internal documents but also how trips are organized in practice, how employees are informed and how per diems are calculated. HR, payroll and accounting processes need to be able to record trip duration, inform employees on time and calculate the amounts due correctly.

Recommended actions

Employers should:

• review the business trip procedure, the pay system and other related internal documents against the new rules
• identify whether reduced per diem rates are currently provided for and ensure that they comply with the new 7-day, 65% and 50% rules
• check that HR, payroll and accounting processes can record trip duration, inform employees on time and calculate the per diems due
• make sure employees know in advance when and at what rate reduced per diems will apply
• where a works council or trade union operates in the company, assess and, where applicable, carry out the information and consultation procedures set out in the Labour Code before setting per diem amounts or their payment rules in a local normative act

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VDI: some employers still have not implemented mandatory violence and harassment prevention

Source: State Labour Inspectorate (VDI) | Date: 26 August 2026
Link

What happened?

VDI published the results of an anonymous survey of nearly 300 employers conducted in May 2026. The finding: although employers take violence and harassment prevention seriously, a number have still not implemented obligations that have been mandatory for over three years.

All employers, regardless of size, must comply with Article 30 of the Labour Code and the Violence and Harassment Prevention Measures Regulation: declare the prohibition of violence and harassment, adopt conduct and ethics rules, designate a responsible contact person, establish complaint reporting and investigation procedures, provide legal and emotional support to affected employees, and organize mandatory training every three years.

Employers with 50 or more employees must additionally adopt a formal prevention policy covering identification, complaint handling, protective measures and conduct standards. VDI expects employers to move beyond documentation: to carry out psychosocial risk assessments, monitor whether the measures actually work, and handle every complaint seriously and promptly.

Why does it matter for employers?

These duties have been mandatory for over three years, and VDI expects more than documentation. Employers should be able to show that the training cycle ran, the risk assessment was done and complaints were actually investigated.

Recommended actions

Employers should:

• verify the Article 30 package is in place and current: prohibition declaration, conduct rules, named contact person, complaint procedure and support arrangements
• check the three-year training cycle has not lapsed, and that employers with 50 or more staff have the formal prevention policy adopted
• document the psychosocial risk assessment and keep evidence that the measures are monitored, not merely adopted on paper

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Advocate General: a tattoo ban plus a skirt requirement can amount to sex discrimination

Source: Advocate General’s Opinion, Case C-320/25 (Lertimene) | Date: 3 September 2026
Link

What happened?

Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta delivered her Opinion in Case C-320/25 (fictitious name “Lertimene”), concerning a candidate excluded from Italian police recruitment because a small tattoo on her calf would have been visible under the women’s ceremonial uniform, a skirt and court shoes. Male candidates with tattoos in the same location were not excluded, because the men’s ceremonial uniform, trousers, would not reveal it.

The Advocate General took the view that the combined application of the tattoo ban and the requirement for women to wear a skirt at ceremonies amounts to direct discrimination on grounds of sex under the Equal Treatment Directive (2006/54/EC): had the candidate been a man, the same tattoo would not have led to exclusion.

She further considered that this could not be justified as a “genuine and determining occupational requirement”, since ceremonial duties make up only a small part of police work, female officers already wear trousers as part of their standard operational uniform, and senior officers could in any event authorize a female officer to wear trousers at a given ceremony. The Opinion is not binding on the Court, which will now deliberate and deliver judgment at a later date.

Why does it matter for employers?

A rule that is neutral on paper, here a tattoo ban applied to everyone, can become discriminatory when combined with another rule that in practice affects only one sex. The same logic applies to any dress code, uniform or appearance policy.

Tradition and organizational identity did not carry the justification here, which is worth remembering for any employer defending a differentiated appearance rule.

Recommended actions

Employers with dress codes, uniform policies or appearance requirements, including public-sector and uniformed employers, should:

• review whether any appearance or uniform rule, even if facially neutral, has a different practical effect on men and women, for example a rule that only bites for one gender’s mandated clothing
• be cautious about justifying differentiated appearance rules by reference to tradition or organizational identity alone, since the Advocate General found such justifications insufficient where the practical impact falls disproportionately on one sex
• watch for the Court’s final judgment, since it will clarify how far “genuine occupational requirement” justifications can stretch to cover appearance and uniform policies EU-wide

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What should employers take away?

The pay transparency requirements arrive in sequence: the pay structure by 31 December 2026, the first Form SDUP for January 2027 by 28 February 2027, monthly reporting after that, and employee access to the indicators from 1 March 2027. The reporting will use the categories set in the pay structure, and an unjustified pay gap of 5% or more that is not remedied within six months leads to a joint pay assessment.

From 1 October 2026, the new per diem rules apply. For business trips shorter than 7 calendar days, where there is no collective agreement, per diems can no longer be reduced unilaterally. For longer trips, reduced rates may be set in an internal normative act at no less than 65% of the maximum rates, or in a collective agreement at no less than 50%. An employee must know in advance what reduced rate will apply, a first or last trip day shorter than four hours pays 20% of the per diem, and no per diems are paid for a one-day business trip within Lithuania. For trips abroad, the Labour Code duty to pay per diems remains.

On violence and harassment, employers should ensure that the Article 30 package is in place and current, the three-year training cycle has not lapsed, the formal prevention policy is adopted where the company has 50 or more staff, and the psychosocial risk assessment is documented with evidence that the measures are monitored, not merely adopted on paper.

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How ECOVIS ProventusLaw can help employers

Our Employment & Migration team helps employers in Lithuania with:

• preparing or reviewing the pay structure under Article 140(3) and setting up Form SDUP reporting with payroll and HR
• checking employment practices against the Labour Code and identifying compliance gaps
• drafting and updating employment contracts, internal policies and other HR documents
• internal workplace investigations and disciplinary matters
• planning collective redundancies, reorganizations and business transfers
• executive contracts, exits and settlement agreements
• working time, pay and benefits questions, including the new pay transparency requirements
• reviewing business trip procedures and per diem rules against the new requirements
• occupational safety and health duties, including violence and harassment prevention
• representing employers in labour disputes and during regulatory investigations and VDI inspections
• employee data protection and workplace privacy

If you have questions about the 31 December deadline, SDUP reporting, the new per diem rules, the prevention obligations or any other topic in this edition, our team will be happy to assist.