Employers’ liability for safety and health violations has been tightened: payments to victims will increase | Business

The most important change is that in the event of a violation of safety and health requirements at work, not only directly responsible employees, as is currently the case, but also legal entities, i.e. employers, will have to answer for the violation. They will have to pay an additional social insurance lump sum for accidents at work and occupational diseases depending on the size of the company.

It is important that this contribution is a contribution to the accident fund and not a penalty. In other words, this additional income from the offenders will allow to increase the payments to the victims in the future and at the same time to reduce the accident premiums for the honest employers. This innovation will come into effect on November 1.

It is also important that fines for violations of occupational safety and health regulations on construction sites for individuals, including builders (customers), coordinators, will come into force in November, which will be the same as for other violations of occupational safety and health regulations, i.e. from 240 to 3 thousand. Eur.

According to Minister of Social Security and Labor Vytautas Šilinskas, the creation of a safe and healthy working environment must be a priority, so it is good that both employers’ and employees’ representatives approved the changes in the Tripartite Council.

“Accidents at work are still not rare. Prevention must be strengthened. The mechanism where employers will have to pay additional one-time contributions to the budget of the State Social Insurance Fund if the requirements are violated will act as a deterrent and will increase the motivation of employers to strengthen prevention in the workplace,” says V. Šilinskas.

In addition, the employment procedure for people with disabilities has been simplified, without revealing certain sensitive data to the employer, and the redundant requirement for people with disabilities to undergo a health check has been waived. These changes have already taken effect.

This means that persons with disabilities who are employed or working have the right not to disclose information about their disability, except in cases where informing provides an opportunity to receive guarantees and the person wishes to do so, that is, if a person wants to use the guarantees, he will still have to inform the employer.

Also, it is no longer necessary for people with disabilities to undergo a health check-up before employment or work, and in cases where harmful or dangerous occupational risk factors are not identified in their work environment. This creates more favorable conditions for persons with disabilities to participate in the labor market, ensures a better financial situation for them, and reduces exclusion.

According to the survey of EU member states conducted by SADM, some of the states – Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Germany – do not apply a separate requirement for persons with disabilities to undergo a health check before employment (for such persons, general requirements apply to employed persons and employees regarding health checks).

Additional one-time payment

The amount of the additional one-time social insurance contribution for accidents at work and occupational diseases is linked to the amount of the minimum monthly salary. A company in which the number of insured persons is up to 49 would pay an additional one-off premium of 3 MMA (currently EUR 2,772) for a violation of occupational safety and health normative legal acts, which could have caused serious consequences, a company in which the number of insured persons is from 50 to 249, – an additional one-off contribution of 6 MMA (currently – 5,544 EUR), a company with 250 or more insured persons – an additional one-off contribution of 9 MMA (currently – 8,316 EUR). The additional one-time payment must be paid no later than within 2 months. from the date of entry into force of the administrative offense resolution.

At that time, for example, in Estonia, fines imposed on legal entities for occupational safety and health violations range from 1 to 13 thousand. Eur, in Finland – up to 850 thousand. Eur.

In Lithuania in 2022, excluding accidents at work due to traffic accidents, there were 21 fatal and 129 serious accidents at work, in 2023 according to preliminary data, there were 18 fatalities and 106 serious accidents at work. According to the data of the State Labor Inspectorate, the majority – approximately one fifth – of serious and fatal accidents at work occur in the construction economic activity section.