Sad statistics: every third Lithuanian does not pay overtime Business

“Although some employers comply with the requirements established by law and honestly pay employees for overtime, a number of employees continue to receive no compensation for additional working hours,” says CVMarket.lt representative Raimonda Tatarėlytė, “even 35.3 percent.” of working people said that they constantly perform work tasks even after official working hours, but they are not paid for it.

The fact that these additional hours are not properly registered, and therefore unpaid, is indirectly confirmed by the 2023 Eurostat data. According to them, only 1.1 percent in Lithuania. of all workers worked 49 or more hours per week. Although, judging by the data of our survey, Lithuanians would certainly be closer to France, where, according to Eurostat, there are as many as 10.1 percent of people who work that long.”

Another 17.5 percent respondents mentioned that they work after working hours occasionally, but they also did not receive any compensation for this. And only 22.7 percent. all respondents shared that they regularly work overtime and are properly paid for it. 12.1 percent of the respondents stated that they rarely work overtime, but they also do not have a problem with paying for it.

The remaining 12.5 percent survey participants informed that they did not work overtime. It is likely that the largest number of cases of unpaid additional work usually occur in those sectors of the economy where the employer’s position is stronger, the workers’ deficit is smaller, and the workers are also less qualified or older.

“Employees are often pushed to work overtime for free, claiming that they must be company patriots, that if the order is not completed on time, the company will suffer losses or face financial problems,” says a representative of CVMarket.lt, “but overtime is clearly regulated by the Labor Code, and fair treatment of employees – this is a serious strategic advantage for any company.

After all, nowadays, information that one or another employer misbehaves and settles with employees spreads quickly, and the employer’s poor reputation can make it much more difficult to find the right specialists.”