Work

Steps

1. Look for a job. The public employment service, the Užimtumo tarnyba, is free (advice, job offers, personalised plan; online registration); its EURES network helps Europeans. Websites cited by the IOM and Go Vilnius: Work in Lithuania (offers in English), CVonline, CVmarket, CVbankas, CV.lt. Private recruitment agencies are free for candidates (EURES).
2. Prepare your application: CV and cover letter (one A4 page at most for the letter, EURES); for skilled posts, tests and an interview are common.
3. Have your diploma recognised if needed (see below).
4. Sign a written contract in two copies, before your first day, in Lithuanian and in a language you understand. It states your role, your salary and your place of work.
5. Check your declaration to Sodra: the employer must declare you to Sodra (social security) at least one working day before you start. You can check it via the "Employee ID" (processing in 3 working days at most, IOM).
6. Get your personal code and declare your residence (sheets LT-NIF-TOUS-001 and LT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001): the employer needs it to withhold tax and contributions.

Documents

• Passport or identity card; residence document beyond 3 months (sheet LT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• Personal code (asmens kodas) and a bank account for your salary (sheet LT-BANQUE-TOUS-001).
• Diplomas and diploma supplements; official translation if they are neither in English nor in Lithuanian (IOM).

Costs and timelines

• Monthly minimum wage (minimali mėnesinė alga, MMA) 2026: €1,153 gross (European Commission guide, July 2026; IOM). Minimum hourly rate 2026: €7.05 gross (IOM). It applies to unskilled work.
• 2027, announced: the government approved on 1 July 2026 an increase to €1,245 per month and €7.61 per hour from 1 January 2027 (Ministry of Social Security and Labour and government decision of 1 July 2026, based on Art. 141 of the Labour Code; net estimated at about €902 per month).
• Working time: 40 hours per week in principle; at most 48 hours on average over a 7-day period including overtime, 12 hours per day and 60 hours over 7 days; at most 180 hours of overtime per year (EURES). A break of 30 minutes to 2 hours no later than after 5 hours of work, 11 hours of rest between two working days.
• Paid leave: at least 20 working days per year for a 5-day week, 24 for a 6-day week; public holidays are not counted.
• Work on a rest day or public holiday: paid at least double (IOM).
• Probation period: 3 months at most (6 months only if a law provides for it); during probation, the employer can terminate with 3 days' written notice, without compensation (EURES).
• Notice (open-ended contract): resignation without a particular reason, 20 calendar days; dismissal through no fault of yours, 1 month if you have at least one year of service, 2 weeks otherwise, with compensation (IOM). The labour inspectorate (VDI) confirms for Art. 57 of the Labour Code: one month, or two weeks if the contract has lasted less than a year. This period is doubled for employees within five years of retirement age and tripled for parents of a child under 14; the mention of "2 months" in older sources is not found.
• Fixed-term contract: up to 2 years for the same post, 5 years for different posts (EURES).
• Academic recognition of a diploma (for studies): free of charge, within one month of a complete file, by an authorised university or the SKVC (Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education), according to the IOM. For a non-regulated profession, it is the employer who decides on the recognition of your qualifications (IOM). The SKVC is the Lithuanian ENIC-NARIC centre, the official contact point for diploma recognition (ENIC-NARIC networks' website; centre's website: skvc.lrv.lt).
• Regulated profession (doctor, nurse, architect, lawyer, etc.): the competent authority acknowledges receipt within one month and decides within 3 months (Your Europe). List of regulated professions and their authorities: European database of regulated professions.

Common pitfalls

• Starting without a written contract or before the declaration to Sodra: you would be neither insured nor covered by health insurance.
• An "under the table" salary topped up in cash: it reduces your rights to unemployment benefit, pension and sickness benefits.
• Confusing the MMA and the average wage: the average gross wage serves as a threshold for certain residence permits (€2,411.40 according to the IOM, year not specified).
• Forgetting the language: many jobs dealing with the public require Lithuanian; English-language posts are concentrated in Vilnius and Kaunas (services, IT).
• Dispute with the employer: the national labour inspectorate (Valstybinė darbo inspekcija, VDI) receives complaints.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens, Swiss citizens: no work permit; residence certificate after 3 months (sheet LT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Posts as civil servants and in law enforcement require Lithuanian nationality (EURES).
• British citizens (Scots included), arrived after 2020: they are third-country nationals. The Migration Department offers them a specific temporary residence permit (as for Americans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese, New Zealanders and South Koreans) to come to work under a contract, do business or carry out another lawful activity. Documents: employment contract or written commitment from the employer, proof of qualification if the profession is regulated, resources of at least one minimum wage per month for the duration of the permit (or at least one year), commitment to declare your residence in housing with a living area of at least 7 m² per adult; for a first permit, confirmation in the application that you have not been convicted in the countries where you have lived in the last 2 years (a certificate only if you have been); processing in 2 months for €220 (1 month for €440 as an urgent procedure) (MIGRIS, 2026). The general conditions for other third-country nationals cited by the IOM (qualification or experience, quota of 24,706 permits in 2026, salary of at least 1.2 times the average wage outside the quota) do not appear for this permit on MIGRIS. Those who were living in Lithuania before 2021 come under the Withdrawal Agreement.
• Diplomas: automatic recognition (doctors, general care nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects, veterinarians) applies to EU, EEA and Swiss diplomas; for health professions, the Lithuanian authority (VASPVT) applies automatic recognition to British qualifications obtained before Brexit or in the year following it; for a more recent British diploma, the United Kingdom is a third country and the general third-country procedure applies (government resolution on regulated third-country qualifications).