This is an unofficial translation of the Lithuanian court judgment, provided for information only. The Lithuanian original is authoritative. Read the original (Lithuanian)

Civil case No. [anonymised]

Judicial proceedings No. [anonymised]

Categories of the procedural decision: 1.2.4.5; 1.2.4.6; 3.2.6.1

TAURAGĖ DISTRICT COURT

JUDGMENT

IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

19 October 2026

Šilalė

Judge [anonymised] of the Tauragė Chambers of the Tauragė District Court,

with [anonymised] acting as secretary,

in the presence of [anonymised], advocate, representative of the claimant [anonymised] (remotely),

in a public court hearing, in oral proceedings, examined the civil case on the claim of the claimant [anonymised] against the defendant, the small partnership “[anonymised]”, for the award of wages and penalties.

has found:

The Tauragė Chambers of the Tauragė District Court accepted the claim of the claimant [anonymised] against the defendant, the small partnership (hereinafter the MB) “[anonymised]”, in which the claimant asks:

to award to the claimant [anonymised] from the defendant MB “[anonymised]” €13,298.56 of wage arrears;

to award to the claimant [anonymised] from the defendant MB “[anonymised]” penalties of €26,597.10;

to award to the claimant [anonymised] from the defendant MB “[anonymised]” 5% annual procedural interest on the amount awarded by the court from the date the case was brought in court until full enforcement of the judgment;

to award to the claimant [anonymised] from the defendant MB “[anonymised]” all litigation costs incurred by the claimant.

In the claim, the claimant states that on 2 January 2023 employment contract No. [anonymised] (hereinafter the Employment Contract) was concluded between [anonymised] and MB “[anonymised]”. On 22 December 2025 the Employment Contract was terminated with effect from 22 December 2025 under Article 55 of the Labour Code (hereinafter the LC), that is, at the employee’s initiative without valid reasons. According to the claimant, the wages payable to him (net, that is, “in hand”) for October 2025 were €5,793.83; for November 2025 the wages payable to him (net) were €5,262.09; and for December 2025 (net) €2,242.64. The defendant has submitted to Sodra information on the claimant’s insured income. The claimant notes that none of the amounts stated above has been paid to him to this day. The claimant notes that, after the employment relationship ended, the defendant delayed settling accounts with the claimant through no fault of the claimant, and the claimant has therefore acquired the right to the penalties provided for in Article 147(2) of the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter the LC). The defendant had to settle with the claimant no later than 22 December 2025, that is, the end of the employment relationship. By the date the claim was filed in court, more than 6 months had already passed since the end of the employment relationship. The claimant’s average wage, taking his wages for the last 3 months, is €4,432.85 (net, that is, “in hand”). This also means that for a 6-month delay penalties of €26,597.10 have accrued, which the claimant asks to be awarded from the defendant.

The defendant did not submit a response to the claim.

The court, having assessed that the defendant had been properly notified of the court hearing and had been informed that at the preparatory hearing the court might proceed to examine the case on the merits, decided to hear the case in the defendant’s absence.

At the court hearing the claimant’s representative, advocate [anonymised], asked for the claim to be upheld in full and for the claimant’s litigation costs to be awarded from the defendant. The advocate upheld the claim on the arguments set out in it and additionally explained that until October 2025 the defendant had had no significant financial difficulties and paid wages on time. However, in October 2025 the defendant ran into financial difficulties, and the defendant therefore stopped paying, or paid only part of, the wages of the claimant and other employees. The claimant’s claim for wages is based on the wage payslips submitted by the defendant itself: the defendant drew them up itself, and there was no dispute between the parties over the wages due to the claimant. The defendant kept promising to pay the claimant the wages due to him, intending to do so through other companies related to the defendant, but did not keep its promises. Therefore, in December 2025 the claimant wrote a request to be dismissed. Since the defendant has been late in paying wages for more than 6 months, the claimant has acquired the right to penalties, which he also asks to be awarded from the defendant.

The court

has established:

The claim is upheld

The factual circumstances of the case and the substance of the dispute

The case data show that on 2 January 2023 employment contract No. [anonymised] was concluded between [anonymised] and MB “[anonymised]”, represented by [anonymised]. The claimant was hired to perform the functions of a worker. The employment contract provides that the claimant would be paid wages of 1 minimum monthly wage (one MMW approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania) and personal supplements as laid down in the pay procedure in force at MB “[anonymised]”. The employment contract was terminated with effect from 22 December 2025 under Article 55 of the LC, that is, at the employee’s initiative without valid reasons. The payslips submitted to the case show that the wages payable to the claimant for October 2025 (net, that is, “in hand”) were €5,793.83 (before deduction of taxes: €9,189.27); the wages payable for November 2025 (net) were €5,262.09 (before deduction of taxes: €8,820.32); and the wages payable for December 2025 (net) were €2,242.64 (before deduction of taxes: €3,776.06).

The claimant states that on the day the employment contract was terminated he should have been paid wages of €13,298.56 (€5,793.83 + €5,262.09 + €2,242.64), but that this sum was not paid to him either when the employment contract was terminated or later, and he therefore asks for the unpaid wages of €13,298.56 to be awarded from the defendant. Since the defendant delayed payment of the wages for more than 6 months, penalties of €26,597.10 are to be awarded to the claimant from the defendant.

The defendant did not submit a response to the claim, so its position on the claims set out in the claim is unknown.

On the award of wages

Article 146(2) of the LC provides that, when the employment contract ends, all payments to the employee related to the employment relationship are paid when the employment contract with the employee is terminated, but no later than the end of the employment relationship, unless the parties agree that the employee will be paid within no more than ten business days. The part of wages or related payments not exceeding the employee’s one-month average wage must in all cases be paid no later than on the last day of the employment relationship, unless otherwise agreed at the time of dismissal.

As already stated, the employment contract was terminated on 22 December 2025. The case contains no data that the defendant paid the claimant wages for October, November and December 2025.

Therefore, having established that the defendant failed to discharge its duty to settle accounts with the claimant on the day of his dismissal, it must be concluded that there are grounds to uphold the claimant’s claim for the award of the wage arrears: the defendant remained indebted to the claimant, in total €13,298.56 (after deduction of taxes) in wage arrears, which is to be awarded to the claimant from the defendant.

On the award of penalties

Under Article 147(2) of the LC, if after the end of the employment relationship the employer, through no fault of the employee, delays settling accounts with him (Article 146(2) of this Code), the employer must pay penalties in an amount equal to the employee’s average monthly wage multiplied by the number of months of delay. If the amount delayed is less than the employee’s one-month average wage, the penalties are the amount delayed by the employer multiplied by the number of months of delay. If the period of delayed settlement is shorter than one month, the penalties are the amount of the employee’s average wage calculated in proportion to the period of delayed settlement.

In the present case it was established that on the day of the claimant’s dismissal the defendant did not pay the claimant the wages and other payments related to the employment relationship due to him, that is, €13,298.56, which it had to pay on the last day of the employment relationship with the claimant, that is, 22 December 2025. The failure to settle with a person dismissed from work on the day of dismissal cannot be justified by the employer’s difficult financial position or by obligations of third parties not fulfilled to the employer on time, because this is laid down by law (Article 146(2) of the LC). In this case the employer made no additional agreements with the claimant on later settlement. The period of the defendant’s delay in settling exceeds 6 months. The claimant asked for penalties to be awarded for the maximum period of 6 months.

It should be noted that the case law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania has explained that the setting in Article 147(2) of the LC of a specific maximum period of six months for which penalties must be paid ensures legal clarity, because both parties to the employment relationship can clearly foresee what sanction may be applied to the employer if it breaches the duty to settle properly with the employee after the end of the employment relationship. Also, on a retrospective assessment of the amendments to the rule in Article 147(2) of the LC, it must be concluded that the legislature precisely sought to set a specific maximum period for penalties. Third, the aims and mandatory nature of the legal rule laid down in Article 147(2) of the LC allow it to be said that circumstances other than those set out in it are not grounds for reducing the amount of penalties laid down in it (ruling of the Supreme Court of Lithuania of 2 February 2022 in civil case No. e3K-3-1-684/2022, paragraphs 17–20; ruling of 19 May 2022 in civil case No. e3K-3-142-684/2022, paragraph 47; ruling of 26 January 2023 in civil case No. e3K-3-1-684/2023, paragraph 50).

In view of the legal regulation referred to, the explanation of the Supreme Court, and given that the claimant has still not been paid, and that the claimant is not at fault for the non-payment of his wages, the court decides that there are grounds to award the claimant €26,597.10 (€4,432.85 × 6 months) (amount stated after deduction of taxes) in penalties for the 6-month period (Article 147(2) of the LC).

On procedural interest

Under Article 6.37(2) and Article 6.210(1) of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the claimant is to be awarded 5% annual procedural interest on the awarded amount of €39,895.66 for the period from the date the case was brought in court (10 July 2026) until full enforcement of the court’s judgment.

On litigation costs

Article 93(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter the CCP) provides that the court awards the party in whose favour the judgment is given the litigation costs it has incurred from the other party, even if the latter is exempt from paying litigation costs into the State budget. Article 93(2) of the CCP provides that, if the claim is upheld in part, the costs referred to in that article are awarded to the claimant in proportion to the part of the claims upheld by the court and to the defendant in proportion to the part of the claims dismissed.

As the claimant is exempt from stamp duty under Article 83(1)(1) of the CCP, the duty of €824 payable to the State is to be recovered from the defendant.

The claimant submitted data showing that he had incurred a total of €600 in litigation costs relating to the provision of legal assistance.

As the claim is upheld in full, litigation costs of €600 are awarded to the claimant from the defendant (Article 93(1)).

In the present case no costs of sending procedural documents arose in the case, so they are not to be awarded from the defendant (Article 92 and Article 96(6) of the CCP; Order No. 1R-386/1K-411 of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania of 20 December 2023).

The court, guided by Articles 259 and 268–270 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania,

has decided:

To uphold the claim in full.

To award to the claimant [anonymised] from the defendant, the small partnership “[anonymised]”, €13,298.56 (thirteen thousand two hundred and ninety-eight euros 56 cents) (after deduction of taxes) in wage arrears, penalties of €26,597.10 (twenty-six thousand five hundred and ninety-seven euros 10 cents) (after deduction of taxes), 5% annual procedural interest on the awarded amount of €39,895.66 for the period from the date the case was brought in court (10 July 2026) until full enforcement of the judgment, and litigation costs of €600 (six hundred euros).

The judgment may be appealed by an appeal to the Klaipėda Regional Court, through the Tauragė Chambers of the Tauragė District Court, within 30 days of the date of its announcement.

Judge [anonymised]