1. The Description of the Procedure for Hiring of Persons under Eighteen Years of Age, their Health Assessment, and the Establishment of their Possibilities to Do Particular Work, and of Their Working Time, as well as the List of Work that they Are Prohibited from Doing, and Factors Harmful and Hazardous to Their Health (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Legal Act’) provides for the hiring procedure, the health assessment procedure and working time and rest periods of persons under 18 years of age (hereafter, ‘young people’) as well as work that they are prohibited from doing and factors harmful and hazardous to the health of young people.

2. The employer must guarantee that young people have working conditions which suit their age. Young people should not experience economic exploitation. Work provided to young people should not harm their safety, health or physical, mental, moral or social development or jeopardize their education.

3. Work by children under 16 years of age shall be prohibited, except for light work which suits physical possibilities of children between 14 and 16 years of age.

4. The requirements provided for in the Legal Act shall apply to all young people irrespective of the type of an employment contract under which young people are hired.

5. For the purposes of this Legal Act, the following definitions shall be used:

‘Light work’ shall mean all work which, on account of the inherent nature of the tasks which it involves and the particular conditions under which they are performed, is not likely to be harmful to the safety, health or development of children, and is not such as to be harmful to their attendance at school, their learning according to compulsory education or vocational training programmes approved by the competent authority, or their access to educational assistance.

‘Adolescent’ shall mean any young person of at least 16 years of age but less than 18 years of age.

‘Child’ shall mean any young person of less than 16 years of age.

6. Other definitions used in the Legal Act are provided in the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 64-2569, 2002), the Law on Safety and Health at Work of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 70-3170, 2003) and the Law on Education of the Republic of Lithuania (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 23-593, 1991; No 38-1804, 2011).

7. Prior to hiring a young person the employer shall approve the measures necessary to protect the safety and health of young people, taking particular account of the risks referred to in paragraph 28 of the Legal Act.

8. Having assessed occupational risks arising to a young person, the employer shall implement the measures provided for in paragraph 7 of the Legal Act. Occupational risks shall be assessed in accordance with 25 October 2012 Order No A1-457/V-961 of the Minister of Social Security and Labour and the Minister of Health ‘On Approval of the General Provisions of Occupational Risk Assessment’ (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 126-6350, 2012). The assessment is conducted before a young person receives a medical certificate on his/her suitability for work as well as after a young person has been hired or when there is any major change in working conditions. During the assessment, particular attention should be paid to:

9. Where the assessment of occupational risks shows that there is a risk to the safety, the physical or mental health or development of young people, an appropriate assessment of their health shall be provided at regular intervals as provided for in paragraphs 18 and 19 of the Legal Act.

10. The employer shall inform young people of possible occupational risks and of all measures adopted concerning their safety and health upon hiring them and before a change of their working conditions. Furthermore, the employer shall inform the parents or another legal representative of a child in writing of possible occupational risks and of all measures adopted concerning children’s safety and health.

11. When concluding an employment contract with a young person, the employer shall familiarize the young person who is being hired, under signature, with future working conditions, rules of procedure and other local regulatory acts of the company regulating his/her working conditions as well as brief the young person on safety at work before allowing him/her to start work.

12. The employer shall apply preventive measures with regard to safety and health at work referred to in Article 12 and other Articles of the Law on Safety and Health at Work of the Republic of Lithuania in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the safety and health conditions applicable to young people.

13. Children from 14 years of age shall be allowed to do light work in the areas of culture, arts, sports, advertising, commerce, accommodation and catering, services, information and communications, finances and insurance, administration and customer service, domestic services and agriculture provided that there is a written consent of one of the parents or another legal representative of a child, that a medical doctor taking care of the child’s health has issued a certificate provided for in paragraph 19 of the Legal Act with the conclusion that the child is suited to do such work, and that during the school year there is a written consent of the school that the child attends.

14. The employer shall conclude an employment contract with a child from 14 to 16 years of age regarding the performance of permitted light work in the following manner:

15. A copy of a child’s birth certificate and documents referred to in paragraph 14 of the Legal Act shall be enclosed with the employment contract. The employer shall also be entitled to demand other documents provided for in the laws.

16. Having concluded or amended an employment contract with a young person, the employer shall notify thereof, within 3 business days, a territorial office of the State Labour Inspectorate, indicate persons from which documents referred to in paragraph 14 of the Legal Act were received and provide information on conditions of the employment contract – the workplace (company, institution, organization), the unit as well as other conditions of the employment contract (nature of the permitted light work, safe and healthy working conditions which are provided, work functions, duration of work in hours, duration and number of rest breaks, work pay, and the exact hours of the day and days of the week when the work will be performed). Following the termination of the employment contract, the employer shall notify thereof, within 3 business days, a territorial office of the State Labour Inspectorate and indicate persons from which a demand to terminate the contract was received as well as the reasons for the termination.

17. When amending the employment contract concluded with a child, the employer must follow the procedure provided for in paragraph 14 of this Legal Act.

18. A young person must have his/her health assessed in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 265 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania. When sending a young person to have his/her health assessed, the employer shall provide him/her with a description of envisaged working conditions indicating possible occupational risks.

19. The health condition of a young person and his/her suitability to do particular work shall be established by medical doctors taking care of his/her health in accordance with the procedure provided for in 31 May 2000 Order No 301 of the Minister of Health ‘On Preventive Health Assessments in Health Care Institutions’ (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 47-1365, 2000). The conclusion regarding suitability to do particular work shall be inscribed in a medical certificate of a minor who is to enter an educational establishment or to be hired (F 086/a).

20. Prior to concluding an employment contract, a young person must submit to the employer a certificate referred to in paragraph 19 of the Legal Act with the conclusion on his/her health condition and suitability to do particular work envisaged in a description of conditions of the employment contract.

21. When hiring a young person, the employer must observe the conclusion provided in a certificate referred to in paragraph 19 of the Legal Act.

22. The duration of working time of young people shall be established pursuant to Article 36 (7) of the Law on Safety and Health at Work of the Republic of Lithuania.

23. For adolescents working on ships, night means a time period of nine hours starting no later than at 10 p.m. and ending no earlier than at 6 a.m.

24. Children may do permitted light work outside the learning time, except for prohibitions referred to in paragraphs 25 and 26 of the Legal Act.

25. Work by children shall be prohibited in the morning from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. before school.

26. Work by children doing light work in the areas of commerce, accommodation and catering, services, information and communications, finances and insurance, administration and customer service, domestic services and agriculture shall be prohibited between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

27. If they wish so, children shall be granted annual leave or unpaid leave during the school holidays. Children shall be ensured rest of 14 consecutive calendar days during the school summer holidays. Children shall be granted no less than 14 consecutive calendar days of annual leave or unpaid leave during the school summer holidays if these children work during the entire school summer holidays of that year.

28. Young people shall be protected from any specific risks to their safety, health and development which are a consequence of their lack of experience, of absence of awareness of existing or potential risks or of the fact that young people have not yet fully matured.

29. In order to protect them from any specific risks referred to in paragraph 28 of the Legal Act, the employment of young people shall be prohibited for:

30. Work which is likely to entail specific risks for young people within the meaning of paragraph 28 of the Legal Act shall include:

31. The appointment of young people for the following work shall be prohibited:

32. The appointment of young people for work shall be prohibited if in the environment of the work the following harmful and hazardous factors are present:

33. The employers must ensure that the procedure for hiring young people is followed and working time and rest periods established for them are respected, and they must also provide safe and healthy working conditions for young people.

34. The employer must keep certificates referred to in paragraph 19 of the Legal Act in accordance with the timeframe for document storage provided for in the Index of the Timeframe of Storage of General Documents approved by 9 March 2011 Order No V-100 of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania (Official Gazette Valstybės Žinios No 32-1534, 2011).