Length of service (experience) and its impact on youth employment in Lithuania

Abstract

The unemployment rate for youth up to 25 years age is the highest not only in Lithuania, but throughout all EU as well. Common reasons of youth unemployment are the lack of professional training, work experience or the mismatch between vocational knowledge and labour market needs. Lithuanian Labour Law regulations provide employees with applicable rights, additional benefits or guarantees in respect with their length of service (experience). Accordingly, the question then arises whether, in respect with current market conditions, these incentives and guarantees do not limit other constitutional and human rights, i.e. right to work, especially for young people. Therefore, with the help of systematic, documental analyzes and comparative methods, this article will carry out the analysis of Lithuanian labor laws and regulatory acts, which impede or otherwise limit youth employment, and propose suggestions to abolish them. This article analyses application of provisions related with the length of service, i.e. in determining the payment, additional annual leave, period of notice of the termination of an employment, the right of priority to retain the job in case of redundancy and determining severance pay.