The Lithuanian social partnership model and its impact on the development of labour law

Abstract

The article presents the Lithuanian social partnership (hereinafter - SP) model. It reveals and analyses the SP system insofar as this system is related to social employment relations among employees (their representatives), employers (their representatives) and the state, the balancing of the interests of subjects involved in these legal relations, as well as its impact on the legal regulation of employment relations and on solving disputes arising in the area of these relations. The conclusion is drawn that, from 1990 until the present, the Lithuanian SP model has been undergoing transformation from quasi-partnership towards real SP. In order to assess the current situation of the functioning SP systems and their particularities, the main legal sources and the formally consolidated SP system, comprising the operating subjects, are addressed, and the forms and levels consolidated for implementing this system, as well as the established governing principles, are examined. The article presents a multifaceted cross-cutting assessment of the actual situation of SP. The article identifies and defines the key factors influencing the gap between the formal SP model and its actual condition. In the opinion of the author, this gap exists due to legal, economic, political and psychological reasons, which have a direct impact on the behaviour of social partners in balancing the interests of subjects involved in employment relations.