What Are The Public Holidays in Lithuania in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Lithuania (2026)

In Lithuania, public holidays are set at national level and apply across the entire country. Use the table below to plan staffing, leave, and payroll for your Lithuanian team in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Lithuanian labour law generally requires employers to treat public holidays as paid days off for employees who would normally work on those days. Employees keep their regular pay for the holiday, and the rules apply nationwide without regional differences. If a public holiday falls on a day when an employee is not scheduled to work, there is usually no additional paid day off, unless a specific law or collective agreement provides for moving the day. Part-time employees are entitled to paid public holidays on the same basis as full-time staff, proportionate to their normal work schedule.

If your business needs employees to work on a public holiday, Lithuanian law requires premium pay for work performed on that day. The standard approach is to pay at least double the employee’s normal hourly or daily rate for hours worked on a public holiday, and this is in addition to maintaining compliance with weekly rest and maximum working time rules. Collective agreements or company policies can provide more generous terms, but not less.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to comply with public holiday rules in Lithuania can lead to administrative liability. The State Labour Inspectorate is the main enforcement authority and can investigate complaints, review time sheets and payroll records, and issue binding instructions to correct violations. Employers that do not grant paid public holidays, underpay holiday work, or misclassify working time risk fines that can scale with the severity and recurrence of the breach.

Common mistakes include treating public holidays as normal working days without premium pay, failing to pay part-time staff correctly for holidays that fall on their usual workdays, and not recording hours worked on holidays accurately. Repeated or intentional non-compliance can result in higher fines and, in serious cases, temporary suspension of activities until issues are remedied. Keeping clear records of schedules, hours worked, and holiday pay calculations is essential if your company is audited.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

In Lithuania, public holidays interact with general working time and overtime rules rather than creating a separate overtime system. Hours worked on a public holiday count toward the employee’s daily and weekly working time limits. If an employee exceeds the standard limits because of work on a holiday, those excess hours are treated as overtime and must be paid at the applicable overtime premium rate, on top of the public holiday premium.

In practice, this means that hours worked on a public holiday are usually paid at a higher rate than normal hours, and if they also qualify as overtime, an additional premium applies. Employers should check the Labour Code, collective agreements, and internal policies to confirm the exact multipliers, and ensure that scheduling respects mandatory daily and weekly rest periods. Accurate time tracking for holiday work is critical so you can demonstrate that overtime thresholds and premium rates have been applied correctly.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing Lithuanian public holidays across a distributed team can quickly become complex, especially when you are juggling different time zones, contracts, and local rules. Playroll helps you stay compliant by baking Lithuania’s public holiday and working time requirements directly into your employment workflows.

With Playroll, you can automate public holiday calendars for Lithuania, apply the correct paid holiday entitlements for full-time and part-time staff, and configure premium pay for work performed on public holidays in line with Lithuanian labour law. Our platform keeps track of legal updates so your policies and payroll settings stay aligned with current rules, reducing the risk of underpayment or missed holidays.

Playroll also centralises contracts, schedules, and time records, making it easier to show compliance if the State Labour Inspectorate ever asks for documentation. Whether you are hiring your first employee in Lithuania or scaling a larger team, Playroll gives you a clear, auditable framework for handling public holidays, overtime, and leave so you can focus on growing your business instead of decoding regulations.