To switch EOR providers in Lithuania, establish the legal employment route before asking an employee to leave. Then reconcile existing rights, confirm the incoming employer can support the worker's permission and employment model, and coordinate the commercial exit with employment, benefits and payroll dates.
A qualifying business transfer can preserve employment under Labour Code Article 51. A vendor change alone does not establish that protection. If employment genuinely ends, the old employer's settlement and the new employer's recognition of service are separate decisions. This guide carries one hypothetical worker through those decisions and a dated payroll cutover.
Rules checked October 20, 2026. Enacted changes beginning November 1, 2026 are distinguished below.
What changes when you switch EOR in Lithuania?
Compare the registered employer name and company code on the employee's contract, amendments and payroll records with the incoming arrangement. Different platform brands can use the same employing company; a single brand can involve different employers.
Article 51 carries existing employer rights and duties in a qualifying transfer and prohibits dismissal or adverse changes because of that transfer. Have both providers explain the route against the actual facts. A registry lookup establishes identity, not whether a business transfers.
Where the arrangement is temporary employment, Lithuania's Labour Inspectorate requires the employing company to meet the relevant criteria and appear on its temporary employment agency list. Check the entity that will sign the contract. Registration does not establish a particular worker's immigration eligibility or the transfer mechanism.
Review the existing service and employee position
Assign one transition owner at the client and each EOR, with a named employee contact for questions. Keep two sets of obligations distinct.
Commercial agreement
- Check notice delivery, renewal dates, minimum commitments and the agreed final service date.
- Identify exit charges, migration fees and responsibility for later payroll corrections.
- Reconcile deposits, unused funding, permitted deductions and refund timing.
- Confirm secure exports, access after closure, disputes and surviving liabilities.
Employee arrangements
- Confirm legal employer, original start, contract type, assignment history and collective terms.
- Reconcile pay, hours, accrued leave, expenses, bonuses, equity and insurance.
- Identify probation, protected leave, pregnancy, sickness, representative status and disputes.
- Verify work/residence permission, employer restrictions and expiry.
- Identify each wage period, payday, leave balance and settlement obligation.
Include workers on parental or other protected leave even if they receive no ordinary wage in the current payment file. Their employment and administrative needs still require assessment. Our Lithuania employment guide covers broader employer obligations.
Establish transfer and continuity treatment
For an Article 51 transfer, written employee information is required at least 10 working days before transfer, covering its date, basis, consequences and measures. Written disagreement within five working days of receipt triggers the Article 57 procedure; silence is not a resignation. Contract amendments must be made within 10 working days after employment transfers. These are separate statutory steps.
Check representative consultation as well. An employee briefing does not replace the applicable information and consultation process with representatives.
The Inspectorate confirms that service and accrued annual/additional leave continue under Article 51. On actual termination, unused-leave compensation must be assessed, including applicable limits. Copying a balance into B's system does not settle A's liability.
Outside statutory continuity, Article 54 mutual termination requires informed, voluntary written agreement. The written proposal must explain the end date, settlement and agreed compensation. No reply within five working days means rejection. A vendor deadline is no reason to pressure the worker.
For employer-linked permission, check the actual permit basis, approved employment model, mediation documents and any employer-change decision. The foreigners law distinguishes employment routes; do not assume a residence card authorises every temporary-employment arrangement. Where approval is required, wait before starting work for B. Labour-law continuity alone does not grant immigration permission.
Check duration history too. Article 72 sets a three-year maximum for fixed-term temporary contracts and consecutive same-worker, same-work contracts, with gaps of no more than two weeks counting as consecutive. This is not a universal EOR assignment ceiling. Assess the actual chain rather than assume switching intermediary resets it.
Set one coordinated cutover calendar
Worked case: a proposed November 16 start
The hypothetical worker is a Lithuanian citizen working Monday to Friday, eight hours daily. The example uses Article 54 ending and new employment only if the actual assessment establishes no qualifying Article 51 transfer and the employee freely agrees. Otherwise, replace this sequence with the statutory-transfer route.
Assume a commercial notice delivered October 15 and an expressly agreed service end on Sunday, November 15. These are invented contractual inputs, not Lithuanian notice rules. Employment with A is proposed to end Friday, November 13; employment with B starts Monday, November 16. The weekend gap does not establish statutory continuity.
Assume written supplemental-insurance confirmation covers the employee through November 15 under A's policy despite the earlier employment end, and starts B's coverage November 16. Without that confirmation, the benefit dependency remains open.
For ordinary employment, Sodra requires 1-SD at least one working day before work starts and ordinary 2-SD by the next working day after employment ends. That gives Friday, November 13 and Monday, November 16 respectively here. Confirm category-specific temporary-worker or reorganisation rules rather than treating all events as ordinary starts/dismissals.
November 2 is a holiday. It is excluded from this Monday-to-Friday calendar. Had Article 51 applied to a November 16 transfer, its 10-working-day advance-information backstop would be October 30; representative procedures could require earlier action. Do not repurpose the November 5 mutual-termination proposal as transfer notice.
Reconcile transition costs and cash
One wage-and-leave reconciliation
Assume gross hourly pay of €25, no overtime or absences, and a validated unused-leave balance of 5.5 working days including accrual to exit. Assume payroll has correctly calculated the applicable average daily wage as €200; this is an input, not a universal Lithuanian rate. The VDI explanation makes average-wage calculation and the working-time norm relevant to leave pay.
The 20 working days are allocated once; November 2 and the intervening weekends generate no worked hours in this hourly example. A settles the 5.5 days, so B must not also load them as transferred statutory leave. Any extra leave granted by B is a separately documented benefit.
These are gross allocations, not net wages or the full employer cost. Payroll must separately calculate withholding, employer contributions, fees and any agreed exit compensation. Assume the client supplies B's €2,200 gross-wage allocation on November 11, plus its separately calculated other funding. An assumed €1,500 refund from A on November 30 cannot fund that earlier deadline and does not reduce wages owed.
For qualifying Article 51 transfers, the one-year joint-liability rule can leave A liable for pre-transfer employee rights if B fails its specified duties. That differs from the worked termination route.
On the October check date, final settlement is generally due by employment end unless the parties lawfully agree payment within 10 working days. The enacted November 1 changes permit agreed deferral of amounts exceeding one month's average wage within three months; transitional provisions matter. The example pays A's settlement November 13 and relies on no deferral. Recheck applicable collective leave terms under the same reform.
Test the first payroll and close the old arrangement
Run parallel calculations with one live payer for each allocated wage period.
- Pass: wages. A owns 72 hours and B 88; no duplicate payment or unassigned working day.
- Pass: YTD. Assume €40,000 gross history through October. A's €2,900 takes its final gross history to €42,900. B records that as prior-employer reference data, not €42,900 of new wages. B's live gross is €2,200; combined reference history is €45,100.
- Pass: statutory amounts. Confirm identifiers, allowances, pension participation, withholding and contributions from current records. Importing an old net-pay figure fails.
- Pass: rights/benefits. A's leave settlement matches the final balance; B's service credit and benefit dates match signed terms and insurer confirmation.
- Pass: reporting/cash. Save accepted notifications, employer-specific declarations, employee payment confirmations and the separate refund account.
Monthly SAM reporting and GPM313 are generally due by the following month's 15th: December 15 for this November example. GPM312 is due February 15 after the year ends. Tax-payment timing is separate. A retains ownership of its declarations and corrections after service closure.
Employee handoff and delayed records
The November 5 packet should explain the employer change, weekend employment break, settlement, any agreed service credit, benefit runoff and new payday. Provide the proposal, draft B contract, leave statement and benefit summary in a form the employee understands. Explain which rights follow statute and which require agreement. Receipt is not consent; questions go to A for settlement, B for new terms, and the client for operational arrangements. Confirm signed copies before exit and send final/first payslips on the stated pay dates.
If A delays or refuses records, the client transition owner escalates to A's employer contact. B's payroll owner must validate at least identity/insurance identifiers, right-to-work evidence, signed terms and dates, pay/hours, final leave and settlement balances, current deductions/pension information, necessary prior-pay reference data and benefit confirmation.
In a qualifying transfer, Article 51 requires A to hand over employee data/documents and notify the social-insurance authority of the employer change.
Employee-held contracts/payslips, approved time records and lawfully obtained official records can help reconstruct missing items. B must reconcile them, document discrepancies and confirm sufficiency; a collection of unverified screenshots does not pass. Use a lawful processing basis, restricted secure exchange and applicable international-transfer safeguards. Preserve required records; employment consent is not blanket data consent.
If essential balances or eligibility remain unresolved on November 12, defer the exit and seek a lawful service/employment extension with A. Reissue dates, documents, funding and employee communication. If continued work cannot lawfully be supported, stop affected work and resolve employment/payment treatment; do not bridge the gap with an unauthorised start at B.
Two employee situations that change the switch
Hypothetical worker 1: independently authorised
The Lithuanian citizen above can reach the proposed November 16 start only if the nontransfer assessment, voluntary agreement, records, funding and benefits checks pass. B may agree service credit for specified contractual benefits, but the weekend break and new contract do not manufacture statutory continuity. A's 5.5-day leave balance is settled for €1,100 gross; B starts its own accrual under the new arrangement. If Article 51 actually governs, preserve continuity and revise the settlement treatment instead.
Hypothetical worker 2: employer-linked permission
A second worker holds work-based residence permission tied to A. The same payroll plan cannot establish eligibility for B. Check the actual permission category and employment model, any employer-change application restriction, approval and effective date before committing to the exit.
The May 2026 guidance provides a post-employment recovery route for covered holders with valid work-based permission: MIGRIS notification within 10 working days and, where permission has been held for less than two years, an employer-change application within three months. It is not a universal permit rule or authority to work for B while approval is outstanding. Keep November 16 conditional; do not copy worker 1's exit documents blindly.
Questions about switching EOR in Lithuania
Must employees resign?
Determine the legal route first. Same-employer administration and qualifying statutory transfers should not be converted into resignation-and-rehire exercises. A genuine ending needs its lawful ground and procedure.
Can B preserve the original service date?
Article 51 continuity preserves employment when it applies. Otherwise, specify the contractual rights for which B credits earlier service and assess statutory rights separately.
What if the employee rejects the new arrangement?
Do not treat receipt or silence as agreement to mutual termination. Keep the outgoing relationship's lawful obligations under review and revise the plan; the client's service notice does not end employment.
How long does switching take?
The necessary route, information/consultation, consent, permission, records and payroll readiness determine the date. The worked dates are assumptions and dependencies, not a standard migration duration.
Can missing data be fixed after the first payroll?
Only nonessential corrections can remain on an owned follow-up list. Unverified eligibility, wage allocation or material balances require deferral or a validated sufficient reconstruction before exit.
At Borderless AI, our EOR offering covers employment administration, benefits and payroll. Discuss your arrangement to assess the Lithuania employing entity, worker eligibility and proposed cutover before committing to an employee exit.
