Lithuania came in 15th last year and was 27th a year before, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute said on Friday.
There was no change this year, affecting Lithuania's position in the index after the country took a leap several years ago when it amended its Labor Code, Karolina Mickute, an expert from the LFMI, noted.
"We've gone a notch up mainly because Italy that was ahead of Lithuanian dropped down. Lithuania remains in the middle in the total index of EU and OECD members," Mickute said in a statement.
In her words, Lithuania is prevented from rising higher by the fact that redundancy payments in the country are higher than in the majority of other countries, as well as there are higher mandatory additional payments for overtime work, nighttime work and work on holidays, moreover, employers are required to offer a new job for a redundant employee then their function become excessive.
All in all, 21 member states of the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were evaluated.
The Lithuanian Free Market Institute published the Employment Flexibility Index 2020 in cooperation with think tanks in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and Slovakia. The Index is based on the data collected by the World Bank for its annual Doing Business report. The index embraces 41 EU and OECD member states and more than 30 indicators on hiring regulations, working hours, redundancy rules and redundancy costs.