Jobs-preserving employers to receive two-sized subsidies

Lawmakers decided on Tuesday to pay subsidies to employers who would preserve jobs during downtime due to an emergency situation or quarantine. They will receive subsidies of two sizes to pay their workers.

The subsidy will amount to 60 percent of a salary for those businesses whose activity was not banned because of an emergency situation or quarantine but restricted for various reasons. Employers would have to pay the remaining amount from their own funds. Such a subsidy would need around 300 million euros from the state budget.

The second subsidy would amount to 90 percent if a business's activity was completely suspended, and employers would have to pay the remaining 10 percent. There are no calculations as yet on how much funds the state would need for this kind of subsidy.

In both cases, subsidies would not exceed the minimum monthly salary in Lithuania, now standing at 607 euros. And employers would be required to pay 10 or 40 percent in additional to that amount.