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The Lithuanian union Sandrauga submitted a proposal to the Tripartite Council that salaries, allowances and other payments to employees be made by transfer to a bank account and not in cash.
According to Kęstutis Juknius, President of Sandrauga, the practice of payments in envelopes is more common in companies in the transport sector.
“As far as we know, more than 80 percent. Companies that send long-distance drivers abroad pay at least part of their salary or per diem or only show that they pay in cash.
These companies take the position that cash is critical to the existence of the transportation sector. However, we do not understand, in fact, how the payment of wages and allowances to drivers is put here. Furthermore, employers are reluctant to support our offer under the guise of bank fees, ”said K. Juknius.
Are the employees themselves asking for cash?
At the time, Zenonas Buivydas, general secretary of the Linava National Road Transport Association, pointed out for the first time that cash is not yet prohibited by law in Lithuania and that everyone has the right to use it.
“As far as we know, such a proposal to pay a salary to a bank account is unacceptable to drivers. There are a number of arguments put forward by drivers when dealing with carriers, and carriers try to take their arguments into account as much as possible. .
First of all, a large part of the workers in this sector are foreigners from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia or other countries. For them, opening an account in Lithuania takes a long time (up to three weeks). And the opening price of the account ranges between 130 and 400 euros. Withdrawal fees are approximately 0.8 percent. of the amount in Lithuania and, for example, up to 12 percent. In Ukraine. These amounts are huge for drivers, so they don’t want to leave the money earned to the banks ”, commented Z. Buivydas.
The association’s general secretary said that foreign drivers, for practical and safety reasons, want to take out the money earned after the shift.
“Cash withdrawals are limited to daily limits. Therefore, drivers in Lithuania now wait a few days before they can withdraw money. During the quarantine, bank customers only receive services at ATMs and banks cannot be accessed. .
Also, fines for speeding, etc. usually paid in cash. We are not talking about Eastern countries, this is the case even in France, here the parking fees are paid in cash for parking lots, showers, toilets, etc. ”, The reason why drivers must be paid in cash, is called Z. Buivydas.
He also criticized the union fee
He assured that the union’s proposal would be unfavorably accepted by the drivers themselves.
A representative of the carriers also criticized the fees charged by the unions. According to Z. Buivydas, these are also paid in cash.
Furthermore, if such a procedure were introduced, it would probably be worth introducing another improvement: the ban on union cash dues, as drivers now complain that the membership dues they pay are not properly accounted for.
According to Linava, only one union charges the membership fees from a driver’s account to a bank account, all the others charge in cash, so similar requirements should be introduced here as well, ”the representative of the carrier said indignantly.
It is possible to sign and it is not possible to verify
According to K. Juknius, President of Sandrauga, transportation is not the only sector that prefers cash payments.
“We also have data that cash payments are also popular in the construction sector. This applies both to companies that employ immigrants from third countries and to construction companies that hire Lithuanians and send them abroad.
Employers often use the ability to pay cash to their advantage by exchanging a cash expense order with an employee who acknowledges receipt of the money by signing it. However, as the practice of labor disputes shows, it is not possible to regulate and verify the fact itself about the money paid.
That is why when applying to the Labor Disputes Commission or the judicial authorities for unpaid wages, daily allowances and other benefits related to employment, proving the fact of non-payment and winning the case is almost impossible, “said K Juknius. President of the TLC.
Some builders work in the shadows
Dalius Gedvilas, president of the Lithuanian Builders Association (LSA), said he understood the unions’ proposal and assured that employees should receive timely remuneration for their work.
“But at the same time, we think it will be difficult to give up cash. First of all, Lithuanian banks are very reluctant to open accounts for foreign nationals and the fees for banking services are much higher. Therefore, payment by transfer Banking alone can be difficult to implement.
Secondly, the proposal does not have a fundamental solution that forces all citizens who come to work in Lithuania to pay taxes to our state budget. We believe that we should take the example of the legal regulation of Germany or Sweden. Lithuanians who go to work in these countries must become taxpayers ”, commented D. Gedvilas.
Furthermore, according to him, a significant part of Lithuanian citizens have financial debts and monetary debts applied to their bank accounts due to bailiffs’ orders.
“These people emigrate or refuse to work legally and receive a salary by transfer to a bank account. The government must see this problem and eliminate the conditions that prevent a citizen from working legally,” said D. Gedvilas.
Offers solutions that reduce shade
According to the LSA director, a mandatory builder card on construction sites would help ensure legal employment.
“The STATREG builder card issuance system has already been developed by LSA and has been in operation since 2018. Today, builder cards are installed voluntarily by Lithuanian construction companies. However, the LSA’s proposal to introduce a mandatory builder’s card in the market has not been accepted, so a large proportion of workers today continue to work illegally, earning income in the shadow and demoralizing workers from construction companies that pay taxes.
We believe that it would not be relevant for the construction sector in what way wages would be paid if a person legally worked with a builder’s card and paid taxes, ”said D. Gedvilas.
Last year, 170 thousand were paid in Vokeliai. euros
Eglė Ramanauskienė, director of the Control Department of the State Tax Inspectorate (STI), stated that last year, after various control actions, 10 cases were identified in which wages were paid “in an envelope.
“The total amount of salaries paid in” envelopes “amounted to more than 170 thousand euros. Last year, the amount amounted to 188 thousand, 15 euros and more cases.
The highest number of infractions was registered in establishments of catering, telecommunications, agricultural and livestock production, hunting, building construction, retail trade and transportation.
The activity of taxpayers and declared taxes in these and other sectors is monitored, changes are analyzed and companies with the highest risk are visited by CTI inspectors, and the other part is based on the “Warn-choose” model: Warning letters are sent to company managers or they are invited to the STI for clarification ”, explained the specialist.
According to her, if employers fail to justify the salary paid, often even below the “minimum” (which indicates a high risk of paying “envelopes” in companies) and do not adjust the salary recorded, they receive control procedures for the CTI.
“During control activities, many things are controlled: unaccounted income, illegal employees, and at the same time, the payment of unaccounted wages.” Envelopes “can be identified during any action, not necessarily when the purpose of the action of control was to pay unaccounted salaries Last year, the STI carried out a total of 6,098 control actions, during which the additional amount to be paid amounted to more than 50 million LTL euros.
Unfair employers are identified through prevention and control measures. The help of the civilian population of the country is also very important. Last year, the STI received 344 anonymous notifications about possible salary payment in an envelope. 2019 more reports of this type were received, 452 “, commented E. Ramanauskienė.
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