Hansabankas enters into a collective labor agreement with its staff
2008-04-30 Back
On 1 May 2008, a collective labor agreement concluded between the employer, Hansabankas, and its staff came into force.
It defines bilateral obligations/liabilities, work conditions and additional employee motivation schemes. It had been put to Hansabankas staff’s vote in late March and approved by 93% of the voters who participated in the voting procedure (involving 90.4% of the total staff). On the dates of voting, Hansabankas had 3267 employees working in Hansabankas bank offices (Head Office, branches, sub-branches, etc.) all over Lithuania.
Negotiations concluded, the collective labor agreement was signed by Chairman of Board of Hansabankas, Mr. Giedrius Dusevicius and Chairman of Labor Council, Mr. Arturas Linga. The Labor Council comprises 15 Hansabankas employees working in various job positions (i.e. ranging from tellers to heads of structural units) elected by secret vote a year ago. The draft of the collective labor agreement, its terms, conditions and other legal requirements had been presented to Hansabankas staff during meetings held at the Head Office and Regional Branches.
According to Arturas Linga, Chairman of Labor Council, Lithuanian laws and other legal acts do not require that the employer and its employees must sign collective labor agreements. However, such an agreement is advisable since it helps to clearer define the parties’ obligations and reach agreement on a number of terms and conditions of the bilateral relationship. Says Arturas Linga: "Collective labor agreement is not a kind of a document that preempts further dialogue between the employer and its employees: just the opposite, our collective labor agreement envisages certain mechanisms for encouragement of employees’ initiates that could contribute to the passing of necessary decisions/resolutions and the improving of work climate in the entire organization".
Chairman of Board Giedrius Dusevicius noted that regulation of relations between the employer and its employees is of major concern to every large institution. "We are glad to be among the first institutions in this country to have drawn up and approved a collective labor agreement between the employer and the employees. It speaks of our maturity, preparedness for pro-active communication within our organization and our willingness to look for solutions acceptable to all employees", concluded he.
