The Paradox of the Baltic States: Labour Market Flexibility but Protected Workers?

This article assesses the strictness of employment protection legislation andits actual enforcement in the Baltic States. We use information from theapplicable legislation as well as employer surveys, data on the coverage oflabour legislation and the practice of law enforcement. Overall strictness isclose to the average of EU countries and relatively well aligned with EUregulations; individual and collective dismissals are relatively heavily andtemporary forms of employment relatively weakly regulated. However, effectiveflexibility is increased by problems of enforcement: there is much evidence ofviolations of statutory regulations at enterprise level. In addition, theproportion of the workforce actually covered by the regulations is relativelylow. In the Baltic States temporary employment is more widespread, implying ahigher level of flexibility than the EU average