Notice periods and severance pay compared: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

Discontinuing a work relationship might not always be as straightforward as you think. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia do not allow at-will termination. Every dismissal needs a valid ground for dismissal, a correct notice period, and in many cases a severance payment calculated based on the employee’s length of employment. If you get any of this wrong, the employee can challenge the dismissal, which is more expensive and slower to resolve than getting it right the first time.

The four markets share a broad structure but differ on the actual numbers. Here is what applies in each, so you can check your specific case before you act.

Poland

Notice periods for an indefinite contract depend on length of employment: two weeks for employment under six months, one month for six months to three years, and three months for employment exceeding three years. Termination of an indefinite contract requires a stated reason, and the employee can challenge the dismissal before a labour court, with possible outcomes including reinstatement or compensation of up to three months’ salary.

Statutory severance in Poland applies mainly to collective redundancies and terminations for reasons not related to the employee under the Act on Collective Redundancies. Where it applies, severance runs from one month’s pay for under two years of service, two months’ pay for two to eight years, up to three months’ pay for over eight years.

Lithuania

Standard notice from the employer, where the employee is not at fault, is one month for employment exceeding one year and two weeks for employment under one year. Notice is doubled for employees within five years of retirement age and tripled for those raising a child under 14 or a disabled child under 18.

Severance for termination not related to the employee’s conduct is two months’ average wage for employment exceeding one year, and half a month’s wage for employment under one year. A separate route exists under the Labour Code allowing an employer to terminate without employee fault on three working days’ notice, with a minimum severance of six months’ average wage, which rises with length of employment up to a statutory cap.

Latvia

Most employer-initiated terminations require one month’s written notice, unless a specific statutory ground provides otherwise. Severance pay is required in most involuntary dismissal scenarios and ranges from one to four months’ average earnings depending on the legal ground and the employee’s length of service.

Collective dismissals, meaning a set threshold of employees dismissed within a defined period, carry additional notification obligations to the State Employment Agency before the process can proceed.

Estonia

Notice periods scale with length of service: 15 calendar days under one year, 30 days for one to five years, 60 days for five to ten years, and 90 days for ten years or more. Employers can also choose to pay in lieu of notice.

Severance for redundancy is one month’s average wage, paid by the employer. On top of that, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (Töötukassa) pays an additional month for employees with five to ten years of service, and an additional two months for those with over ten years.

Side-by-side comparison

Factor	Poland	Lithuania	Latvia	Estonia
Standard notice (established employee)	1 to 3 months by tenure	1 month over 1 yr employment	1 month	30 to 90 days by tenure
Shortest notice (new hire)	2 weeks	2 weeks under 1 yr	1 month	15 days under 1 yr
Severance basis	Collective/no-fault redundancy	No-fault termination	Most involuntary dismissals	Redundancy
Typical severance range	1 to 3 months’ pay	0.5 to 6+ months’ pay	1 to 4 months’ pay	1 to 3 months’ pay (partly state-funded)
Protected groups with extended notice	Pre-retirement, some union roles	Near-retirement, parents of young/disabled child	Pregnant employees, specific statutory grounds	None with extended statutory notice

 

Why some companies make mistakes in termination grounds

The two most common mistakes are applying one country’s numbers to another, and assuming severance is optional if the contract does not mention it. Severance obligations in all four markets come from statute, not from what the employment contract says. A contract that is silent on severance does not waive it.

The second mistake is timing. Notice periods in Lithuania and Latvia are measured in calendar time from the day the employee receives written notice, and getting the delivery and documentation wrong can restart the clock or expose the dismissal to challenge on procedural grounds alone, even where the underlying reason was valid.

How an EOR handles this

When you employ through Go-EOR, we calculate the correct notice period and severance for the specific country and the employee’s actual length of service, handle the required documentation and any government notifications, and manage final pay and unused leave. You make the business decision to end the employment relationship. We carry out the process in line with local law.

Which of the four markets has the most generous severance for long-tenured employees?

Lithuania, where an employer-initiated termination without employee fault under the no-fault route carries a minimum of six months’ average wage, scaling higher with length of service up to a statutory cap.

Can I avoid severance by writing it out of the employment contract?

No. Severance obligations in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are set by statute and cannot be waived or reduced by the employment contract.

Does probation change the notice period?

Yes, in all four countries, probationary termination carries a shorter notice period than a standard dismissal, though the exact length varies by country and should be checked against the specific contract.

What happens if I use the wrong country’s notice period by mistake?

The dismissal can be challenged as procedurally defective, which can result in reinstatement or additional compensation even where the underlying reason for termination was valid.