A Ukrainian refugee, Volodymyr Tyshchenko, 70, has faced severe financial hardship after working for a furniture manufacturing company in Kėdainiai, Lithuania, where he was not paid for four months. Tyshchenko, who had previously worked as a carpenter in Kharkiv for 15 years, fled to Lithuania with his granddaughters after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After relocating to Kėdainiai, he found a job through the local employment service at a furniture company.
Although the employer initially paid him on time, wages began to be delayed and then stopped altogether. Tyshchenko was owed approximately €5,600. The employer, citing financial difficulties, promised to pay in instalments but failed to do so. 'The excuses were always the same: an order fell through, the client didn't pay,' Tyshchenko said. Due to the ongoing issues, Tyshchenko quit his job in March.
This is the second company that has failed to pay him. The first employer in Kaunas also left him unpaid, and although he won the case, he recovered only half of the owed wages. The head of the furniture company in Kėdainiai admitted they struggled financially, with work drying up, leaving them unable to pay salaries.
According to Lithuania's State Labor Inspectorate, unpaid wage complaints are common, with many coming from non-EU citizens, particularly from Ukraine. The average wage debt is around €4,000 to €5,000.
Source: www.lrt.lt