Alina Makovska at the #DarboTeisė2026 conference

Is your freelancer actually an employee? The contract might say no, but the law could disagree. At the Darbo teisė 2026 conference, WALLESS Partner Alina Makovska examined where a service relationship ends and employment begins.

As flexible work models expand, this line is becoming harder to draw – and more expensive to ignore. Classification isn’t determined by contract titles, but by how work is performed: who controls the process, who bears the risk, how integrated the person is into the business, and whether independence is real or just formal. A setup that looks compliant on paper can still be reclassified in practice. And when it is, the consequences extend far beyond the relationship itself – into financial exposure, compliance investigations, and disputes that can drag on for years.

A good contract is a start, but alignment with day-to-day reality is the real safeguard!