The municipal staff of Kazlų Rūda, a town of some 5,500 people, was given a day off on Monday to celebrate the basketball win of the Lithuanian national men’s team.
Lithuania won 110:104 against the United States on Sunday, advancing to the quarter-finals of the FIBA World Cup. The last time the national team played in the quarter-finals of a major tournament was back in 2016.
Mayor Mantas Varaška announced that the town, located some 30 kilometres south west of Kaunas, would be celebrating.
“In light of the national challenges that exhausted the public over the weekend (potato harvesting and Lithuania’s basketball victory over America)”, municipal employees on Monday can work remotely or take a day off if they need to, according to the mayor’s order.
“The point is that I’m not gifting days off, but rather offering the opportunity to agree with the employer on a day off today without facing any problems,” he told BNS.
The mayor posted his order on Facebook as well.
“As the Seimas [parliament] is in recess and the president is sleeping, I am doing what I said. I’m not kidding. It’s better for people to let off steam and rest than to sit at work on Monday like overcooked dumplings. One day off won’t kill us,” he wrote.
A dozen municipal employees took the opportunity to telework or not work at all, Varaška said.
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