Global Reform of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus in 2019-2020 (Issues of Labor and Collective Agreements)

The law of the Republic of Belarus of July 18, 2019 No. 219-Z "On changing laws" introduced significant changes and additions to the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus. These innovations can be assessed as the third global reform of labor legislation. The importance of this reform is evidenced by the following facts. First, more than 170 articles were corrected. Second, the Code was supplemented with two new chapters. Third, 12 new articles were introduced (except for new chapters), about the same number of articles were excluded. Fourth, 25 articles of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus were set out in a new version. The paper analyzes in detail the new legal definitions of labor function, qualification, contract, and local legal acts. The Law of July 18, 2019 No. 219-Z introduced a new Chapter in the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus on the contract system of employment, which implemented norms from a number of decrees and decrees of the President of the Republic of Belarus. In the course of the last reform, the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus amended the provisions on the term of the employment contract, employment, transfer, changes in essential working conditions, and dismissal of an employee. The paper reveals a number of conflicts, legal and technical errors and legal uncertainties associated with the adoption of the Law of July 18, 2019 No. 219-Z, which may lead to problems in practice when applying the updated Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus. Special attention is given to the new rules of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus on the extension and scope of the collective agreement. The authors make suggestions for improving the labor legislation of Belarus. The comparative legal method is used, in particular, it is compared with the labor legislation of the Russian Federation. It is concluded that the Belarusian legislator has not approached the reform of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus in a well-thought-out and scientifically justified way. The shortcomings of the Law of July 18, 2019 No. 219-Z noted in this paper will be overcome and leveled by law enforcement and personnel practice.

Labor code, reform, labor function, labor contract, contract, employment, transfer, change of essential working conditions, dismissal, collective agreement

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