Collective bargaining: organization and conduct

Relations between employees and employers are regulated through the conclusion of contracts. They can be collective or individual. In the second case, people agree directly, and only their interests are taken into account. With a collective approach is a little more complicated. How is it formed? What if there are different opinions about some aspects? Indeed, in a collective agreement it is necessary to fix such working conditions that they suit everyone.

general information

What are they? Any negotiations are an exchange of views to reach an acceptable agreement. And if they are conducted in a collective format, then the essence does not change. In this case, social partnership and exchange of views between the employer representative and employees is envisaged. As the legislative base, Law No. 176-ФЗ and Article No. 7 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation are used. How are collective bargaining identified? For this, a number of signs are used:

1. A common goal is proclaimed, namely, the development of a draft collective agreement, which will meet the interests of both parties.
2. They can be initiated both by the association of employees and by representatives of the employer.
3. Both parties act as equal participants.
4. Any questions can be selected for discussion, their number is not limited.
5. When initiating negotiations, the party that received the proposal must respond in writing to it and enter the process within a week. Here is an important point! The answer cannot be negative. It must contain information about who the authorized representative is. The dialogue should begin no later than the day after the answer.

Collective bargaining always has one of two options:

1. The conclusion of the contract. He was the subject of negotiations. If this document is concluded, it means that the parties were able to agree.
2. Disagreement Protocol. If it was not possible to formulate a general point of view on fundamental issues, this document is compiled. It is the basis for the beginning of a collective labor dispute.

Attention should be paid to the fact that the parties make real obligations of their own free will. Therefore, it is desirable to provide for the possibility of systematic monitoring and responsibility for non-compliance with decisions made.

Training

Before considering the rules of collective bargaining, it is necessary to pay attention to bureaucratic issues. First of all, you should talk about representatives. They must speak on behalf of one of the parties. For example, representatives of the employer cannot put forward demands for negotiations on the part of employees. Also, they can not take part in:

1. An organization that has been created or funded by the tenant.
2. Local government.
3. Executive bodies.
4. Political parties.

Although in certain cases prescribed by law, there may be exceptions. But only according to the Labor Code. According to the law, the initiative may belong to any party, although in practice the contract is of greater interest to employees. If in preparation for the negotiations the employer ignored the offer, the only option is to start a collective labor dispute. But he follows a completely different regulation.

How are collective bargaining held? Are there dates for them or not? We will discuss all this now. Initially, we discuss the time of action.Depending on the status of the organization, the validity period is usually from one to three years. Although collective bargaining may affect its increase or decrease, but only in certain cases:

1. When the contract has expired, but its validity continues.
2. In the event of a company reorganization, provided that there is no objection on either side.
3. When the owner changes, the contract is retained.
4. If the company is liquidated, then the agreement is valid until the end of this procedure.

What does collective bargaining look like? Steps 1-2

The process is as follows:

1. The right to representation. Initially, one of the parties must decide that collective bargaining is needed. After that, you need to select representatives. The employer may be represented by management or authorized persons authorized to sign. Employees are somewhat more complicated. In total, they have several options. In the first case, if the enterprise does not have a trade union, you need to choose a representative at the general meeting by secret ballot. If a professional organization is present, but less than half the employees are in it, then the selection mechanism is still the same. But now, a secret ballot can also be held with the aim of granting her the right to represent interests. If there is a union, in which more than half of the workers are members, then it can choose a representative to negotiate independently. But what if there are several organizations? In this case, it is possible to form a single body for representation.
2. Proposal for negotiations. An authorized representative (body) takes the initiative. It is expressed in the form of a written proposal that is sent to the other side. After this, there is a week in order to formulate an answer and prepare for negotiations (choose your representatives). If we talk about the reaction of the employer, then it should be framed in the form of an order to create a commission that will deal with this initiative. It is believed that negotiations began the day after a response was received. That is, legislation provides a deadline of eight days to start.

Preparation and conduct. Stages 3-7

So, it was decided to participate in collective bargaining. For this you need:

1. Clarification of authority. It is necessary to discuss the factors of the rights and obligations of representatives in future negotiations. It is necessary to provide maximum procedures for the occurrence of stumbling blocks. What can be done in this case? For example, to establish the procedure and time for the transfer of information at the request of the other party, consideration of issues of mutual responsibility, agree on obligations on non-disclosure of secrets protected by law, which may be affected during negotiations.
2. Place, time, regulations. It is necessary to agree on where the negotiations will be held, what are their terms and the order of the dialogue. The date of their signing is taken as the date of their end. It should be borne in mind that, under the law, negotiations cannot last more than three months.
3. Discussion of the draft agreement. This is the beginning of collective bargaining. An initial project is being formed. Then, individual points are discussed and adjusted. Moreover, if there is an old collective agreement, it continues to be valid even in cases of expiration of its term. This is to protect workers.
4. Signing. The logical conclusion of collective bargaining is the coming to an agreement that satisfies all. After the project is developed, its approval begins. This requires the signature of representatives. If agreement cannot be reached, a protocol is drawn up, and instead of the seventh stage, it opens a labor dispute.
5. Actualization of the collective agreement. Although this can hardly be called an element of negotiations, but this is their completion.The employer sends the signed text to the territorial labor control authority. This should be done no more than a week after signing.

Warranty & Compensation

Reaching a common opinion does not always go smoothly. Sometimes social dialogue can be expensive for participants both financially and in time. And sometimes it also requires moral costs. Therefore, the state provided that the representatives of the parties were given certain preferences:

1. Prohibition of disciplinary action, transfers and dismissals during negotiations. Although there are exceptions to this, there are few of them and all of them are listed in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
2. Exemption for the entire period of negotiations from the main work. That is up to three months. At the same time, wages are maintained at an average level.

Compensation of the costs incurred is carried out in accordance with the regulations in force in the company. In addition, sometimes the question may arise about the payment for the services of experts and intermediaries. In this case, they are provided by the party that initiated the negotiations. That's all the general information you need to know. But collective bargaining has its own specifics. And you should also talk about her.

Legislative issues

The most significant are the provisions defined at the federal level. So, in the sixth chapter of the Labor Code there is a general concept of negotiations. In practice, it is specified under certain conditions. Although to comply with the letter of the law, deviations depend on the comfort needs of representatives. In addition, the decisions of local authorities are of some importance.

For example, the laws of individual republics are taken into account. This practice is used to ensure the rights and interests of all subjects of social partnership. It should be noted once again that in the Russian Federation entry into the negotiation process is mandatory. Although in world practice there is also a voluntary system where the employer may not recognize the initiators as a subject of negotiations.

And what does the alternative offer?

In the Russian Federation, there is a rather strict procedure for collective bargaining. And how are things going where volunteering is envisaged? Let's look at the UK as an example. More specifically, the so-called "Wilson case", considered in 2002. Then it was decided by the European Court of Human Rights that the existence of a clause that would oblige the employer to enter into negotiations is not necessary. After all, there are quite a number of other ways to protect your rights.

Although volunteerism has its limitations. So, the employer is not required to enter into negotiations with the initiators. But at the same time, he is forbidden to exert influence on workers in order to reduce their support. In Wilson’s case, an option was considered when workers who were in favor of ending collective bargaining increased their salaries significantly. UK law allowed such an attitude. Whereas the ECHR ruled that the state in this case does not comply with the eleventh article of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. And this is tantamount to violating it. That is, there are certain problems everywhere.

About initiation

Collective bargaining and collective bargaining are important. But just making a proposal does not mean that certain legal responsibilities are being accepted. So, you need to take care that the other side also receives it. To avoid problems and situations “I don’t know, there was nothing of the kind”, care must be taken to fix the fact of delivery.

To do this, you can ask to sign or send by post, providing a description of the attachment and a notice of delivery. And after that collective bargaining begins.The parties may evade them, but this is the reason for the labor dispute. It should be noted that this development option is very unpleasant, therefore, with a high degree of probability we can say that the other side will not avoid communication.

Individual moments of the negotiation process

Participants have complete freedom in choosing issues that affect social and labor relations. They can discuss the content of the document, organizational issues. The legal literature recommends negotiations based on good faith. This refers to respect and consideration for the interests of the other party. At the same time, it must be recognized that the negotiation process often goes beyond its original scope. This leads to certain inconveniences, because one of the parties may refuse to discuss what was not originally intended. Yes, and this can be interpreted as a representative exceeding his authority.

Conclusion

For rights and a better life it is necessary to fight confidently, methodically, purposefully. But at the same time, do not forget about an adequate assessment of the situation. Improving the lives of citizens is worthy to be called a goal. But it will be problematic to immediately realize it.

Consider a fictitious example when the (minimum) wage was suddenly increased tenfold. Then theoretically you can count on a good life. But in practice, inflation will absorb it, and for most business entities, work at such a level in the “white” tax regime will be impossible. Therefore, it is necessary that the situation changes gradually, because then there is less chance that a rollback will occur and the situation will worsen.