Russian employing companies are required to conclude employment contracts with employees. What is the specificity of this legal category? How similar is the model of relations between employers and employees, which is accepted in Russia, with foreign models of legal relations in the labor sphere?
The specifics of the concept of an employment contract
The concept and meaning of an employment contract is usually considered by lawyers more broadly than the definition of the corresponding type of contract, which can be found, for example, in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The legal category that we are studying can be broadly interpreted as one of the basic institutions of labor (and, in some interpretations, also civil) legislation that reflects the peculiarities of legal relations in the field of communications between employees and employers. The concept and significance of an employment contract reflect the legislative regulation of labor, the subject of interaction of participants in legal relations within corporations.
Definition
Consider, however, the definition of an employment contract that is popular in legal science. A popular version is that in the academic environment, this legal category can be interpreted as a deal in which one subject of legal relations offers another his workforce, agreeing to comply, within the framework of the agreement (law, custom), with the employer's instructions and the procedures adopted by the organization.
One of the first codified labor laws, the Labor Code, adopted in the RSFSR in 1922, defined an employment contract as an agreement under which one citizen (employed) offered his labor to another or a group of persons (employer) for a fee. In the Labor Code adopted in post-Soviet Russia, an employment contract or contract was understood as an agreement between a citizen in the status of an employee, as well as an employer, in the framework of which the former was obliged to perform labor functions within the framework of a particular specialization or position subject to submission to the employer's order, and the latter was to pay in return for salary and provide the necessary working conditions.
The current definition of an employment contract is given in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This legal act states that the appropriate type of contract should be understood as an agreement between a citizen in the status of an employee and an employer, according to which the second undertakes to provide the first with a specific labor function, provide the necessary conditions for its fulfillment, and also pay salaries in return for personal fulfillment of duties by an employee and following on his part the rules of the work schedule.
Content of the contract
What does a typical employment contract say? Some of their elements are similar to those that are characteristic of civil law agreements: there is an authorized and obligated party, the subject of the agreement. But an employment contract is regulated by a separate area of law and therefore predetermines significant differences from civil law.
First of all, the eligible and obligated party to labor contracts remains so throughout the duration of the agreement. While in civil transactions, as a rule, at the time of implementation of the subject of the contract.
The main obligations of the employer, defined in employment contracts:
- pay salaries, vacation pay, maternity leave;
- provide the employee with the necessary working conditions;
- provide, in fact, work.
In fact, the same formulations determine the rights of the employee: to receive a salary, to carry out activities in acceptable conditions, to have a permanent job.
Basic rights of the employer:
- receive the employee’s labor results on a regular basis;
- to manage the personal time of the employee within his schedule;
- require the employee to comply with the work schedule.
Similarly, these rights predetermine the duties of employees: to work, to obey the orders of the employer during business hours, to observe the routine adopted by the employer.
The contents of the employment contract also reflect the duration of the agreement, the specifics of the position, salary, work schedule, etc. Additional provisions of mutual contractual obligations initiated by the employer that are not contrary to the law may be recorded.
The value of the employment contract in public relations
The employment contract in every sense is the most important legal category from the point of view of the development of the Russian economy, society and law. This type of contract is the main form by which the state is attracted and distributed. Through, first of all, the labor contract, collectives are created, which then become part of the economic system of the city, the subject of the federation or the country as a whole. The type of contract under consideration is a key form of realization by the citizens of Russia of the principle of freedom of labor.
The agreement between Russian employers and employees provides a fairly strong employee protection from dismissal. There must be very good reasons for the employer to free the person from the position that he occupies. In this sense, the value of an employment contract also acquires a social connotation. This feature determines the construction of a special balance of interests between the employer and the employee. A company that has hired a person, on the one hand, gives him work, pays a salary, and on the other hand, assumes that he will value this stability, and therefore try to fulfill his duties responsibly.
However, this state of affairs is far from characteristic of all world legal systems. There is an opinion that labor legislation, which implies high social security, is not the best option for a capitalist economy. Consider this thesis in more detail.
Balance of interests in various legal systems
Above, we studied the concept and significance of an employment contract in relation to the Russian legal tradition. However, the specificity of the corresponding type of contracts in the Russian Federation that we identified is not always similar to the models of legal relations in the world of work that have developed in other states.
For example, in the USA the concept and functions of an employment contract are somewhat different. Contracts between American employers and employees are extremely dispositive. By signing an employment contract, the employee and the company, of course, fix the terms of interaction in terms of salary, specialist work schedule, and the organization’s internal routine. However, the contract of the American model practically does not protect a person from dismissal.
In the United States, there is a legal principle by which an employer company can fire an employee without actually giving reasons. One of the few chances of a citizen to return to the post is to prove that he was relieved of it by force. biased attitude an employer due, for example, to political preferences. In the USA, there are a lot of lawsuits over dismissals. But it cannot be said that a trend unambiguously prevails in them, reflecting the judges' sympathy for employees.
The concept and meaning of an employment contract, as we see, are interpreted in the USA in a completely different way. This is not an employee social protection tool. Although these agreements certainly have legal force.The company is obliged to follow the prescribed provisions regarding salary and other options.
This situation in the United States is due to several reasons. Firstly, this is the specificity of the legal system based on the English case law system. Codified legal acts in the United States, like the Russian Labor Code, have not been adopted. And therefore, it is objectively difficult for an employer to draw up a contract that would imply a high social security for the employee: in the USA, there is no generally accepted system of regulatory acts that could be relied on to form the provisions of the contract.
Secondly, the capitalist model of the US economy implies the willingness of citizens to constant competition - both at the business level and in the aspect of labor activity as an employee. A person must constantly prove to the employer that he is better than other applicants for the position. Incentive - the presence of the company-employer the right to "easy" dismissal.
Capitalism or social orientation?
However, such a model is not characteristic of many other Western countries. For example, in France, labor legislation as a whole determines the social protection of workers at the Russian level. In Japan, people who get a job in a large corporation, as a rule, acquire the right to work in it as much as they wish - these are the traditions of interaction between the employing company and the employee that have developed in Japanese society. An employment contract, the concept and significance of this legal category are interpreted in Japan as an instrument of social protection, reinforced by customs and public moods that have developed in the state.
Thus, in the world there are two dissimilar models of building a balance of interests between the employer and the employee - capitalist and socially oriented. Of course, even in the USA it is already difficult to find an employer who would regularly take advantage of the opportunities that arose due to the specifics of the national legal system. Elements of social support among US employers are certainly present. In turn, in countries with socially-oriented labor legislation, there are sometimes discussions that it would be nice to review some provisions of legal acts in favor of shifting the balance of interests towards the employer.
Alternative employment contract
Having examined the concept and significance of an employment contract, having analyzed foreign experience, we can investigate an aspect that reflects the possibility of concluding contracts that are alternative to what we are considering. The Russian legal model allows them to be concluded. We are talking about civil contracts. What is their specificity?
The main specificity, which the concept and the parties to the employment contract suggest, is the presence of a large number of mutual obligations in relation to a certain period of time. That is, while the contract is in effect, the employer and the employee are constantly in the status of authorized and obligated parties (the specific position of each is determined by the terms of the contract). In turn, a civil contract does not imply such specifics. Competency and responsibility under such contracts are recorded in correlation with the facts of the implementation of specific orders.
That is, these principles and the concept of an employment contract, its parties and their significance find little in common. A civil contract is somewhat similar to an American contract: in particular, under it, the employer does not guarantee any permanent employment. However, even in the agreement that the employer and employee in the USA sign, there are conditions for regular salary payments. There can be no such condition in a Russian civil contract.And if, due to insufficient knowledge of the employer, it somehow appeared, then the corresponding agreement can be classified as labor.
Similarity in form and content difference
Moreover, if the nature of the work performed by the employee who signed the civil contract involves certain obligations, for example, arriving at the customer’s office on schedule, as well as fulfilling all his requests as if it were an order, the employer may subsequently be required by the court to conclude a full-fledged relationship with the person an employment contract and start paying him a salary. This prospect has emerged due to the relatively recent changes in Russian law. And now not every employer will agree to choose a “convenient” once alternative to a labor contract.
Indeed, for a long time, some Russian employing companies, having carefully examined such a legal category as an employment contract, concept, meaning, content, came to the conclusion that it is more profitable to draw up a very similar form, but from a legal point of view, not binding to anything civil contract. Now it’s illegal to do this. Moreover, many citizens, who once concluded a civil law contract, began to realize what features characterized the concept, meaning, conclusion of labor. The Russians now conclude a contract with the employer, making sure that it reflects their legitimate interests. In turn, various government bodies, primarily the Rostrudinspektsiya, make sure that the provisions of the law are respected by employing companies.
Types of Employment Contracts
Having considered what an employment contract is, the concept and significance of this legal category, we can explore the types of relevant contracts that are practiced in Russia. There are a lot of criteria for classifying the agreements in question. For example, this is a deadline.
So, there are contracts, the validity of which is not defined, urgent (their validity is up to 5 years), as well as those that specify the exact period of the employee's performance of labor duties. If the employer and employee have not determined what type of contract they sign, then by default, in the order of presumption, the first type of contract is drawn up.
Among the fixed-term contracts, a special place is occupied by those that reflect temporary employment, as well as work within a certain season. In the first case, the contract is concluded for a period of up to 2 months, or up to 4 if a person replaces a temporarily absent employee. As part of the seasonal work, the duration of the contract is up to 6 months.
The employer is obliged to explain the specifics of each type of contract, their concept, meaning to the employees hired. The parties to the employment contract must carry out communications in a regime of trust and transparency. An employee who has signed such a contract should know exactly how long he will be able to work in the organization, and on what the extension of the relevant terms may depend. Having determined exactly what the labor contract will be concluded, the concept, meaning, parties, the contents of the document should also not be overlooked. The employer must make sure that the employee understands all clauses of the agreement.
There are employment contracts that require registration in combination or combination. In the first case, a person works in two or more organizations at different times, in the second - in the same company, but in several positions.
There are special labor contracts that are signed with employees who perform their functions at home. This is possible if the employer decides that it is more optimal from the point of view of the production process, or wants to meet the employee who asked for this mode of work.
Having examined the main types and significance of an employment contract, we can explore one unusual type of agreement.It is about collective contracts.
Collective bargaining agreements
The general characteristics of the employment contract, the concept of this legal category suggest that there will be one subject on each side of its signing. But there is a kind of contract, suggesting the presence of several parties to its design. This type of document is referred to as a “collective agreement”.
The concept and significance of an employment contract and its features imply, first of all, the necessity of its mandatory signing due to the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Collective contracts, however, the current legislation of the Russian Federation to conclude employers in the general case does not oblige. However, if employees themselves come forward with such an initiative, the company is not entitled to refuse them.
The most interesting thing is that the employer and employees may not come to a common understanding of certain conditions of the collective agreement. But even in this case, it must be signed within 3 months from the start of the discussion of the contract. It will only be necessary to fix the controversial issues in a separate document.
