SPECIFICS OF LEGAL REGULATION OF LABOUR DISCIPLINE IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Background. The essential importance of labour discipline for labour law is due to the fact that not only the further efficiency of labour relations but also, in some cases, the health and safety of employees and other persons depends on its proper observance. In turn, the labour discipline concept provided for in the Labour Code of Ukraine, despite some isolated legislative amendments, has remained practically unchanged since its adoption. This can be seen quite clearly at the level of internal labour regulations and disciplinary penalties. This emphasizes the importance of researching these categories, taking into account international and foreign experience. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the peculiarities of legal regulation of internal labour regulations and disciplinary penalties and to develop ways for further improvement.

Methods. In the course of preparation of the paper, the author applied dialectical, comparative legal, formal and logical, and other methods of cognition. With the help of the dialectical method, in particular, the author identifies the specific features of legal regulation of labour discipline in Ukraine. The comparative legal method allowed for a comparative legal study of the provisions of national, foreign, and international legislation which regulate the issues of labour discipline. The formal logical method was used to identify the shortcomings of legal regulation of internal labour regulations, as well as disciplinary measures applied to employees.

Results. The institution of labour discipline in Ukraine is expressed both at the legislative and local levels. On the one hand, the legislation provides certain guidelines for ensuring labour discipline and limits the disciplinary power of employers. At the same time, the local level implements the balanced application of disciplinary measures, eliminates conditions contributing to the violation of labour discipline, ensures the transparency and effectiveness of incentives for employees, etc. At the same time, the legislative and local levels of ensuring labour discipline cannot be interchangeable; they function in a harmonious combination with each other. For example, such categories at the local level as internal labour regulations, as well as the types of disciplinary penalties, are regulated in the legislation.

Conclusions. Current labour legislation does not pay sufficient attention to the issues of internal labour regulations. For example, the Labour Code of Ukraine does not provide clear rules that would indicate that the approval of internal labour regulations is mandatory or, on the contrary, discretionary. Due to the fact that labour discipline has a collective component, it seems appropriate to provide for mandatory approval of internal labour regulations by the employer depending on the number of persons employed. Moreover, Article 147(1) of the Labour Code of Ukraine contains only two types of penalties that do not allow for the proper application of disciplinary measures depending on the nature and severity of the offence committed and the degree of guilt of the employee. This necessitates the introduction of amendments to this rule of the Labour Code of Ukraine in order to expand the list of disciplinary penalties. This list should include warning, reprimand, censure, discharge, and dismissal.