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backGLOBALtalk April, 2012

Russia: Recent Changes to the Procedure for Resolving Collective Employment Disputes

The Russian Parliament recently adopted the Federal Law "On the Introduction of Amendments to the Russian Labor Code to Improve the Procedure for Review and Resolution of Collective Employment Disputes", which was further signed by the President of the Russian Federation.

Although the basic rules for resolution of collective disputes remain the same the recent changes may adversely affect the interests of employers since they enable trade-unions to materially speed up the procedure for arranging a legitimate strike.

New procedural terms

The law introduces new terms for some statutorily required procedures that speed up the process of resolving collective disputes. Previously, a collective labor dispute should have been considered by a settlement commission first and only after that could a mediator or labor arbitration be used to resolve the dispute. The Russian Labor Code set forth specific timeframes for creating a settlement commission as well as the terms for a settlement commission to consider a dispute (either with or without the involvement of a mediator). The overall procedure has not been changed by the new law; however, the timeframes for each procedural step required for resolution of a collective labor dispute have been reduced from 4-5 business days to 2-3 business days. It is interesting that under the new law the time for these procedures depends on the level of social partnership. Thus, the terms for resolution of a collective labor dispute within companies have been decreased, but the timeframes for resolution of collective disputes at the level of a particular industry or region of Russia remain the same.

Under the new law the procedure for initiating a collective labor dispute is simplified. Recently employees had to organize an all-employee meeting or general employees' delegate conference in order to put forward their demands. Now it is possible to set out the employees' demands by a written poll (the signatures of over half the employees are sufficient).

The advance notice of an impending strike given to the employer has been reduced from ten to five business days. Additionally, under the new law employees are not required to notify the employer of the proposed duration of a strike.

Establishment of a Permanent Employment Arbitration Tribunal

While preserving the option of forming ad hoc labor arbitration tribunals, the law provides for establishment of Permanent Employment Arbitration Tribunals based at the relevant local Tripartite Commission. Tripartite Commissions are created by representatives of employers, employees and Government authorities to work out the terms of social and employment relationships and collective bargaining and conclude collective bargaining agreements at the relevant levels as well as monitor their performance. Such commissions are created at the federal, regional, local and branch of industry or intra-branch levels.

This idea is not new, since Employment Arbitration Tribunals have functioned for more than ten years in Moscow and some other regions of Russia. However, the law is aimed at spreading this practice all over the country.

Nevertheless, under the new law parties to a collective dispute are not obligated to pass their dispute to any particular Employment Arbitration Tribunal; however if they decide to do so the decision of the tribunal will be binding.

Conclusion

The law introduces amendments that are generally more favorable to employees (and especially to trade-unions) than to employers. The most unfavorable provisions for employers are those that reduce the terms for mandatory conciliation procedures and arranging strikes, and allow employees not to notify employers of the duration of a proposed strike.

Source: Baker & McKenzie - GAI

For more information or to contact Baker & McKenzie, please click here.

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