Resolving disputes between employers and employees - advice and assistance from a labor law lawyer

The labor legislation of the Russian Federation establishes and regulates the relationship between employer and employee, leaving each party the right to legally protect and defend its interests. The resolution of labor disputes usually takes place within the framework of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the Constitution and some other normative legal acts. As practice shows, this category is the most complex and confusing, so the help of a competent lawyer will be useful at any stage of conflict resolution. Today we will try to consider the main types of labor disputes and the procedure for resolving them, and also discuss the prospects for considering some situations in court.

Labor dispute and its essence

According to current legislation, a labor dispute is a conflict that has arisen between an employee (a group of employees) and an employer regarding long working hours, working conditions, changes in routine, payment mechanism and many other issues. It is important to understand that a labor dispute is a very specific situation, which almost always requires an individual approach and careful analysis. Sometimes the conflict goes so far that it becomes impossible to resolve it without the involvement of regulatory or supervisory authorities.

Practice shows that the cause of a dispute is the employer’s regular or prolonged violation of the basic provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This could be failure to comply with the terms of the contract, violation of generally accepted labor protection standards, fraud in the payment of wages, and much more. The most common conflicts include non-payment of wages, involving pregnant women on night shifts, and preventing an employee from going on vacation.

Who handles individual disputes between an employee and an employer?

A meeting of this body is competent if more than 50% of the members defending the rights of the employee and more than 50% of the members from the employer are present. During the work of the commission, a protocol is kept, signed by the chairman (deputy chairman). A document is considered valid if it is certified by the seal of the CTS.

payment for work performed;
conflicts regarding the imposition of disciplinary sanctions by the employer;
receiving benefits and compensation;
provision of paid and unpaid leave;
changes in working conditions;
application of labor legislation and other NAPs;
recovery of damage caused to the employer, etc.

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Resolution of individual labor disputes

An individual dispute is a conflict that arises between one employee of an organization/enterprise and management regarding the issues and actions of either party. The procedure for resolving such disputes is regulated by Article 60 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The provisions of the regulatory document clearly define the essence of the labor dispute, the specifics of the solution, and establish the competent authorities that should deal with conflict situations. The procedure for appealing decisions made, including in court, is also indicated here.

The provisions of Articles 383-392 of the Labor Code regulate the procedure for resolving controversial situations and establish the following procedure for considering a dispute:

An attempt at voluntary reconciliation between the employer and employee during their personal meeting or meeting of legal representatives. If the discussion results in a consensus, the next steps in resolving the dispute become irrelevant. If it is not possible to reach a consensus, the dispute is transferred to the next stage.
This stage is an appeal to the commission for resolving labor disputes. This structure is organized from representatives of the staff and administration of the organization in equal shares. The commission has a seal and the authority to conduct necessary investigations and proceedings at the expense of the employer. After considering the arguments of the parties, the commission determines the legality of the actions and demands of each party, making a reasoned decision.
If the decision of the labor commission did not satisfy the expectations of the parties or did not allow the disputed situation to be resolved, the last resort remains - the court. It is important to remember that the basis for considering a labor dispute in court is not only the disagreement of one of the parties with the decision made, but also obvious violations of the law when considering the conflict by members of the labor commission. This may be failure to comply with the deadline for consideration or violation of the secrecy of voting. In this case, we recommend using the help of a competent lawyer, because labor legislation changes too often and it is extremely difficult to think through a competent strategy for protecting your rights and interests.

Another important point is that each of the bodies listed in the list deals with a labor dispute only if the previous authority committed violations or one of the parties completely disagrees with the decision made. Skipping any of the stages (for example, going to court after it is impossible to reach an agreement with the employer in person) is unacceptable, because the current regulations clearly define the procedure for interaction between the employee and the employer in conflict situations.

Conflict of interests of an employee in an educational organization

1. A pedagogical worker is a member of the competitive jury of any event (for example, a district, city design competition, competition, olympiads, etc.) in which his student takes part. As a member of the jury, he has to evaluate the student’s participation in this event. If we add to this the possibility of further receiving material benefits for the effectiveness of participation (so-called incentive payments), then this is clearly a conflict of interest.

In the legal and regulatory space of the education system, the concept of “conflict of interests of a teaching worker” was first introduced by Federal Law No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2021 “On Education in the Russian Federation” (Article 2 “Basic concepts used in this Federal Law”). According to the law, “a conflict of interest of a teaching worker is a situation in which a teaching worker, when carrying out his professional activities, has a personal interest in obtaining material benefit or other advantage and which affects or may affect the proper performance of professional duties by the teaching worker due to a contradiction between his personal interest and interests of the student, parents (legal representatives) of minor students.”

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Resolution of collective labor disputes and their essence

The essence of a collective labor dispute is described in Chapter 61, Article 398 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is understood as a conflict of interest that has arisen between a group of employees and the management of the organization (their representatives). The basis for the emergence of such a conflict situation may be the employer’s refusal to make a decision of the trade union organization, a change in the previous ones or the introduction of new working conditions. As in the case of individual disputes, the resolution of collective conflicts involves the use of conciliation procedures:

The conflict situation is considered by members of a special conciliation commission, which is created for a short term specifically to resolve the labor dispute that has arisen.
Involving mediators who, by virtue of their powers, can lead the parties to a compromise. The mediator can use any methods and methods to resolve the conflict that do not contradict current legislation. The best option is to find a solution that would be beneficial for both parties.
Labor arbitration, created both from representatives of the employer and the team of employees, and authorized government bodies.

The procedure for moving from stage to stage is similar to that for resolving individual disputes. This is possible only in the absence of a satisfactory decision from the previous authority. If conciliation procedures and consideration of the issue in labor arbitration do not bring the expected result, the law reserves the right of workers to strike.

According to current legislation, a strike means a temporary refusal of workers to perform their job duties until the employer takes certain measures to resolve the conflict. As a rule, a strike is the most extreme measure, which can negatively affect both the moral climate in the team and its economic performance. It should be understood that even short-term downtime at a large enterprise entails serious losses, so when resolving collective disputes, it is necessary to resolve the conflict peacefully by all possible means.

Individual disputes between an employee and an employer are considered where

Most such conflicts are considered by labor commissions. The following cases are an exception (they are considered only in court): Collective labor disputes are considered by a conciliation commission with the participation of a mediator or in labor arbitration (Article If agreement cannot be reached in this way, the dispute will be considered with the participation of a mediator and (or) in labor arbitration.

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The legal status of the CCC has been radically changed, namely, from the [mandatory] primary body for consideration of individual labor disputes, the CCC has been transformed into a conciliation body, which is created with the purpose of The only body authorized to consider individual labor disputes in accordance with the Draft Labor Code is the court, in while the CCC performs exclusively conciliatory functions.

Consideration of labor disputes in court

Transferring an emerging labor conflict to the courts is a last resort. The interested party reserves the right to file a claim in court if:

The Labor Dispute Commission violated the deadline for making a decision. According to the law, this period is limited to 10 days from the date of application by the employee, who did it himself or used the help of a legal representative.
The employee does not agree with the decision made by the commission. It is important to remember that an employer who considers a decision of an independent body to be illegal or violates legitimate interests also has the right to go to court.
A prosecutor's investigation was carried out to determine whether the decision taken by the labor commission was unlawful.

Important! The court cannot independently order the consideration of a dispute without an application from one of the interested parties. The period for filing an application is limited to 3 months from the date of the dispute. We recommend that you do not rely solely on your own efforts, but consult a lawyer on labor law. This area is complex, and each conflict is considered individually, taking into account many circumstances!

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