Collective negotiations: concept, parties, procedure

Collective negotiations are a procedure for negotiations between representatives of workers and employers on the preparation, conclusion and amendment of a collective agreement or agreement.

Before negotiations begin, one party must notify the other in writing of a proposal to begin negotiations, and that party must begin negotiations within seven days of receipt of the notice. The timing, place and procedure for negotiations are determined by the parties. Negotiations can be expressed in the form of consultations. In this case, representatives of the party that received written notification of consultations are obliged to begin them within the period specified in the notification, but no later than seven calendar days from the date of its receipt.

The parties to the negotiations are representatives of workers and employers. If the employer or the organization’s administration refuses or evades negotiations, the other party has the right to start a collective labor dispute.

Negotiations and preparation of contracts and agreements are carried out by partners on an equal basis. Negotiators are free to choose issues related to the regulation of social and labor relations ( Article 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation ). In cases where the parties during the negotiations do not come to an agreement on any issue, a protocol of disagreements is drawn up and submitted to the conciliation commission.

Collective negotiations are considered completed from the moment the collective agreement, agreement, or protocol of disagreements is signed. Signing a protocol of disagreements means the beginning of a collective labor dispute.

Participants in negotiations must not disclose information received during negotiations that is a secret protected by law.

Basic principles of social partnership:

1. compliance with legal norms established by law;
2. authority of representatives of the parties;
3. equality of parties in collective negotiations, signing of collective agreements and agreements;
4. respect and consideration of the interests of the parties;
5. interest of the parties in participating in contractual relations;
6. voluntariness of accepting obligations and their actual feasibility;
7. systematic monitoring of the implementation of collective agreements and agreements;
8. mandatory implementation of collective agreements and agreements and liability for their failure.

Collective bargaining: what is it, deciphering the concept

An exchange of views until a compromise emerges is expected in negotiations of any type. Negotiations with the team are also subject to the rule. Here we are talking about public-social partnership, exchange of opinions also takes place. Agreements with the team and specific clauses of documents are the most common subject for discussion.

The following set of signs is typical for negotiations with several participants:

1. Common goal. The parties must develop a solution that meets the interests of each participant.
2. Transfer of initiatives between participants. The initiators themselves are also different.
3. Equality of both parties in the process.
4. No restrictions on the choice of subject of discussion.

After a proposal to start negotiations from one party, the other must give a written response no later than two weeks later.

The procedure is carried out in compliance with the following several principles:

1. A ban on making decisions that worsen the rights of workers in comparison with the conditions that were in force before.
2. They make decisions voluntarily, but after that the specified rules will be mandatory.
3. Respect for the interests of other participants is also mandatory.
4. Distribution of powers between full parties.
5. Compliance with legislation in force in the Russian Federation.

Typical mistakes:

Error:

The employer believes that the development of a collective agreement and the conduct of collective negotiations is mandatory.

A comment:

In Part 1 of Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Part 1 of Art. 22 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that the parties have labor relations for concluding a collective agreement. However, labor legislation does not oblige employers to draw up this document and conduct collective negotiations before its approval - there are no sanctions for the absence of a collective agreement at the enterprise.

Error:

The employer received a proposal to conduct collective negotiations, to which he responded that he was not ready to negotiate.

A comment:

If the employer receives a proposal from a workers' representative to begin collective bargaining, the employer's response cannot be negative. The written response must contain information about the employer's chosen representative for negotiations. And the negotiations themselves must be organized no later than the next day from the moment the response is received.

About the right to representation

The first step is for one of the participants to make a decision regarding the need for collective bargaining. Several representatives are invited to realize the goal. Management is represented by employers or other persons with appropriate authority. Employees may have problems making a choice if they do not understand all the nuances.

Conducting a secret ballot if a trade union is not organized in the company or when there is a trade union, but less than 50% of all employees are in it. In the latter case, a secret vote is held to give the trade union the right to appoint representatives of the collective.

A trade union has the right to independently choose members if it includes more than 50% of all subordinates. In companies with several active trade unions, it is permissible to assemble a single body responsible for the expression of opinions at all such events.

Principles

When conducting collective bargaining, concluding or changing its results, it is always necessary to rely on several key principles, namely:

• Full compliance with legislative requirements.
• Correct and reasonable distribution of spheres of influence between negotiators.
• Mandatory equality of rights for each member.
• Interaction based on respect for each other.
• The need for all agreements and decisions made to be voluntary and enforceable by each party.
• Necessary external control to ensure compliance with the rules of negotiation.

It should also be added that all decisions made during collective bargaining are binding on both parties. If someone ignores them or does not comply, this will entail certain responsibility and serious consequences that can lead to a conflict situation.

Main stages of collective bargaining

After selecting representatives of the parties, the stages of negotiations can be divided into several stages (see Table 1).

Table 1. Stages of collective bargaining

Collective bargaining in the social and labor sphere

Negotiations can be initiated by representatives of any party. Having received notification from one party in writing with a proposal to begin collective bargaining, the other party is obliged to enter into negotiations within seven calendar days from the date of receipt of the notification. Failure to fulfill obligations to enter into collective bargaining entails the imposition of an administrative fine (Article 5.28 of the Administrative Code).

In order to prevent the weakening of the position of interested employee organizations in the process of conducting collective bargaining and concluding relevant contracts and agreements, it is prohibited to conduct and conclude them on behalf of employees by persons representing the employer (Part 3 of Article 36 of the Labor Code, Part 4 of Clause 1 of Article 13 Federal Law “On Trade Unions, Their Rights and Guarantees of Operations”).

In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 36 of the Labor Code, representatives of a party who have received a proposal in writing to begin collective negotiations are required to enter into negotiations within seven calendar days from the date of receipt of the said proposal. The party that received such a proposal must send a response to the initiator of the proposal indicating the representatives from its party and their powers to participate in the work of the collective bargaining commissions.

The content of these norms, included in the current labor legislation of the Russian Federation, reflects the fundamental provisions of a number of International Conventions and Recommendations on the issues under consideration. These include International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 98 “On the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining” (1949), Convention No. 154 “On the Promotion of Collective Bargaining” (1981) and Recommendation No. 163 “On the Promotion of Collective Bargaining”. collective bargaining (1981). They draw attention to the concept of collective bargaining and measures to promote it. “Collective bargaining” means all negotiations that take place between an employer, a group of employers, on the one hand, and one or more workers’ organizations, on the other, for the purpose of:

• determining working and employment conditions;
• and/or regulation of relations between employers and employees;
• and/or regulating the relationship between employers or their organizations and the organization or organizations of workers.

Convention No. 154 has a wide scope, since it applies to all sectors of economic activity. It also states that national legislation may establish guarantees and special methods of application in relation to the armed forces, police and public service.

Measures to promote collective bargaining are determined by relevant national conditions. Thus, Convention No. 154 states that these measures should be aimed, in particular, at:

• collective bargaining was possible for all employers and all categories of workers in the sectors of activity specified in the Convention;
• that they apply to all matters which constitute the purpose of collective bargaining.

Fundamentally important for ensuring the real protection of the interests of workers in the process of collective bargaining is enshrined in Part 3 of Art. 36 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation requires the relevant international legal norms to prevent persons representing the interests of employers, as well as organizations or bodies created or financed by employers, executive authorities, local governments, political in batches, except for cases provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Many important issues, in particular procedural ones, related to ensuring the rule of law in the process of collective bargaining, are reflected in Art. 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which defines the procedure for conducting collective bargaining, aimed at implementing the democratic principles of mutual relations between the parties, collective bargaining and, above all, the principles of freedom and equality of the parties participating in collective bargaining. It emphasizes that representatives of the parties participating in collective bargaining are free to choose issues of regulation of social and labor relations. It also reflects the priority role of trade unions in exercising their right to represent and protect the rights and interests of workers at all levels of collective bargaining.

The term, place and procedure for conducting collective negotiations are determined by representatives of the parties acting as their participants. They are free to choose the issues of regulation of social and labor relations that are the subject of their negotiations.

The parties and participants in collective negotiations are endowed with mutual rights and obligations, strict observance of which ensures their successful implementation and achievement of appropriate practical results (Parts 6 and 7 of Article 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, the parties are mutually obliged to provide each other, no later than two weeks from the date of receipt of the relevant request, with the information they have necessary for conducting collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining can be organized either directly between the parties, or with the participation of a single representative body. The possibility of direct negotiations is provided for in Part 3 of Art. 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which a primary organization that unites more than half of the organization’s employees, an individual entrepreneur, has the right, by decision of its elected body, to send to the employer (his representative) a proposal to begin collective bargaining on behalf of all employees without first creating a single representative body. In addition, collective negotiations are possible directly between the employer and the primary trade union organization or other representative (representative body) speaking on behalf of all employees in cases provided for in Part 7 of Art. 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, subject to mandatory compliance with the rules established therein.

Negotiations directly between the parties can be conducted even when none of the primary organizations or all the existing trade union organizations that want to create a single representative body unite more than half of the employees of a given employer. In such cases, a general meeting (conference) of workers by secret ballot can determine the primary organization which, with the consent of its elected body, is instructed to send the employer (his representative) a proposal to begin collective negotiations and enter into them.

An essentially similar procedure for conducting collective bargaining also takes place in cases where it was not possible to determine such an organization in the prescribed manner, as well as if the employees of a given employer are not united at all in any primary trade union organizations. In these cases, the general meeting (conference) may elect another representative (representative body) from among the employees and vest him with the appropriate powers to conduct collective bargaining.

In cases where the employer’s organization has two or more primary trade union organizations, which together unite more than half of the employer’s employees, there is often a need to create a single representative body for conducting collective bargaining, developing a single draft collective agreement and concluding it.

The formation of a single representative body is based on the principle of proportional representation depending on the number of trade union members they represent. At the same time, it must include a representative of each of the primary trade union organizations that have created a single representative body, which has the right to send to the employer (his representative) a proposal to begin collective negotiations on the preparation, conclusion or amendment of a collective agreement on behalf of all employees.

The right to conduct collective bargaining and sign agreements on behalf of workers as provided for in Art. 26 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation at the levels of social partnership is provided to the relevant trade unions (associations of trade unions).

In the interests of further development of the principles of a democratic approach to the participation of trade unions in the protection of labor rights and interests of workers, Part 5 of Article 37 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that if there are several trade unions (associations of trade unions) at the appropriate level, each of them is given the right to representation as part of a single representative collective bargaining body, which is formed taking into account the number of trade union members they represent.

In the absence of an agreement on the creation of a single representative body for collective bargaining, such a right is granted to the trade union (association of trade unions) that unites the largest number of members of the trade union (trade unions).

During collective bargaining, disagreements naturally and frequently arise. Therefore, Article 38 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which determines the legal procedure for their settlement, is of great practical importance. It includes, first of all, the obligation to draw up a protocol of disagreements on all or individual issues on which an agreed decision has not been made.

According to Part 2 of Art. 40 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if agreement is not reached between the parties on certain provisions of the draft collective agreement, within three months from the date of the start of collective negotiations, the parties must sign a collective agreement on the agreed terms and draw up a protocol of disagreements of the same name.

Unsettled disagreements in accordance with Art. 40 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation may be the subject of further collective negotiations or resolved in the manner established by the Labor Code or other federal laws.

Recording of collective negotiations

Documentary and written recording for such events acts as a mandatory requirement. The procedure is accompanied by a document that includes the following information:

• signatures of the participants when everything is completed;
• number of positive and negative votes;
• a description of the citizens who spoke on each issue;
• description of the agenda;
• composition of the commission. It is necessary to indicate the name of each person along with their position;
• time of negotiations, exact date;
• name of the meeting;
• exact protocol number.

Protecting the interests of the parties

As we said above, the interests of the employer during collective bargaining are represented by any person or organization that does not have financial or political support from the manager. This is necessary so that after the document is adopted, it is correctly legitimized, taking into account the equal rights of all employees.

The collective agreement must be registered within a week after its adoption and signing. Note that registration cannot be prohibited or canceled, because it must be carried out even if some typos were found in the text itself. Also, within a week, the commission that controlled the negotiations must carefully study all the terms of the adopted act in order to find any points or aspects that in one way or another could worsen the situation of employees. All information must be communicated to each party. As a result, a decision may be made at another meeting in order to formulate new principles that will suit each of the parties.

Participation in negotiations and guarantees with compensation for interested parties

Collective negotiations are organized based on Article 39 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In addition to the interested parties themselves, the procedure allows for the participation of intermediaries, specialists and experts. All these persons have the right to guarantees with additional compensation described at the legislative level.

The following guarantees ensure the successful holding of the event in any conditions:

1. Maintaining wages for a specified period.
2. Release from main work for the duration of this procedure. No more than three months.

All persons are guaranteed compensation for any costs associated with participation in negotiations. The amounts and sources of compensation are determined on several grounds:

• agreement;
• collective agreement;
• legislation.

The inviting party usually pays for the services of experts and any intermediaries. The exception is when important documents provide for other conditions.

All employees directly involved in the process can count on additional guarantees. For example, team members cannot be subject to disciplinary action while the event is taking place. The ban applies to dismissal and transfers to other positions. Dismissal is permissible only if it is proven that the citizen has committed a serious offense that allows for the application of punishment.

Stages

So, let's begin to consider the procedure for conducting negotiations and concluding a collective agreement. Initially, it is decided that negotiations are to take place, each party is notified and a time and place are set. At the second stage, the members of the commission who will participate in the negotiations are approved and their powers are determined. In this case, the commission should be formed on a voluntary basis. Several employees can work in parallel or unite in some kind of organization in order to determine the requirements for negotiations.

At the third stage, a specific collective agreement is discussed. As decisions are made, modifications are possible, which must be clearly regulated in terms of timing and agreed upon by each party. Collective negotiations end with a meeting of all workers and signing of the accepted documents. At this stage, the employer may be represented by various organizations or individuals.

As for the validity period of the collective agreement, it comes into force for a minimum of one year and a maximum of 3 years. If any changes or additions are necessary, they must be made by agreement of each party. Note that if at a certain point in time the validity period of the documents has already passed, then its provisions automatically continue to be in force until a new agreement is formulated or until the old provisions are amended.

It is important to remember that if the company’s management, composition, structure changes, or the employment contract is terminated, the collective agreement still remains in force. It remains active even if the company is reorganized. In this case, the contract can be terminated if such an option is proposed by one of the parties. But during the liquidation of the company, the agreement will still be in force. After a change of management or reorganization, the contract will still be valid for the first three months, after which the employer’s employees must meet to create a new contract or change the one on the basis of which they worked.

Who is prohibited from taking part in negotiations?

Permission to participate in negotiations with the team is described in Article 36 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is necessary to ensure that the procedure is carried out as impartially as possible. And so that workers' rights are fully protected. Prohibitions usually apply to the following persons:

1. Parties and representatives of executive authorities.
2. Organizations that depend on the leader directly or indirectly.
3. Workers who want to participate on behalf of the team, but in fact represent the interests of the employer.

Who cannot be an employer's representative in collective bargaining

Representatives must clearly represent one of the parties. Representatives of the employer, that is, persons expressing his interests, cannot participate in negotiations and make decisions on behalf of employees. The following cannot take part in collective bargaining:

• organizations created or financed by the hiring party;
• executive bodies;
• local government;
• political parties.

IMPORTANT! For some categories, in cases provided for by law, the Labor Code makes an exception.

By law, the initiative can belong to any party, but in practice, changes to the collective agreement are more often of interest to employees. If the employer ignores the proposal for collective negotiations, it will not be them that will be organized, but a collective labor dispute, taking place under different regulations.

What information can be recorded in collective agreements?

Any such document is subject to the principles of appropriate regulation. Agreements may consist of the following points:

1. By strikes. If the requirements are met, they are expected to be waived.
2. Monitoring compliance with the terms of the document, changing it, making additions if necessary.
3. Payment for food.
4. Rest for family members.
5. Benefits for employees who combine study and work.
6. Ecology and labor safety.
7. Respect for the rights of subordinates in the process of property privatization.
8. Improved working conditions for certain categories.
9. Working and non-working hours.
10. Mechanism for regulating wages.
11. Payment of benefits.
12. The labor system as a whole.
13. Other nuances related to this document can be provided.

The area of ​​regulated relations allows us to distinguish several types of agreements:

• territorial;
• professional;
• intersectoral or sectoral;
• regional;
• general

Documents can be two- or three-party, depending on how many participants are interested in the results. The level of agreement may also influence how many participants there will be in the future.

The timing of agreements and the procedure for processing documents are regulated by a special commission that meets for this event. This association is also responsible for developing the draft documents themselves based on the agreements. If the provisions do not violate the requirements of the current Legislation, they can equally address labor and socio-economic issues.

Contents of the collective agreement

Content and structure of the collective agreement in accordance with Art. 13 of the Law are determined by the parties, that is, they are not strictly regulated by law. The content of this agreement consists of the conditions determined by its parties that regulate social and labor relations. According to the same article of the Law, all conditions or provisions of the collective agreement can be divided into two groups, namely:

1. Contractual terms with mutual obligations of the parties on the following issues:

— form, system and amount of remuneration and other monetary payments;

— wage indexation mechanism;

— employment and conditions for the release of workers;

— duration of working hours and rest time;

— voluntary and compulsory health and social insurance;

— control over the implementation of the collective agreement;

— improving the working conditions and safety of workers;

— environmental safety and health protection of workers;

— respect for the interests of employees during the privatization of enterprises and departmental housing;

— benefits for employees combining work with training;

— refusal to strike if the terms of the contract are fulfilled in a timely manner.

2. Regulatory conditions (provisions):

— conditions classified by law as legal regulation in a collective agreement and establishing:

— types and duration of additional leaves, in addition to those specified by law (Article 68 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

— types, remuneration systems, amounts of tariff rates (salaries) and other payments (Article 80 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

— amounts of additional payments for deviations from normal working conditions (Articles 85, 90 and 94 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation),

— rights of trade union bodies at an enterprise, institution, organization;

— additional guarantees for trade union workers (Article 235 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

— measures to ensure the employment of workers (Article 21 of the Law of the Russian Federation of April 19, 1991);

— preferential labor and socio-economic conditions (provisions) defining:

— early retirement;

- pension supplements;

— compensation for transport and travel expenses;

— free or partially paid meals for workers in production, their children in schools and preschool institutions;

- other additional benefits and compensation in excess of those established by law.

The above list of conditions is approximate.

Being a local regulatory legal act, a collective agreement should not duplicate the legal norms of other sources of law. At the same time, as provided for in Art. 3 of the Law, the terms of the collective agreement should not worsen the position of workers in comparison with the law. Such provisions are deemed invalid.

The terms of the concluded collective agreement are normative in nature for both the employer and the employees of the enterprise.

In addition to collective agreements concluded at an enterprise, institution, organization, social and labor relations between employees and employers are regulated by agreements.

What are agreements concluded between employees and employers, what unites and distinguishes them from collective agreements?

The procedure for concluding, content, and participants in agreements are provided for by the above-mentioned Law. In accordance with Art. 2 of this Law, an agreement is understood as a legal act regulating social and labor relations between employees and employers and concluded at the level of the Russian Federation, a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, an industry, or a profession.

The following provisions of the Law apply to agreements:

— principles of concluding a collective agreement;

— the procedure for the work of the collective bargaining commission;

— the relationship of the agreement with legislation and employment agreements (contracts) of employees;

— the procedure for resolving disagreements during collective bargaining;

— the procedure for the work of the commission for conducting collective bargaining;

— representatives of the parties and guarantees of their participation in collective negotiations;

— registration of collective agreements;

— control and types of responsibility for failure to comply with the collective agreement.

At the same time, the main difference between collective agreements and agreements, regardless of their types, the law calls a higher level of legal regulation of social and labor relations between employees and employers (for example, an agreement regulates these relations from the district, city to federal level, while the validity of the collective agreement is limited within the boundaries of the enterprise, institution, organization).

On collective labor disputes in legislation

The reason for such a dispute is a situation where the employer actually refuses to take into account the opinion of the professional association. You can choose different dates to initiate such an event:

1. When a protocol of disagreements is signed, after negotiations.
2. The employer made a decision, but did not inform his subordinates about it within the specified period.
3. The day on which employees are notified of any denied claims.

The disagreements themselves cannot yet be called a labor dispute, because the chance for their settlement still remains between the parties.

A dispute takes shape when all the ways to reach a compromise have already been tried in practice, but have not yielded any results. The legislation determines the parties who can participate in such a process.

The following persons are authorized to represent management:

• organizations of professional associations;
• senior staff;
• other persons vested with appropriate authority.

Fundamentals of social partnership and the procedure for collective bargaining

Let us note that if negotiations are conducted with the aim of resolving some kind of conflict situation or dispute, then the adoption of a final decision or a change in working conditions creates the basis for the formation of a special commission that will control the conduct of negotiations and the implementation of the decisions made. The commission includes people who are elected by trade union organizations. These must be competent employees who have certain experience and skills in resolving controversial situations.

As we said above, negotiations can be entrusted to any responsible person, but most often such powers fall on trade union organizations and various formed and elected bodies, whose members are elected by voting at meetings. Then a special commission or formed organization receives the right not only to negotiate, but also to make various changes and control how certain conditions are fulfilled.

The procedure for conducting collective bargaining, in short, can fall on the shoulders of one employee who expresses a desire to take part in this activity or has permission from the union to represent his specific interests on various issues for a certain time.

Also, according to the law, employees who are not members of any organization still have the right to meet and discuss labor issues together, as well as choose a representative who will be responsible for the interests of the group. But at the same time, voting to select such a person must be held secretly. If there is a situation where less than half of the entire workforce is a member of the trade union organization, then the voting is all the more conducted secretly in order to avoid various conflicts.

It should be noted that trade union associations of individual representatives can work in parallel. The main thing is that in this case, managers provide conditions for the normal activities of their employees.

Read more about labor disputes with teams

This phenomenon has its own characteristics, like other types of interaction between stakeholders:

1. Method of settlement.
2. Subject and reasons.
3. Subject composition.

In actions to resolve such a conflict, a large number of participants is permissible:

• prosecution authorities;
• regional judges;
• Federal and regional level of bodies representing the executive branch;
• Rostrud and other organizations performing similar functions;
• labor arbitration operating on a temporary or permanent basis;
• intermediaries;
• conciliation commissions.

What's the result?

The concept and procedure for collective bargaining are primarily based on ensuring that a decision is made that is acceptable to each of the parties. That is why the collective agreement should not contain such terms and conditions that could worsen the employee’s position in a particular organization. Also, the rights of employees should not be reduced or distorted due to regional and federal regulations that apply in this company. In addition, all provisions that were adopted during the negotiations must be complied with by the employer.

The essence of collective bargaining can be to resolve a large number of issues. Let's list the most popular:

• Change in salary amount.
• Assignment or cancellation of benefits.
• Creation or changes of various mechanisms that can influence the amount of employee salaries, taking into account their effective indicators and the level of inflation.
• Questions regarding working hours and vacation.
• Ways to improve the quality of working conditions for certain groups of employees, for example, women and youth.
• Issues related to job safety.
• Benefits and the ability to combine study and work.
• Question of payment for food.
• Conflict situations, strikes and refusal to fulfill their duties.
• Change, adjustment or re-conclusion of a collective agreement.

Agreements can also be differentiated by the level at which they are adopted. Thus, there are general acts that can regulate social and work relationships at the federal level. Regional acts are effective at the level of citizens of the country. Industry acts make it possible to regulate relations in a specific industry. Professional acts make it possible to determine benefits and working conditions for workers of a certain profession. Territorial acts help to take into account and take into account the peculiarities of labor in certain areas and cities.

To summarize, we note that the procedure for conducting and the subject of collective bargaining is not a privilege of the manager, but a real right of every employee. That is why it is very important that employees know about their rights and opportunities, as well as the fact that they can act as initiators and offer their ideas, options and possibilities for solving certain problems. The procedure and subject of collective bargaining should be determined jointly by the employer and employee, and not just by one party. In such conditions, the interests of all parties will be maximally respected, which will lead to effective and coordinated work of the entire team. At the same time, remember that if you observe any violations, then refer to the legislation, which can clearly trace the procedure for conducting collective bargaining.

Subject and reasons for the dispute

Disagreements between stakeholders are the subject of much of the negotiation. At the local level, such a dispute can be caused by several of the following reasons:

1. The employer takes into account the opinions of employees when drawing up local regulations.
2. Drawing up agreements with the team, monitoring the terms. Changes are considered if necessary.
3. Establishment of working conditions, including remuneration for work.

Adjustments for these factors are acceptable when the level of interaction increases.

Concept and parties to a collective agreement

The concept, parties, content of a collective agreement and the procedure for its conclusion are established by the Law of the Russian Federation of March 11, 1992 (as amended and supplemented by the Federal Law of November 24, 1995 No. 176-FZ) “On Collective Agreements and Agreements” (hereinafter - Law) and Article 7 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

A collective agreement, in contrast to an employment contract, is an instrument for regulating collective relations arising in the sphere of labor, as well as a local source of labor law.

In accordance with Art. 2 of the Law, a collective agreement is understood as a legal act regulating social and labor relations between the employer and employees of an enterprise, institution, organization or their branch and representative office.

The parties to the collective agreement are:

- workers represented by their representatives - trade union bodies and their associations authorized to do so by charters, public initiative bodies created and authorized by the general meeting (conference) of the labor collective. At the same time, trade unions represent the interests of all workers, and not just their members;

- the employer or the manager of the enterprise authorized by him, other persons determined by the charter or other legal act, including the authorized bodies of associations of employers and other bodies.

Principles for concluding collective agreements

Article 4 of the Law provides for the following basic principles for concluding collective agreements:

— compliance with legislation;

- equality of the parties;

— authority of representatives of the parties;

— freedom of choice and discussion of the conditions that are the content of contracts and agreements;

— voluntary acceptance of obligations;

— the reality of ensuring the obligations assumed;

— systematic control and inevitability of responsibility.

On the validity period of collective agreements

1-3 years is the standard validity period for most documents issued as a result of the event. But collective agreements can change this rule:

1. The agreement is extended if at the time of collective negotiations the main document is no longer active.
2. When a company is liquidated, the information remains relevant until the procedure is completed.
3. The agreement continues to be valid if the owner of the enterprise changes.
4. Reorganization also does not affect the agreement and its validity.

Answers to common questions about collective bargaining

Question #1:

Are collective bargaining required if the employer decides not to approve a collective agreement at the enterprise?

Answer:

The subject of collective negotiations is precisely the provisions of the collective agreement. If the business owner has calculated that this document is not required at the enterprise, then there is no point in holding collective agreements. In Part 2 of Art. 36 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that the employer is obliged to respond to a written proposal to begin collective negotiations, but if such a proposal was not received from employee representatives, then there is nothing to respond to.

Question #2:

What happens if an employer ignores employees' proposals for collective bargaining?

Answer:

In this case, a collective labor dispute will be organized, which will take place according to different regulations.

What if the employer refuses to participate in the event?

The law does not describe the reasons why management may refuse. Violations of the standard course of negotiations, which continues to apply in all situations, are prohibited. When violations occur, consequences arise from Article 54 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation:

• refusal to sign the protocol drawn up based on the results of collective negotiations;
• the decision has been made, but they refuse to sign the adjustments;
• Participation in the negotiations themselves is postponed.

Employers are fined if such deviations are detected. The penalties will range from 1 to 3 thousand rubles.

The bosses won't negotiate?

The law does not allow management to evade negotiations if staff have made a request to do so. The commanding party does not have the right to violate the course of negotiations established by the regulations. If such violations are allowed, Art. 54 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation protects the interests of the labor collective, providing for a series of sanctions for an obstinate employer that apply when:

• a party refuses to participate in collective bargaining;
• the party refuses to make agreed changes to the text of the collective agreement;
• the party refuses to ratify the final document with its signature.

Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in Art. 5.28 explains in detail what is meant by “evasion of the parties from collective negotiations”, and also states the amount of a possible fine - from 1,000 to 3,000 rubles for each proven violation.