The majority of proposals submitted by the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) aimed at strengthening the protection of workers' rights have been incorporated into the draft law amending the Labour Code, the FTUB press service informed BELTA.
The draft law amending the Labour Code has been adopted by the House of Representatives in its second reading. The Federation was one of the developers of the document and submitted over 40 proposals for amending 30 articles of the Labour Code.
"All proposals have been formulated based on the requests and issues raised with the FTUB by trade union members and work collectives," emphasised the Federation's Chairman, Mikhail Orda. "We have been working on these issues with our social partners for a considerable time. Thanks to the constructive stance of all stakeholders – both the Members of Parliament and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection – the majority of our proposals have been taken into account in the draft law."
One of the most significant issues is the codification of employment guarantees for conscientious employees in the Labour Code. Over the past few years, trade unions have noted a trend towards an increase in short-term contracts. This practice has often led to disguised redundancies: during staff optimisation, employees were simply not offered contract renewals, leaving them with nothing – no job, no severance pay, no retraining. This is precisely why the FTUB insisted on including a provision in the Labour Code that guarantees contract renewal for the maximum term if the employee has no disciplinary sanctions.
According to the draft law, if the parties decide to continue the employment relationship, the contract renewal for a conscientious employee, within the five-year term of its validity, shall be for the maximum period. Upon its expiry, a new contract with conscientious employees shall be signed for a term of at least three years, or an employment contract for an indefinite term shall be concluded.
The provision granting trade unions the right to participate in the discussion of an employee's contract terms has been retained. This is aimed at preventing the infringement of an employee's rights through the omission of legally guaranteed rights or those stipulated in collective agreements from the contract.
Trade unions also insisted on retaining the 30-day notice period for employees regarding changes in essential working conditions. Initially, the draft law stipulated a one-week notice period. However, this is clearly insufficient for an individual to find new employment if they disagree with the changes in working conditions, according to the FTUB.