In the last couple of decades, international private labor law has begun to develop at an accelerated pace, as an increasing number of multinational companies appear. Strengthening the international economy and its greater integration with the national attract more and more migrants who leave for other countries to work. All this has led to the fact that a sufficiently large international labor market has formed in the world, which covers completely diverse relations in this area. This article will talk about international and Russian labor law, and to be more precise, about how exactly they intersect to ensure the most optimal working conditions.
Regulatory need
You can easily understand that at the moment, labor relations in international law play one of the most important roles. At its core, it has one goal - to bring capital to the workforce. That is why it mainly focuses on international migration, which is carried out by people from poor regions to more economically developed ones. Without the existence of norms that could at some level control the development of labor relations and protect citizens of different countries, it would be simply impossible to carry out such actions.
The concept
It is worthwhile to understand that even in itself international law is quite difficult to interpret, therefore, in practice it is not fixed anywhere, what should be understood directly under international labor law. At the moment, under this term, it is customary to combine the totality of existing legal norms that govern relations in the world of work.
And it is precisely in such a vague concept that the main controversial point of this area of law lies - scientists cannot come to an agreement on its legal nature. Each of them gives its justification for the fact that it is public, private or private-public, although the majority nevertheless tends to the fact that it has an exclusively public nature. The endowment of international labor law with such a character makes it possible to distinguish it in a special, separate industry.
Subject
In order to better understand the norms of international labor law, you should first highlight the subject of this industry. If we talk about it in a broad sense, this includes all labor and other relations that are directly related to labor in international law, that is, relations complicated by a foreign element, or the organization of labor at the international level. And here comes another rather controversial moment - namely, the deep connection of international and national labor laws that act as a complex. So in this way the definition of the subject can be narrowed down and declared as relations that arise between the state and the individual due to the fact that the latter exercises his labor rights and freedoms, which are ensured for him by international legal protection.
Sources of International Labor Law
One of the most interesting issues in international law is always its sources, since their system is quite different from the national one. If any law in countries has a pyramidal nature with the Constitution at the very top, then international has a horizontal structure, since no document is more important than another. At the moment, it is customary to rank the sources of this type of law:
- Agreements on cooperation and friendships.
- Trade and Shipping Agreements.
- Immigration treaties.
- Vocational Education and Social Security Agreements.
In addition, documents on seasonal workers, avoidance of double taxation rates and some others may appear in this area. Now consider them in more detail.
Universal sources
Perhaps the most universal sources of international labor law can easily be attributed to the Bill on Human and Citizen Rights, as well as the Convention on the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons, which insist on granting a number of people rights that are consistent with the existing national regime. In fact, each state should strive to ensure that a foreigner receives almost the same package of rights as an ordinary citizen, although they do have a number of restrictions.
Freedom of movement
International acts of labor law originate in one of the natural human rights that are enshrined in the Declaration on Universal Human Rights. And this right is called freedom of movement. A person is free to decide for himself where he wants to live and in which country to work. A vivid example of the effect of this rule is the establishment of the European Union, which provided the citizens of all countries that have signed an agreement with the opportunity to freely move around the territories and engage in labor activities in a foreign country in accordance with existing legislative norms. In general, people were even allowed to participate in all areas of employment except public service, which is understandable.
Of course, in practice it was not possible to immediately ensure the proper level of such relations, but after some time the employment services of different countries really established a relationship, discrimination was eliminated over the conditions for choosing a job and other actions were taken.
Migration
It is no secret that at present the level of migration from poor countries to more developed countries has exceeded all permissible norms. That is why the Treaty of Rome was drawn up, which proposes as much as possible to alleviate the situation of migrants who are on their territory. However, in contrast to this, states are also trying to strengthen measures to prevent migrants, such as setting quotas and preventing illegal immigration. These are understandable actions, because first of all, countries should take care of their citizens, and not about foreigners, but in some ways, such resettlement has a number of pluses - usually migrants do not apply for good positions, doing unskilled labor.
Labor acts
If we consider the existing international treaties in labor law, then special attention should be paid to the following:
- The 1980 European Agreement, which promotes the provision of medical assistance to foreigners located in another country.
- There is also a specific Agreement on cooperation in the field of migration and social protection of migrants, which protects their rights and ensures an adequate standard of living. In general, this agreement boils down to the fact that the state of employment attracts foreigners to work subject to international agreements. That is, the mutual recognition of diplomas that have been received in other countries, as well as other documents on education and qualifications, belong to this area.
A number of international rules
Now let's delve a little into international labor law and talk about which rules are applied to protect the rights of foreign workers.
- Mandatory execution of an employment contract with the employer.
- Prohibition of double taxation of funds received by an employee as a result of his activities.
- Medical care is also provided by the employer based on the existing regime in the country.
- Pension provision is also guaranteed on the basis of existing agreements between states.
The International Labour Organization
To ensure international protection of labor rights, as well as legal regulation of issues in this area, the International Labor Organization, or ILO, was established, which is considered one of the components of the UN. It is directly concerned with ensuring that countries comply with decisions made at conventions and determine labor relations policies. Now this organization has already adopted more than 140 acts, which in some way constitute a labor code of international level. But mainly all existing legal norms in this area come down to the use of conflict of laws norms, that is, they themselves do not solve the existing issue, but refer to the norms of national legislation, which should be applied to the current situation.
Application to Russian citizens
In order to better understand international labor law, let us consider it in practice in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation. According to existing rules, they can easily enter into labor relations in other countries, that is, according to the Convention on Migrant Workers, receive free assistance in obtaining information from employment services, facilitating migration rules, and importing personal property. In general, as international law says, a foreigner has the right to work in a foreign country in cases where he has direct permission from the state authorities. This ensures the conclusion of employment contracts, as well as the absence of differences in wages between foreigners and Russians.
Conclusion
Every year there are more and more migrant workers, therefore it is quite natural that it is necessary to periodically improve the existing legislation in this area. Fortunately, international law is more advisory, providing its effect with the help of the conflict method, therefore it is closely related to the national legislative system.
It is unlikely that the problem with migration can calm down in the near future, even in the same Russia, where a large number of people come from Ukraine, Belarus, Tajikistan, Moldova and other countries, so it is necessary to ensure the protection of such people at the proper level. For this, a variety of conventions are adopted, and states conclude a number of treaties to normalize existing legal norms. It should also be remembered that in many respects labor relations in this area are built on national legislation, and therefore one should first learn the rules that exist in the country in which the person intends to work, as well as the level of protection existing in it. In this case, it is required to comply with all laws and formalize labor relations in writing so that subsequently, if necessary, protection could be obtained.