| Abstract [eng] |
The Reform of Labour Law in Lithuania after the Reestablishment of Independence Summary Labor law reform has started in Lithuania after the restoration of Independence in 1990. The reform was predetermined by a number of reasons, most important of them were political and economical. These circumstances created conditions for social changes in the society and all this could not have been neglected in the labor law. Labor law reform could be split into two phases. During the first period separate labor laws corresponding to certain labor law institutions have consolidated the norms of the labor laws. The second period marks the systematization of labor law norms into one single act, namely the Labor Codex of the Republic of Lithuania. These two phases cannot be simply regarded as the issue of choosing the way of entrenching labor law norms; stage-by-stage introduced reform has essentially changed the labor law doctrine. Gradually the normative legal regulation of labor relations has been replaced by the contractual regulation of labor relations. It is important to note that labor law liberalization has been carried out with respect to the specifics of labor relations. Bearing in mind that the subjects of labor relations are not regarded as equal entities (employee is acknowledged as a more exposed subject of labor relations) the role of state in regulating these relationship has been maintained. Therefore, in spite of the fact that priority is given to the regulation of the collective relations, the state has left the right for itself to set minimal standards necessary for the security of employees’ protection. In the whole reform process, apart from the issue of labor law liberalization, there have been numerous other problems raised; efforts were made to solve these problems by means of compromise. The commitments that Lithuania has assumed during the euro integration process have not permitted to reach certain compromises (there were intentions to legitimate lockout, or trade unions wanted to get exclusive rights to represent the employees, etc.) Since the introduced innovations correspond to the widely accepted labor law standards, the newly adopted Labor Codex of the Republic of Lithuania should be viewed positively (by the way, the European Union and International Labor organization experts assessed it in this way too). In addition to this, the very existence of the Labor Codex of the Republic of Lithuania has already proved that this legal act is stable enough, for a long period there were no amendments done to it, this also confirms favorable long term labor relationships’ perspectives. On the other hand, it should also be taken into account that labor law is facing other modern challenges; major one of them would be the necessity to assess different aspects stipulated by globalization’s processes, in this respect it would be important to evaluate the possible impact of these processes on legal labor relations, as well as to find ways to regulate them correspondingly. |
