Comparative legal analysis of the labor law status of a higher school lecturer
Authors:   North-Caucasus Federal University, Vysheslavova T. F. , Lukinova S. A. ,   North-Caucasus Federal University
Published: August 2024

Introduction. A legal analysis of the status of a higher education lecturer is impossible without taking into account the processes of globalization and the intensification of the global financial and economic crisis. These processes have determined a system of factors that influence, to a greater or lesser extent, the education systems of all countries of the world. These factors directly influence the content and scope of social and labor rights of the main figure in the higher education system - the lecturer. G.U. Matushansky and Yu. V. Rogov, in particular, mention among such factors the processes caused by globalization, the internationalization of educational systems in Europe and the world as a whole, and a serious decrease in budget funding due to the deepening global financial and economic crisis. In addition, a global trend in the field of higher education has become the practical need to replace subject-oriented training with the preparation of graduates aimed at solving problems set by employers, which, in turn, is due to the low quality of training of specialists - university graduates. In such conditions, the national legislator, precisely for this reason, sees the opportunity to use the proven positive experience of foreign countries in the process of legal regulation of problems in the education system, including consolidating the legal status of a lecturer. The fact is that foreign countries have already adapted their national educational systems, taking into account all the factors mentioned above, especially taking into account the serious reduction in state expenditures on education. Since comparative legal research in relation to the field of labor relations and education has practically not been carried out in our country, serious interest in the socio-educational law of foreign countries remains. However, issues related to the specifics of the work of a lecturer, the level of its significance for society and the state, the peculiarities of legal regulation of the content of the labor function, payment, security, and standardization of work of a lecturer remain relevant for both Russian and foreign researchers and law makers. Modern Russian scientists, unfortunately, provide rather poor coverage of foreign legal experience in regulating the legal status of a lecturer. Publications of scientists, conferences and round tables are devoted, as a rule, to general problems of increasing the level of training of university graduates, the formation of a competency-based approach, the prospects for teaching and student mobility, and the psychological aspects of reforming higher education. At the same time, scientists pay very little attention to the issues of the social and labor status of a lecturer. Materials and Methods. The authors analyze the points of view expressed in science regarding problems related to the legal regulation of the work of a lecturer (the content and term of the employment contract, the structure of the labor function, remuneration, etc.), in the context of the peculiarities of the modern Russian state and law. In the process of research, a whole complex of theoretical principles, logical techniques and special methods and means of cognition of state and legal phenomena (historical and legal, comparative legal, etc.) was used. Analysis. The authors analyze the provisions of the current Russian labor legislation on the work of higher education lecturers in the context of globalization and the intensification of the global financial and economic crisis. The authors identified the influence of Russian legislation on the labor of lecturers on the legal system of the Republic of South Ossetia. The content of the labor function of a lecturer at a higher educational institution has its own significant features that determine the specific nature and conditions of work. At the same time, a professional lecturer standard has not yet been developed and implemented, in violation of the requirements of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The authors identified the reasons for this situation. An analysis of the legal guarantees of lecturers showed that they are practically absent in relation to the regulation and remuneration of their work due to the lack of clear and transparent legislation on these issues. Attention is drawn to the positive role of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, in contrast to the negative assessment of the established practice of university employers to enter into short-term employment contracts with lecturers. The article pays attention to systemic problems in establishing working conditions for lecturers. Results. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the legal acts regulating the work of university lecturer have significant gaps that do not allow them to properly assess the labor function of a lecturer, pay and standardize their work. The authors note the extremely low efficiency of legal regulation of the work of lecturers in the social and labor sphere of modern Russia. The solution to these problems is seen by the authors in the urgent need to introduce amendments to the current law of the Russian Federation on education and the corresponding chapter of the Labor Code of Russia on the content of the labor function of a university lecturer, remuneration and standardization of his work. It is necessary to improve the quality of local and contractual regulation of the working conditions of lecturers, as well as strengthen state supervision and public control over compliance with the labor rights of lecturers.