THE INFLUENCE OF THE DECISIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF SOCIAL RIGHTS ON THE CONTENT OF LABOUR LAW
Authors: Stasiv Oksana 
Published: August 2022

The article is devoted to a study of the influence of the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights on the content of labour law. In particular, the author argues that the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights have a direct influence on the content of labour law norms, although they have a recommendatory meaning. Since our state has developed a plan of measures to implement the provisions of the European Social Charter, the government reports annually on the implementation of its provisions. The content of these reports demonstrates the changes that have already been made to existing legislation concerning employees' labour rights and those planned to be made in the near future. There is an urgent need to prohibit the employment of people under the age of 15 in view of the international obligations that our state has undertaken. It is proposed to amend Article 188 of the Labour Code and amend the third paragraph of Article 188. It is proposed to establish the concept of a light work for minors and a list of related work when improving the draft law «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Regulation of Domestic Workers' Labour». The author proposes to develop social adaptation programmes for people with disabilities, a compulsory element of which should be the employment of such people, vocational guidance taking into account their capabilities and the needs of the labour market, as well as the establishment of stricter liability for employers for violating the right to work of people with disabilities. It is noted that in order to overcome gender discrimination in employment, it is necessary to establish the characteristics of equal and equivalent work, taking into account the type of tasks undertaken by employees, skills, education and qualification requirements, and to oblige employers to report to the Public Employment Service on differential pay data, as these are the indicators of compliance with Article 20 of the European Social Charter. It is substantiated that the Committee has repeatedly pointed out in its conclusions the importance of transparency in remuneration, the application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, formally supported by the Government of Ukraine. Ukraine has approved the State Social Programme for Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men for the period up to 2021. In particular, it provided for improvement of the legal framework, inclusion of a gender component in economic and social development programmes, expansion of the list of statistical indicators differentiated by article, etc. The programme still has not been fully implemented. In addition, the article proposes a ratification of the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter providing for collective complaints. The European Committee of Social Rights interprets and details the Charter's provisions in its deliberations and thereby gives significance to its decisions. These activities result in a practice of modern implementation of the provisions of this international treaty, which can be used by the signatory countries in their own practice.