The main form of social partnership in Russia today is so-called “collective agreement.” The collective agreement is a contract between employer and employees. The sides in the contract are the General Director and the local unit of a trade union. If there are no trade unions in the company, employees may elect their representative. The major clauses of the collective agreement are:
- Forms, systems and levels of wages and salaries;
- Other types of compensations;
- Employment levels, re-training and firing;
- Working time, including leaves and holidays;
- Work safety;
- Interests of employees in privatization of a company, including privatization of dwelling in company’s ownership.
There is also a special article that stipulates the denial of strikes as far as the major clauses of the contract are not violated. In general, the government favors collective agreements and promotes their wider use in large companies.
When we look at the small and medium-size business, the situation is much different. There are no active trade unions in small businesses, and workers are usually totally powerless against arbitrary rule of an employer as local controlling bodies (trade inspections) rarely interfere. However, when an employee brings the case to the court, Russian courts are inclined to take the side of an employee as a “presumable victim”. Thus, the very threat to bring the case to the court serves in many cases as a very good argument in individual labor disputes.