Employment protection legislation

Ukrainian Labour Code refers to all types of employment protection measures, which are grounded primarily in legislation, court rulings and collectively bargained conditions of employment.

Employment protection refers both to regulations concerning hiring and firing (e.g. redundancy procedures, prenotification periods and severance payments, special requirements for collective dismissals and short-time work schemes).

If you have a problem with your employer you should usually try to sort it out informally first. If this doesn't work, you should follow the special three-step grievance procedure which all employers are required to have by law.

If you have followed this procedure and are still not happy with the outcome, you can take your case to an employment tribunal. You should bear in mind that if you haven't followed the grievance procedure properly first, the employment tribunal may decide to reduce any compensation it awards to you.

Employment tribunals are legal bodies which deal with complaints about employment rights. A tribunal is made up of a legally qualified employment judge and two other people representing the employer’s and the employee’s sides of industry. A tribunal can deal with problems on the following:

- written statement of terms and conditions

- maternity rights

- holiday rights

- itemized pay statement

- unpaid wages

- sex discrimination/equal pay

- race discrimination

- disability discrimination

- age discrimination

- discrimination because of sexual orientation

- discrimination because of religion or belief

- some health and safety problems

- unfair dismissal and redundancy.

Wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is an idiom and legal phrase, describing a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer in circumstances where the termination breaches one or more terms of this contract, or a statute provision in employment law.

Wrongful dismissal will tend to arise first as a claim by the employee so dismissed. Many jurisdictions provide tribunals or courts which will hear actions for wrongful dismissal. A proven wrongful dismissal will tend to lead to two main remedies: reinstatement of the dismissed employee, and/or monetary compensation for the wrongfully dismissed.

A related situation is constructive dismissal, in which an employee feels no choice but to resign from employment for reasons imposed by the employer. To avoid potential liability for wrongful dismissal is to institute an employment probation period after which a new employee is automatically terminated.

 

 

II. DEVELOPMENT

Answer the questions.

1. What cases does the employment tribunal deal with?

2. What is wrongful dismissal?

3. How many types of illegal employment discrimination are mentioned in the text?

4. What is an employment probation period?

5. What is workers’ compensation?

 

Choose the best verb from the brackets to fill in the gaps. The first one is an example. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. If a company desires (desires /demands) to________ (dismiss/detain) an employee without explaining the reasons, it might not be easy. 2. The Ukrainian Labour Code_____ (prohibits/probates) dismissal of an employee during the period of their temporary disability or a vacation. 3. In cases______ (provided/promised) for by the law, the employer shall_________ (obtain/advise) the consent of a trade union before the dismissal of an employee. 4. In the event of unlawful dismissal, an employee may_______ (apply/obligate) to a court and________ (demand/detail) the re-employment and the compensation of the average wage for the period of forced absence, but not more than for a year. 5. Moral damages can also be_______ (sought/signed).

Rearrange the underlined letters to make words in the extract.

The Labour Code of Ukraine protects (1) esplymeoe from groundless (2) dsimisasl and restricts the (3) cesas of dismissal at the demand of the employer by the following (4) resonas:

- related to certain (5) fulat of the employee;

- systematic non-fulfillment of (6) luaobr duties without valid reasons;

- absence (7) woituht a valid reason;

- sick (8) laeev for more than 4 months running;

- appearance at (9) wrok intoxicated by (10) aloochl, narcotics or other toxic substances;

- (11) tfhet of employer’s property;

- single gross (12) beacrh of labour duties by a worker;

- (13) otehr particular grounds.

Match English terms with their definitions.

1. Employment court a. the termination of an employee’s contract,

when an employee is dismissed without the notice.

 

2. Constructive dismissal b. a period of paid absence from work to

which a woman is legally entitled

during the months immediately

before and after childbirth.

 

3. Wrongful dismissal c. termination of the contract

by an employee because his employer has shown

that he does not intend to renew the term of the contract.

 

4. Severance pay d. it’s a decision of an employment

court directing an employer who has been

found to have unfairly dismissed an

employee to restore to his former job.

 

5.Discrimination e. a court that rules on disputes between

employers and employees regarding unfair dismissal, redundancy, etc.

 

6. Maternity leave f. unfair treatment of a person,

racial group, minority, etc.; action based on prejudice.

 

7. Reinstatement g. compensation paid by an organization

to an employee who leaves because,

through no fault of his own, the job to which

he was appointed ceases to exist and no comparable job is available to him.

Read the verbs and find related nouns and their word combinations in the text. Form adjectives from the nouns if it possible. Make up sentences.

To employ, to dismiss, to probate, to terminate, to discriminate, to require.

 

Match English phrases with their explanations.

1. maternity rights a. to single out a particular person, group, etc., because of a characteristic such as race,

sex, intelligence

2. holiday rights b. rules of medical care and protection from danger

3. unpaid wages c. unjust discharge

4. disability discrimination d. working without pay

5. health and safety plan e. non-business day; non-working day

6. employment tribunal f. a period of paid absence from

work to which a woman is legally entitled

during the months immediately before and

after childbirth

7. unfair dismissal g. discrimination on the condition of being

redundancy unable to perform a task or function because of physical or mental impairment
h. a court that rules on disputes between

8. sex/ race discrimination employers and employees regarding unfair dismissal, redundancy, etc

 

 

7. Give English equivalents for the following word combinations:

 

- звільнення за власним бажанням;

- право на відпочинок;

- відповідальність роботодавця;

- умови контракту;

- несправедливе звільнення;

- випробувальний строк;

- порушувати договір;

- звільнення робітника;

- повідомлення про звільнення;

- відплата при звільненні;

- припинення договору;

- процедура подання скарги;

- дискримінація під час прийому на роботу;

- трудові відносини;

- суд з трудових спорів;

- трудовий кодекс.

 

III. PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE

 

The sentences from a letter of redundancy have been mixed. Put them in order and fill in the box.

1. Details of your forthcoming redundancy and severance pay are enclosed.

2. Finally, I shall be pleased to supply any prospective employer with a reference on your behalf.

3. Your sincerely, Maria Petrova, Personal Manager.

4. It is much regret that I must ask you to accept this letter as a formal notice of the redundancy of your position as an assistant of lawyer with effect from 12 November 2008.

5. Dear Mr Ivanov,

6. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you for the services you have given us in the past and wish you every success in the future.

7. Please, do not hesitate to contact me if you need clarification.

8. The company will gladly grant you reasonable time off with pay for the purposes of attending job interviews or undertaking any training for alternative employment.

9. The assistant of the Personal Department will help you in obtaining suitable alternative employment.