Labor relations of all employees are regulated by the Labor Code of Ukraine. The basic form of the emergence of labor relations is an employment contract, which can be concluded by an employee at one or simultaneously at several enterprises.
A special form of an employment contract is a contract in which its validity period, rights, obligations, responsibilities of the parties, conditions of material support and labor organization, as well as the terms of termination of the contract, are established by agreement of the parties.
Labor disputes arise as a result of unresolved disagreements between the employer and the employee (collective of employees) regarding the application of labor legislation. Labor disputes are divided into individual and collective. In individual labor disputes, one of the subjects is a specific employee, while in collective labor disputes, the parties are employees of an enterprise, institution, organization or their structural units, trade unions, their associations or other bodies authorized by employees.
An individual labor dispute can be referred to a labor dispute commission, which is elected by the general meeting of the enterprise’s labor collective. The decision of the commission is subject to execution by the owner or a body authorized by him, and can also be appealed in court.
The Labor Code of Ukraine defines labor disputes that are subject to direct consideration by the court: disputes based on applications from employees of enterprises, institutions, organizations where labor dispute commissions are not elected, on reinstatement at work, regardless of the grounds for terminating the employment contract, changing the date and wording of the reason for dismissal , on payment for the time of forced absence or performance of lower-paid work, according to the statements of the owner or his authorized body for compensation by employees of material damage caused to the enterprise, institution, organization, on applications from employees on the application of labor legislation, which, in accordance with current legislation, was previously decided by the owner or his authorized body and the elected body of the primary trade union organization, on applications from employees about formalizing labor relations when they perform work without concluding an employment contract and establishing the period of such work, as well as disputes about the refusal to hire certain categories of workers.
Going to court allows not only to resolve a labor dispute, but also to restore violated rights, and in some cases, to receive compensation for moral damage.