The news that there is the intention to make general directors hired by companies to be no longer subject to the Labour Code's provisions, appeared back in April 2016. The problem consists of a general director's dual status. He or she is at the same time the company's sole executive body as well as a hired employee enjoying both supervisory authority and the rights of an ordinary employee.

Tatiana Nikolaenko, head of Khrenov & Partners' employment law practice gives her comments to the intricacies inherent in regulating the relationship between the employer and the supervisor.   

Under the Labour Code, a general director enjoys the same rights as an ordinary employee. A company's owners cannot dismiss a general director for the reason she is pregnant, although she can take pre-maternity leave and cause the business to be destabilized, according to Tatiana. This means for example that a general director cannot amass more than 120 hours in overtime over a period of a year, that he has the right to take prolonged sick leave but not in excess of 10 months (in accordance with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development) and in the case of a woman, she has the right to be assigned to light duties and enjoy other privileges in the event of a pregnancy that has complications. If an employer dismisses a pregnant woman neglecting her work responsibilities, she can then attempt to protest her illegal dismissal and a court will often rule in her favour.

It is possible to insert into a contract any kind of agreement, for example, that a director must be available 24 hours a day and that the rules of labour regulations do not apply to him or her. Today, an employer cannot terminate an employment contract on his/her own initiative not only with a pregnant woman, but also with a woman who has a child under the age of 3 and so forth, according to article 261 of the Labour Code. There are cases where a company has dismissed a general director where the first signs of mental illness were apparent, whereupon he or she filed a lawsuit for unlawful dismissal and the company was forced to answer to a court of law and pay compensation.

For the whole article in Russian click here

27 February 2017

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