Compliance in Labour Relations: Theoretical Foundations and Legal Challenges of Implementation

Abstract

The growing importance of ensuring proper regulation in the field of labour relations has brought to the forefront the need to conceptualize and institutionalize compliance in labour relations as a new phenomenon within the national legal system. The article aims to substantiate the socio-legal nature of the compliance institution and to justify the necessity of introducing appropriate terminology into the draft Labour Code of Ukraine. The methodological basis consists of general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, applied for the critical examination of academic literature and the conceptual-categorical framework. The formal-legal method made it possible to analyse normative definitions. Within a systematic approach, the socio-legal essence of compliance is revealed. The conclusions emphasize that compliance in labour relations can be considered in both a narrow and a broad sense. In the narrow sense, it is understood as one of the models of supervision (control) over compliance with labour legislation. In the broad sense, it represents a process or mechanism that includes a set of tools (compliance policy, compliance/conformity program, code of conduct, internal control system, audit and monitoring) aimed at achieving conformity of actual legal relations to legislative requirements as well as to local regulatory acts. The legal nature of this complex legal institution implies the expediency of using harmonized terminology in both business and labour legislation. This determines the necessity of expanding the terminology of the draft Labour Code of Ukraine with the concepts of “compliance”, “compliance (conformity) program”, and “code of conduct”, which will contribute to the realization of the principle of legal certainty. The study contributes to the development of a conceptual and legal framework for the institutionalization of compliance mechanisms within the framework of the labor law reform process in Ukraine.