Use this url to cite ETD: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12259/108039
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Ar vadovaujantys darbuotojai gali būti renkami darbo tarybos nariais?
Field of Science
Teisė / Law (S001)
Type of publication
type::text::thesis::master thesis
Title
Ar vadovaujantys darbuotojai gali būti renkami darbo tarybos nariais?
Other Title
Can a managing employee be a member of a Works Council?
Author
Mikniūnaitė, Andrėja |
Advisor
Extent
28 p.
Date Issued
2020-06-18
Abstract
Dar 2003-aisiais metais Leituvos Respublikos darbo kodekse pirmą kartą buvo įtvirtintas darbo tarybų institutas. Tokio instituto poreikis atsrado dėl nepakankamo darbuotojų atstovavimo profesinių sąjungų pagalba, eurointegracinių procesų bei siekiant pagerinti socialinį dialogą tarp darbdavio ir darbuotojo. 2017-aisiais, buvo atnaujintas LR darbo kodeksas, ko pasėkoje, darbo tarybos tapo privalomomis. Nors tokių normų įtvirtinimu buvo siekiama darbuotojams suteikti galimybę pilnavertiškai dalyvauti dialoge su darbdaviu, įstatymų leidėjas nuostatose paliko ir spragų, kurios gali sumažinti darbo tarybų veiklos efektyvumą.
Šiame darbe nagrinėjamos Lietuvoje galiojančios teisės normos, reglamentuojančios darbo tarybų veiklą. Jos lyginamos su seniau galiojusiomis normomis, taip pat palginamos su Vokietijoje galiojančiomis normomis. Apžvelgiamos sąvokos "darbdavio atstovas", "vadovaujantis darbuotojas", tačiau didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas kiekvienos iš vadovaujančių darbuotojų rūšių atstovavimo santykių išaiškinimui ir dabartiniam reglamentavimui nustatyti.
Nors darbo tarybos sudarymas ir veikla reglamentuojama LR darbo kodekso normomis, išrinkus darbo tarybą pirmiausiai atsiranda atstovavimo santykis, reglamentuojamas LR civilinio kodekso asmenų atstovavimo instituto normomis, tarp darbuotojo ir išrinkto darbuotojo atstovo (darbo tarybos nario). Darbo tarybai pradėjus veiklą atsiranda ir darbo tarybos nario, kaip darbuotojų atstovo, santykis su darbdaviu, kuris (darbdavys) šiuo atveju, pagal atstovavimo normas, yra trečiasis asmuo, prieš kurį atstovauti darbuotojus ir yra darbo tarybos pagrindinė funkcija. Iš civilinio kodekso normų, reguliuojančių asmenų atstovavimą žinoma, jog atstovas turi pareigą veikti atstovaujamojo naudai, taigi turimi ryšiai su darbdaviu (veikimas jo naudai užimant vadovaujamas pareigas) susikerta su atstovavimo normomis ir sukelia interesų konfliktą. Būtent todėl, norint išvengti galimo interesų konflikto, labai svarbu nustatyti ar vadovaujančius darbuotojus sieja atstovavimo ryšiai su darbdaviu.
Nors galiojančios LR darbo kodekso redakcijos 170 str. 3d. yra nurodyta išimtis – „Darbdavys ir pagal įstatymus, įgaliojimus ar steigimo dokumentus jam atstovaujantys asmenys negali būti darbo tarybos nariais.“, darbo teisės normuose vadovaujančių darbuotojų santykis su darbdaviu nėra sureglamentuotas ir jį nustatyti galima tik nuosekliai nagrinėjant įstatymą bei teismų praktiką. Nepaisant to, net ir ankstesnėsnėje LR darbo kodekso redakcijoje įtvirtintas “darbdavių atstovų” sąvoką plačiau paaiškinantis 24 str., naujojoje redakcijoje įtvirtintas nėra, o savo ruožtu įstatymų leidėjas nei atstovavimo ryšių, nei pateiktų sąvokų naujosiuose normuose nesureglamentavęs. Taigi 170 str. 3d. nurodytas draudimas nėra pakankama norint išvengti interesų konflikto situacijos, tai leidžia teigti jog įstatymas yra neišsamus ir turi spragų, kuriomis gali pasinaudoti darbdavys.
Šiame darbe nagrinėjamos Lietuvoje galiojančios teisės normos, reglamentuojančios darbo tarybų veiklą. Jos lyginamos su seniau galiojusiomis normomis, taip pat palginamos su Vokietijoje galiojančiomis normomis. Apžvelgiamos sąvokos "darbdavio atstovas", "vadovaujantis darbuotojas", tačiau didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas kiekvienos iš vadovaujančių darbuotojų rūšių atstovavimo santykių išaiškinimui ir dabartiniam reglamentavimui nustatyti.
Nors darbo tarybos sudarymas ir veikla reglamentuojama LR darbo kodekso normomis, išrinkus darbo tarybą pirmiausiai atsiranda atstovavimo santykis, reglamentuojamas LR civilinio kodekso asmenų atstovavimo instituto normomis, tarp darbuotojo ir išrinkto darbuotojo atstovo (darbo tarybos nario). Darbo tarybai pradėjus veiklą atsiranda ir darbo tarybos nario, kaip darbuotojų atstovo, santykis su darbdaviu, kuris (darbdavys) šiuo atveju, pagal atstovavimo normas, yra trečiasis asmuo, prieš kurį atstovauti darbuotojus ir yra darbo tarybos pagrindinė funkcija. Iš civilinio kodekso normų, reguliuojančių asmenų atstovavimą žinoma, jog atstovas turi pareigą veikti atstovaujamojo naudai, taigi turimi ryšiai su darbdaviu (veikimas jo naudai užimant vadovaujamas pareigas) susikerta su atstovavimo normomis ir sukelia interesų konfliktą. Būtent todėl, norint išvengti galimo interesų konflikto, labai svarbu nustatyti ar vadovaujančius darbuotojus sieja atstovavimo ryšiai su darbdaviu.
Nors galiojančios LR darbo kodekso redakcijos 170 str. 3d. yra nurodyta išimtis – „Darbdavys ir pagal įstatymus, įgaliojimus ar steigimo dokumentus jam atstovaujantys asmenys negali būti darbo tarybos nariais.“, darbo teisės normuose vadovaujančių darbuotojų santykis su darbdaviu nėra sureglamentuotas ir jį nustatyti galima tik nuosekliai nagrinėjant įstatymą bei teismų praktiką. Nepaisant to, net ir ankstesnėsnėje LR darbo kodekso redakcijoje įtvirtintas “darbdavių atstovų” sąvoką plačiau paaiškinantis 24 str., naujojoje redakcijoje įtvirtintas nėra, o savo ruožtu įstatymų leidėjas nei atstovavimo ryšių, nei pateiktų sąvokų naujosiuose normuose nesureglamentavęs. Taigi 170 str. 3d. nurodytas draudimas nėra pakankama norint išvengti interesų konflikto situacijos, tai leidžia teigti jog įstatymas yra neišsamus ir turi spragų, kuriomis gali pasinaudoti darbdavys.
In the year of 2003, the Institute of Work Councils has been established for the first time in the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania. There were a few reasons why an institute like Works Council was needed – first of all there was a lack of employee representation through trade unions as they only represent the members of the union, meaning that a lot of employees are left without a proper representation. European integration process was a big contributing factor as well. And of course there was a need to improve a social dialogue between the eployer and an employee.
In the year of 2017, the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania was updated. In accordance with these changes labor councils became mandatory in the Republic of Lithuania for all legal entities who employ an average of 20 or more employees, in order to encourage the social dialogue between two sides of the work relationship. Although the introduction of such norms was intended to enable employees to fully participate in the dialogue with the employer, there were gaps left in the labour law provisions that have a potential of reducing the efficiency of the work of the work councils as well as create a possibility for a conflict of intrests to rise.
There are two main insufficiencies in the legislation regulating Works Coulcils, first of them beying a lack of sufficient prohibition for the managing employees to become members of the Works Councils. It could become a problem as the representative relationship between a managing employee and the employer are not regulated enough in the Labor Law in Lithuania, so the representative of the employer who represents interests of the employer become a part of a body that should purely represent the intrests of employees. And this brings us to the second insufficiency – lack of regulation of representitive relations in Labour Law of Lithuania. Even though there are four types of managing employees separated in the Labor Code, there is close to no information about the kind of their relationship to the employer. And only by examining the law (including court orders, other legislation and etc.) in a consecutive order the kind of the relationship and if it is in fact a representative one could be determined.
Although the formation and operation of the Works Councils are regulated by the norms of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania, once the election of the Works Council is over and elected members of this council receive their authorization as representitives of the employees, the relationship of representation between the employee and the employee's representative (member of the Labor Council) that are regulated by the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania arise. The relationship between the members of the Works Council (as a representative of the employees) and the employer forms as the employer is the body that Works Councils main function is to represent the employees against. As per norms of the Civil Code that regulate represantation of persons it is known that the representative has a duty to act on behalf of the represented person, so the possiby existing representative relations of a managing employee with the employer (acting in his favor while holding a managerial position) intersect with the norms of representation and may cause a conflict of interest. This is why, in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, it is very important to determine what if and what kind of a legal relationship does a managing employee have with the employer.
Although part 3 of the article 170 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania (that is in force right now) notes that - "The employer and persons representing him by law, power of attorney or founding documents cannot be elected to be members of the Works Council.", it does not expand enough to fully explain if the managing employees have a right to be elected as members of a works council. It is also not clear what kind of represenatative relationship managing employees have with their employer, meaning that the application of said article becomes unclear and troubled. A previous edit of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania contained an article 24 that did a better job at clarifying the concept of the "employers' representatives" and presented it in more detail, but after an update this article has not been included in a new edit of the Labour Code and is no longer valid. Thus, the prohibition that is stated in the Art. 170 p. 3 of the Labour Code, as well as other related articles, are not even nearly sufficient to make sure that employees whose work in Works Council could lead to a situation of conflict of interest, wouldn‘t have a possibility to be elected as members.
This paper examines legal norms that are in force in Lithuania at the moment and govern the activities of Works Councils. Said norms are examined and compared to the rules that were in force in the past. A comparison with the rules governing Works Councils in Germany is also made. Terms "employer 's representative", "managing employee" are reviewed, examined, the definitions in force today are compared to the previous versions them. But the main focus in this paper are the representative relationships each of four types of managing eployees have with an employer.
In the year of 2017, the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania was updated. In accordance with these changes labor councils became mandatory in the Republic of Lithuania for all legal entities who employ an average of 20 or more employees, in order to encourage the social dialogue between two sides of the work relationship. Although the introduction of such norms was intended to enable employees to fully participate in the dialogue with the employer, there were gaps left in the labour law provisions that have a potential of reducing the efficiency of the work of the work councils as well as create a possibility for a conflict of intrests to rise.
There are two main insufficiencies in the legislation regulating Works Coulcils, first of them beying a lack of sufficient prohibition for the managing employees to become members of the Works Councils. It could become a problem as the representative relationship between a managing employee and the employer are not regulated enough in the Labor Law in Lithuania, so the representative of the employer who represents interests of the employer become a part of a body that should purely represent the intrests of employees. And this brings us to the second insufficiency – lack of regulation of representitive relations in Labour Law of Lithuania. Even though there are four types of managing employees separated in the Labor Code, there is close to no information about the kind of their relationship to the employer. And only by examining the law (including court orders, other legislation and etc.) in a consecutive order the kind of the relationship and if it is in fact a representative one could be determined.
Although the formation and operation of the Works Councils are regulated by the norms of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania, once the election of the Works Council is over and elected members of this council receive their authorization as representitives of the employees, the relationship of representation between the employee and the employee's representative (member of the Labor Council) that are regulated by the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania arise. The relationship between the members of the Works Council (as a representative of the employees) and the employer forms as the employer is the body that Works Councils main function is to represent the employees against. As per norms of the Civil Code that regulate represantation of persons it is known that the representative has a duty to act on behalf of the represented person, so the possiby existing representative relations of a managing employee with the employer (acting in his favor while holding a managerial position) intersect with the norms of representation and may cause a conflict of interest. This is why, in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, it is very important to determine what if and what kind of a legal relationship does a managing employee have with the employer.
Although part 3 of the article 170 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania (that is in force right now) notes that - "The employer and persons representing him by law, power of attorney or founding documents cannot be elected to be members of the Works Council.", it does not expand enough to fully explain if the managing employees have a right to be elected as members of a works council. It is also not clear what kind of represenatative relationship managing employees have with their employer, meaning that the application of said article becomes unclear and troubled. A previous edit of the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania contained an article 24 that did a better job at clarifying the concept of the "employers' representatives" and presented it in more detail, but after an update this article has not been included in a new edit of the Labour Code and is no longer valid. Thus, the prohibition that is stated in the Art. 170 p. 3 of the Labour Code, as well as other related articles, are not even nearly sufficient to make sure that employees whose work in Works Council could lead to a situation of conflict of interest, wouldn‘t have a possibility to be elected as members.
This paper examines legal norms that are in force in Lithuania at the moment and govern the activities of Works Councils. Said norms are examined and compared to the rules that were in force in the past. A comparison with the rules governing Works Councils in Germany is also made. Terms "employer 's representative", "managing employee" are reviewed, examined, the definitions in force today are compared to the previous versions them. But the main focus in this paper are the representative relationships each of four types of managing eployees have with an employer.
Language
Lietuvių / Lithuanian (lt)
Defended
Taip / Yes
Access Rights
Prieigos embargo / Embargoed Access
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