Comparative legal analysis of the application of the principle of respect for the dignity of the employee

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze judicial practice on the application of the principle of respect for the dignity of an employee, enshrined in Article 2 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation. In the absence of special rules on the protection of an employee from psychological harassment, abuse, and pressure on the part of the employer, this principle is the key to building the position of the plaintiffs. Unlike other principles, ensuring the right of workers to protect their dignity is limited to only two sentences of the article, and has no further disclosure neither in labour legislation, nor in the clarifications of higher judicial instances. This paper examines the trends in law enforcement practice and its possible problems by analyzing the practice of Russian courts for the period from 2012 to 2021. This analysis has highlighted a number of enforcement problems: the courts do not distinguish between the principle of respect for the dignity of an employee and the principle of prohibition of discrimination in the sphere of work; there is a formal court approach to considering allegations of psychological harassment and pressure in the workplace; courts apply general rules on the distribution of the burden of proof in cases of psychological harassment. Since there are no decisions in judicial practice in which the plaintiffs’ claims would be satisfied on the basis of violation of the principle of respect for the dignity of the employee, it is necessary to include in the labour legislation of the Russian Federation a mechanism for protecting the dignity of employees, obliging the employer to provide a psychologically healthy working environment, as well as redistribute the burden of proof when considering cases of this category.