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4Information for citation:
Serova, A. V. (2022) Influence of State Policy on the Development of Labor Legislation in the Context of Global Digitalization. European and Asian Law Review. 5 (2), 48-60. DOI: 10.34 076/27821668 2022 5 2 48.
UDC 349.2
BISAC LAW054000 / Labor & Employment DOI: 10.34076/27821668_2022_5_2_48
Research Article
INFLUENCE OF STATE POLICY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LABOR LEGISLATION IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL DIGITALIZATION
ALENA V. SEROVA
Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovlev ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7444-9690
When it comes to the development of society, digitalization appears to be one of its megatrends. Both on international and national levels, program acts are adopted to establish strategic areas of state policy, their principles, goals, objectives, and indicators. The world of work is also subject to digital transformation. That is why it becomes relevant to study the influence of state policy in the field of building an information society and digital economy development on the modernization of labor legislation. Three EAEU member states have been included in the subject of research: Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The methodology of work is based on a general scientific dialectical method of objective reality recognition. When conducting the research, general scientific logic techniques (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, the method of rising from the abstract to the concrete, etc.) and specific scientific methods of cognition (a legalistic approach, a legal historical method, and a comparative-legal analysis) were used. A special feature of the work's methodology is the use of a political and legal approach. As a result of the conducted research, the following results have been obtained: on the number of amendments introduced into legislations of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan over the years; on the total number of amended articles and new articles and chapters labor codes were supplemented with; on the political decisions made regarding the digitalization of labor, and on the content of legislative innovations. It has been established that each of the studied state pursues the state policy aimed at developing a digital economy and that during the researched period, some changes associated with regulating the use of digital technologies by addressees of labor law had occurred. However, the extents of state policy influence on improving labor legislation are different in these countries, just as their paths to modernization are unique. However, two areas of labor legislation digital transformation have been identified in all three countries. One of them is associated with remote work regulation, and the other - with regulating the electronic document flow in work relationships. In respect thereof, other promising areas for developing state policy and labor law in the context of global digitalization have been proposed: regulating the labor of platform workers, improving the system of rights guarantees for employees and employers in the field of employee training, protecting employees' rights for personal privacy during their working activity, and regulating the use of the artificial intelligence system.
Key words: digital economy, information society, state policy, labor legislation, remote work, electronic HR document flow
Introduction
Building an information society and digital economy development is one of the global objectives of the entire global community nowadays. Special attention is given to this matter on the international level.
Copyright© 2022. The Authors. Published by Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovlev. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0. license http:llcreativecommons.orglllicenselby-ncl4.0I
This is attested to by a whole cohort of international acts adopted both on the global level of international cooperation and on the regional one. There may be such examples as the Okinawa Charter of Global Information Society (2000)2, Declaration of Principles: Building the Information Society: a Global Challenge in the New Millennium (2003)3; the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (2005)4, the CIS Concept of Cooperation in Digital Development of Society (2019)5 and others. The idea that unites the aforementioned acts is that modern digital technologies should be integrated into practice to realize their benefits. As it is rightly noted in the Okinawa Charter of Global Information Society (2000), one of the key areas is the implementation of 'economic and structural reforms to foster an environment of openness, efficiency, competition, and innovation, supported by policies focusing on adapting labor markets, human resource development, and ensuring social cohesion'.
Many states adopt strategic planning documents that lay the foundation for setting the state policy in line with building an information society and digital economy development on the national level. Since interaction between labor law addressees is inevitably subject to digital transformation, the issue of how the state policy influences the development of labor legislation provokes academic interest from a legal perspective.
The review of scientific literature on this matter allows the following conclusions. With regard to the science of labor law, some matters of labor digitalization can be distinguished that are the most popular among labor scientists.
The first such matter is the study of remote work specificities (Golovina & Shcherbakova, 2021; Lyutov, 2018; Vasilyeva & Shuraleva, 2017), as the use of digital technologies by employees and employers for interaction with each other inevitably leads to a change in the characteristics of their work relationships. It becomes possible to perform work outside the standard workplace that is under the employer's supervision. The second popular area of academic researches, which is also connected with a change in work relationships attributes is the discussion of issues related to the legal status of platform workers (Beerepoot & Lambregts, 2014; Chesalina, 2017; Codagnone, Karatzogianni & Matthews, 2018; Lyutov & Voytkovskaya, 2020; Shuraleva, 2019; Zaytseva & Mitryasova, 2018). The third area actively developed in the science of labor law is related to the analysis of problems arising due to the use of electronic HR document flow (Zaytseva, 2018). The fourth area combines the research of other issues related to the use of digital technologies in work relationships and special attention within this area is given to artificial intelligence systems (Filipova, 2018). Also, there are works of academic literature dedicated to general issues of labor digitalization, including the analysis of strategic planning documents (Tomashevskii, 2020).
Despite such active research of labor digitalization issues, the actual process of state policy's influence on the development of labor legislation and trends emerging in the process have not been adequately considered by scientists.
In respect thereof, the goal of this research is a comprehensive analysis of the influence the state policy in the field of building an information society and digital economy development has on the modernization of labor legislation as exemplified by three Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter EAEU) member states - Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Since the introduction of digital technologies also occurs in the field of labor, as has been mentioned above, it appears necessary to identify, first, how actively the state policy of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan develops in terms of building an information society; second, in which part it has become a reason for amendments; third, to what extent this state policy takes into account the needs of labor law addressees in the field of digital transformation, in other words, whether it is comprehensive and consistent. Eventually, a comparative-legal analysis of the state policy influence on developing labor legislation will allow identifying trends in development, establishing the factors that have an impact on them, and articulating recommendations regarding further improvement in state policy areas and labor legislation.
2 Okinawa Charter of Global Information Society dated July 22, 2000. Diplomaticheskiy Vestnik, August 2000, No. 8.
3 Declaration of Principles: Building the Information Society: a Global Challenge in the New Millennium (Geneva, December 10-12, 2003). Available at: https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/outcome/booklet/declaration_Aru.html [Accessed: 3 October 2022].
4 Tunis Agenda for the Information Society No. WSIS-05/TUNIS/D0C/6(Rev.1)-R dated November 15, 2005 (Tunisia). Available at: https://www.un.org/ru/events/pastevents/pdf/agenda_wsis.pdf [Accessed: 3 October 2022].
5 Decision of the Council of CIS Heads of Government dated October 25, 2019 'On the CIS Concept of Cooperation in Digital Development of Society and the Plan of Priority Measures for Its Implementation'. Garant Legislative and Reference System [Accessed: 3 October 2022].
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Materials and Methods
The academic research is based on the political and legal approach that allows for achieving the goal set for the research and ensuring its innovation. This approach is actively developed in the theory of government and law (Kodan, 2012; Malko, 2012), but it needs to be developed on the industrial level in the framework of the science of labor law.
This approach is about the fact that the research on the influence the state policies of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in the field of digital economy development have on labor law modernization encourages, on the one hand, the trends of labor legislation development to be identified and understood in a historical context and, on the other hand, areas of improvement in the state policy itself to be adjusted, the policy to be given the substance that reflects the essential needs of labor law addressees.
The framework of studies is generally conventional for legal research. Its basis is formed by a general scientific dialectical method of objective reality recognition.
Collection, processing, analysis and interpretation of data on how digitalization influences the world of work and what actual needs of labor law addressees are related to its development, the conclusions of the research will be made using various general scientific logic techniques (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the method of rising from the abstract to the concrete, etc.). Thus, the most comprehensive and relevant data will be obtained and reliable and objective conclusions will be drawn.
Also, various specific scientific methods of cognition will be used in the research: a legalistic approach, a legal historical method, and a comparative-legal analysis.
For example, a legalistic approach will allow examining the current status of the state policy in the field of digital economy development, legal and labor regulation of social relationships arising in regard to the use of digital technologies by labor law addressees. In this case, through various techniques and kinds of legal norm interpretation (grammatical, logical, systematic, historical and political, special juridical, teleological, functional, literal, extensive, restrictive, etc.) the content of certain legal norms in this area will be studied in detail, and defects in national strategic planning will be identified.
To establish the logic of developing state policy and labor legislation in respect to the statutory regulation of issues included in the subject of research, to identify trends and the possible areas of their reformation a legal historical method will be used.
With a method of comparative-legal analysis, the foreign experience of legal regulation regarding the use of digital technologies by labor law addressees will be studied and compared with the Russian political and legal practice.
Therefore, the use of the aforementioned methods and approaches will allow studying the issues established in this research in a comprehensive and inclusive manner, making theoretical generalizations, articulating practical recommendations and conclusions. Thereby, the set objectives will be carried out and the goal will be achieved.
Results
In the framework of this research, the frequency of labor legislation modernization in three EAEU member states (Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan), the application of digital technologies and electronic means by the addressees of labor law in the view of its adaptation have been analyzed. According to the received data, the initial innovations appeared in Russia in 2010, in Belarus - in 2019, and in Kazakhstan -in 2007. The period of time between specific changes was a few years at first: 3-6 years in Russia, 35 years - in Kazakhstan. Lately, the modernization of labor legislation in Russia and Kazakhstan occurs every year. However, when interpreting the received data it should be taken into account that two labor codes have been included in the research sample in the framework of Kazakhstan labor legislation study -one of 20076 (hereinafter - LC of RK 2007) and one of 20157 (hereinafter - LC of RK 2015). It is impossible to provide any data for Belarus in this respect since the amendments regarding the electronic
6 Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 251-III dated May 15, 2007 (repealed). Kazakhstanskaya pravda. May 22, 2007. No. 76 (25321).
7 Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 414-V dated November 23, 2015. Kazakhstanskaya pravda. November 25, 2015. No. 226 (28102).
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form of interaction between the parties of work relationships have been introduced to the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus8 (hereinafter - LC of RB) only once (Table 1).
Table 1
Escalation of Labor Law Digital Transformation in EAEU Member States (number of amendments by year)
Country Year
2007 2010 2012 2013 2015 2019 2020 2021
Belarus 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Kazakhstan 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 4
Russia 0 1 0 1 0 3 1 2
During the period from 2010 to 2021, 25 amendments were introduced into the Labor Code of the Russian Federation9 (hereinafter - LC of RF), 16 new articles were added, including those united within one new chapter - 49.1 - dedicated to remote work regulation. By the way, after the introduction of the chapter in 2013, it was subject to large-scale amendments in 2020. Consequently, its content was expanded from 5 to 9 articles, and the previous articles were amended. As for LC of RB, the only new chapter 25.1 'Specificities of Labor Regulation of Remote Workers' including 5 articles was introduced in 2019. As for Kazakhstan, considering the two labor codes, a total of 13 articles were subject to amendments. A separate chapter of three articles dedicated to the regulation of remote workers' labor that had been valid in LC of RK 2007 (Ch. 23.1) was transformed into 1 article (Art. 138) in LC of RK 2015, but at the same time, some other articles were amended to include provisions regarding remote work (Table 2).
Table 2
The Number of Amendments Introduced into the Labor Legislation of EAEU Member States in respect to Electronic Interaction of Labor Law Addressees
Criterion
Country Number of amended articles Number of new articles (clauses) Number of new chapters
Kazakhstan (2007-2015) 0 4 1
Kazakhstan (since 2016) 13 2 0
Belarus 0 5 1
Russia 25 16 1
In terms of the content, all amendments to labor legislation in the studied EAEU member states are about the regulation of the electronic form of interaction between labor law addressees. In Russia, the electronic HR document flow was introduced gradually, starting from the ratification of the electronic form for certain kinds of documents (e.g., the requirements for the government body for collective employment dispute settlement, pension insurance certificates, employment history, and others), as well as from the ratification of use of documents related to one category of workers - remote workers - in electronic form. Only in 2021 did provisions on electronic interaction become general norms. This information is provided in more detail in Table 3. A similar situation can be seen in the process of reformation of the Kazakhstan labor legislation (Table 5). However, unlike Russia, Kazakhstan has never created separate articles that
8 Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus No. 296-3 dated July 26, 1999. Vedomosti Natsionalnogo sobraniya Respubliki Belarus. 1999. No. 26-27. Art. 432.
9 Labor Code of the Russian Federation No. 197-FZ dated December 30, 2001. Rossiyskaya Gazeta. December 31, 2001. No. 256.
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were general provisions and regulated the issues of electronic document flow comprehensively in work relationships. Instead, the regulation of the electronic document flow is performed selectively in respect to individual types of documents. In Belarus, in contrast to Russia and Kazakhstan, the digital transformation of labor legislation has not reached the same scale and covered the regulation of electronic interaction only in the framework of remote work.
Another issue included in the subject of research is to identify whether there is a dependency between state policy and the reformation of labor legislation. This can be done only through the comparison in a historical context of political decisions made in the studied area and relevant labor and legal innovations. As a result of the conducted analysis, the following data have been obtained.
In Russia, active and targeted development of state policy in the field of labor digital transformation was marked by the adoption of Decree No. 203 of the President of the Russian Federation 'On Strategy for Information Society Development in the Russian Federation for 2017-2030' dated May 9, 2017. In this strategic planning document, it is set that 'the goal of a new technological basis for developing the economy and social area is to improve the quality of life for citizens' (cl. 39). The encouragement of remote work development and the introduction of the electronic document flow are stated as ones of the key objectives for the application of digital technologies (cl. 40 and cl. 41). Besides, in cl. 42 'protection of interests of the Russian citizens, provision for their employment (development of a digital economy may not infringe upon the citizens' interests' is stated as one of the national interests in the field of the digital economy.
In furtherance of that Decree, Resolution No. 1632-r 'On Adoption of the 'Digital Economy of the Russian Federation' Program' of the RF Government dated July 28, 2017, was issued to be in force until February 12, 2019. It defined five basic areas for that program, including legal regulation with the purpose of 'generating a new regulatory environment to ensure a favorable legal order for the emergence and development of state-of-the-art technologies, as well as for the execution of economic activities related to their use (digital economy)'. In the roadmap for the implementation of the aforementioned area, the development of the project for 'the concept of high-priority measures for legal regulation improvement with the purpose of digital economy development, which among other things provides for work relationships formalization specificities in a digital economy, including a transition to paperless interaction between employees and employers (introduction of electronic format for entering into employment contracts, optimization of other 'paper' duties of the employer)' is stated as an anticipated result.
Then, instead of Resolution No. 1632-r of the RF Government dated July 28, 2017, the Presidium of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for Strategic Development and National Projects approved the Passport of the Digital Economy of the Russian Federation National Program (protocol No. 16 dated December 24, 2018) in accordance with which the structure and content of this program were subject to amendment. Thus, the passage of federal law to provide for the use of digital technologies in work relationships, including recording employment history in electronic form, was stated as one of the results of the Legal Regulation Federal Project within the changes in the national program.
In the very last version of the analyzed Passport of the National Program adopted by Protocol No. 7 of the Presidium of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for Strategic Development and National Projects dated June 4, 2019, the specified result of the Legal Regulation of the Digital Environment Federal Project was articulated as follows: 'Legal regulation of digital interaction between the business community and the state is ensured, including in terms of recording employment history in electronic form (an 'electronic employment record book'); entering into, amendment, termination, and storage of employment contracts, introduction of the HR document flow in an electronic format'.
The implementation of political and legal decisions in the field of digital economy development in respect to the generation of legal regulation for electronic interaction of labor law addressees in Russia is graphically shown in Table 3. As is seen from its content, the digital transformation of the Russian labor legislation started even before the adoption of the program for digital economy development. Further on, some labor and legal innovations were a direct consequence of that program, while others went beyond its scope, but one way or another, they were related to the Strategy of Information Society in the Russian Federation. However, some inconsistency in this process should be noted. This is about the fact that some provisions of strategic planning documents are delayed, so they actually lag behind the legislative business. Thus, on November 6, 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted the Strategic Area in the field of social sphere digital transformation that belonged to the scope of the Ministry of Labor of
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Russia10 in the framework of which the Electronic HR Document Flow Project was specified. Its execution period was until 2023. However, similar provisions had already been introduced to the LC of RF on November 22, 2021 (Art. 22.1-22.3), and the bill itself was presented to the State Duma on April 29, 2021.
Table 3
Improvement in the Russian State Policy in the field of Digital Economy and Labor Legislation Development in respect to the Electronic Interaction between Labor Law Addressees (by years)
Year Political decisions The content of amendments to the labor legislation
2010 The electronic form of documents (claims, requests) addressed to the relevant government body for collective employment dispute settlement is allowed (Art. 399, 401 of LC of RF)
2013 Specificities of labor regulation for remote workers are introduced (Art. 49.1 of LC of RF, including Art. 312.1-312.5)
2017 The Strategy of Information Society Development in the Russian Federation for 20172030 is adopted
Generation of the concept of regulating work relationships formalization specificities in the digital economy, including one in terms of transition to paperless interaction between employees and employers (introducing electronic format for entering into employment contracts, optimization of other 'paper' duties of the employer) is set forth
2018 Adoption of the federal law to provide for the use of digital technologies in work relationships, including recording employment history in electronic form, is set forth The first experiment in the transition of documents and data on the employee regarding work relationships to electronic form (with duplication in hard copy) is con-ducted11
2019 The written form of the insurance certificate of compulsory pension insurance is cancelled (Art. 65, 303, 312.2 of LC of RF)
It is set forth that a state labor inspector shall be entitled to send the employer a decision on compulsory enforcement in the form of an electronic document (Art. 360.1 of LC of RF)
Legal regulation of digital interaction between the business community and the state is ensured, including one in terms of recording employment history in electronic form (an 'electronic employment record book'); entering into, amendment, termination and storage of employment contracts, introduction of the HR document flow in an electronic format Introduction of an 'electronic employment record book' (Art. 62, 65, 66, 66.1, 80, 84.1, 165, 234, 283, 309, 341.2, 392, 394 of LC of RF)
10 Resolution No. 3144-r of the RF Government of the Russian Federation dated November 6, 2021. Available at: www. pravo.gov.ru. November 9, 2021. No. 0001202111090005 [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
11 Order No. 194 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation 'On Conducting the Experiment on Transition of Documents and Data on an Employee regarding Employment Relationships into Electronic Form' dated March 26, 2018. Byulleten trudovogo i sotsialnogo zakonodatelstva Rossiyskoy Federatsii. 2018. No. 6.
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Table 3, continued
Yea Political decisions The content of amendments to the labor legislation
2020 The second experiment on the use of work-related electronic documents is conducted (without duplicates in hard copy)12
Legal regulation of labor regulation specificities for remote workers is amended (Art. 49.1 of LC of RF)
2021 A new version of section X 'Labor Protection' that includes provisions on electronic document flow in the field of labor protection, electronic monitoring, etc. is approved (Art. 214, 214.2, 216.2 of LC of RF)
The Strategic Area in the field of social sphere digital transformation is adopted that belongs to the scope of the Ministry of Labor of Russia in the framework of which the Electronic HR Document Flow Project is provided for (execution period - until 2023) Legal regulation of electronic document flow in the field of work relationships is introduced as general codes (Art. 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 68, 312.1 of LC of RF)
2022 (adoption is planned, the expected commencement date -09.01.2022) The procedure is defined for interaction between 'Work in Russia', the unified digital platform in the field of employment and work relationships, and the employer's information system that allows signing and keeping the electronic document, registering the fact of its reception by work relationships parties with the unified state and municipal services portal (the Resolution of the RF Government should be adopted)
2022-2023 (adoption is planned, the expected commencement date -03.01.2023) The uniform requirements are defined for the composition and formats of electronic documents during their creation (the Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia should be adopted in coordination with the Ministry for Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation and the Federal Archival Agency of Russia)
The state policy of Belarus in the field of informatization development was put into practice officially earlier than in the RF. This happened in 2010, when the Strategy of Information Society Development until 2015 was adopted13. E-employment and social protection of the population providing for the generation of remote workplaces among other things (telework) were established as priority areas for information society development. Otherwise, that area addressed public relations in the field of population employment and social support.
Later on, in 2016, the Strategy of Informatization Development of the Republic of Belarus for 20162022 was formulated in Belarus14. Since that time, the area of development in question was seen as improvement in the social sphere based on information and communications technologies. It is determined
12 Federal Law No. 122-FZ 'On Conducting an Experiment on the Use of Work-Related Electronic Documents' dated April 24, 2020. Sobraniye zakonodatelstva Rossiyskoy Federatsii. April 27, 2020. No. 17. Art. 2700.
13 Strategy of Information Society Development for 2015 (approved by Resolution No. 1074 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated August 9, 2010). Available at: https://belzakon.net/3aK0H0flaTe.nbCTB0/n0CTaH0B.neHHe_C0-BeTa_MHHHCTpoB_PE/2010/61583? [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
14 Strategy of Informatization Development of the Republic of Belarus for 2016-2022 (adopted at the meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers No. 26 dated November 3, 2015). Available at: http://nmo.basnet.by/informatization/ CrpaTerHH%20pa3BHTHH%20HH$-HH%20Ha%202016-2022%20rr.PDF [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
in cl. 3.5 of this Strategy that a few areas are identified in the field of informatization of the social and labor sphere, including 'generation of a unified electronic social and labor passport for a citizen of the Republic of Belarus by integrating existing databases and those under formation and provision of telecommunication (mobile as well) access to it'.
In accordance with Strategy 2022, the State Digital Economy and Information Society Development Program for 2016-2020 was worked out the same year15. However, it did not provide for the areas of digital economy development in respect to the labor sphere.
Analysis of the information presented in Table 4 allows the following conclusion: state policy in Belarus is developed in two areas - provision of remote work regulation and generation of a unified electronic social and labor passport. While the first area was implemented in the labor legislation 9 years after its establishment, the second one still waits for its implementation.
Table 4
Improvement in the Belarusian State Policy in the Field of Digital Economy
and Labor Legislation Development in Respect to the Electronic Interaction of Labor Law Addressees (by years)
Year Political decisions The content of amendments to the labor legislation
2010 Generation of remote workplaces is set forth (telework)
2016 Generation of a unified electronic social and labor passport is specified for a citizen of the Republic of Belarus by integrating existing databases and those under formation and provision of telecommunication (mobile as well) access to it
2019 Specificities of labor regulation for remote workers are introduced (Ch. 25.1 of LC of Belarus that includes Art. 307.1-307.5)
In Kazakhstan, the foundation for the targeted development of state policy in the field of electronic document flow in work relationships was laid in the state policy launched in the first years of the 21st century and aimed at the industrial and innovation development of the country. 'Kazakhstan-2030. Prosperity, Security and Ever-Growing Welfare of All the Kazakhstanis'16, the Address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1997 was essential in this respect: it was noted that 'telecommunications are potentially able to smooth imbalances and negative phenomena in the social sphere providing new workplaces, reducing economic migration between rural and urban regions'. One of the significant strategic planning documents of that period was the Strategy of Industrial and Innovation Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2003-201517. In 2010, it was updated in the framework of the State Program of Forced Industrial-Innovative Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010-201418. The development of electronic services and e-government was one of the key areas of this program.
15 Resolution No. 235 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus 'On Adoption of a State Program for Digital Economy and Information Society Development for 2016-2020' dated March 23, 2016. National Legal Internet-Portal of the Republic of Belarus 5/41866 dated April 1, 2016 [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
16 Address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the People of Kazakhstan, 1997. 'Kazakhstan-2030. Prosperity, Security and Ever-Growing Welfare of All the Kazakhstanis'. Available at: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/K970002030_ [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
17 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 1096 'On the Strategy for Industrial and Innovation Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2003-2015' dated May 17, 2003. SAPP Respubliki Kazakhstan. 2003. No. 23-24. Art. 217.
18 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 958 'On the State Program for Forced Industrial-Innovative Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010-2014 and Revocation of Some Decrees of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan' dated March 19, 2010. Kazakhstanskayapravda. 3.31.2010. No. 74 (26135).
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Additionally, in 2010, the state policy in the field of information society development was separated in Kazakhstan, when the Strategic Plan of Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 202019 and the Informational Kazakhstan 2020 State Program20 were approved. They were also aimed at distributing electronic services and e-government development, but the strategic goals set for them lacked those directly related to electronic document flow in work relations. In 2017, the Digital Kazakhstan State Program was adopted in Kazakhstan21. However, the elimination of the hard-copy document flow was still provided for the process of the state's interaction with business and citizens, i.e., in public relationships.
At the end of 2021, the Concept of Development of the ICT Industry and the Digital Sphere was approved22. In the framework of this Concept, a fair social policy ensured due to digitalization was chosen as one of the basic approaches. It provided not only for the digitalization of social payments and social services, but also the transition of employment record books and employment contracts, employee training and retraining into digital format.
When comparing the political decisions made and the content of amendments to the labor legislation in respect to the digital transformation of interaction between labor law addressees, it is possible to conclude that the modernization of the labor legislation in Kazakhstan is taking place independently from the reformation of state policy in the field of digital economy development. The need for introducing digital technologies into interaction between work relationships parties is only confirmed in state policy (Table 5).
Table 5
Improving the Kazakhstan State Policy in the Field of Digital Economy and Labor Legislation Development in Respect to the Electronic Interaction between Labor Law Addressees (by years)
Year Political decisions The content of amendments to the labor legislation
2010 Generation of remote workplaces is set forth (telework)
2016 Generation of a unified electronic social and labor passport is specified for a citizen of the Republic of Belarus by integrating existing databases and those under formation and provision of telecommunication (mobile as well) access to it
2019 Specificities of labor regulation for remote workers are introduced (Ch. 25.1 of LC of Belarus that includes Art. 307.1307.5)
Address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan 1997 'Kazakhstan-2030. Prosperity, Security and Ever-Growing Welfare of All the Kazakhstanis' - the role of telecommunications in the field of labor is stated
19 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 922 'On the Strategic Plan for Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2020' dated February 1, 2010 (repealed due to Decree No. 636 of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated February 15, 2018). SAPP Respubliki Kazakhstan. 2010, No. 10. Art. 115.
20 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 464 dated January 8, 2013 'On the 'Informational Kazakhstan-2020' State Program and Introduction of Supplements to Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 957 'On Approval of a List of State Programs' dated March 19, 2010' (repealed due to Decree No. 681 of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 5, 2018). SAPP Respubliki Kazakhstan. 2013. No. 11. Art. 200.
21 Resolution No. 827 of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan 'On Approval of the 'Digital Kazakhstan' State Program' dated December 12, 2017. Available at : https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/P1700000827 [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
22 Resolution No. 961 of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan 'On Approval of the Concept of Developing the ICT Industry and the Digital Sphere' dated December 30, 2021. Available at: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/P2100000961 [Accessed: 3 July 2022].
Year Political decisions The content of amendments to the labor legislation
2007 Anotification is set forth as an application of an employee or an employer, including those submitted by E-mail (Art. 1 of LC of RK, 2007).
2012 Specificities of labor regulation for remote workers are introduced (Ch. 23.1 of LC of RK 2007, including Art. 221.1-221.3)
2015 Legal regulation of labor regulation specificities for remote workers is amended (instead of Ch. 23.1 of LC of RK 2007 only Art. 138 of the new LC of RK 2015 is dedicated to the matter)
It is allowed to notify the employee of wage components in an electronic form (Art. 113 of LC of RK 2015)
2020 It is allowed for the employer to issue acts as electronic documents and to familiarize employees with the acts via e-mail (Art. 11, 23 of LC of RK 2015)
It is allowed to enter into employment contracts in the form of an electronic document (Art. 33 of LC of RK 2015)
The procedure for the electronic notification of employees or employers is changed (Art. 1 of LC of RK 2015)
Remote voting is allowed as a way to hold general meetings (conferences) of workers of the organization in order to elect elected representatives (Art. 20 of LC of RK 2015)
2021 It is allowed for employees to provide explanations regarding a committed disciplinary offense in electronic form (Art. 65 of LC of RK 2015)
Legal regulation of labor regulation specificities for remote workers is amended (cl. 55.1, 55.2, cl. 1 Art.1, Art. 28, 74, 123, 127, 138 of LC of RK 2015)
The Concept of Developing the ICT Industry and the Digital Sphere, 2021: a Transition of employment record books and employment contracts, employee training and retraining into digital format
Discussion
The digitalization of all areas of life is one of the megatrends in public life. Plotting a vector for developing modern society, it does not leave countries a chance to ignore it. Currently, state policy in most countries (if not all) develops in the light of this very key stable trend. In the framework of the conducted research, this premise is proven as exemplified by the analysis of the current state policy of three EAEU member states (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) and its influence on the development of their national labor legislation.
As it has been established, strategic planning documents are adopted in each of the studied EAEU member states to register the main areas, goals and objectives in respect to developing an information society in general and digital economy in particular. This factor is a unifier for them. However, the extents
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of the state policy's influence on the modernization of labor legislation are different. That is why it does not seem possible to establish any general trend for them in this regard. Thus, the first provisions of labor legislation appeared in Russia outside the implementation of state policy in the field of digital economy. The following innovations were a direct consequence of the political decisions made. Then, a situation occurred when the formalization of the definition of strategic areas happened belatedly, after they had actually already been implemented in the labor legislation. In Belarus, remote work regulation has also become a formal manifestation of previously formulated political decisions. The state policy of Kazakhstan in this matter, on the other hand, differs significantly from those of Russia and Belarus. The Kazakhstan program documents define the areas of digital transformation that are connected with the state's activities. Innovations in labor legislation appear simultaneously with this process.
From the perspective of the frequency of labor legislation modernization, the origins of labor legislation in Russia and in Kazakhstan have some shared attributes: the accelerated intensity of the reformation process is typical for both countries, which is hardly in evidence in Belarus.
Additionally, the results of the research make it possible to identify two groups of factors that define the extent of the state policy's influence on labor legislation. The first group is internal factors, including the improvement in certain areas of state policy united with a strategy of information society development one way or another. The second group is external factors (e.g., the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection). They have been starkly demonstrated by amendments to the labor legislation in Russia and Kazakhstan in 2020-2021 related to the regulation of electronic document flow in work relationships.
Based on the data received as a result of a comprehensive analysis of labor legislation innovations in the studied group of countries, a few conclusions can be drawn.
First, in general, the process of labor legislation reformation in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus is inductive by nature. In this case, this refers to a situation when at the first stage, special norms are created to regulate certain aspects of electronic interaction between labor law addressees. For example, certain kinds of documents are transferred into electronic form (e.g., an employment record book) or the approbation of regulation of electronic interactions between employees and employers occurs only within one group of employees (remote workers). However, in 2021, a transition to the second was made in Russia where the provisions were formulated to be included in the general part of labor law.
Second, the conducted analysis allows identifying the areas of labor legislation digital transformation that are supported in the studied EAEU member states at the country level. The first area is related to remote work regulation. The second - with the regulation of electronic interaction between labor law addressees. Certainly, they are closely connected with each other in terms of their content. However, in the framework of the first area, digital technologies are supposed to be used for communication between employees and employers, but within a highly restricted scope. It is applicable to only one category of employees - remote workers. That said, the second area suggests spreading the electronic document flow on general terms in respect to any categories of workers.
The third conclusion directly results from the previous and unfolds as follows. Innovations in labor legislation mostly address the form of work relationships, but not their content, since they are largely about the electronic form of documents. In this regard, promising areas for developing state policy and labor legislation in the context of global digitalization should be established.
One of these areas is a choice of the optimal model for regulating the labor of individuals whose work relationships with their employers have been modified content-wise due to the use of digital technologies and electronic means of labor function execution. In this case, this is about platform workers. Therefore, the idea that their relationships with digital platform operators are work relationships described in the works of labor law scholars (Lyutov & Voytkovskaya, 2020) should be supported and brought to life as soon as possible.
Another promising area of development for state policy and labor legislation is the generation of effective legal safeguards for employees and employers' rights in terms of employee training. This is determined by the following circumstances. On the one hand, the integration of digital technologies into the manufacturing process and the HR document flow requires building the relevant digital competen-
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cies of workers. On the other hand, the digitalization of manufacturing can go hand in hand with a loss of need for human labor for the employer. Certainly, this process has not yet become so largescale and universal. However, certain risks are already being created today.
Special attention should be paid to the issue of protecting employees' rights for personal privacy during their working lives, since electronic monitoring of the working process and automated processing of employees' personal data create risks of confidentiality breach and impairment, the barriers of the acceptable volume of the collected information about the employee are actually erased, it becomes possible to use personal information not for legal labor purposes, etc. (Kovac-Orlandic, 2020).
The use of artificial intelligence systems can place adherence to the principles of labor law in jeopardy, among other things. First of all, this applies to the principle of equality of rights and opportunities of workers and prohibition of labor discrimination. In the long run, this problem will affect those workers who, for example, will not improve their physical and intellectual capabilities with technical innovations, therefore ceding ground to their more technologically savvy colleagues. Then this will be relevant when establishing the legal status of artificial intelligence systems (Filipova & Anosova, 2021).
It should be noted that the entire problematics of defining promising areas for state policy improvement in respect to digital economy and its influence on the modernization of labor legislation is not exhausted by the aforementioned. Still, each of the mentioned areas is multi-faceted, which makes it necessary to study them as part of separate independent research.
Conclusion
The trend for global digitalization requires all the states to make balanced and adequate political decisions aimed at improving all areas of public life to adapt it to the universal introduction of digital technologies. The field of labor is not an exception. The results received in the course of this research have confirmed the hypothesis that global digitalization is a cornerstone for developing strategic areas of state development. Those of them that are already actively implemented in some EAEU member states were identified in the research. First of all, this concerns the adaptation of labor legislation to digital economy development in respect to establishing a unified centralized legal regulation of electronic HR document flow and specificities of the labor of remote workers. The significance of the conducted research also lies in the fact that other areas that should become the focus of developing political and legal decisions are suggested here.
A comparative-legal analysis of the extent of state policy's influence on the reformation of national labor legislation in various countries has allowed identifying what level of digital transformation had been achieved by legislative provisions of these countries, as well as tracking the path they make in the process of their development. From the practical point of view, this allows identifying the best practices and suggesting them for consideration when generating national development strategies.
Eventually, the states must start generating a new legal labor regulatory environment to ensure a favorable legal regime for introducing and using state-of-the-art technologies by labor law addressees, on the one hand, and to ensure improving the quality of life for all the workers, including those involved in unconventional forms of employment, on the other hand.
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Information about the author
Alena V. Serova - Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Labor Law, Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovlev (Yekaterinburg, Russia; e-mail: a.v.serova@ usla.ru).
© A. V. Serova, 2022
Date of Paper Receipt: March 11, 2022 Date of Paper Approval: April 11, 2022 Date of Paper Acceptance for Publishing: June 24, 2022
