“Labour law compliance by local self-government bodies, businesses, organisations and institutions” is the event held by the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. Partners from the South-Eastern Inter-Regional Directorate of the State Labour Service of Ukraine helped with its organisation.
The event discussed how to properly register and employ new hires and prevent salary arrears.
According to Iryna Bilanynets, Deputy Head of the Inspection Department of the South-Eastern Inter-Regional Directorate of the State Labour Service of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, the institution continuously raises awareness of labour law compliance.
“Certain business entities sometimes show signs of undeclared labour such as unregistered workers or illegal civil law contracts for the performance of work. Our inspectors compiled a list of typical violations. Untimely correction of such violations is the ground for an inspection and bringing the guilty parties to administrative liability,” the speaker said.
The State Labour Service monitors businesses and employers in more than 90 municipalities from oblasts under the South-Eastern Inter-Regional Directorate (Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad oblasts). Unfortunately, there are hardly any that fully comply with labour laws. Among the most common violations are under-declared unified social tax, disproportionate work (part-time work according to the documents being full-time in reality), unpaid leave compensation, incorrect indexation, etc.
“In March, we are compiling registers of business entities to inspect. And employers can still eliminate their violations on their own or with the help of our inspectors. We are ready to help municipalities to find levers of influence on local businesses so that they do not violate the law,” said Iryna Bilanynets.
According to Andrii Muzhevskyi, Adviser on Municipal Finances and Management of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, local self-government bodies may have information on non-compliance with the laws in terms of employee registration.
“Social security bodies and financial departments of local self-government can monitor the current situation by analysing personal income tax revenues. This analysis facilitates compiling a list of business entities that require increased attention. There are cases when agribusinesses have several thousand hectares of arable land but not nearly enough workers to cultivate it,” he said.
For their part, local self-government bodies can be proactive by bringing the attention of local businesses to this problem. After all, the proper registration of labour relations contributes to the replenishment of both the local budget and the Pension Fund.
The development of municipalities in current conditions depends on many factors, but significant success can be achieved only when the business community and local self-government bodies work as partners, supporting each other.