The thesis presents a comprehensive study of the employer's liability for violating labor legislation. To that end, a review of modern approaches to the theoretical understanding and practical application of state coercion system as regards the employers is of particular relevance. The elaboration of both proposals for changes to the current legislation and the development of a new practical consolidation concept of employer's labor liability by combining various types of legal responsibilities, creating an independent institution of criminal liability, is deemed to be of utmost significance.
Currently, the issue of combining into one labor law institution of employer's criminal liability the state coercion measures in the form of fines, which are variegated in their legal nature and purpose, is gaining a considerable relevance. Moreover, the development of the mechanism to bring the employer to penal liability, including the algorithmization of procedures and measures aimed at the practical implementation of state-management influence in relation to the employer by implementing a system of guarantees of the rights and interests of employees is given much attention. However, the focus is made on the inadmissability of violating the labor relations parties’ balance of interests, and consequently the observance of the employer's rights while implementing the relevant control and monitoring measures is also considered as a constituent element to ensure the employer's penal liability for labor legislation violations. That said, new scientifically based theoretical, methodological and practical approaches are expedient.
The purpose of the thesis is to find new theoretical and methodological grounds as well as elaborate hands-on guidelines for the creation of an independent toolkit of state coercion in the form of employer's penal liability.
The object of the thesis is the system of organizational and legal provision of employers’ penal liability for labor legislation violations.
The subject of the research is the mechanism of practical implementation in the process of bringing employers to criminal liability for labor legislation violations.
Research methods. The research was conducted using a combination of general and special scientific methods inherent in legal science and the science of labor law, taking into account the peculiarities of the tripartism system and the participants’ legal status in labor relations.
In particular, the dialectical method of employer's responsibility institution development in labor relations has been extensively used. To that end, diverse forms and mechanisms of its application were investigated using the system analysis toolkit, which proded a comprehensive vision of employers’ labor liability. The toolkit of the formal-legal method, as well as the combined use analysis and synthesis methods, abstract and concrete in total, enabled a new vision as regards the legal content and legal nature of employers' penal liability, as well as the possibility of expanding the cases of its application.
The method of classification according to various characteristics, as well as the method of structural analysis enabled to reveal the essence of fines applied to the employer in cases of labor legislation violation as an element of state coercion system with an excessively pronounced penal function. Furthermore, using the structural-logical approach and the method of legal modeling, proposals were developed to enhance the labor legislation as regards the application of employer's penal liability.
With that in mind, active application of the comparative legal method made it possible to address the grounds for employer’s penal liability for labor legislation violation in comparison with the grounds for other types of liability such as administrative and criminal. Significant results in the study of the mechanisms of practical implementation in holding the employer liable for violation of labor legislation were achieved due to the use of the structural-functional approach.
The information base of the research comprise the materials of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the State Labor Service, the Employment Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, legislative and regulatory acts on the issue of participants liability in labor relations, including employers, as well as scientific achievements of domestic and foreign scholars, materials of scientific and practical conferences, international organizations.
