The thesis is a comprehensive and complete scientific research of gender-based discrimination in the sphere of labor as a multifaceted phenomenon of legal reality and legal regulation of preventing gender-based discrimination.
It is argued that legal regulation of preventing gender-based discrimination consists in legal regulation of labor relations and those closely related with them by legal means with the aim of achieving parity between representatives of different sexes, preventing manifestations of gender-based discrimination in exercising labor rights and opportunities by every person and citizen.
Taking into account the systematic analysis of legislative provisions, practice of the European Court of Human Rights and generalization of the diversity of theoretical and legal approaches to interpreting discrimination in the scientific literature both in the general sense and from the point of view of its manifestation in the sphere of labor, a scientifically based author’s definition of discrimination in the sphere of labor is given and the author’s vision of a number of characteristic legal features inherent in discrimination in the sphere of labor is outlined.
It has been established that characteristic legal signs of discrimination in the sphere of labor are the following:
1) it is based on discriminatory features that characterize a person or a certain group of persons from the point of view of their ethnic origin, state of health, belonging to a certain social group, citizenship, etc.;
2) it manifests itself in the form of establishing any differences, distinctions, restrictions, exceptions or prohibitions against a person or a group of persons;
3) differences, distinctions, restrictions, exceptions or prohibitions are unfounded, arbitrary and biased of nature, given that they pursue an illegitimate purpose that does not have an objective and reasonable justification;
4) the legal consequence of discriminatory treatment is reduced to violation of labor rights and freedoms provided for by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine or to restriction of their recognition, implementation or use by all members of society on the basis of equality;
5) it entails legal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of current legislation as a result of committing a discriminatory offense against a person or group of persons.
It has been determined that discrimination in the sphere of labor is a situation when a person or a group of persons is wrongfully singled out on the basis of race, skin color, political, religious and other beliefs, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic, social and foreign origin, age, state of health, disability, suspicion or presence of HIV/AIDS, family and property status, family responsibilities, place of residence, membership in a trade union or other citizen association, participation in a strike, appeal or intention to appeal to the court or other authorities for protection of their rights or providing support to other employees in protection of their rights, on linguistic or other grounds not related to the nature of the work or conditions of work performance, it is a situation when a person or a group of persons is subjected (devoid of objective and reasonable justification ) to any differences, distinctions, restrictions, exceptions or prohibitions in recognition, use or realization of labor rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine on the basis of equality.
Characterized are legally enshrined forms of discrimination which are observed in practice in labor relations and in those closely related with them. On the basis of a systematic analysis of doctrinal sources, legislative provisions, judicial practice, the essential content of forms of discrimination that negatively affect the labor sphere is thoroughly revealed, and attention is focused on the need to prevent their occurrence.
It is argued that the principle of preventing discrimination is one of the key international principles in the sphere of labor, which underlies the modern process of reforming labor legislation, and the place of this principle in the system of labor law principles has been determined.
It is noted that the principle of preventing discrimination is a fundamental principle of law and has a cross-cutting nature, as it is intertwined with other principles of labor law. The essence of the principle of preventing discrimination in the sphere of labor is to create and ensure conditions for equal access of a person and a citizen to labor rights and freedoms, equal opportunity for their implementation by preventing unjustified differential treatment based on one or several discriminatory grounds.
