The System of State Guarantees on Labor Remuneration in Russian Labor Law: Theory and Practice

The paper examines the structural elements of the system of state guarantees on labor remuneration provided by the Russian labor law. It is pointed out that the system of state labor remuneration guarantees are meant to promote the appropriate structuring of wages, which is essential for fostering socially sound labor relations within labor collectives, as well as for the effective economic protection of employees’ labor rights. Creating socially healthy labor relations is of equal importance to employees, employers, and the state. The author concludes that there are practical implementation issues regarding certain state guarantees of labor remuneration, particularly those established by the principles of legal regulation of labor relations. The continuing legal regulation of the system of state labor remuneration guarantees is found to have significant defects. The criteria underlying the differentiation of state labor remuneration guarantees into main and other categories remain ambiguous. Guarantees of equitable remuneration, the prohibition of discrimination in remuneration, and the principle of equal pay for equal work are no inferior in their socio-economic significance to the main guarantees enumerated in the relevant list. The system of state labor remuneration guarantees is not structured (not presented as such) in the legislation, except for the list of the main state labor remuneration guarantees. These circumstances impede the full practical implementation of all the guarantees of labor remuneration provided by the legislation and do not allow to optimally influence neither the wage systems formed by employers, nor the established wage rates for individual employees. Obviously, the institution of the “system of state guarantees of remuneration” requires further understanding and improvement.