Analysis of the Reform Implemented in Georgia in the Field of Labor Discrimination in the Context of the Obligations Assumed Under the Association Agreement

Since the independence of Georgia, Labor legislation underwent thorough multiple reforms and changes, which were caused by the different policy of the contemporary legislator towards labor legal relations, as well as relevant international obligations. Changes in political priorities became a kind of basis for encouraging legislative changes. With the amendments made to the Labor Code in 2005-2006, the law became more oriented towards empowering employer with more rights and freedoms, it is during this period that the supervisory system of the labor inspectorate and other supervisory administrative bodies are abolished, which was the sole basis for the legislation imbalance of power between the employer and the employee. Such an unbalanced attitude between employers and employees was evident for years. At that time, this Labor Code was considered one of the most liberal laws, since the regulation of the labor relationship between the employer and the employee was regulated on the basis of a free agreement between the parties, and there were no state supervisory institutions to ensure equality and equal treatment of employees were ensured, the state almost ceased to have a function of regulating the labor relationship. Further significant reforms in the Labor Code of Georgia were carried out in 2013, a number of principles and concepts of labor law were formulated in a new way, special attention was paid to balancing the unequal legal environment and opportunities between the employee and the employer in labor legal relations. Since July 2014, after taking a step towards deepening cooperation with the European Union and signing and ratifying the Agreement on the Union of European Union and European Atomic Energy and the Association between their Member States (hereinafter “Association Agreement”), the labor legislation has periodically undergone changes, which took into account the obligations under the Association Agreement as much as possible, and harmonization of Georgian Labor Law norms with European Regulations.The last fundamental reform of the Labor code regarding the prohibition of discrimination was implemented in September 2020, which is directly dictated by the directives provided for in the Association Agreement. This paper presents a comparative legal analysis of the reforms to the relevant directives. When I wrote the article, I was guided by the following research methodologies: historical research, comparative analysis method, dialectical method, and empirical method.