Baku, Azerbaijan, March 13
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
The new edition of the Labor Code in Uzbekistan will provide access to a new, compliant modern stage of the country's socio-economic development and the formation of a favorable business environment, First Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor Relations of Uzbekistan Erkin Mukhitdinov told Trend in an interview.
He stated that, Uzbekistan and the International Labor Organization (ILO) signed and implemented in 2015 the ILO decent work country program until 2020, the priorities of which are: strengthening social partnership in Uzbekistan in order to implement fundamental principles and rights at work; expanding opportunities for decent employment; improving working conditions and social protection.
Mukhitdinov said that from the beginning of 2015 to the present, seminars, trainings, and informational events covering a wide range of issues were held to strengthen the capacity of workers 'and employers' organizations, farmers, labor inspections, representatives of national ministries and departments. Apart from the activities dedicated to eradicating the risks of the worst forms of child labor and forced labor in agriculture, particularly in cotton, the topics included:
- Safety and labor safety in agriculture and industry;
- Corporate social responsibility;
- Regulation of labor relations;
- The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work;
- ILO Declaration on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy;
- ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization;
- Strategic planning;
- Mechanisms for setting wages;
- Social policies;
- The functioning of public employment services;
- Developing a national employment policy; collective bargaining;
- International labor standards.
- Freedom of association; and many others.
The first deputy minister stressed that the project “Monitoring of the third party” (MTP) is currently being implemented and in accordance with it ILO has been monitoring child labor in the cotton harvest since 2013. As a result of third-party monitoring, balanced and neutral information was obtained and was shared with political circles around the world, including the European Union and the US government.
The US Department of Labor in September 2018 excluded Uzbek cotton from the list of goods produced by using child labor with the assistance of ILO MTP project.
He added that new impulse to constructive partnership of Uzbekistan with the ILO was set during the recent visit of the ILO Director General Guy Ryder to Uzbekistan and his participation in the International Conference “Future Labor Sectors: Initiative to ensure decent employment in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the ILO”.
Mukhitdinov said that as a result of the meeting of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyeyev with the Director General of the ILO, it was decided to develop and adopt a guidebook for long-term cooperation with the ILO.
The project of the guidebook includes about 60 joint cooperation activities of the government and social partners with the ILO, including continuing to ratify the ILO conventions and the implementation of international labor standards into national legislation.
Furthermore, the activities include the improvement of the position of women in the labor market, reducing the informal labor market, strengthening the potential labor inspection, professional development and training of specialists in the field of labor relations, support of the activities of trade unions and workers' confederation.
He underlined that in accordance with the guidebook of long-term cooperation of Uzbekistan, the International Labor Organization will assist in the provision of information and analytical materials reflecting the best international practice of legislative regulation of labor relations, as well as in carrying out international expertise of certain provisions of the developed legislation.
The concept of the new edition of the Labor Code of Uzbekistan provides for:
-Simplification of the procedure and procedures for the conclusion and termination of an employment contract (the form of an employment contract, the terms of urgency, the terms of a warning of termination, etc.);
- Taking into account the specifics of labor relations in certain forms of employment (teleworking, home-based pond, temporary and seasonal work, employment of individuals and others);
- Organization of labor valuation;
- Strengthening the role and importance of negotiation processes in the formation of labor relations and working conditions, including the establishment of working time and rest time, flexible forms of employment.
The concept of a new edition of the Labor Code will be submitted to the Legislative Chamber of the Parliament of Uzbekistan, after extensive public discussion in the third quarter of 2019.
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