Collective agreement as a legal framework for regulating labor relations at the local level

This article examines the importance of collective agreement in regulating labor relations in the system of social dialogue. It has been noted that the effectiveness of a collective agreement depends on its ability, through its content to strengthen the social protection of workers, establish fair working conditions and stimulate their productivity. The problems of collective bargaining regulation of labor at the local level (that is, at a separate enterprise, institution, organization) are indicated, which consist as a rule, in a formal approach to the definition of collective agreement, regulatory provisions, which entails the emergence of, a conflict of interest between employees and employers, lack of an effective mechanism to control the protection of workers’rights. Taking into account the scientific opinion of legal scholars, the legal nature of a collective agreement in characterized as dual. This is on the one hand, it is a type of contract in labor law, and on the other it is a legal act concluded through a contract and is a component of the system of sources of labor law. After analyzing the provisions of the current Law of Ukraine “On the Collective Agreements an Contracts” and the new Law of Ukraine “On contracts and Collective Agreements”, which will come into force six months after the lifting of martial law in the state taking into account the content of the collective agreement an what is prescribed on the new law, its key significance was determined, which consists in a non-formal approach to the regulation of labor and legal relations at the local level with the aim of improving the legal status of workers in comparison with the norms of current labor legislation and ensuring the protection of their labor rights in the context of complex modern realities. In particular, attention was focused on the increasing role of collective agreements in the context of the digitalization of society and the use of artificial intelligence technologies. And in the regard, the need to provide for strict control standards regarding the boundaries of AI use in the content of collective agreements is justified. In this regard, the need to include strict control standards regarding the limits of AI use in collective agreements is justified in order to prevent large-scale unemployment and the devaluation of human labor. It is highlighted as an important aspect in the study of the meaning of collective agreement and its impact on individual labor relations. A conclusion is made about the dependence of terms of the employment contract, which is the regulator of labor relations between the employers, on the content of the collective agreement, since the informality of its provisions presupposes more favorable conditions for individual contractual relations. This approach should motivate employees to work more effectively and have a positive impact on the economic performance of the enterprise, institution or organization, ensuring their profitability and competitiveness in the market. Thus a collective agreement with informal content can be positioned as an improved local model of current labor legislation for an individual employee as a subject of individual labor relations.