On early termination of the contract
Art. 40 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus defines the procedure for terminating an indefinite-term employment contract at the employee's request. Termination of a contract, which is a type of fixed-term employment contract, at one's so-called "own initiative" is not provided for by law.
As a general rule, a contract, like any other fixed-term employment contract, is terminated upon the expiration of its term. It is also possible to terminate this type of employment contract at any time by agreement of the parties – the employee and the employer. In this case, there must be an agreement between the parties on the early termination of employment relations from a specific date.
It should be noted separately that Art. 41 of the Labor Code provides for the possibility of early termination of a contract at the employee's request in the presence of valid reasons.
Among such valid reasons, the legislator includes, in particular, the employer's violation of labor legislation, a collective agreement, or an employment contract. These violations may be expressed, for example, in failure to ensure healthy and safe working conditions, failure to provide guarantees and compensation in connection with harmful and (or) hazardous working conditions, non-compliance with labor protection standards for women, youth, and disabled persons, or non-payment or untimely payment of wages.
When terminating a fixed-term employment contract at the employee's request due to the employer's violation of labor legislation, a collective agreement, or an employment contract, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 41 of the Labor Code, the fact of such a violation is established by a specially authorized state body for supervision and control over compliance with labor legislation, trade unions, and (or) a court.
The specially authorized body for supervision and control over compliance with labor legislation is the Department of State Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus.
Having established by
at the employee's request, the fact of violation of labor legislation, a collective or labor agreement, the Department (its bodies) reflects it, as a rule, in the inspection report, a requirement (order) issued to the employer based on the results of the inspection, in the protocol on an administrative offense, and informs the employee about it.At the same time, the Department is not granted the right by law to demand early termination of the contract from the employer when a violation of its terms is established.
Such a demand can be made to the employer by the employee. In case of refusal of the employer to terminate the contract early at the employee's request based on the fact of violation of the contract terms established by the Department, the employee has the right to appeal such a decision of the employer in court. If the violation is not documented, but is only perceived by the employee as such, the right to demand early termination of the contract does not arise for him.
As indicated above, the employee can also apply to the trade union and directly to the court regarding the establishment of the fact of violation of labor legislation, a collective or labor agreement. The court, having established the fact of violation, has the right to oblige the employer to terminate the contract early at the employee's request.
In addition to the specified grounds, early termination of the contract is possible at the employee's request in case of his illness or disability preventing the performance of work under the contract, as well as for other valid reasons, the list of which is not established by the legislator.
In practice, such valid reasons may include: the need to care for sick family members; a woman's pregnancy; the spouse's assignment to work (service) abroad; moving to another permanent place of residence in another locality; retirement. At the same time, valid reasons for terminating the contract at the employee's request must prevent or significantly hinder the performance of work under the contract.
In case of refusal of the employer to satisfy the employee's demand for early termination of employment relations for valid reasons, the employee has the right to applyto court on this matter. The plaintiff (employee) provides evidence of the validity of the reasons for early termination of the contract to the court.
If the plaintiff's claims for early termination of the contract under Art. 41 of the Labor Code are satisfied, the date of termination of the employment relationship is determined by the court depending on the actual circumstances of the case. Before the court makes a decision on early termination of the contract, the plaintiff is not entitled to stop working, as such termination may be grounds for dismissal of the employee for violation of labor discipline.
Vitebsk Transport Prosecutor
Senior Justice Advisor A.A. Tsarikov