Expanded Summary

The orientation of the labour relations regulation policy in Georgia is related to the goal of ensuring democratic reformation on the way to European integration and is proceeded in several main directions such as the establishment of conceptual, legislative and institutional mechanisms of labor policy, consistent monitoring of not only the fulfillment but also the process of fulfillment of the obligations defined by the association agreement, the labor directives of the European Union, the provisions of the social charter and the conventions of the International Labor Organization, which in turn is seen as a guarantee of the effectiveness of the European integration process.

It should be noted that the legal base of the European integration process of Georgia includes the entire legislative array. A turning point in the processes of establishing legislative mechanisms for Occupational Safetyregulation is the "Association Agreement between Georgia on the one hand and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Union and their member states on the other." The association agreement at this stage actually represents a landmark of the consistent process of European integration in the field of Occupational Safetyof Georgia.

According to the agreement of April 22, 1996 on "Partnership and Cooperation", Georgia expressed its will to establish a partnership with the European Union and its member states and later "On Harmonization of Georgian Legislation with European Union Legislation" by the Resolution # 828,  the Parliament of Georgia on September 2, 1997,  unequivocally determined that "All laws and other normative acts adopted by the Parliament of Georgia must comply with the standards and norms established by the European Union". The goals of supporting the course of further intensification of the integration process of Georgia in the European Union and the continuation and deepening of the ongoing reforms in the country also was determined by the Resolution #580 of the Parliament of Georgia on November 11, 2004, "On measures to promote the European integration process of Georgia", and thus, the vector of Georgia's domestic and foreign policy was directed towards European integration as a priority.

Obviously, in the way of realizing the mentioned requirements, important changes were made in the labor legislation of Georgia, which are presented in the paper as the important stages of the reform of the labor legislation in Georgia. Conventionally, the first stage of the reform was implemented in 2006, and its main goal was the economic development of the country by the liberal approaches to the labor market, which would facilitate the creation of new jobs. However, as a result of the reform the adopted labor code was only a carrier of the employer's interests and contained separate norms that contradicted both the requirements of the EU directives and other international obligations. In the same year, the labor inspection abolished, and therefore there was no supervisory body in the country that would inspect labor norms at workplaces.

The second phase of the labor legislation reform was implemented in 2013, when the new Labor Code was adopted and the fundamental changes implemented led to the approximation of the rights of employees to the EU standards.

It should be noted that only since 2014, after the formation of the obligations defined by the association agreement, it became possible to conduct an effective process of approximation to European standards in the field of protection of employees' rights. The first important step in this direction was taken in 2015, when the Department of Inspection of the Labor Conditions (LCID) was established in the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of IDPs from the occupied territories of Georgia whose mandate was gradually increased. Initially, its competence covered only those facilities that previously applied for approval for the inspection, and the instructions were also of a recommendatory nature. In 2019, when the Organic Law of Georgia "On Occupational Safety" was adopted, LCID’s mandate was increased and covered all economic activities in the field of Occupational safety, and compliance with the issued instructions became mandatory. The fact that the perfect striving for the institutional development of inspection of labor conditions is also indicated by the fact that in 2020 the Law of Georgia "On Labor Inspection" was adopted, which created a legal entity under public law, the Labor Inspection Office.

The paper also focuses on the processes and institutional mechanisms of the national tripartite social dialogue in the development and implementation of the labor policy, and the activities of the advisory board created with the Chief Labor Inspector.

It should be noted that in the implementation of Georgia's labor policy, a special emphasis is placed on the mechanisms of institutional assurance of the European integration processes. In the background of the fundamental reforms carried out in the country, an important challenge was the structural problems of the economy and the insufficient development of the labor market, which in turn was connected with other challenges for the enforcement of Occupational Safety norms at workplaces. Based on above, on the way of fulfillment the mechanisms for ensuring Occupational Safety, a special challenge is facing to the process of implementing Occupational safety and health directives defined by the Association Agreement  and to the process of ratification the conventions of the International Labor Organization.

Thus, despite the reforms that brought the country's Occupational safety system significantly closer to international standards, there are still some challenges in this direction due to the provisions of the Association Agreement, other EU directives and the Social Charter.

Presence of the mentioned issues determines the relevance of the paper. Based on the analysis and appropriate conclusions, reasoned recommendations are proposed for the solution of the existing problems and for the effective management of the European integration process in the field of Occupational Safety.