Continuity and Novelty in the Formation of the Legal Model of the Labor Function of an Employee
In the present work, the questions of the evolution of the norms on the labor function of an employee that are changing under the influence of the processes of continuity and novelty occurring in the Russian law have been considered. It is noted that the historical features of Russia's development influenced the meaning and content of the analyzed norms. The modern definition of the labor function is fixed in Art. 15 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF): work in accordance with the staffing table, profession, specialty with an indication of qualification; a specific type of work is entrusted to an employee. Thus, the labor function is the most important condition of the employment contract (Art. 56, 57 of the LC RF). Moreover, the labor function is the main condition of the employment contract on the basis of which the scope of rights and duties of the employee is formed. In fact, in each specific case, the labor function should be considered solely as belonging to a particular employee. The subject of the study is separate norms of labor law, scientific views on the model of the labor function, historically established law enforcement practice. In the course of the research, the following tasks have been solved: the stages of transformation of the legal category under consideration have been determined, imperfection of the existing norms has been revealed, options for eliminating the revealed inaccuracies in the definition of the labor function have been suggested; attention has been paid to the difficulties in applying these norms; a conclusion has been formulated on the expediency of developing an improved model of the labor function of the employee. The study has been conducted on the basis of comparative, concrete historical, analytical and other methods. Based on the analysis of scientific provisions, the norms of the LC RF and the practice of their application, the following main conclusions have been formulated. (1) The definition of the "labor function" in the LC RF was preceded by a long evolution of scientific views on the content of this category. (2) In order to improve the legal regulation, it is expedient to exclude duplication of provisions on the labor function, enclosed in brackets in Articles 15 and 57 of the LC RF. To do this, it is necessary to extract from these articles a fragment about the labor function and formalize the concept of the labor function in the form of a separate article in the Labor Code, placing it after Art. 60 of the LC RF. The definition of the labor function in a separate article of the LC RF in this case does not violate the consistency of norms within the framework of the employment contract institution.