FBK Legal for Online Newspaper SHORTREAD

SHORTREAD, an online journal, has published Veronika Shakhova?s article on discrimination of employees.

Veronika notes that the law provides only for an approximate list of reasons which an employer may use to refuse an applicant. That is why it is up to the court to decide whether there was any discrimination when a company refuses to enter into an employment contract in a particular situation. For example, if an employer says no to an applicant before an interview, this can be qualified as discrimination as the employer did not check the applicant?s professional skills. According to general court practices, employers cannot refuse to enter into an employment contract without a good reason.

The lawyer writes about situations when an employer refuses to schedule an interview because another person has been hired. That does not relieve the employer from the obligation to justify the refusal but if the need to fill the vacancy has been satisfied, courts do not qualify the employer?s actions as discriminatory.

The lawyer names risks that an employer may bear when refusing to hire a pregnant woman and examines a situation when employment is denied because of non-compliance with a requirement which was not initially declared.

Veronika also writes about another common case. Employees believe that paying different salary to people working in the same position is discriminatory, while courts rule that employers have the right to choose an individual approach to compensation of a particular employee.

There are also discrimination disputes over bonuses. Veronika cites an example when the court recognises provisions of bonus regulations as unlawful if year-end bonuses are not paid to certain categories of employees.