Labour Law: Challenges of Digital Society
Abstract
The transition from an industrial economy to a digital economy affects seriously labour relations. Digital technologies increase the level of automation of production and services. The use of software and robotics by entrepreneurs entails changes in the organization of wage labour. The subject of this study is the legal regulation of wage labour in the context of employers using new digital technologies to improve production efficiency and monitor the performance of employees' duties. Labour law arose and was formed during the period of industrial society, many of its norms and institutions are not designed for changes that occur in modern society as a result of digitalization. This reduces the possibilities of labour law as a regulator of the system of labour relations in the contemporary conditions. The purpose of this study is to analyse the changes taking place in society that have the greatest impact on the world of work, as well as highlighting the main blocks of the legal regulation of wage labour, which will be amended soon. The positions of Russian and foreign experts in labour economics and labour law were taken into account when analysing and formulating conclusions. The main research methods are analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, formal legal and comparative legal methods, as well as the method of legal modelling. Conclusions about the inevitable response of labour law to changes associated with digitalization processes were made based on the results of this study. The changes will affect such labour law institutions as working time, rest time, labour protection, protection of employees' data, guarantees and compensation for employees, social partnership. The labour legislation should introduce rules obliging employers to send employees to retrain if they are replaced by artificial intelligence systems. The new standards should limit the use of controls over workers' performance of duties and the use of artificial intelligence systems for data mining. The changes will also affect the circle of subjects of labour law.
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