This week, we will introduce new regulations regarding the the settlement of labor disputes in Mongolia under the new Labor Law of Mongolia.
The previous Labor Law classified labor disputes as either individual or collective disputes, and the centralization of the power to resolve labor disputes in the courts was time consuming and limited in the ability of parties to reach an agreement, which was a problem for both the employee and the employer.
Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned difficulties, the new Mongolian Labor Law classifies labor disputes as either “Labor Interest” or “Labor Rights” disputes and establishes a mechanism for settlement of such disputes before the litigation stage.
In the law, “Labor Rights Dispute” means a dispute between the parties related to the implementation or interpretation of labor legislation, all types of collective agreements, collective bargaining agreements, employment contracts and internal labor norms, while a “Labor Interest Dispute” means a dispute concerning with establishing the collective bargaining, and all types of collective agreements, collective bargaining agreements, and amendments to employment contracts.
Labor Rights Disputes are to be resolved by the newly established Labor Rights Dispute Resolution Commission (“Commission”) which is established in all types of business entity and organization and Tripartite labor dispute resolution committee in the local soum or district (“Committee”), or the court. As for Labor Interests Disputes, the law provides for a procedure for resolving disputes of interest by consensus, at the next stage through labor mediators and labor arbitration, and as a last resort, organizing strikes.
Under the new law, the implementation of a pre-trial conciliation and pre-trial settlement mechanism will enable employees and employers to resolve disputes quickly and reduce the current workload of the courts.