Digital Technologies and Labour Relations: Legal Regulation in Russia and China

Abstract

The widespread use of digital technologies in the field of labour relations raises the issue of examining the readiness and capability of the legislation in Russia and China to adequately regulate labour in modern workplace conditions while respecting the balance of interests and the rights of employees, employers and the state. This article draws a number of conclusions, one of which is that currently in the Russian Federation, the legal regulation of the use of digital technologies in the field of labour is haphazard, contradictory and not designed for the long term. Despite a number of significant scientific studies conducted in this area and the serious commitment of the People’s Republic of China to the issues of informatization, the legal regulation of the digitalization of labour relations lags behind technological progress. A number of issues in urgent need of legal regulation remain outside the legal field (robotization and algorithmization in the field of labour; protection of personal data of job applicants; the problem of unemployment in the application of artificial intelligence in the labour process). It appears that today there is an urgent need for the federal authorities of the Russian Federation to adopt a strategy for the transformation of labour relations in the application of digital (information) technologies as well as a need to develop a concept of robotization and algorithmization of the labour process. Furthermore, when creating these documents and adjusting the current regulatory framework, the Russian legislator should take into account the experience of international and foreign regulation of labour relations in the field of digitalization of labour relations.