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Georgia - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

T'bilisi

 

CLIMATE

Warm and pleasant. Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast.

 

LANGUAGES

Georgian (official, 71%), Russian (9%), Armenian (7%), Azeri (6%) and other (7%).

Note: Abkhaz is official language in Abkhazia.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

The legal system in Georgia is civil law system based.

 

CURRENCY

Georgia Lari (1 USD = 2.2350 GEL as of March 15, 2002)

 

GEORGIA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

GEORGIA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Tbilisi

25 Atoneli Street

Tbilisi 380026

Republic of Georgia

Telephone: (995) (32) 98-99-67

Fax: (995) (32) 93-37-59

http://web.sanet.ge/usembassy/

 

Embassy of the Republic of Georgia at Washington D.C.

1615 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Suite 300

Washington D.C. 20009

Telephone: (202) 387-2390

Fax: (202) 393-4537

http://www.georgiaemb.org/

 

 

GEORGIA - MINIMUM AGE

The minimum age for employment of children is 16 years. However, in exceptional cases, the minimum age can be 14 years.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Georgia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

 

GEORGIA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The minimum wage is 20 GEL a month, or approximately $10.80. There is no state-mandated minimum wage for private sector workers.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Georgia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

GEORGIA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

GEORGIA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution and the law provide for the right of citizens to form and join trade unions, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.

 

The principal trade union confederation is the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Georgia (ATUG), which is the successor to the official union that existed during the Soviet period. The ATUG consists of 31 sectoral unions. In November 2000, the ATUG met to reelect its leadership. The organization officially claims 600,000 members, but it acknowledges that the number of active, dues-paying members is lower. The union has no affiliation with the Government and receives no government funding (except for support to send 200 children each year to summer camp).

 

In 1998 the ATUG brought suit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs for illegally firing 220 employees in the Ministry's visa office. The suit was to be decided on a case-by case-basis. Several employees had been ordered to be reinstated, but the Ministry refused to do so by year's end.

 

The ATUG was involved in a legal action with the Government regarding the Palace of Culture, which the ATUG inherited when the Soviet Union collapsed. In 1998 the Constitutional Court awarded the property to the ATUG, but in 1999 a lower court ruled that the ATUG had no rights to the property. On May 30, following a number of court decisions, a decision was made that the union had no right to discuss the issue in its council meeting. The ATUG met with the Justice Council, which confirmed that this violated the law, the Constitution, and ILO regulations. The president of the ATUG continued to speak out on the issue, and in August the city prosecutor opened a case against the president for violating the findings of the court. Both cases were ongoing at year's end.

 

There are two trade unions in addition to the ATUG: The Free Trade Union of Teachers of Georgia "Solidarity" (FTUTGS) based in Kutaisi; and the Independent Trade Union of Metropolitan Employees which was formed in Tbilisi in 2000.

 

During 2000 the ATUG supported public sector strikes by teachers, medical service employees, and energy sector workers, most of which were wildcat actions. During the year, teachers went on strike for unpaid wages. Teachers seeking to join the Kutaisi based Free Trade Union of Teachers/Solidarity sometimes were pressured by local government representatives not to do so.

There were no legal prohibitions against affiliation and participation in international organizations. The ATUG works closely with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). In 2000 a delegation from the ICFTU held a joint conference with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the ATUG in Tbilisi. The ICFTU reviewed the ATUG's membership application and in November 2000, the ATUG became a full member of the ICFTU.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The Constitution and the law allow workers to organize and bargain collectively, and this right is respected in practice; however, the practice of collective bargaining is not widespread.

 

The law prohibits discrimination by employers against union members, and employers may be prosecuted for antiunion discrimination and forced to reinstate employees and pay back wages; however, the ATUG and its national unions report frequent cases of management warning staff not to organize trade unions. Some workers, including teachers in the Imereti region, employees of various mining, winemaking, pipeline and port facilities, and the Tbilisi municipal government reportedly complained of being intimidated or threatened by employers for union organizing activity. Observers also claimed that employers fail to transfer compulsory union dues, deducted from wages, to union bank accounts. The Ministry of Labor investigated some complaints, but no action had been taken against any employers by year's end.

 

In 2000 the FTUTGS organized a demonstration in front of government offices in Kutaisi to demand payment of back wages to teachers in the Imereti region's school system. According to several school principals, the governor of the Imereti region told them that the FTUTGS was a "negative force" and should be resisted. Since that time, a number of FTUTGS members allegedly were fired, regardless of seniority, when layoffs or staff reduction took place. According to a foreign union expert, the FTUTGS complained of increased pressure from the school authorities in the second half of 2000, including principals instructing teachers not to join the union and actively preventing teachers from attending meetings. According to union officials, organizers continued to face similar obstacles during the year.

 

The ICTFU reported that 10 days before the start of the November 2000 Congress of the Georgia Trade Union Amalgamation (GTUA), two unidentified individuals physically attacked Etir Matureli, a union official who played a prominent role in the organization of the Congress. Furthermore, on November 24, 2000, the day the conference began, special antiterrorist forces entered the home of Londa Kikharulidze, a union vice president, and took her son away for questioning. Other delegates reportedly were offered bribes by government officials. Despite these incidents, members reflected the union leadership.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor and provides for sanctions against violators; however, trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution was a problem (see Section 6.f.).

 

The Government prohibits forced or bonded labor by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

According to the law, the minimum age for employment of children is 16 years; however, in exceptional cases, the minimum age can be 14 years. The Ministry of Health, Social Service, and Labor enforces these laws and generally they were respected.

 

The Government has not ratified the ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children and such practices were not known to occur (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The state minimum wage was raised in 1999 to $10.80 (20 GEL) a month. There is no state-mandated minimum wage for private sector workers. The minimum wage was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. In general salaries and pensions also were insufficient to meet basic minimum needs for a worker and family. Average wages in private enterprises were $75 to $100 (150 to 200 GEL) monthly; in state enterprises, $15 to $30 (30 to 60 GEL). Salaries often are supplemented by unreported trade activities, assistance from family and friend networks, and the sale of personally grown agricultural products.

 

The old Soviet labor code, with some amendments, still is in effect. The law provides for a 41-hour workweek and for a weekly 24-hour rest period. The Government workweek often was shortened during the winter of 2000 due to the continuing energy crisis. The labor code permits higher wages for hazardous work and permits a worker to refuse duties that could endanger life without risking loss of employment.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in persons, although trafficking can be prosecuted under laws prohibiting slavery, forced labor, illegal detention, and fraud; the country is both a source and transit country for trafficked persons. It is not generally a final destination for trafficked persons.

 

A government program for combating violence against women included a proposal for measures to eliminate trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation; however, it has not been implemented due to budgetary constraints.

 

There are no other government policies that address the problem of trafficking; however, there have been some prosecutions of traffickers. Prosecutors have used the fraud statutes in several trafficking cases.

 

GEORGIA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

GEORGIA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law provides for a 41-hour workweek and for a weekly 24-hour rest period.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Georgia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)