LEGAL REGULATION OF DISTANCE WORK ON PUBLIC SERVICE

Abstract

The article studies the concept of “distance work”
at the civil service positions of Ukraine. Considering the
way of the use of distance work in the civil service is insufficiently
studied and it is necessary to search for new solutions
to the legal regulation of the work of state bodies, so
the purpose of the article is to determine the conditions and
limits of the use of distance work in state bodies, in particular
in public service positions, to work out possible
recommendations on the use of distance labor relations in
state bodies. The views of legal scholars on the debatable
issue of the legal regulation of distance labor relations of
civil servants of Ukraine are discussed. The peculiarities of
application of the current legislation of Ukraine during the
regulation of distance work of civil servants are analyzed.
It is noted that legal structures that allow employees
to work both under the terms of an employment agreement
and under a contract of employment (for example,
civil servants) are applied to state bodies today. Attention
is drawn to the fact that the civil service legislation does
not explicitly prohibit the use of distance work in public
authorities, but it does not contain rules that would explicitly
allow it. At the same time, the activity of state bodies
has a clear peculiarity, including a high degree of subordination
and regulation of all procedures. Therefore, the
authors are aware of some cautious position of legislators
who are not quick with innovating the activities of the state
body. Obviously, the distance work is not applicable to all
job categories. In general, its use in government bodies
seems possible to us. At the same time, the state authorities
need to clearly define the conditions of use of work in
remote access and to develop a list of positions whose
functionality allows working distantly, not at a fixed workplace.
In our opinion, in order to use distance work in the
civil service, there should be a change in the approach to
the concept of civil service and the possibility of performing
functions distantly should follow from the terms of the
contract.
Possible changes to some articles of the Law of
Ukraine "On Civil Service" from 01.05.2016 № 889-VIII
and the draft of the new Labor Code of Ukraine are proposed.
Under certain legal conditions (in particular, capturing
the status of a distance worker in legal acts of a
state body; the definition in the employment contract conditions that differentiate the activity of a distance worker with other categories of employees; in the special lists of positions approved by the state body) the use of distance work in state bodies can be considered as a promising direction of reforming the public administration system and development of human resources, including in the civil service. The implementation of modern labor structures can help to increase professional competence, motivate employees of state bodies and provide conditions for increasing the effectiveness of their professional service.
Keywords: outwork, distance work; distance labor relations; state body; public service.