Neturtinės žalos atlyginimo klausimai Europos Bendrijos ir Lietuvos darbo teisėje

Abstract

Lithuanian Labour Law is a branch of law, which regulates relations between the employee and the employer. Nonmaterial damage comes after reform of Lithuanian Labour Code. Non-material damage belongs to the constitutional rights.
The EU - Labour Law influences the national legal system. The basic function of labour regulation is to protect labour law rights. Non-material damage is measured to protect Labour rights. The analysis of the primary and secondary law of the European Union, and the practice of the European Court of Justice [ECJ] let us make the following conclusions. The rules of the EU Labour Law have disclosed the character of regulation. A specific character is very narrowly regulated. Characteristic points of the EU Labour legislation – fragmentally, inconsequentially, with many details and restrictions.
The national law should be applied in such a situation. The regulations of the EU Labour Law are based on the internal market and social policy competence. The developing social regulation provides an argumentation for the EU Labour Law.
The regulation of Labour Code enforces the legal requirements of article 141 of EC Treaty. The ECJ practice is oriented on the general principles of the civil law. In some cases the result was one euro. The Lithuanian Law has to prove conformity with the EU Labour Law. Non-material damage enforces the rights of workers to legal protection and defense.
The Lithuanian Labour Code enforces the basic principles of the Labour Law, such as equal wages for equal work or for work of equal value, anti - discriminative requirements for the work classification system, prohibition to differentiate wages because of sex and fixes the effective ways of the violated rights restoration. Lithuanian Labour Code stipulates in the Article 250 “Compensation of non-material damage”, that parties to a contract of employment must compensate damage other than property damage caused to each other. The amount of damage, in every case, shall be determined by court, in accordance with the Civil Code. Civil Code has to applied subsidiarily.
Labour Code use category of blanked applying, but it is likely to be incorrect. The Civil Code operates with the traditional rules for protection of moral damage. Subjects of this kind of damage are private persons, because of the special matter of this damage.
The Article 6.250 of Civil Code norms a non-material damage. Part one of this article states, that non-material damage shall be deemed to be a person’s suffering, emotional experiences, inconveniences, mental shock, emotional depression, humiliation, deterioration of reputation, diminution of possibilities to associate with others, etc., evaluated by a court in terms of money. The condition for compensation is stipulated in part two of the article. Non-material damage shall be compensated only in cases provided for by the Act of Legislation.
Non-material damage shall be compensated in all cases where it is incurred due to crime, health impairment or deprivation of life, as well as in other cases provided for by Laws.
Claim for non-material damage needs illegal acts, damage, guilt, causality between the act and the damage. Labour relationship is a condition for applying for non-material damage. The Labour Code recognizes non-material damage as a part of material liability of the employer.
Non-material damage has a monetary form of compensation. Dimension for compensation is unlimited according to the Lithuanian legislation. Non-material damage is, basically, personal, but in some cases rights on non-material damage is possible to succeed. In special situations to claim for nonmaterial damage could member of the family.
The court in assessing the amount of non-material damage shall take into consideration the consequences of such damage sustained, the gravity of the fault of the person by whom the damage is caused, his financial status, the amount of pecuniary damage sustained by the aggrieved person, also any other circumstances of importance for the case, likewise to the criteria of good faith, justice and reasonableness.
However the Lithuanian Labour Law has the regulation, that by the contradictions between the provisions of regulatory acts regulating labour relations, the provision which is more beneficial for the employee shall apply. These rules exist, so that the employee needs to be defended. The claim on the nonmaterial damage guarantees the effective restoration of the infringed rights.
The national courts apply this kind of damage especially in situations, such as unfair dismissal, unfair Labour Law practices, discrimination or unlawful retrenchment, sexual embarrassment, equality between men and women, carrying out or termination of individual Labour contract.
The Labour Code will be applied in relation with the state employees (customs, police and military officers). The Labour Code has non-material damage as special rules – lex specialis.
Non-material damage is based on the Lithuanian Law.
The EC Law allows to apply non-material damage as a stricter national regulation and effective measure for enforcement of the labour rights.