LABOR RELATIONSHIPS IN THE LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic, and government measures aimed at preventing the spread of the disease, have had a major impact on many areas, including tourism, aviation, hotels, restaurants, and factories, which have had an impact on work contracts in effect when the epidemic occurred. This paper exposes the most important effects of measures that countries have decided on to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Some of these measures led to the availability of the conditions of force majeure, in cases that lead to the impossibility of implementing labor contracts, whether it was a permanent or temporary impossibility, in whole or in part.

On the other hand, other measures have created conditions for applying the theory of unpredictability that led to rebalancing the obligations and rights of employers and workers so that workers alone do not bear the all of the negative consequences of these measures, thus it is important to highlight the role of the state in compensating employers for their losses that were paid in workers’ salaries.

This paper also includes the adequacy of the current labor and social security laws to address the effects of epidemics on workers and employers, and concludes with a number of recommendations related to amending labor and social insurance laws to fill the legislative deficiency related to labor relations and protect workers in times of epidemics.