Branch collective agreement: case study

Branch Collective Agreement: Case Study In this thesis a subject of conclusion of branch collective agreements in the Republic of Lithuania and a relationship between provisions of those agreements and norms of Labour Code is analysed. Main goals of this thesis are – to define a branch collective agreement and its main features and after performing analysis of valid branch collective agreements, concluded in the Republic of Lithuania, to identify differences between Labour Code and other legal acts. In order to achieve main goals of this thesis the following methods were used: comparative, systemic and logical analysis, as well as analysis of scientific literature and documents. As a member of International Labour Organization, European Council and European Union the Republic of Lithuania has adopted freedom of association and principles of collective bargaining and collective agreements into its national law. These principles establish rights of employees to freely unite in to associations and other organizations in order to start a social dialogue and collective bargaining to improve the interests of employees. Collective bargaining can be conducted on various levels, such as: national, branch (manufacturing, service, professional), territorial and (or) with employer. Organizations representing employees can choose before mentioned bargaining level freely and determine the best way to start collective bargaining and how to conclude a collective agreement. A successful result of collective bargaining is a conclusion of collective agreement. In the Republic of Lithuania a collective agreements are recognized as normative acts that are mandatory to its parties. Collective agreements differ from other contracts because of untypical subjects, sphere of application and specific utilization. Main results of this thesis are complex and systemic descriptions of provisions of valid collective agreements in eight different branches in the Republic of Lithuania. Provisions of collective agreements are compared with norms of Labour Code and other legal acts