The burden of proof in a labour dispute has been addressed in the scientific literature [1; 2]. International documents also cover this issue. Thus, ILO Convention No. 158 concerning Termination of Employment at the Initiative of the Employer states that the burden of proving a legitimate reason for dismissal lies with the employer (Part 2 of Article 9).
Recommendation No. 198 on the employment relationship, adopted by the ILO General Conference on June 15, 2006, stipulates that national legislation, regulations, and collective bargaining agreements provide protection that is related to the existence of a labour relationship between an employer and an employee. At the same time, additional emphasis is placed on the need for employment and labour legislation to address problems that may arise due to unequal bargaining power between the parties to an employment legal relationship.
According to current Russian procedural legislation, labour disputes are considered and resolved through civil litigation. As for the burden of proof, the general rule outlined in Part 1 of Article 56 of the Russian Civil Procedure Code is applied, according to which each party must prove the circumstances on which it invokes as the basis for its claims and objections unless otherwise provided for by federal law.
The Labour Code of the Russian Federation could well act as a federal law providing otherwise, which contains several provisions concerning judicial protection of labour rights, such as the definition of special jurisdiction (Article 391 of the Labour Code), the rules of distribution of court costs (Article 393 of the Labour Code), some issues of decision-making in labour disputes (Article 394 of the Labour Code). However, it does not contain special norms on the distribution of the burden of proof in resolving an individual labour dispute, and therefore Article 56 of the Russian Civil Procedural Code, which is imperative and cannot be changed at the discretion of the parties to a judicial dispute, shall apply.