In Russian legislation, there is no single concept of labor dispute. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes the concepts of "individual labor dispute" and "collective labor dispute". In science, there are various approaches to defining the concepts of labor disputes, and the author of the article concludes that it is necessary to introduce a unified concept of "labor dispute" into the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The absence of a single concept of labor dispute and clarifications on when an individual or collective labor dispute arises leads to difficulties in legal application for ordinary workers, who are primarily the target of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The author analyzes classifications of labor disputes proposed by scientists, differences between individual and collective labor disputes, reasons for their occurrence, and the procedures for their consideration. To fill gaps in legislation and legal practice, the author proposes amendments to the legislation and the issuance of necessary clarifications at the level of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.