Employer unilaterally changes pay, position or schedule: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. What changes: essential terms are working time, place of work, position and pay (salary and allowances) (Labour Code, Art. 14). The rule is that essential terms are changed only by agreement of the parties (Labour Code, Art. 20). The employer itself may only clarify details of the work by notice, without changing essential terms (Art. 20). A change caused by a change in legislation does not require the employee’s consent (Art. 20).
2. Place and time: a change of workplace is NOT considered an essential change if the commute there and back by public transport takes no more than 3 hours a day and does not require disproportionate expenses (Labour Code, Art. 20). Shifting the start or end of the working day by no more than 90 minutes is also not an essential change (Art. 20). A simultaneous change of both place and time is already an essential change, and requires consent (Art. 20). Night shifts: night work is prohibited for minors, pregnant women, women who have recently given birth, and breastfeeding women. A person with a disability, or with a child under 3, may work nights only with their consent (Labour Code, Art. 28).
3. Pay: the form and amount of pay are determined by the employment contract (Labour Code, Art. 41). Without a signed supplementary agreement, the debt equals the difference from the old salary. For each day of delay in payment (including the underpaid difference), the penalty is 0.07% of the amount withheld (Labour Code, Art. 41). Deductions are permitted only for overpayment or the employee’s debt, and no more than 50% at once (Labour Code, Art. 43). Downtime caused by the employer’s fault is paid in full, unless the contract provides otherwise (Labour Code, Art. 42).
4. Tactics: sign nothing, state your disagreement in writing, and continue working on the previous terms. A change that the employee has signed themselves is almost impossible to challenge.
5. If refusal led to dismissal: an employee may be dismissed only on the grounds in the closed list. Refusal to accept new terms is not among them (Labour Code, Art. 47). If you are dismissed anyway, a lawsuit must be filed within 30 calendar days of receiving the notice, or you may request a written justification (Labour Code, Art. 48). These deadlines are short. For underpayment, and for a claim that the change is invalid, the period is 1 year from when you learned of the violation (Labour Code, Art. 74).
6. Where to apply: Labour Inspection Service; court — civil chamber.
7. Evidence: the contract and supplementary agreements, the change order, the written objection, pay slips before and after the change, shift schedules.
8. Traps: signing a supplementary agreement “for formality”, which counts as consent; resigning “at own request” instead of disputing, which forfeits claims arising from the dismissal; considering any transfer unlawful, when a change of place or time within the limits of the law does not require consent.

Be sure to check

• essential terms (pay, position, place, time) change only by agreement
• what the employer may do on its own (clarification, a workplace within a 3-hour commute, a shift of up to 90 minutes)
• do not sign; object in writing; claim the pay difference (+0.07% per day)
• refusal is not grounds for dismissal; deadlines — 30 days for dismissal, 1 year for monetary claims