The Features of Legal Regulation of Labor Relations in Religious Organizations in the Russian Federation

Modern Russian regulation of labor relations in religious organizations distinguishes a number of features, primarily related to the constitutional principle of secularism and unique features of religious organizations as subjects of labor law. In addition to state laws, labor in such organizations is also regulated by internal operations or church law. At the moment, we can ascertain the existence of wide autonomy of religious organizations in the sphere of attracting hired labor. This situation often leads to violations of workers' rights and discrimination. The purpose of the study was the most complete and wide consideration of the peculiarities of the domestic regulation of labor relations connected with a religious element. In this paper, the normative and internal regulation of labor relations in religious organizations is analyzed on the example of the Russian Orthodox Church. We identify the problems of religious organizations acting as an extraordinary employer, and categorize the personnel involved in the functioning of the religious organization. We also cover a number of peculiarities that arise during the conclusion, execution and termination of labor contracts in religious organizations, the specifics of the status of priests, as well as the process of resolving labor disputes considering case law. This work is aimed at rethinking the existing regulation from the perspective of the interests and rights of personnel of religious organizations and other employees who are not subjects of employment relations by law.