Article 6 – Conclusion of labour agreements
1. A labour agreement shall be oral or written, fixed-term or open-ended.

Article 6 Labour Code
The fixed term contract can be used for the following reasons: a) work of specific volume has to be fulfilled; b) seasonal work has to be fulfilled; c) the volume of work increases temporarily; d) an employee who is temporarily absent from work is replaced on the basis of a suspension of labour relations; e) there is any other objective circumstance justifying the execution of the agreement for a definite period.

According to Article 6, 1 (3):
If a labour agreement has been concluded for more than 30 months, or if labour relations have continued on the basis of concluding fixed-term labour agreements for two or more consecutive times and the duration of the above labour relations exceeds 30 months, an open-ended labour agreement shall be deemed to have been concluded.

In this sense, there is no limitation for renewals since the total lenght of the contract does not exceed 30 months.

According to Article 6, 1 (3):
If a labour agreement has been concluded for more than 30 months, or if labour relations have continued on the basis of concluding fixed-term labour agreements for two or more consecutive times and the duration of the above labour relations exceeds 30 months, an open-ended labour agreement shall be deemed to have been concluded.

The exception is provided by the Article 6, 1 (4): the restrictions imposed under this article on concluding fixed term labour agreements shall not apply to business entities under Article 2(1) of the Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurs if 48 months have not elapsed since their public registration (start-up enterprises) and if they meet the additional conditions (if any), as defined by the Government of Georgia on the condition that the duration of a fixed term labour agreement may not be shorter than three months for the purposes of this paragraph.

Art. 9 Labour Code:
1. A labour agreement with an employee may be concluded only once for a trial period of no more than six months. A labour agreement for a trial period shall be concluded only in writing.
2. The work during a trial period shall be payable. The amount of payment and the payment procedure shall be determined by the agreement of the parties.
3. An employer may, at any time during the trial period, conclude a labour agreement with the employee or terminate the labour agreement for a trial period.

Art. 37 Labour Code states that the following shall serve as grounds for termination of a labour agreement:
a) economic circumstances, technological, or organizational changes making it necessary to reduce workforce;
b) expiry of the labour agreement;
c) completion of the work provided for by a labour agreement; d) voluntary written application for resigning from a position/work by the employee; e) written agreement between the parties;
f) incompatibility of the employee’s qualifications or professional skills with the position held/work to be performed by the employee;
g) gross violation by the employee of his/her obligation under an individual labour agreement or a collective agreement and/or rules and regulations;
h) violation by the employee of his obligation under an individual labour agreement or a collective agreement and/or rules and regulations, if any of the disciplinary actions under such an individual labour agreement or a collective agreement and/or rules and regulations has already been administered in relation to the employee for the last one year;
i) unless otherwise provided for by the labour agreement, a long-term disability, if the period of disability exceeds 40 calendar days in a row, or the total disability period within six months exceeds 60 calendar days, and, at the same time, the employee has used the leave indicated in Article 21 of this Law;
j) entry into force of a court judgment or decision precluding the fulfillment of work; k) the final decision of finding a strike illegal delivered by the court in accordance with Article 51(6) of this Law;
l) death of an employer as a natural person or of an employee;
m) commencement of liquidation proceedings of an employer as a legal entity;
n) any other objective circumstance justifying termination of the labour agreement.

2. The violation of the obligation under the work rules and regulations set forth in Paragraph 1 (g) and (h) of this Article may serve as the basis for termination of a labour agreement only if the work rules and regulations are an integral part of the labour agreement.

Art. 2 LC
(...) (3) Any and all discrimination in a labour and/or pre-contractual relations due to race, skin colour, language, ethnic or social belonging, nationality, origin, material status or title, place of residence, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, handicap, religious, social, political or other affiliation, including affiliation to trade unions, political or other opinions shall be prohibited.

Article 36 establishes the situations in which employment contract can be suspended:
a) a strike;
b) a lockout;
c) exercising active and/or passive suffrage;
d) appearance before an investigative, prosecuting, or judicial body in the cases provided for by the procedural legislation of Georgia;
e) call to compulsory military service;
f) call to military reserve service;
g) maternity and child care leave, a new-born adoption leave of absence, or a child care additional leave of absence;
h) placing a victim of violence against women and/or domestic violence in a shelter and/or a crisis centre for a maximum of 30 calendar days annually, if he/she is unable to discharge his/her official duties anymore;
i) temporary disability, unless the disability period exceeds 40 consecutive calendar days, or the total disability period exceeds 60 calendar days in six months;
j) qualification upgrading, professional training, or education not exceeding 30 calendar days annually;
k) unpaid leave of absence;
l) paid leave of absence.


Article 37 (3) Terminating labour relations shall be inadmissible:

a) on the grounds other than those laid down in paragraph 1 of this article;
b) on discrimination grounds under Article 2 of this Law;
c) during the period under Article 36(2)(g) of this Law from notification to the employer from a female employee about her pregnancy, except for the grounds under paragraph (1)(b-e, g, h, j, l) of this article;
d) due to an employee being called to compulsory military service or military reserve service and/or during an employee’s period of compulsory military service or military reserve service, except for the grounds under paragraph(1)(b-e, g, h, j, l) of this article;
e) during the period of being a jury in court, except for the grounds under paragraph (1)(b-e, g, h, j, l) of this article.

Although there is no specific provision providing that a previous notification should be given to the worker, Article 38 (5): An employer shall be obliged to provide a written substantiation of the grounds for terminating a labour agreement within seven calendar days after submitting the request by an employee.

According to the art. 38 LC in terminating the labour agreement on any of the grounds stipulated by Article 37(1)(a, f, i, n) the employer shall give the employee at least 30 calendar days’ prior written notice. Besides, the employee shall be granted a severance pay of at least one month’s salary within 30 calendar days after the termination of the labour agreement. Reference to the relevant paragraphs of the art. 37 may be found under the "Valid grounds (justified dismissal)" mentioned above.

Art. 38.1 LC

Art. 38 LC states that:

1. In terminating the labour agreement on any of the grounds stipulated by Article 37(1)(a, f, i, n) of this Law, the employer shall give the employee at least 30 calendar days’ prior written notice. Besides, the employee shall be granted a severance pay of at least one month’s salary within 30 calendar days after the termination of the labour agreement.
2. In terminating the labour agreement on any of the grounds stipulated by Article 37(1)(a, f, i, n) of this Law, the employer may give the employee at least three calendar days prior written notice. In such case, the employee shall be granted a severance pay of at least two months’ salary within 30 calendar days after the termination of the labour agreement.
3. If the labour agreement is terminated on the initiative of the employee on the ground stipulated by Article 37(1)(d) of this Law, the employee shall give the employer at least 30 calendar days’ prior written notice.

No specific redundancy payment - See severance pay.

Art. 38.8 LC states that if the court voids the employer's decision for termination of the labour agreement, under the court's decision, the employer shall restore the person, whose labour agreement was terminated, to his/her original job or provide the person with an equal job or pay such a person the compensation in the amount fixed by the court.

Art. 38.8 LC states that If the court voids the employer's decision for termination of the labour agreement, under the court's decision, the employer shall restore the person, whose labour agreement was terminated, to his/her original job or provide the person with an equal job or pay such a person the compensation in the amount fixed by the court..

Art. 48(6) of the Labour Code: An individual dispute may be settled through conciliatory procedures and individual negotiations as well as through a court.

Ordinary courts have jurisdiction over individual labour disputes.

Article 481 – Review and resolution of collective disputes

1. A collective dispute (dispute between an employer and a group of employees or an employer and an employees' association) must be resolved under conciliation procedures between the parties. This implies direct negotiations between an employer and a group of employees (at least 20 employees) or an employer and an employees' association, or mediation, if one of the parties has sent a written notification to the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health, and Social Affairs of Georgia ('the Minister').
2. A party shall notify the other party in writing about initiating conciliation procedures. The notification must specify the reason for arising the dispute and claims of the party.
3. For reaching agreement at any stage of negotiations, a party may apply to the Minister in writing for appointing a dispute mediator for initiating mediation. The written notification shall be delivered to the other party to the dispute on the same day.
4. Based on the received written notification under paragraph 3 of this article, the Minister shall appoint a dispute mediator according to the procedure for reviewing and resolving collective disputes under conciliation procedures approved by a normative act of the Government of Georgia. In the case of high public interest, the Minister may appoint a dispute mediator at any stage of the dispute without written application of a party. The fact of appointment shall be notified in writing to the parties involved.
5. The Minister may make a decision at any stage of the dispute to terminate conciliation procedures.
6. Parties shall be obliged to participate in conciliation procedures and attend meetings held by the dispute mediator for that purpose.
7. If the Minister so requests, the dispute mediator shall be obliged to send him/her a report on the dispute.
8. Parties may agree at any stage of a dispute to refer the dispute to arbitration.
9. A dispute mediator shall be obliged not to disclose the information or the document he/she becomes aware of as a dispute mediator.

The Labour Code contains no provision on the burden of proof in general, there a few provisions on specific situations.
Article 38 (7) provides that If an employer fails to provide a written substantiation of the grounds for terminating a labour agreement within seven calendar days after an employee submits the request, the employee may appeal in court against the employer's decision on terminating the labour agreement within 30 calendar days. In this case, the burden of proof for determining facts of the dispute shall lie on the employer.

Moreover, Article 48 establishes that an individual labour dispute might be solved through conciliation. In that case, paragraph 6 provides that If a party avoided participating in the conciliation procedures within 14 calendar days after receiving the written notification under paragraph 2 of this article, the burden of proof for determining the facts of the dispute shall lie on that party.

Cases related to prohibition of discrimination and termination of employment of employees members of employees associations, Article 40 (3) provides that the burden of proof for the claim submitted in the case provided for by paragraph (1)(b) of this article and/or on the grounds under Article 37(3)(b) of this Law shall lie on employers if employees allege the circumstances providing a reasonable cause to believe that employers acted in breach of the requirement(s) of paragraph (1)(b) of this article and/or Article 37(3)(b) of this Law.