The Labor Code of 1922 [KZoT]: Rise and Deformations of Early Soviet Labor Law

Abstract

The end of 1922 is notable for the country’s history not only for the completion of the Civil War, but also for the formation of the legal foundations for the transition to civil peace. The Code of Labor Laws (KZOT) occupied a special position among others by the scale of “coupling” with them due to the operation of the constitutional principles of compulsory and universal labor. Codificationof the extensive labor legislation of the early Soviet period reflected the general trend of the steady etatization of social and labor relations, thus violating the balance of rights and obligations between the employee and the employer laid down in the Labor Code. The state has provided its interests and needs, transforming the Code by “washing out” of its protective functions of workers and increasing forms of mobilization and forced labor.