Labour law training for HR managers in Georgia is not a translation of foreign certification programmes — its syllabus is written by the structure of the Georgian Labour Code itself. American certificate curricula are built on a different legal system, and importing them uncritically into Georgian practice is a mistake. The four decisive modules of a Georgian training programme are: the scope and limits of the law (Article 1); the termination procedure of the employment contract (Article 48) — the source of the classic failures; the information and consultation duties (Article 70); and the administrative fine matrix (Article 77) — it is here that the business case for training spend is born.
Module One — The Perimeter of the Law
Article 1 establishes the scope: the law governs labour and related relationships on the territory of Georgia, unless they are regulated differently by another special law or by Georgia's international treaties (paragraph 1). In matters that neither this law nor another special law regulates, the norms of the Civil Code apply (paragraph 2) — an HR manager therefore cannot confine himself to a single code. And third, the decisive floor: an employment contract may not establish norms that worsen the employee's position compared with the law (paragraph 3). These three paragraphs are the opening module of the training; without them, all subsequent knowledge lacks context.
Module Two — The Termination Procedure
Article 48 is the most frequently violated norm. Where the employer terminates under certain grounds provided by the law, the employee must be warned at least 30 calendar days in advance by prior written notice, and receives compensation of at least 1 month's remuneration (paragraph 1); a warning at least 3 calendar days in advance is also possible, but then the compensation is at least 2 months' remuneration (paragraph 2). On the employee's own initiative, notice is given at least 30 calendar days in advance (paragraph 3). The employee may, within 30 calendar days of receiving the employer's notice, demand written substantiation of the ground of termination, and the employer must respond within 7 calendar days of the request (paragraphs 4–5). The window for court challenge is 30 calendar days; where the employee did not demand substantiation, the threshold is lower and the burden of proving the factual circumstances lies on the employer (paragraphs 6–7). Where the decision is declared void, the court reinstates the person at the former workplace, secures equivalent work or awards compensation, and the employee may also claim compensation for forced absence (paragraphs 8–9). Every HR file should be built as if these paragraphs were a checklist.