Consultation on workforce reduction in Georgia is not merely good practice — it is mandatory, and its content and form are defined by Articles 49 and 71 of the Labour Code, while the ground for the reduction itself is created by Article 47. Foreign case law on collective-redundancy consultations does not operate directly in the Georgian system — the exact extent of the duties is determined solely by the Georgian Labour Code.
When a mass dismissal begins and the consultation duty arises
Under Article 49 of the Code a mass dismissal is the termination by the employer of employment contracts within 30 calendar days on a ground not conditioned by the personality or conduct of the employees or by the expiry of the contracts: with at least 10 employees — in an organisation employing more than 20 but fewer than 100; and with at least 10 percent of the employees — in an organisation employing more than 100. Where the employer plans a mass dismissal, it is obliged to begin consultations within a reasonable period with the association of employees — or, in its absence, with employee representatives — with the intention of reaching a possible agreement. The consultations must, at a minimum, cover the ways and means of avoiding the mass dismissal or reducing the number of employees to be dismissed, and the possibilities of supporting the re-employment or retraining of the dismissed employees.
The written notice and the mandatory information
The form of the procedure is strictly fixed: the employer is obliged to send a written notice to the Minister and to the employees whose contracts will be terminated no less than 45 calendar days before the mass dismissal; a copy of the notice sent to the Minister is forwarded to the association of employees or to the representatives. The mass dismissal enters into force after 45 calendar days from the dispatch of the notice to the Minister. The employees must be given the opportunity to submit constructive proposals, and the employer is obliged to notify the association or the representatives in writing of the following information: the reasons for the planned mass dismissal, the number and categories of employees to be dismissed, the total number and categories of employees in the organisation, the period within which the dismissal will be carried out, the criteria for selecting the employees to be dismissed and the payment of compensation to them. A copy of the notification concerning this information is also sent to the Minister.