Private employment agencies and contingent labor in the Russian Federation: comparative law research

Introduction: temporary and flexible forms of employment have become widespread in the post-industrial labor market. This development is facilitated by the dynamics of today's economy, new quality of the workforce and modern technologies, which do not require fixed hours or assigned workspaces. Purpose: to describe the current state and prospects of the legal regulation of private employment agencies and their services in the contingent labor market in Russia. Methods: this research is based on a set of methods, with the systemic method and comparative law analysis being the major ones. Results: the paper provides a detailed analysis of Federal Law No. 116-FL of May 5, 2014, which is the first act to regulate temporary provision of employees and to define the legal status ofprivate employment agencies in Russia. This federal law went into effect in 2016. The authors have a positive attitude towards the law in general, but criticize some of its ambiguities and limitations. The law demonstrates some contradictions between the Russian legislation and the international acts, which explains the lack of ratification of the latter by the Russian Federation up to date. Conclusions: this research suggests that Russian legislature should take into account previous mistakes and successful legislative practices of other countries (including the former Soviet Union states) to further improve Russian laws and regulations in this area. Special attention should be paid to the countries where private employment agencies have had a long history and where the legal regulation of temporary employment has obvious advantages and provides a favorable balance between the interests of employers and employees.