The Cabinet of Ministers approved the "Roadmap" by its Resolution No. 61 of 10.02.2021, to ensure a complete step-by-step transition to the Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin script. How much time do enterprises have to prepare for the translation of office work into the Uzbek alphabet and what measures are envisaged to ensure the transition, read in our review.
All organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, will have to introduce the practice of developing, accepting and publishing office-work documents and other documents using Uzbek alphabet.
To enforce the order:
What documents will be kept in the Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin script:
They should also fully translate the activities of central, local print and electronic media, websites, publishing houses, printing houses.
Most of the contracts are confusing and incomprehensible including the parties of a contract themselves. Due to the incomprehensibility of the wording, you have to dig into the meaning of your own document and convey it to the counterparty. This is a daunting task if you don't have an in-house lawyer. To help you resolve this problem, we have prepared instructions, following which you can check contracts on your own. The result is that you do not have to rush to deal with supply, payment or work disruptions and you will be confident in the correct wording of the contract.
Each step of contract preparation – such as negotiations or drafting to execution, can be monitored and optimized to effectively manage risks and reduce costs.
What are the characteristics of a good contract?
If a person gives you an apple, he says, "Hey, I give you an apple." But when the transaction is made by lawyers, they say: “I hereby transfer to you absolutely all my interests, rights, titles, claims and advantages in relation to the specified apple, together with all its peel, juice, pulp and seeds, also all rights and benefits with full power to bite, cut and otherwise treat as you want, at your discretion, determine or transfer ownership or ownership of all or any part of them, namely with or without specified skin, juice, pulp and bones, as stated above".
Therefore, to make the contract understandable, you need to go through three steps. The first step is to remove unnecessary things, the second is to formulate conditions, and the third is to build a structure.
FIRST STEP. Remove unnecessary, add conditions that are missing.
It makes no sense to rewrite the wording of the clause of the agreement or think about its place in the section when this clause is, in principle, not needed. Therefore, the first thing to do is to remove useless and obvious conditions and duplications from the document and check if you forgot to include conditions that protect your interests.
| Clause | Condition type | Comment |
| The contractor is obliged to perform the work efficiently and on time. | Captain Obvious | If a contract includes this clause, then the contractor will not be able to perform the work of poor quality or with delay without consequences. |
| All attachments are an integral part of the agreement. | Stamp | If the parties together signed an attachment with a reference to the agreement, then it is an integral part of it. |
However, these conditions can be helpful. Let's say you remove the condition about performing work efficiently and on time. Inexperienced counterparties will add it back every time they agree on a contract or react violently to its absence. As a result, the absence of a condition will not make it easier, but will complicate and slow down the work. In such circumstances, the condition should remain in the contract, since there is a practical benefit from it.
Duplication. Remove duplicated conditions without any regrets. They increase the volume of the contract and are fraught with danger - different regulation of the same things.
For example, in the section "Rights and obligations of the parties" the clause is spelled out: "The contractor is obliged to send an act on the provision of services within 3 days from the date of provision of services", and in the section "Delivery and acceptance of services" - "The contractor within 5 days after the provision of services and confirmation of delivery from the Customer, sends an act on the provision of services and a report. " In one contract, in different sections, different procedures for sending the delivery of services is indicated in few sections - in terms of time, in the number of documents and confirmation of delivery.
How did it happen? When agreeing on the contract, the parties corrected the information in one place but they did not see it or simply forgot to correct it in the other one. Now, it will be difficult for both the parties and the judge to decide which procedure should have been applied in the event of dispute. Therefore, it is better to leave the condition in the profile section on acceptance. This is where the reader will go if he wants to know about the order of the direction of the act.
WHAT TO CHECK?
1. How the powers of the parties are determined. The contract must specify the parties to it, and these parties must have legal capacity to enter into the contract. The contract can be drawn up ideally, but if the contract is not signed by an authorized person, then it will be invalid. If the legal capacity of the parties to conclude an agreement can be determined on the basis of the charter or order, then it is not necessary to require a copy of these documents, it is enough to check this on the website (http://registr.stat.uz/enter_form/ru/index.php) by entering the Taxpayer Identification Number.
2. Is subject of the contract legal and negotiated? Do not ignore this stage, even if you enter into an agreement with prestigious lawyers and attorneys. The parties can promise mountains of gold but until they have not signed the agreement, it does not mean anything. Make sure that your wishes and terms of reference have become an integral part of the contract.
3. The composition of the services / works or goods provided, which are included in the cost of the contract. Check what services are included in the amount of the services / works or goods provided and in what order the expenses are reimbursed.
4. Whether a clause for the protection of confidential information is included or not. The contract must determine the obligation of the partner / contractor "To maintain confidentiality with respect to all information received from the Customer / Principal, to be responsible for the safety of the documentation submitted by the Customer / Principal."
5. Whether a clause for terminating the agreement is included or not. As a rule, this clause is stated as follows: "The parties have the right to terminate the agreement, having previously notified the other party in writing 3 (10, 15) days prior to the expected date of termination, subject to mutual settlements by the parties." Giving the counterparty the right to unilaterally terminate the contract without any violations on your part is not correct. Therefore, change the clause in your favor: "The contract may be terminated by the customer / seller / principal ahead of schedule with the warning of the contractor / seller / company three days before such termination."
Do not complicate your future correspondence with the phrases "Notice of termination of the contract is sent in written form" or "Notice of change of details is sent in written form." The notification will have legal force if sent by e-mail, the main thing is to stipulate such a procedure when concluding the contract.
After this step, you will receive a document that has become smaller in volume but includes all the necessary conditions to protect your interests. However, as a result of the analysis, it is possible to identify conditions that seem to be necessary and useful but do not solve the task in the current form since they are too vague. In that case write them down more accurately and in detail. Don't worry about adding bulk to the text. A clear contract and a short contract are not the same thing.
SECOND STEP. Formulate the terms of the contract.
Eight tricks will help you make the contract clear to you.
1. Avoid big clauses. It is difficult to read the bulky clauses in the contract. Some companies have even begun to use a tabular contract format so that point boundaries are visible. Otherwise, the text merges and is no longer identified as an independent block, and even numbering does not help. To redo large paragraphs, ask yourself two questions: Is there too much information in this paragraph? Is the paragraph too detailed and ornate?
2. Resign yourself to write multiple draft contracts to get things right. If you try to clarify all the details in the first draft, you will probably miss some important points.
3. Use clear, simple, business-like language. Be careful not to fall back on the overuse of "legal language." Use only the technical terms that you need and define them if necessary.
4. Check for ambiguities. Make sure that:
5. Keep references to other paragraphs and sections to a minimum. The main reason for referring to other paragraphs is that it is easier and faster to formulate the text when drafting the document. For the reader, the situation is the opposite, the more links, the more difficult and longer it is to understand the content of the text. In addition, there is always a risk of getting nonsense after the agreement has been signed, since the parties can change or even delete the clause to which they are referring. Don't use links unless it is absolutely necessary. It takes more time to develop an item without references but it will pay off when the contract is negotiated with the counterparty. Learn faster, discuss faster, complete a task faster.
After finalizing each clause in the contract, re-read the document as a whole, look for more serious contradictions between parts of the contract and not only the wording of problems in one clause. By worrying about the details, you may have overlooked some of the more serious ambiguities.
6. Consult with deputies or service leaders. No one can imagine all the pitfalls that the parties to any contract hope to avoid. No one can imagine how a reader can misinterpret a point of view. Are the unit names and status correct? Are the quotes accurate?
7. Make your verbs strong. Use strong verbs, they will make the text clearer and shorter.
| Weak verb - weak sentence | Strong verb |
| The regulation will have a significant impact on deposits. | Regulation will significantly affect deposits. |
| Provide motivation to meet industry requirements | Motivate to comply with Requirements |
| This Agreement, as well as the benefits contained therein, are personal to the Member and cannot be sold, assigned or transferred by the Member. | Member's right is non-transferable. |
Put the subject and the predicate at the beginning of the paragraph, if possible, remove the adverbial and participle turnover. But note, this should be used with common sense in mind. For example, not all phrases require replacing the active voice with a passive one.
| Viscous | Vigorously |
| Using the data received from the Customer, the Contractor provides services for the creation of a presentation | The Contractor creates presentations based on the Customer's data |
| The settlor may, in accordance with the procedures set out in paragraph 104 of this chapter, take action against a Director for misconduct during an investigation. | The Founder may take action against the Director for misconduct during the investigation. The procedures are described in paragraphs 104 of this chapter. |
| Photos and other information about work and professional activity, such as current responsibilities, previous work, types of degrees and school, are additional types of information for the intranet. | Optional (additional) types of information for the candidate - photographs and other types of information about work and professional activities, for example, current responsibilities, previous work, types of degrees and educational institutions. |
8. Avoid parasitic words. Parasitic words are often used in oral speech but can be present in writing as well. They are usually used out of habit and lawyers leave them in the documents because ‘it has been always written this way.’ However, parasitic words do not affect the meaning but increase the volume of the text, forcing the reader to spend more time studying the document. Let's take a look at some of these words that are used in contracts.
| With parasites | No parasites |
| The Parties hereby have agreed and acknowledged that they use e-mail addresses defined in the details of this agreement, unless otherwise provided in the annexes to this agreement, which are an integral part of this agreement. | The Parties use the email addresses agreed in the details to the Agreement, unless otherwise provided in the annexes to the Agreement. |
"The parties have agreed that ..." or "The parties agree that ...". If the parties signed the document, they both agreed with the document. This clause is meaningless. Most often, it is involuntarily written when they want to formulate some condition that is unfavorable for the other side. You don't have to use them.
"Integral parts". If the parties signed a document and it contains a direct indication that it is an annex or an additional agreement to another, then information about the integral parts is redundant. Moreover, when it is repeated in the agreement more than once.
It takes a long time to rewrite the clauses of the agreement. This will pay off in the course of further work on the document. When you work with the wording, you will come to understanding that the points are located somehow incorrectly. Despite the fact that they have become shorter and more energetic, their meaning still does not add up to a single picture. This means that there is a structural problem in the contract.
THIRD STEP. Form the structure of the contract.
The better and more thoughtful the structure of the document is, the faster the reader will get acquainted with it and assimilate the information received.
Sections of the same or similar topics. The more heterogeneous information you include in a section, the more difficult it is to assimilate and remember. No one will combine the conditions from the "Subject of the Agreement" and "Force Majeure" sections. At the same time, for some reason, the section "Rights and obligations of the parties" is still popular in contracts, which is a collection of versatile conditions. See the example in the table.
| The rights and obligations | The independent section |
| 5.1.4. The customer has the right to demand revision of the work result no more than 2 times. 5.2.3. The Contractor is obliged to complete the work within 3 days from the date of receipt of the materials and send the result to the Customer. 5.3.1. The customer is obliged to provide materials for work within 5 days from the date of signing the contract. | 5.1. Within 5 days from the date of signing the contract, the Customer is obliged to provide materials for work. 5.2. Within 3 days from the date of receipt of the materials, the Contractor is obliged to complete the work and send the result to the Customer. 5.3.1. The customer has the right to demand revision of the work result no more than 2 times. |
In the left column, the information of interest must be searched in different subsections of the contract, then put it in a separate place and structured in a logical order. Only then can he understand how the parties fulfill the contract. In the right column, you can immediately see the necessary information without wasting time, since the section is devoted to one topic - the execution of the contract. There are only three points in the example. Perhaps it should be combined with a block of information about the delivery and acceptance of works.
No large sections. It is believed that a person can hold in his head about seven ideas at a time. How does this apply to a contract? If there are too many points (ideas) in a section, then the reader will not be able to correctly assimilate the information and will be forced to take more frequent breaks. If there are more than 10 points in a section, divide it into several independent ones or make hints in it - small subheadings in italics. They do not need to be numbered: they do not carry any legal meaning.
Structure information within a section. Information between points should be interconnected. The human brain perceives well the following options for grouping information: 1) chronological order; 2) from general to specific; 3) from important to unimportant; 4) comparison.
FOURTH STEP. Sign the contract.
Sign each page of the contract, even if the contract is more than 100 pages long. If the contract needs to be signed urgently, and you are physically unavailable, you can sign the contract with an electronic digital signatureor your assistant can sign it by facsimile. The main thing is to exclude the risk of the agreement being invalidated in the future.
Therefore, in the final part of the agreement, include a clause that defines the procedure for the use of facsimile reproduction of authentic signatures to confirm the validity of the expression of the party's will when concluding, executing, terminating or other actions under the agreement, and by sending such documents in PDF format to e-mail addresses of the parties.
Such copies of documents are considered reliable if they completely reproduce the original document without exceptions, including the signature of the authorized official of the party and the seal of the organization.
By Resolution No. 167 of March 30, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers made changes and additions to some decisions of the Government. What to expect as a result of these changes and additions, read in our brief review.
Now the expenses of exporters in connection with the opening and maintenance of trading houses, renting office, retail and warehouse premises, as well as organizing advertising campaigns abroad will be reimbursed through subsidies allocated to the Export Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade from the State Budget or other sourcesprovided by law. Previously, such expenses were not reimbursed.
The Export Promotion Agency will provide:
The State Labor Inspectorate (SLI) revealed over 40 thousand violations at 19.2 thousand enterprisesin 2020. In addition, the Inspectorate received 26.7 thousand applications and complaintslast year. Due to the coronavirus, most of the companies are exempted from scheduled audits. However, the SLI inspectors may come unexpectedly, especially if an employee applied a statement of violations to the SLI. We have collected the most common mistakes so that you can check your HR specialist. Find mistakes in documents before the SLIin order to avoid violations and minimize fines.
Mistake 1. Job titles do not match Unified National Labor System (UNLS)
How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to check the compliance of the UNLS job titles in employment contracts, job descriptions, orders, staffing timetables and other local acts applicable to employee positions.
The classifier of the main positions of employees and professions of workers (CMPEPW-2017) has expired from March 1, 2021 (clause 1 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated December 31, 2020 No. PD-4939).
But, despite the planned changes to bring the position and profession in line with the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-2008), an employer should not forget that when entering data into the UNLS, the system indicates the name of positions in accordance withCMPEPW-2017.
Mistake 2. Incorrect wording is used in the Premium Regulations.
In practice, there are cases when, for example, “the bonus is guaranteed” or “the bonus is paid” are prescribed in the Regulations on Bonuses. Such wording obliges the enterprise to pay a premium.
How to fix? The premium refers to incentive payments (Article 372 of the Tax Code). It should be noted that a premium payment is a right of an employer, not an obligation to reward an employee on the regular bases. In the Regulations on Bonuses, the wording “the bonus is paid” should be changed to “an employer has the right to pay the bonus” or “the bonus can be paid”.
Mistake 3. There are no internal labor regulations (ILR).
ILR is a mandatory local document that must be adopted in any organization. This document regulates procedures of hiring and termination of employment contracts, basic rights, obligations, responsibilities of the parties to an employment contract. In practice, in an event of a labor dispute pending in court, the court always requires an employer to provide internal rules for a review.How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to draw up theILR in accordance with the exemplary rules of the internal labor regulations of an enterprise or an organization, regardless of their departmental affiliation, forms of ownership and management (reg. 746 of 14.06.1999). Approve the rules by order, familiarize employees with the rules against signature.
Mistake 4. The deadline for payment of wages in an employment contract and other local acts is indicated as once a month or is not indicated at all.
The terms of payments cannot be less than once every half a month. If the day of payment coincides with a weekend or a holiday, payment is made on the eve of this day (Article 161 of the Labor Code).
How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to review and draft amendments to an employment contract, ILR, other local acts and submit them for agreement between the parties of an employment contract.
Mistake 5. Incorrect work schedule specified.
The ILR do not indicate the work schedule: the beginning and the end of a working day,the lunch break, weekends and holidays. It is a mistake if some employees work, for example, onpart time basis but the rules do not specify an incomplete schedule.
How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to indicate all regimes of work, all time periods of a working day: the beginning and the end of a working day, lunch and other breaks, if applicable. If the work schedule is in shifts, a personnel officer must prescribe the number of shifts per day and duration of each shift.
Mistake 6. The employment contract does not indicate the employee's place of work.
In some cases, employers deliberately do not specify an employee's place of work in an employment contract in order to be able to move employees at their will. SLI will consider this a violation of Article 73 of the Labor Code.
How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to revise an employment contract and provide a draft amendment to it for agreement by the parties regarding the clarification of the place of work. It is necessary to indicate the address of the company and department in which an employee is employed.
Mistake 7. There are no clauses on an employer's liability in an employment contract.
Some employers deliberately do not indicate their responsibilities in the employment contracts, believing that responsibilities in anemployment contract can be assigned to employees only and trying to secure themselves by using it.
How to fix? Instruct a personnel officer to correct or amend employment contracts with employees, in view of the fact that, according to Article 5 of the Labor Code, the terms of agreements and labor contracts that worsen the situation of employees in comparison with legislative and other regulations are considered invalid.
Mistake 8. Unlawful disciplinary action is applied
In the ILR section on liability, some employers impose non-existent disciplinary measures.
How to fix? Indicate only those measures that are allowed by the Labor Code. Thus, an employer has the right to establish only the following disciplinary sanctions:
The list of one-time gross violations of labor duties for which you can be fired, is determined by:
Case: What is the liability for violation of labor legislation?
In case of violation of labor code and labor protection legislationby an executive figure, the imposition of a fine from 5 to 10 BСV (base calculated value) is required. The same offense committed repeatedly within a year after the application of an administrative penalty, with the exception of knowingly unlawful dismissal from work - entails the imposition of a fine from 10 to 15 BСV. The commission of an offense provided for by the legislation on labor and labor protection in relation to a minor - entails the imposition of a fine from 10 to 20 BСV (Article 49 of the Article Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility).
Mistake 9. An employee declares that he/she did not receive a copy of an employment contract.
How to fix? A personnel officer can keep a separate register of employment contracts, where an employee can confirm the receipt of a copy of the employment contract with his/her signature. Moreover, an employment contract itself may contain, for example,a confirmation indicating the date and signature of an employee on the last page - "I confirm receipt of a copy of the employment contract."
Mistake 10. There is no schedule of employee’s vacations
The sequence of granting annual leave is determined by the schedule approved by an employer before the beginning of the calendar year in agreement with the trade union committee or other representative agency of employees (Article 144 of the Labor Code).
How to fix? A personnel officer must prepare a vacation schedule in agreement with the trade union committee or other representative agency of employees. The date of approval of the vacation schedule for the next year must be no later than the end of the current year. The Labor Code requires that an employee must be notified of the time of vacation no later than 15 calendar days before the start of it. Therefore, it is advisable to approve the vacation schedule no later than December 15 of the current year. Indeed, an employee's vacation can begin on January 2 or 3 of the next year in accordance with the schedule.
All employees must be listed on the schedule. It is important that the HR manager does not forget about additional and unused vacation days.
We have prepared a list of legislative changes that you should take into account in your business. They can help you save money and organize your business to meet new requirements.
1. Some public functions will be performed by the private sector.
On December 7, 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed Resolution No. PP-4913 "On additional measures to attract the private sector in areas regulated by the state", which is aimed at expanding business opportunities for implementing projects to perform state functions in some areas. In what areas the private sector will be attracted - read in our review.
The decree provides for the implementation of the project "State Functions - Business Opportunity" and also defines the areas in which it is planned to begin the transfer of state functions, in particular:
From June 1, 2021, the implementation of the functions of state bodies and organizations to ensure and maintain internal administrative and economic activities is transferred to the private sector. Wherein:
2. The power of governors to seize land was reduced.
On December 23, 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed Law No. ЗРУ-656 "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Connection with the Further Strengthening of Guarantees of the Rights and Legal Interests of Owners". The law introduces amendments and additions to the Laws "On local government", "On the protection of private property and guarantees of owners' rights" and the “Land Code”.
Now, according to the amended Law "On state power in the localities", governors of regions, districts, cities, in cases provided for by law, have the right to:
Previously, governors had the right to terminate the rights of ownership and use of land by these entities.
Changes and additions to the Land Code are aimed at ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of owners. In particular, the Code excluded the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, state authorities of regions, the city of Tashkent in the field of termination of rights to own and use land, as well as lease of a land plot and property rights to land plots in the prescribed manner. Cases of termination of the right of ownership or the right of permanent or temporary use of a land plot in court are also identified. Previously, all cases of termination of the right of ownership or the right to permanent or temporary use of a land plot were carried out by decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers or governors.
The following rules have been introduced into the Law "On Protection of Private Property and Guarantees of Owners' Rights":
