Abstract
The presented scientific article arises from the research of theoretical and practical problems of the legal regulation associated with the grounds and the procedure for termination of an employment contract at the initiative of the employer under a free market economy. The article substantiates a number of concepts, along with ideas and conclusions which are conceptual in theoretical terms and important for the legal practice. In particular, for the first time the classification of stages of development of the labor legislation regulating the procedure for termination of an employment contract at the initiative of the employer is given, characteristics of each of these stages are analyzed and defined. In addition, the article summarizes the expediency of bringing the norms of the national legislation on the dismissal of employees at the initiative of the employer in accordance with the conventions and recommendations of the International Labor organization, and substantiates the need to fix the amount of severance allowance depending on the grounds for dismissal of the employee and the length of current employment. There have been formulated proposals to specify the grounds for termination of an employment contract with an employee performing educational functions. Moreover, it is suggested to introduce in the labor legislation standalone grounds for termination of an employment contract at the initiative of the employer, namely: dismissal of the employee on completion of qualification testing; violation of labor protection rules by the employee, which resulted in serious consequences, including injuries and accidents; dismissal of the employee due to changes to essential labor conditions; deliberate violation by the employee of the obligation not to disclose the state, commercial and other secrets or information protected by law; provision of false information by the employee to the employer when concluding the employment contract; termination of business by the employer as an individual.