OF ALGORITHMIZATION ON THE REGULATION OF SOCIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS IN RETAIL TRADE

Abstract

The introduction of digital workforce management systems turns labor into a variable factor of production, shifting the operational and market risks of the business directly onto employees. In domestic realities, this pressure is further exacerbated by the security challenges of wartime, the unpredictability of work regimes, and the pronounced gender asymmetry of personnel in retail trade, creating an environment of chronic socio-economic insecurity for workers. The article examines the problems of regulating social and labor relations in the retail trade sector under the implementation of digital workforce management systems and deepening wartime security challenges. It is proven that the application of algorithmic work scheduling and "on-demand" work shifts changes the economic nature of personnel costs, transforming them from semi-fixed to variable. Due to the industry's specifics, particularly the stochastic nature of customer flows, low profit margins, and the weak bargaining power of frontline staff, algorithmization deprives workers of temporal and financial autonomy, shifting the financial burden of market fluctuations directly onto wage earners. The study investigates the specific impact of wartime security risks on work organization, identifying destructive practices related to improper accounting of worked time and staff presence in shelters during air raids. A package of legal initiatives is substantiated (introducing a special status for continuous process workers, establishing a targeted war and technological risk insurance fund, and applying preferential taxation for "security allowances") aimed at a parity distribution of the force majeure financial burden between the state and business entities. The sociodemographic conflict caused by a high level of gender asymmetry in the sector is revealed, where unilateral algorithmic pressure makes it impossible to combine paid work with social responsibilities, provoking cumulative exhaustion syndrome. The necessity of legislative consolidation of guaranteed "availability windows" is substantiated. A strategic vector for harmonizing national legislation with European standards to ensure transparent and predictable working conditions and to incentivize compliant business entities is identified