The article is devoted to the correlation of public and private elements in the legal regulation of labor relations. The presence of private law elements in the regulation of labor relations is not in doubt. The problem is to determine their correlation. In the conditions of the functioning of the labor market, the contractual method of regulating labor relations is becoming more widespread. However, this does not mean a significant reduction of public law elements. On the contrary, they occupy a significant place and manifest themselves both in the subject of the law branch, which is inherently social in nature, and in the ways of protecting the labor rights of employees.