The article is prepared for the 100th anniversary of the birth of a bright and gifted personality, Doctor of Sciences, Professor Alexey Danilovich Zaikin, a teacher and scientist who left an indelible mark both in the work of the Department of Labor Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and in the labor law and social security law sciences. The introduction to the article outlines the main milestones of Alexey Danilovich's life: his formation as a scientist and teacher took place in difficult conditions associated with the Great Patriotic War, injury, and difficulties of the post-war period. The first part of the article is devoted to Alexey D. Zaikin's concept on wages. Alexey D. Zaikin considered the establishment of reasonable and stable labor standards, which ensured the unity and differentiation of workers' wages, to be a condition for the correct organization of wages; he identified several areas that could ensure unity and differentiation. The scientist considered the piecework system to be the most effective wage system as it allows to establish a direct dependence on the result of work and stimulate the personal interest of the employee. Assessing the prospects for the transition to a market economy, the scientist noted that the principle of equal pay for equal work boils down to the establishment of general principles of legal regulation of wages and tariff grids in the public sector. Alexey D. Zaikin emphasized the decentralization of wage regulation and the increasing role of local regulation In the second part of the article examines the scientific contribution of Professor Alexey D. Zaikin to the study of social security, mainly pension legal relations. The second part of the article examines the scientific contribution of Professor A.D. Zaikin to the study of social security, mainly pension legal relations. A distinctive feature of his fundamental work on pension legal relations was that he set himself the task of analyzing legal relations in the field of pension provision in relation to economic relations on the distribution of public consumption funds. The innovative nature of the study was expressed in the fact that a new branch of domestic law, social security law, was at the very beginning of its formation.