18.04.2005
Originally, this article about Russian labor law was to be written twice, once from the perspective of the employee and again from that of the employer. However, rather than repeat ourselves, we have simply created a map of sorts for the Russian labor market both in terms of official and unofficial labor practices and with general commentary inserted from both perspectives where applicable. We have also tried to provide, wherever possible, commentary on Russian terminology and slang about the workplace. You will notice that the translations here are not exact. We have tried to provide the commonly used terms for expressing the concepts in American English and Russian and sometimes the terms do not always exactly match, but they do refer to the same concept. This resource has been compiled to give a wide picture for those parties interested in the day-to-day lives of Russians. If you have commentary, we would love to hear it at jwilson@sras.org. For More Information
An English-language synopsis of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Трудовой Кодекс Российской Федерации) is available from BakerNet.com (click on "Doing Business in Russia" from their website). For a massive database of commentary on the Labor Code (in Russian), we recommend www.zarplata.ru. If you are having trouble reading Cyrillic font on your computer click here.  | Special Thanks to:
Alexey Panteleev, Artem A. Babamuratov, Chet Bowling and especially to the employees of Alinga Consulting Group, a business consulting and audit firm with offices in Moscow and Boston, for their help in compiling and verifying this information. ACG is a sister company to SRAS. |
Part I: Types of Employment (занятость) in the Russian Federation 1. Full Time (полный рабочий день)
Most positions in Russia are full time: 40 hours a week. However, since all salaries are figured monthly (not hourly), the actual number of hours worked is not always an important factor, so long as all job duties are completed (and the amount of hours does not go over 40). 2. Shortened Full Time (укороченный рабочий день)
Workers under 16, students under 18, the disabled, workers in hazardous conditions, pregnant women, primary caretakers of young children, and others are entitled to shortened workweeks. Often these weeks are not paid the same as full workweeks, although in some instances the worker can collect additional funds from the Russian State Social Insurance Fund (see "Taxes" in Part III of this text). 3. Part Time (неполный рабочий день)
If the employee already has a primary job, the hours of their second job are restricted to 20 per week. Sometimes, in special circumstances, an employee will be hired specifically for part-time work (is pregnant, disabled, etc). Salary is still figured monthly. 4. Temporary Work (временная робота)
An employee may be hired for a term not to exceed five years to fulfill a special duty such as: a handyman hired to remodel an apartment, a marketing rep hired to work abroad, a creative sphere employee hired to develop a new company logo, etc. Commentary: Temp agencies are growing in popularity in Russia. Much as in America, companies can lease employees for a definite or indefinite period of time. Companies sometimes prefer this arrangement because it makes hiring a temporary employee easier and makes "firing" the employee much easier (since the employee is not actually fired as his/her primary employment with the temp agency is retained). II. Equal Opportunity (Равные возможности) 1. Equal Opportunity in Sex and Age (равные возможности по полу и возрасту)
While Russian courts will treat any employee as equal, employers can establish almost any criteria they wish for positions. For example, it is very common to see ads for secretarial positions advertising specifically for a "woman, age 18-24" or for a construction worker advertising for a "man, age 18-34," etc. 2. Equal Opportunity in Race and Nationality (равные возможности по национальным признакам и расовой принадлежности)
It is legally forbidden to discriminate on the basis of race and nationality in Russia, a country that contains hundreds of such differentiations and a handful cosmopolitan centers. One never sees job advertisements for "Russians only." However, informally it seems that this type of discrimination is still fairly commonly practiced. Commentary: For a handful of stories from Russian workers about how they are treated in the workplace, see the following article. Commentary: The phrase "Равные возможности" worked its way into the Russian language around 1990, as the economy was being revamped along western lines and hence the phrase's close similarity to the English. Below are a handful of other phrases using the phrase and concept:
наниматель, предоставляющий равные возможности (Equal Opportunity Employer)
равные возможности между лицами разного пола
равные возможности между мужчиной и женщиной
Равные возможности в труде One may also use the word "Равенство:"
Равенство в труде
Равенство на работе
Равенство при трудоустройстве Questions or comments about this resource? Contact the author.
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