19.04.2005
V. Probation Period (Испытательный срок) 1. General Description
The job contract may stipulate a probationary period for up to three months. During this time, the employee may be terminated with only three days written notice (приказ об увольнении). The notice must state the reasons for dismissal and those reasons must be among those grounds for dismissal already approved in the labor code or job contract. During this time an employee may quit with three days notice without giving reason. 2. Probation For Managers
Employees hired for top-level management positions may be subjected to a six-month probation period so as better judge the employee’s work performance and moral. 3. Probationary pay (Испытательная плата)
Pay during the probationary period is generally less, sometimes by as much as half. Commentary: While the practice is illegal, it sometimes happens that employers will keep probationary employees on staff and simply release them at the end of the probationary period for not meeting standards. This allows employers to save on salaries and, since many workers do not know their rights or how to have their rights enforced, the system is relatively safe. Commentary: It is not at all uncommon (although illegal) for workers to agree to a one month probationary period without a contract. Payment for this period is made under the table. Employees sometimes prefer this as they do not want a one- or two-week employment period to appear in their work books as they fear this questionable blemish may hinder their ability to find future employment. VI. Work hours 1. Regular work hours (Нормативный рабочий день)
Unless their contract states otherwise, most employees may be required to work up to 40 hours a week for the standard pay stipulated in the job contract. 2. Overtime (работать сверхурочно; оплата за сверхурочную работу)
Overtime is possible only with the employee’s written consent. The first two hours of overtime require time-and-half pay (полуторной оплаты трудочаса). Double-time (двойная зарплата; двойной оплаты труда) must be paid thereafter. 3. Holiday Pay (плата за работу в выходной день)
There are 12 official holidays in the Russian Federation. Time worked on these holidays must be paid double (in most instances) and must be approved by the employee. 4. “Moonlighting" ("халтурить" - slang)
In Russia, earning extra money by doing extra jobs or work is an incredibly common practice and entails an incredibly rich volume of jargon and slang. A. "Work on the side" (работа по совместительству - standard Russian)
When an employee performs tasks or works hours outside of those indicated in their contracts as a temporary event, this should be legally documented by an executive order from management (like that issued when the employee was hired). The money earned from such an arrangement is referred to in Russian slang as "шабашка," a word related to "башлать," which is slang for "to pay." The act of working on the side is also often referred to with the phrase: "совмещать две специальности" more specific cases can be referred to with the following example construction: "совмещаешь в себе - программист и по совместительству переводчик" (where the employee is primarily a programmer, but has been asked to perform translations). B. Working a second job (подработать; подработать на стороне - standard Russian)
While it is of course possible to work two official jobs, secondary employment for most Russians is kept under the table. This arrangement provides an incredible amount of taxi drivers (who drive unmarked cabs), teachers, tutors, and handymen in Russia. Very often, each profession has its own slang to refer to itself, for example taxi drivers will often use the verbs "подбомбить" and "бомбить" to refer to what they do. Literally, these verbs mean, "to drop bombs from an airplane." The origins of this usage are unclear.
VII. Compensation (компенсация) 1. Forms of Compensation (Формы возмещения понесенных расходов; Виды компенсации)
As a rule, Russia does not use checks, personal or business. Nearly all employees are paid in cash delivered in envelopes. Certain work places, such as government jobs, now offer direct deposit (прямое зачисление в депозит по платежной ведомости). This is particularly popular for foreign employees working for foreign companies whose primary bank account is far away. A small and federally regulated part of an employee's salary may be paid in kind (таким же образом; подобным образом). 2. Minimum Wage (минимальный размер оплаты труда)
Minimum Wage is set at a ridiculously low 720 RU per month (US $26) and due to rise in increments to a still low 1100 RU (US $40) by May 1, 2005. However, virtually nobody pays minimum wage. An unofficial standard minimum for undocumented (illegal) blue-collar employees seems to be around 300 RU per day in Moscow. The UN has calculated a “living wage” (прожиточный минимум) for Moscow at around 8000 RU per month. 3. Unofficial and Official Income (Легальные и нелегальные доходы)
To save on taxes, many companies will insert one figure into the work contract but have verbal, unofficial agreements with their employees for a higher sum (sometimes 50-100% more). This arrangement is illegal, but common and can only be enforced on an honor system. In slang, these incomes are referred to as "Белый доход и черный доход." 4. Average Income (средний доход)
Officially, as of May, 2005, the average official wage for all of Russia was 6830 RU per month (240 US). The average unofficial wage has been approximated, however, at around 350 US. Moscow is estimated to now have an average income of 750 US. 5. Currency and Timing Restrictions
All salaries earned in Russia must be paid in rubles and paid in twice-a-month installments. Commentary: These installments are not always equal. Because many businesses charge for their services by the month, this is not always a convenient arrangement for the employer. To compensate for this, some employers will pay a small sum (called an "аванс") in the middle of the month and a larger sum (referred to as simply "зарплата") at the end. Commentary: In many contracts, salary is stated in dollars or euros and a conversion applied each pay period using the current exchange rate (курс). Thus, employees are relatively safe from inflation (which is still about four times greater in Russia than it is the US). It also helps companies doing business internationally (and thus working in dollars or euros) to keep their budgets tidier. This practice is perfectly legal, so long as the actual salary is paid in rubles. Commentary: Of course, many salaries come in currencies other than rubles. Since they are paid in cash, they can be easily paid in one currency and recorded officially in other. Also, since according to some estimates Russia's black market totals some 50% of its official economy, it would appear that Russia simply does not have enough rubles in circulation to adequately fund its total economy. Russia is littered with exchanges (обмены) to handle all this foreign currency (dollars and euros, mostly).  | 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. |
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