A number of federal laws regulating labour and employment relations were adopted
Please note that none of these laws introduced any significant amendments to labour and employment legislation. Instead, they reinforced existing provisions at a new level.
1. Amendments have been made to the Federal Law “On Trade Unions, Their Rights and Guarantees”[1]
The amendments stipulate the employer’s right to impose disciplinary sanctions on employees, who are members of trade unions and have not been released from their main jobs, on the heads and organisers of trade unions, as well as to transfer and dismiss said individuals without any further preliminary approval from the respective body of a trade union or respective alliance (association) of trade unions. Previously, this right could only be exercised through the court[2].
The amendments will enter into force on 18 July 2010.
2. C132 Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 of the International Labour Organization has been ratified[3]
This Convention will only come into force in Russia one year from now. It stipulates a number of guarantees to employees in respect of annual holidays with pay, including:
- total duration of a holiday (at least three working weeks a year)
- duration of a part of a holiday (at least two uninterrupted working weeks)
- payment of remuneration prior to the start of a holiday, etc.
The Convention expressly prohibits the non-use of an annual holiday with pay and its replacement with monetary compensation.
Please note that the above provisions are not new, as Russian legislation, including the RF Labour Code, already contains similar guarantees, which go even further. Consequently, employers that previously complied with the rules for granting annual holidays do not need to introduce any changes in this respect.
We would like to point out to employers that, due to the ratification of the Convention, the non-compliance with the rules for granting annual leaves will from now on not only constitute a violation of Russian laws, but also a violation of international provisions.
3. C135 Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971[4] and C154 Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981[5] of the International Labour Organization have been ratified.
These Conventions will only come into force in Russia one year from now. They merely consist of a number of general declarative provisions on the protection of workers’ rights, e.g. a list of measures to promote collective bargaining, etc.
Please note that effective Russian legislation is totally consistent with the provisions of both Conventions.
[1] Federal Law No. 146-FZ dated 1 July 2010 “On Amendments to Article 25 of the Federal Law “On Trade Unions, Their Rights and Guarantees”.
[2] Ruling No. 1060-O-P of the Russian Constitutional Court dated 17 December 2008.
[3] Federal Law No. 139-FZ dated 1 July 2010 “On Ratification of C132 Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (Convention No. 132)”.
[4] Federal Law No. 137-FZ dated 1 July 2010 “On Ratification of C135 Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971 (Convention No. 135)”.
[5] Federal Law No. 138-FZ dated 1 July 2010 “On Ratification of C154 Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (Convention No. 154)”.
For further details, please contact:
in Moscow – Julia Borozdna, Head of Employment and Migration Practice, Pepeliaev Group, at (495) 967-00-07 or by j.borozdna@pgplaw.ru
in St Petersburg - Sergey Spasennov, Partner, Head of St. Petersburg office, at (812) 333-07-17 or by