Clarification of the regulation of part-time work and payment for work on weekends and public holidays

On 18 June 2017, the Russian President signed Federal Law No. 125-FZ “On Amendment of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation”* (the “Law”). The Law clarifies how the part-time work regime should be set for employees, and what the conditions for providing breaks for rest during work and meals to part-time employees are. It also spells out how employees (whether part-time or full-time) should be remunerated for working during weekends and/or on public holidays. The Law will take effect from 29 June 2017.

The Law introduces the following amendments to Articles 93*, 101*, 108*, 152* and 153* of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, as outlined below.

Part-time work

An employee and an employer can agree, either during hiring or afterwards, that a part-time work schedule can be established for the employee and divide their working day into parts.

An employee, who is working part-time, may be assigned to an open-ended working day regime, only if they, as agreed by both parties, work full time on certain days and do not work on one or more other days of the week.

A part-time work schedule can be established for an indefinite period or for any fixed period agreed to by the parties to the employment contract. If a part-time work is introduced at the employer’s initiative, such work regime, in accordance with Article 74* of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, may not exceed six months.

In cases where an employer is required to establish part-time work at the request of an employee, for instance, a pregnant woman or a parent that has a child under the age of 14, etc., such part-time job is introduced at a time that is convenient for the employee, but for a period that is not longer than the duration of the circumstances that served as the basis for establishing it. At the same time, the schedule of working and resting times, including the length of daily work, the time for beginning and closing work, as well as the time of breaks during work, is established in accordance with the wishes of the employee and subject to the employer’s working conditions.

An employer may not provide a break for rest and meals to employees, whose daily working time does not exceed four hours. In this case, non-provision of a break for rest and meals must be reflected in the company’s Internal Labour Regulations or in the employee’s employment contract.

Working on weekends and public holidays

Any extra work done by employees in excess of their normal working hours at weekends or public holidays is not recognised as overtime if it is compensated by way of increased salary or through provision of additional time off. Accordingly, the employer is not obliged to pay as overtime for work done by employees at weekends or during public holidays.

The payment for work done by employees in excess of their normal working hours on weekends and/or public holidays covers only the exact number of hours that the employee has actually worked on that day.

Comments

The abovementioned norms are, in many aspects, not really new. They only clarify and formalise the previous rules that regulated the establishment of part-time work and payments for work done on weekends and/or public holidays. That said, we recommend that our clients review the various procedures they have established. This is to ensure that they fully comply with these provisions, and also, if necessary, to make all the appropriate changes.

* In Russian