Changes have been made to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation concerning the procedure for providing additional guarantees for disabled employees, for employees who raise children and take care of disabled people.
These changes will take effect on November 30, 2021.
Regulatory considerations for labour of persons with family obligations and guarantees when assigning disabled people for business trips
The changes were approved by Federal Law No. 372-FZ of November 19, 2021 "On Amendments to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation". The law was published on the on November 19, 2021.
1. These changes expand the guarantees for employees raising children, established by Articles 96, 99, 259 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, when assigned for business trips, involved in overtime work, work at night, on weekends and non-working public holidays for the following categories:
- parents raising children under the age of 14 without a spouse, as well as guardians of children under the age of 14;
- parents with a child under the age of 14, if the other parent works on a rotational basis;
- employees with three or more children under the age of 18, in the period until the youngest of the children reaches the age of 14.
These employees must be informed in writing of their right to refuse to be involved in the specified work, while such involvement is allowed with their written consent and, if it is not prohibited by a medical certificate.
2. In addition, Federal Law No. 372-FZ supplemented Article 167 of the RF Labour Code, which enshrined a guarantee for disabled employees when they are assigned for a business trips.
Disabled employees must be informed in writing of their right to refuse to be assigned for a business trip. When assigning disabled employees for a business trip, it will be necessary to take into account their written consent and the absence of medical contraindications.
Additional unpaid leaves for persons caring for a disabled person of group I
The changes were approved by Federal Law No. 373-FZ of November 19, 2021 "On Amendments to Article 263 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation." The law was published on the on November 19, 2021.
These changes cover employees who are caring for a family member, a relative - a disabled person of group I. Now employees have the opportunity to take 2 weeks of additional unpaid leave annually. Employees will be able to take leave at a time convenient for them.
Currently, this right could be exercised only by:
- employees with two or more children under the age of fourteen;
- employees with a disabled child under the age of eighteen;
- single mothers raising a child under the age of fourteen;
- fathers raising a child under the age of fourteen without a mother.
The employee is granted the right to an additional annual unpaid leave if this condition is stipulated by the collective agreement.
Employees can exercise their right to additional unpaid leave upon written application. Such leave can be added to the annual paid leave or used separately in whole or in parts. The transfer of this leave to the next working year is not allowed.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Due to the changes made to Articles 96, 99, 259, 167 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, we recommend employers to check their local regulatory acts. So, for the Internal Labour Regulations (other local acts):
- to add the preferential categories of employees who have the right to refuse to be assigned for business trips, to be engaged in overtime work, work at night, on weekends and non-working public holidays;
- to add the condition on the need to take into account their written consent and the absence of medical contraindications.
2. We recommend using the form of notification of the possibility of refusal to work at night/on weekends/on public holidays/from being engaged in overtime work/from being sent on a business trip in relation to the specified category of employees.
