Changes in legislation on job quotas for the disabled

We inform you that the Federal Law of June 28, 2021 No. 219-FZ amended the law of the Russian Federation "On employment in the Russian Federation" and the law "On the social protection of disabled persons in the Russian Federation".

From March 1, 2022, the law "On Employment in the Russian Federation" was supplemented with a new article 13.2. Establishment of a quota for the employment of disabled persons.

Article 21 has been amended in the Law "On the Social Protection of Disabled Persons in the Russian Federation". From this article, it follows that the regulation of the issues of establishing a quota for the employment of disabled persons is carried out in accordance with the legislation on employment.

The new article in the law "On Employment in the Russian Federation" in its content as a whole does not differ from the content of Article 21 "On the Social Protection of Disabled Persons in the Russian Federation", which was in force until March 1, 2022.

Employers, as before, must create jobs for the disabled within the established quotas.

As before, the quota for hiring disabled people is established by the legislation of a subject of the Russian Federation and depends on the average number of employees:

Based on the established quotas, organizations independently determine the number of jobs for disabled people.

When calculating the quota for hiring disabled people, the average number of employees does not include employees whose working conditions at their workplaces are classified as harmful and (or) dangerous according to the results of a special assessment of working conditions.

The new article of the law "On Employment in the Russian Federation" clarifies the procedure for determining the quota for organizations that have branches and representative offices in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. When determining the quota for hiring disabled people for work in such organizations, the number of employees of branches and representative offices is not taken into account, and the quota for branches and representative offices is determined separately by their average number of employees in accordance with the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on which territories they are located.

Registration by the employer of labour relations with a disabled person according to the established procedure is considered to be the fulfillment of the quota for the employment of disabled people. Earlier, such a requirement was established by the legislation of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Please note that for non-compliance with the quota for hiring disabled people an official of the employer may be brought to administrative liability under Art. 5.42 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation. The fine will be from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles.

Recommended actions to ensure that employers fulfill their obligation to set job quotas for disabled people:

1.    To approve a local regulation containing information about jobs for disabled people, for example, the "Regulations on quotas for jobs for disabled people" (such an obligation is provided for in clause 1, part 2, article 24 of the Federal Law "On the social protection of disabled people in the Russian Federation")

2.    To issue an order establishing a specific number of jobs for the disabled people (quota).

3.    To create jobs for the disabled people in accordance with the quota.

4.    To organize recruitment of disabled people for vacant jobs. To achieve this:

4.1.       To register in your personal account on the portal “Jobs in Russia” to post vacancies for disabled people if your company has more than 25 employees or your company is newly established, including as a result of reorganization, and its average headcount exceeds 25 employees (link to the portal https://trudvsem.ru/about/employer)

4.2.       To post on the portal "Job in Russia" information on the availability of special workplaces equipped for the work of disabled people.

4.3.       Information on the availability of vacant jobs equipped for the disabled people can be sent to the employment service authorities in the form of a postal item with a list of enclosures, or in the form of electronic documents using public information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet information and telecommunication network, if the company has less than 25 employees and is not a newly established company.

5.    To notify the employment service about hiring (within five days) or about refusing to hire a disabled person sent by the employment service, on the day of negotiations with the citizen about the options for suitable job and the reason for the denial of employment.

6.    To submit to the regional executive authorities, carrying out statistical monitoring in the field of job quotas for the disabled people, a report on job quotas. Specific deadlines and forms for reporting on setting quotas for disabled persons are established by territorial authorities.

Note: In order to find employees for quota jobs, employers can apply to public associations and organizations of the disabled people.