Late in the now ending year 2014, a new chapter of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, regulating relations between employers and employees who are foreign nationals, went into effect. Previously, these relations were regulated by the migration laws. A number of issues related to employing foreigners used to cause a lot of unclearness and disputes. Now, these relations are regulated by the Labor Code. The chapter in question is 50.1. The particulars of regulating the employment of foreign nationals or stateless persons.
Firstly, this chapter clarifies the main issue, which, until now, caused disputes among employers: may or may not labor agreements be concluded with foreigners for the duration of their work permits?
Now, the answer to that is unambiguous: no they may not. Labor agreements must be concluded for indefinite terms. Terminal agreements may be concluded for reasons provided for in Article 59 of this Code.
Also, the following must be taken into account:
- A labor agreement concluded with a foreign national will have to include information about the employee's work permit or patent (for temporarily staying), the allowed duration of stay or a residence permit.
- For temporarily staying employees, the terms of the provision of medical assistance for the duration of their employment, such as the data concerning the employee's policy of voluntary medical insurance or the employer's agreement with a medical organization providing chargeable medical services to the employee.
- The conditions of temporary transference or dismissal must be indicated.
- Additional grounds for the termination of labor agreements include the suspension or termination of the employers' permission to employ foreigners. Also, the annulment or expiration of the work permits or patents, temporary residence permits or the voluntary medical insurance policies of the employees. This also includes the reduction of the number of foreign or stateless employees in order to comply with the established limits, the impossibility of returning to the previous job after the end of temporary transference or the impossibility of temporary transference.
- If labor agreements are terminated because of the suspension or termination of the employers' permit to employ foreigners, the terminated employees must receive severance pays in the amount of two-week's average wage.
These changes are made in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Federal Law No. 409 FZ dated 1 December, 2014 entitled "On the Changes to be Made in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Article 13 of the Federal Law "On the Legal Statuses of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation" Concerning the Particulars of the Regulation of the Employment of Foreign Nationals or Stateless Persons".
2. The following goes into effect on 01.01.2015:
1. Article 62. Issuing job-related documents
Firstly, the very title of the article will change. Beginning 1 January, 2015, it will be "Issuing job-related documents and their copies".
What is the difference?
At this time, allowing employees to keep their workbooks is forbidden. When necessary, employers may issue certified copies of workbooks. When employees need, for instance, to apply for retirement benefits, it poses a problem. The pension fund always wants to see the original workbooks while employers will either refuse to let employees have them or run the risk of doing so for an agreed short period of time.
Beginning 01.01.2015, employers will be able to issue original workbooks to employees. Yet the new edition of Article 62 limits the reasons for issuing them: "for the purposes of filing for social insurance benefits". This means limiting the occasions on which workbooks may be issued to employees because employers always remain responsible for the safekeeping of these documents. That is, issuing workbooks to employees for any reason remains unadvisable.
The said article has not just been amended (Paragraph 1) but also supplemented. The newly added paragraph specifies the period of time within which employees must return their workbooks to their employers.
The portion of the article concerning the issuing of copies of documents to employees has remained unchanged.
2. One should take notice of that, beginning 01.01.2015, in a number of articles of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, certain terms will be changed. For instance, "state" retirement insurance is being replaced with "statutory" retirement insurance (Article 65, 312.2). "Labor" retirement benefits is being replaced with "retirement insurance" benefits (for instance, Article 256). These amendments are due to the reforming of the retirement benefits system.
3. Beginning 01.01.2015, amendments of the Administrative Misdemeanor Code go into effect. For instance, its Article 5.27 is being amended and supplemented. The article provides for amenability for violations of labor laws and other normative legal acts, containing labor-related legal norms.
Amenability for violations of labor laws has been toughened. For instance, amenability for evading the completion or improper completion of labor agreements or the completion of civil legal agreements actually regulating labor relations between employees and employers has been introduced.
A new article No. 5.27.1 has been added. This is due to the introduction of a special evaluation of labor conditions. The new article becomes a basic tool when decisions need to be made concerning guarantees and compensations related to work in harmful or hazardous conditions. The article lists violations that make employers amenable and administrative penalties these violations entail.
Chapter 18 of the Administrative Misdemeanor Code has been amended and supplemented. It deals with violations related to work done, in the Russian Federation, by foreign nationals. For instance, Article 18.15. introduces administrative amenability of employers involving foreign nationals or stateless persons in work outside the regions of the Russian Federation wherein the particular foreign nationals or stateless persons have work permits, work patents or temporary residence permits.
Administrative amenability has been introduced for employers who do not comply, within prescribed periods of time, or improperly comply with orders of officers of federal executive agencies that legally exercise state federal supervision of compliance with labor laws and other normative legal acts containing labor-related legal norms. This is Part 23 of Article 19.5.
Completing this overview of changes in labor laws and laws related to labor relations, a wish is in order for employers to pay more attention to their selection of professionals. This especially concerns professionals doing personnel accounting because these are the ones maximal compliance with legal norms that have to do with labor relations depends on. Their correct doing their jobs will save their employers a lot of grief and expense paying fines and court dues.
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