Unexpected Non-Working Days in Russia

The President made the days from October 30 to November 7, 2021, inclusive of paid non-working days in order to stabilize the situation with COVID-19.(Decree No. 595 of October 20, 2021) all over Russia. Local authorities are entitled to set extra non-working days.

• The ban on work in the period from October 28 to November 7 has not been established. According to the Decree of the Organization, they have the right to determine the number of employees who will ensure the functioning of their organizations. This means that companies have the right to decide for themselves which of the employees will continue to work and who will not. There is no need to obtain employee consent to work. (We remind you that if you involve employees in work from November 4 to 7, then you can do this only with their consent. Since these days are non-working holidays in Russia)
• In order to inform employees about non-working days from October 28 to November 7, as well as to determine the number of employees who will continue to work, it is necessary to issue an order on non-working days and familiarize employees with it at any convenient way.
• For non-working days, employees must keep their wages in full.
• For employees who will continue to work on non-working days, the company pays a single rate for work, not as double-pay weekends or public holidays.
• Representatives of Rostrud have not yet given an official explanation regarding the payment. As soon as there are clarifications, we will update the information. If the payday in your company fell for the period from November 1 to November 7, and your company will be completely on a long weekend (from October 28 to November 7), then you can pay your salary on October 27 (this will need to be fixed in the order and do not forget notify your payroll accountant to make a calculation).
• If non-working days from October 28 to November 7 fall on the employee’s vacation, then there is no need to postpone or extend it, as well as recalculate vacation pay. However, an employee can apply to postpone the vacation, even if the vacation pay has already been paid to him.