"Guarantee against loss of income": the rules for payment of unemployment benefits have changed in Russia

On Thursday, April 8, new rules for assigning maximum unemployment benefits came into force in Russia.

RT was told about this in the press service of the Ministry of Labor.

The corresponding decree was published on the government website on March 31.

According to the document, the changes will affect certain categories of citizens.

First of all, we are talking about those dismissed due to the liquidation of organizations or staff reductions.

Such workers will be postponed to the maximum amount of benefits.

The money will be paid from the fourth to the sixth month of job loss, and then - 60% of earnings, but not more than 5 thousand rubles.

Such an accrual scheme is due to the fact that in the first three months such unemployed are paid the average salary at their previous place of work, after which, according to the existing procedure, they could no longer receive unemployment benefits in the maximum amount.

Pregnant women will also be postponed if the period of three months of receiving the maximum unemployment benefit coincides with the period of payment of temporary disability benefit due to pregnancy.

In addition, the changes will affect men who, while receiving the maximum unemployment benefit, were called up for military training.

According to the current legislation, during the period of service, such citizens are supported by the state, therefore they cannot apply for other measures of support from the authorities.

"After returning from fees, they will continue to receive unemployment benefits at the maximum amount," the document says.

The new rules for assigning payments will help protect Russians from bureaucratic difficulties when looking for work and support the economic recovery from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic during a difficult period.

A similar opinion in an interview with RT was expressed by Pavel Sigal, the first vice president of the all-Russian public organization for small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia".

“Thus, the gaps in the bylaws are being eliminated, when a person, who is actually unemployed, could not receive benefits.

For citizens, this means that they will receive a lot of support from the state in the period before employment.

In other words, the government decree creates an additional guarantee for material protection against loss of income for the unemployed, ”the expert emphasized.

Now the maximum amount of payments for loss of work is 12,130 rubles.

So, in the first three months, 75% of earnings are paid, but not more than the aforementioned amount, and in the second three months - 60% of earnings, but not more than 5 thousand rubles.

Until March last year, the figure was at around 8 thousand rubles.

Against the backdrop of the COIVD-19 pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to increase the amount of payments.

During his appeal to citizens in March 2020, the Russian leader ordered to raise the amount of assistance to the unemployed to the minimum wage level (12,130 thousand rubles).

In January 2021, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree to extend the increased job loss allowance.

Keeping payments at the last year's level has a positive effect on the incomes of even those citizens who, for a combination of reasons, found themselves without a stable source of income.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, NRU HSE, told RT about this.

“One of the main challenges facing the state is to support Russians with low and irregular incomes.

Having financial resources, you can quickly get a job and at the same time avoid significant losses.

Now the unemployed will find it easier to endure the situation with layoffs or layoffs, and additional measures of state support will help them find a new job faster, ”the analyst said.

Labor impulse

Recall that in 2020, the government launched a number of initiatives to support employment of the population.

One of the most popular measures has become preferential loans to businesses at 2% per annum to pay salaries to employees.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, about 226 thousand credit agreements worth over 440 billion rubles were signed under the subsidized lending program.

In total, the measure supported 5.4 million jobs.

At the same time, on March 1, 2021, the government approved a new program of salary loans to businesses at a preferential rate of 3% per annum.

As expected in the Cabinet of Ministers, the initiative should support about 75 thousand entrepreneurs, whose companies employ 1.5 million people.

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“It is also important to engage in job creation in high value-added industries.

That is, to stimulate the spheres related to industry, processing and related industries, "said Alexander Safonov, vice-rector for strategy and work with authorities at the Financial University, to RT.  

According to experts, the measures taken by the government should accelerate the recovery of the Russian labor market.

In 2020, against the backdrop of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment in the country increased markedly and peaked in August - 6.4%.

At the moment, the indicator has dropped markedly.

So, according to the Federal State Statistics Service, at the end of February 2021, unemployment in Russia dropped to 5.7%.

“It is possible that the unemployment rate will return to pre-crisis levels in early 2022.

This will become possible with a general decrease in the incidence of coronavirus against the background of mass vaccination of the population, as well as targeted support for citizens and businesses, ”Ostapkovich emphasized.