The Russian government approved a calendar of working and non-working days in 2020. The document was prepared by the Ministry of Labor in accordance with Article 112 of the Labor Code. The draft document was reviewed and approved at a meeting of the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations, held on May 31.

As stated in the resolution signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the weekend of January 4 and 5 (Saturday and Sunday), coinciding with non-working holidays, is postponed to May 4 and 5. Such a decision was made “for the rational use by workers of weekends and non-working holidays”.

Thus, based on these changes, a schedule of rest days for Russian citizens in 2020 was drawn up. As indicated by the government, in the beginning of 2020, Russians are waiting for the New Year holidays for a period of eight days - from January 1 to 8. In addition, in the winter the Russians will have another long weekend - from February 22 to February 24 in connection with the celebration of Defender of the Fatherland Day.

In early spring, a similarly long vacation awaits Russian citizens on March 7–9 on the occasion of International Women's Day.

At the same time, at the end of April and May, the Russians will be waited for at once by three shortened working weeks in connection with the celebration of Labor Day (from May 1 to May 5) and Victory Days (from May 9 to 11).

In summer, an additional day off will appear due to the celebration of the Day of Russia (June 12), which in 2020 will fall on Friday.

After this additional weekend is not expected until November, when the Day of National Unity will be celebrated. In the coming year, it falls on Wednesday.

In total, in 2020 it is assumed 248 working days and 118 days off.

Note that in 2019, the Russian Cabinet of Ministers approved 247 working days (six of which are shorter) and 118 weekends and holidays. The longest of them were the New Year holidays: the Russians rested for 10 days - from December 30 to January 8.

"Transferring the weekend from winter to spring - established practice"

According to Oleg Babich, a member of the board of the Confederation of Labor of Russia, the transfer of rest days to a warmer time is completely logical and acceptable for citizens of the country.

“I believe that in this case, the transfer of weekends from winter to a warmer time is quite a logical step and, in principle, it is coordinated with all participants in the production cycle: with employers and with trade unions. Of course, the need for long weekends during the May holidays for the overwhelming majority of the population is probably more than the New Year holidays. Everything is logical, in general, this can be assessed as a positive decision, ”said the source.

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Valery Ryazansky, Chairman of the Council of the Federation Committee on Social Policy, also expressed a similar point of view in a conversation with RT.

“I believe that this is a well-established practice. And that, in my opinion, that reasonable transfer from January to May is also a good combination of the opportunity for people to have a rest in the winter holidays together with the children, including May holidays. I have in mind that in May, too, quite long May holidays are formed for the children. This all reflects the interest in organizing a joint family vacation and, in my opinion, there are no drastic changes here. This is a well-established practice, and I think that this order should be followed, ”the senator said.

Four-day work week

In June, the head of the Russian government, Dmitry Medvedev, expressed the opinion that in the near future, the transition of the world economy to a four-day working week could occur. According to him, technological progress contributes to this transformation.

“The constant pursuit of success results in systemic fatigue, chronic stress. People sometimes just burn at work. All this leads to a decrease in labor productivity, which, in turn, affects economic performance, ”said the Russian Prime Minister at the International Labor Conference in Geneva.

Medvedev during his speech recalled that in the first half of the 20th century, one of the founders of the automotive industry, Henry Ford, reduced the working week from 48 to 40 hours, with the result that "he received an impressive increase in labor productivity."

As experts have noted, there are already many professions with a freer organization of working time, but it is still difficult to predict when the four-day work schedule will become a common practice.