The Ministry of Labor sent a report to the government on the possible introduction of a future four-day work week in Russia. This is stated in the press service of the department.
“In the course of discussion with federal authorities, all-Russian associations of employers and all-Russian associations of trade unions, it was proposed to continue consideration of the topic at the site of the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations. Within the framework of the RTC, it is planned to create a working group on issues of working hours and flexible forms of employment, ”the Ministry of Labor website says.
Recall that the commission consists of representatives of three stakeholders - the government, trade unions and employers. Thus, in the issue of social and labor relations, a balance of interests should be observed.
The Ministry of Labor noted that this initiative is ambiguous and, in addition to advantages, carries risks. Thus, reducing the week to four days can lead to the fact that enterprises will increase spending on employees, which will lead to an increase in production costs.
“At the same time, reducing the length of working hours while maintaining the level of remuneration can help to protect the health of the employee, increase labor efficiency and professional ability to work, personal and professional development, a more harmonious combination of family and work responsibilities, free up time for sports, culture, leisure,” - emphasized in the Ministry of Labor.
The ministry also reminded that the Labor Code allows, with the mutual consent of the employee and the employer, to establish a flexible work schedule, thereby changing the beginning, end of the day, and also its duration - there is no minimum number of hours. The maximum is set by Russian law at 40 hours a week.
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“Must be accompanied by increased productivity”
Recall that in Russian society, the discussion on the introduction of a four-day work week began after a speech by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the International Labor Conference in Geneva in early June. Then the head of government admitted that "the future is a four-day week."
Later, returning to this topic at the end of August, Medvedev emphasized that it is necessary in this case to save the salaries of employees.
“This should be accompanied by an increase in labor productivity on the one hand, when it comes to a full-time work week, and, of course, the preservation of the wages that are available,” he said.
Developing the idea of switching to a four-day working week, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin noted that for this it is necessary to raise the level of income and increase labor productivity.
“The main condition for a change in labor legislation is, first of all, at the first stage, to achieve a higher income of the population and a high level of labor productivity ... It is important to concentrate on this stage, namely on the task of increasing the income of the population, and to solve problems in stages,” - TASS quotes his words.
Also, the Ministry of Economic Development reported that the Ministry of Labor intends to conduct an experiment at some enterprises to commission a short working rather than. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Peter Zaselsky in an interview with Izvestia said that this will be done in order to find out the impact of this idea on productivity.
“Workers do nothing for 30–40% of the time. Our task is not to shorten the working day, but to enable them to make it useful. The conclusion about whether to reduce the working day or not, will arise after testing these techniques in a very large number of enterprises, ”he said.
However, it would be premature to switch to larger-scale experiments, said Oleg Shein, member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, vice president of the Russian Confederation of Labor, in a conversation with RT.
He noted that there are sectors in the economy where there is a question of staff shortages — for example, in medicine, education, where people “process heavily”. The deputy suggested starting with the legalization of those sectors where people even work without registration under the Labor Code.
“If we are talking about the real sector of the economy, then people work there without formalizing employment contracts: builders, agricultural workers, sellers. A huge part of the working class works far more than 40 hours a week. It is necessary to legalize this labor market, ”Shein emphasized.
Need for analysis
In order to consider the possibility of entering a four-day week in Russia, it is necessary to conduct a study of current research, said Lyubov Khrapilina, professor of the Department of Labor and Social Policy of the Institute of Public Administration and Management.
“The development of the economy is possible with an increase in labor productivity, it should not be accompanied by excessive physical, psychological stress. Without studying the real situation and characteristics of today's jobs, the working conditions in which people work, (it is impossible to introduce a four-day work week. - RT ), ”she told RT.
Shein also recalled that all over the world they have already taken the path of reducing the number of working hours - at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the working day began to last not 14, but 8 hours.
“This was not accompanied by any collapse of the economy, but, on the contrary, by an increase in labor productivity, because people regained their strength, and, of course, a decrease in unemployment. If we are talking about the modern period, we need to understand: the existing workload is increasingly freeing mankind from the need for work: where bank operators used to be, now they can do transactions via telephone, where people harvested crops across the field, now they are harvesters ” - concluded the deputy.