A bill has been introduced to the State, which proposes to make December 31 a day off. The corresponding initiative was prepared by deputies and the senator from the LDPR. This was reported by the press service of the head of the State Duma committee on labor and social protection Yaroslav Nilov.

“The bill intends to determine that the government of the Russian Federation carries out the transfer of days off so that December 31 is a day off,” the explanatory note says.

At the same time, the total number of non-working holidays indicated in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is proposed to be kept unchanged.

The authors of the initiative, including State Duma Deputy Speaker Igor Lebedev, Head of the State Duma Committee on Federative Organization Alexei Didenko, deputy Elena Strokova and member of the Federation Council Sergei Leonov, note that postponing the weekend to December 31 "will allow workers and employers to more efficiently use the weekend and non-working holidays, and also to balance the interests between workers, employers and trade unions. ”

Earlier, in the Tomsk Region, the working day was postponed from December 31 to December 28, 2019 in connection with “the numerous requests of women on whose shoulders lies the main burden of preparing for the New Year holidays.” The corresponding order was signed by the governor of the region Sergey Zhvachkin.

At the same time, the day before in Rostrud called the conditions for obtaining a day off on December 31.

“A working day on December 31 may become a non-working day for employees if they are given an additional day of rest,” said Ivan Shklovets, deputy head of Rostrud.

At the same time, the employee may ask for a day off in the framework of labor legislation, but in this case, a reduction in wages may follow. In addition, the employee can take the stipulated for overtime days off or take advantage of the remaining vacation days.

In addition, the Federal Service for Labor and Employment reminded that the last working week of 2019 will be two days, since Monday and Tuesday fall on December 30 and 31, and from Wednesday, January 1, the New Year holidays begin. Moreover, the first working week of 2020 will also consist of two days - Thursday, January 9, and Friday, January 10.

Also note that in July the Russian government approved a calendar of working days and days off in 2020, according to which 248 working days and 118 days off were set.

“The offer seems reasonable.”

According to the head of the Political Expert Group, Konstantin Kalachev, on December 31, no one works anyway, so such a legislative initiative seems quite reasonable.

“That is, they are formally working, but, in fact, are preparing for the holiday, or are already celebrating. So, for the employer and for the employee on December 31 as a working day it is inconvenient. For the employer, it is inconvenient because productivity is declining. For the employee - because he wants to go home faster. If we talk about the fact that this transfer answers the request of the population, it really allows employers and employees to more rationally manage their weekends and working days. Some governors postponed working days from December 31 to December 28. At the regional level, this issue is already being raised. Taking into account the attitude of deputies to this idea, there are chances for a positive decision, ”the source said.

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The expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, Vladimir Bruter, believes that the issue of establishing a day off on December 31 remains at the discretion of lawmakers, but he supports the possibility of postponing the working day from this date.

“In general, such a great vacation for the New Year is optional, but if in Russia they prefer to celebrate for a long time, why not. But why on December 31 you need to work, and then take a long rest. In my opinion, everything is possible here, the main thing is that it is convenient for citizens. It is also possible to make certain adjustments every two to three years in order to better correspond to the way Russian citizens want and prefer to relax. I admit that by December 31, after some time, you can add December 30 to make the holidays more even on each side of the New Year. At the same time, it seems to me that 8-10 days of rest is quite a lot, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.