A draft Federal Law amending the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter – the “LC RF”) designed to change the payment for work on weekends and public holidays has been submitted to the State Duma for consideration.

As noted in the explanatory note to the draft law, Article 152 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for payment for overtime work “based on the amount of wages established in accordance with the labor remuneration systems in force at a given employer, including compensatory and incentive payments”.

However, work on weekends and non-working holidays, the payment for which is regulated by Article 153 of the Labor Code, is paid based on the salary or wage rates, without taking into account incentive and compensation payments.

Work on weekends and non-working holidays is much more difficult for employees than overtime work on working days and should therefore be rewarded at least as much.

The authors of the draft law point out that some organizations, in an attempt to minimize costs, engage employees to work on public holidays instead of arranging additional time on weekdays.

It is proposed to amend Article 123 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation and to extend to payment for work on weekends and non-working holidays the procedure for determining it established for overtime work, including the compulsory taking into account of compensatory and incentive payments.

The new norms will establish that for work on weekends or non-working holidays:

  • for employees whose labor is paid at daily and hourly wage rates, payments are made in the amount of at least double the daily or hourly wage rate, including compensatory and incentive payments;
  • Payments are made to employees receiving a salary (official salary):
    • in the amount of not less than one single daily or hourly rate (part of the salary (official salary) per day or hour of work) over and above the salary (official salary), including compensatory and incentive payments, if the work on a day off or a non-working holiday was performed within the monthly working time norm;
    • in the amount of not less than double daily or hourly rate (part of the salary (official salary) per day or hour of work) in excess of the salary (official salary), including compensatory and incentive payments, if the work was performed in excess of the monthly norm of working time.

If adopted, the amendments to the LC RF will enter into force on January 1, 2026.

Link: https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/919372-8

Bill No. 919372-8