Evaluating Working Conditions In Russia: What Do All Employers Need To Know?

• Published date: 08 June 2021
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Contract of Employment, Health & Safety, Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Law Firm: lus Laboris
• Author: Ms Irina Anyukhina (Alrud), Elena Chershintseva (Alrud) and Ekaterina Bronitsyna (Alrud)

In Russia, all employers must complete a 'special evaluation of working conditions', for all workplaces. The Federal Labour & Employment Service now checks compliance with this health and safety requirement automatically. This article considers the main issues relating to special evaluations of working conditions and the new remote monitoring of compliance.

General information

Russian law requires all employers to complete a 'special evaluation of working conditions', in all workplaces, in order to:

• identify harmful or hazardous conditions at the workplace;
• assess their impact on employees;
• determine the degree of deviation from established legal standards.

The evaluation can only be performed by independent organisations, which are specifically accredited to provide these services.

Each employer must include the results of the special evaluation in employment agreements and publish the summary of the results on the organisation's website (if it has one). The accredited organisation that conducts the evaluation must also submit the results to the Federal State Information System for Accounting for the results of a special evaluation of working conditions of the Ministry of Labour (the 'information system'). The results can only be used after this notification.

What is it for?

According to the results of a special evaluation of working conditions, based on an employee's exposure, the category of working conditions at the specific workplace ('optimal', 'permissible', 'harmful' or 'dangerous') is defined.

The category of working conditions affects, in particular, the amount of the additional rate of insurance contributions, the level of guarantees and compensation provided to employees who are engaged in harmful, or hazardous, production (e.g. additional annual leave, reduced working hours, increased wages, etc.).

Improving working conditions and reducing harmful, or hazardous, factors therefore reduce the employer's costs, because it leads to a decrease in the additional rate, amount of compensation payments and other guarantees. However, this applies only to certain categories (excluding 'optimal' and 'permissible').

Period of validity: latest changes

From 30 December 2020, the special evaluation is valid for an indefinite period of time, if the conditions at the workplace have not changed. This rule also applies to any special evaluations of working conditions which are already in force in organisations.

Before 30 December 2020, the special evaluation...