Labor Code: what amendments were made for the "remote" employees

Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITU) Oleg Sokolov noted that all articles of the Labor Code should apply to all employees - and remote ones too. “Moreover, prior to the bill for teleworkers, the ground for dismissal could have been written down in the employment contract. If ordinary workers are subject to the order of dismissal only under the relevant articles of the Labor Code, then a teleworker could be fired simply because he has a record in his employment contract that he must do something that is not obliged. Now this discriminatory norm has been removed”, - Sokolov said in an interview with Sputnik radio.

Lika Syukiyainen, a lawyer at recruiting company Hays, says the bill will reinforce the relationship between employee and employer during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, many issues were not previously settled, including the possibility of combining remote work and work in the office, various aspects of labor protection and the procedure for exchanging documents.

Syukiyainen believes that the adoption of the bill will lead to transparency in working relations and will have a positive impact on both sides, reducing the number of controversial situations. Among the advantages for the employee, the lawyer noted:

• clear regulation of the terms for obtaining original documents at the request of the employee;
• regulation of possible business trips;
• securing the employer's obligation to compensate the employee for expenses when using his own equipment;
• consolidation of the fact that telework cannot be the basis for a reduction in wages.

“As pitfalls, I would single out, firstly, the issue of labor protection, provided that the periods of the employee performing the labor function remotely and the periods of performing the labor function at the stationary workplace alternate. The amount of reasonable compensation for the use of personal equipment by the employee also remains open, ”explained Syukiyainen.

She also called the document exchange process a controversial point. According to the lawyer, a transitional period is necessary, since the use of electronic digital signatures is not yet commonplace.

“Even such pitfalls can be the payment of overtime when working outside of working hours and evidence of such overtime, as well as the procedure for dismissal: since, of course, when the employee is removed from work, the control factor on the part of the employer decreases for objective reasons, and therefore the collection of a block of evidence for the employer in disputes the dismissal will be complicated", - added a specialist recruiting company.

Let us recall that the innovations, if the bill is adopted, will come into force on January 1, 2021. The need for changes is associated with the spread of the coronavirus, since "Russian labor legislation was not ready for the massive transfer of workers to remote work".