Rostrud: transfer to the "remote work" is not a reason to cut the salaries

It is reported by RIA Novosti, citing Rostrud (Federal Labor and Employment Servic).

The agency explained that when transferring to remote work, employers are not only obliged to determine the work schedule, ways of exchanging information about tasks and their fulfillment, the possibility of using the organization’s resources at home, but must also conclude an additional agreement to the employment contract, as well as issue an order for temporary transfer employees to the remote work ("udalyonka" as it is called in Russian).

Each employee who is planned to be transferred to work at home should be familiarized with the document. The employee, in his turn, must agree to change the format of his work.

“In order to avoid labor disputes in the future, the employer needs to determine the organization of work - how to convey tasks to the employee and how the employee reports on their implementation,” they said in Rostrud.

The document should reflect questions about providing employees with the necessary equipment, as well as other necessary means to fulfill their duties.

In order not to violate the self-isolation mode, the transition to the remote mode is allowed by exchanging electronic samples of documents, if necessary, with their subsequent execution in the prescribed manner. At the same time, employees will not lose the guarantees provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in connection with the inclusion in the contract of new conditions for work outside the employer's location.

In Rostrud, workers were advised if they violated their rights to contact the state labor inspectorate using the Coronavirus: Hotline service on the Online Inspection.rf website.

We recall that earlier the head of the Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), Mikhail Shmakov, explained why it is impossible to fire an employee on a "remote" for drunkenness. Earlier, he stated that during the transition to remote work, employees are forced to work not standardized.

The fact that during the coronavirus pandemic, workers began to complain more often about non-compliance with their rights, was told in the Russian Confederation of Labor. According to the head of KTR Boris Kravchenko, 36% of all appeals relate to coercion to quit on their own or take leave at their own expense, as well as the reluctance of employers to pay time on non-working days. 23% account for complaints that employers do not release employees on non-working days or do not allow working remotely. According to 12% of applicants, they observe a sharp reduction in wages due to downtime. In 4% of complaints, it is reported that workers are forced to leave on regular paid leave or sick leave.