Russia: prolongation of non-working period due to COVID-19

Due to the spread of COVID-19 the Russian President issued on 2 April 2020 the decree on prolongation of the non-working period within the whole territory of Russia until 30 April 2020 (with an obligation for the employers to pay salary). As per the President’s announcement the period can, however, be reduced based on the epidemiological situation.

The President’s decree has updated the list of permitted activities. The regional governments are now granted with the right to define the list of companies which are allowed to operate. Furthermore, the regional governments are solely entitled to define the measures at combatting COVID-19 (e.g. to introduce a pass control system).

In pursuance of the President’s decree, the Mayor of Moscow and the Governor of the Moscow Region have updated their orders prolonging the duration of COVID-19 restrictive measures (such as self-isolation for all citizens, prohibition of retail sales and mass events, etc.) until 1 May 2020.

The Moscow Mayor’s order and the order of Moscow Region’s Governor have been supplemented by additional obligations of the companies which are still permitted to operate. Such companies are obliged to define which employees are / which are not to be transferred to remote work and which employees are to be released from work with full payment of the salary.

So far the Mayor of Moscow decided not to introduce a pass control in Moscow, while it is being introduced in some other regions of Russia.

We monitor regularly the upcoming legislative changes due to COVID-19 and will keep you updated.