“Something burned me out and made me tired,” you say to your boss and boldly arrive late for work in the heat. Now, in response to such a statement, the authorities will at least twist your head or even impose a disciplinary sanction. A group of LDPR deputies, headed by party leader Leonid Slutsky, decided to change this situation. They have developed and are submitting a bill to the State Duma, which proposes not to apply disciplinary measures to an employee for being late for work in the heat or due to other severe weather conditions. They want to amend Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
“Over the past month, there have been tornadoes in Moscow, St. Petersburg recently experienced a hurricane, and hail fell in Yaroslavl. In many regions, unbearable heat has occurred. At temperatures above 28 degrees, it is more difficult to move around and the load on the body increases significantly. The weather affects people’s well-being and their performance. We consider it fair to protect workers from disciplinary measures if they are late due to adverse weather conditions, which is why we have prepared the necessary amendments to the Labor Code,” said Leonid Slutsky.
The deputies point out that severe weather conditions are circumstances of force majeure, which means that in this case no disciplinary sanctions should be applied to employees. As stated in the bill, the criteria for classifying weather conditions as severe should be established by the Russian government.
According to the MPs, this should include blizzards, severe frost, rain, storms and heat with a temperature of 28.5 degrees. By the way, it is precisely this temperature mark that, according to the current legislation, reduces the working day by one hour. However, this only applies to room temperature.
If the temperature in the workplace reaches plus 29 degrees, the working day is shortened by 2 hours, and if the room is heated to plus 30.5 degrees, by 4 hours. It would seem that air conditioners are everywhere now. Not at all… In many organisations and even enterprises in the regions there is no central air conditioning system or air conditioning unit at all. For example, in schools, clinics, cultural organisations. As Professor and Vice-Rector of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Alexander Safonov explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda, if a person falls ill at the workplace due to heat, the employer will be held responsible for it. The degree of severity of the health problem will be determined. If the consequences are serious, the punishment may even include criminal liability even if the working day has been reduced.
