Amendments on withholding benefits for the care of a child up to 1.5 years of age upon return to work must be prepared before October 1. The relevant instructions to the government of the Russian Federation together with the State Duma were given by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin after the results of the XXVI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Previously, the Ministry of Labor proposed, in addition to maintaining benefits, giving women the right to find work with another employer during parental leave, while keeping their job with the previous employer.
The main advantage of the proposed changes is the introduction of large numbers of women into the labor market, said Pavel Seleznev, dean of the faculty of international economic relations at the Russian government’s Financial University. Now, women in Russia use their parental leave almost in full. Its average duration is 28.5 months, that is, 2.4 years, according to Rosstat. Keeping benefits at work can change this statistic. This will have a positive effect on the labor market, Seleznev believes. Unemployment in the country in June updated another low, falling to 3.1%. Employers are experiencing a staffing shortage. While around 1.2 million employees are on paternity leave.
At the same time, the legislator must decide how to register those who change employers during parental leave, notes Pavel Seleznev. “Maybe some system of parallel employment contracts will be introduced,” he said.
“This does not mean that the government thus encourages the transition to a new job”, – he explains. It’s just that women will have more options for suitable work: close to home, with flexible hours, remotely.
Now 82% of women leave the decree to their former place of work. Even, because a woman with a small child does not always seem like an ideal candidate in the eyes of the employer. With the introduction of the changes, at the time of the definitive exit of the decree, many employees will be able to have two employers, and will have the right to choose. This will create competition among employers. Perhaps many companies will have to think about how to gently stimulate the departure of an employee from the decree to the main place of work, says Ksenia Kalinina, director of personnel and organizational development of the tour operator FUN & SUN. She believes that the quality of the employer-employee interaction will be of great importance. And the initiative, more and more often, comes from the employer, and not from the employee.
Maintaining the assignment will have another positive effect. “The implementation of this measure contributes to the laundering of the income of those who work,” believes Pavel Seleznev. Now women are ready for “shadow” employment to save benefits, with the introduction of changes, the need to hide income will disappear.
