Employment Termination in Russia: Grounds, Procedure, and Employee Protections under the Labour Code
The termination of employment in Russia is governed by the Labour Code of the Russian Federation (Trudovoy Kodeks Rossiyskoy Federatsii, TK RF), adopted in 2001 and effective from 1 February 2002. The Labour Code establishes detailed rules on the grounds for termination, the procedure for dismissal, employee protections, and the remedies available in cases of unlawful dismissal. Russian labour law provides significant protections for employees, particularly in the areas of job security and reinstatement, reflecting the social protection orientation of the post-Soviet labour law tradition.
Grounds for Termination (Article 77 TK RF)
Article 77 of the Labour Code establishes the general grounds for termination of the employment contract: agreement of the parties; expiration of the term of the employment contract; termination of the employment contract at the employee’s initiative; termination of the employment contract at the employer’s initiative; transfer of the employee to another employer with the employee’s consent; refusal of the employee to continue work due to a change in the owner or reorganisation; refusal of the employee to continue work due to a change in the essential terms of the employment contract; refusal of the employee to transfer to another position required by a medical certificate; refusal of the employee to transfer to another locality; circumstances beyond the control of the parties; violation of the rules for concluding an employment contract established by federal law; and other grounds provided by the Labour Code and other federal laws.
Dismissal at the Employer’s Initiative (Article 81 TK RF)
Article 81 of the Labour Code establishes the grounds on which the employer may terminate the employment contract at its initiative. The grounds include: liquidation of the organisation or termination of the activity of the individual entrepreneur; reduction of the number or staff of employees; inadequacy of the employee for the position held or the work performed due to insufficient qualification confirmed by the results of certification; change of the owner of the organisation’s property; repeated failure by the employee to perform labour duties without valid reason where the employee has a disciplinary sanction; gross one-time violation of labour duties by the employee (absenteeism, appearing at work in a state of intoxication, disclosure of secrets, theft, violation of labour safety requirements); commission of culpable actions by the employee directly servicing monetary or commodity valuables, if these actions give rise to loss of confidence; commission by the employee performing educational functions of an immoral offence incompatible with the continuation of work; adoption of an unjustified decision by the head of the organisation, the head’s deputies, or the chief accountant that resulted in damage to the organisation; gross one-time violation of labour duties by the head of the organisation or the head’s deputies; and submission by the employee of false documents or knowingly false information when concluding the employment contract.
Employee Protections
The Labour Code provides significant protections for employees against dismissal. Employees may not be dismissed at the employer’s initiative during a period of temporary incapacity for work or while on holiday (Article 81(6)). Pregnant women may not be dismissed at the employer’s initiative except in cases of liquidation (Article 261). Women with children under three years, single mothers raising a child under 14 (or a disabled child under 18), and other persons raising a child under 14 (or a disabled child under 18) without a mother may not be dismissed at the employer’s initiative except on specific grounds (liquidation, disciplinary dismissal, certain other grounds) (Article 261). Employees under 18 may be dismissed only with the consent of the State Labour Inspectorate and the Commission on Minors’ Affairs (Article 269). Employees who are members of a trade union may be dismissed on certain grounds only after taking into account the opinion of the elected trade union body (Article 82, 373). The protections reflect the social orientation of Russian labour law and the emphasis on employment security.
Redundancy Procedure (Reduction of Staff)
The redundancy procedure (sokrashcheniye chislennosti ili shtata) is one of the most common grounds for dismissal at the employer’s initiative and is subject to specific procedural requirements. The employer must notify the employee in writing at least two months before the dismissal (Article 180). The employer must offer the employee any available vacancies (including lower-paid or lower-ranking positions) for which the employee has the necessary qualifications. The employer must notify the trade union (if the employees are unionised) and the employment service (if the dismissal affects 50 or more employees) at least three months in advance. The employer must observe the pre-emptive right to remain in employment (preimushchestvennoye pravo na ostavleniye na rabote), which gives priority to employees with higher labour productivity and qualifications and, where productivity and qualifications are equal, to family members with two or more dependents, employees who are the sole earners in the family, employees who have suffered a work-related injury or occupational disease, invalids of the Great Patriotic War, and employees undergoing work-related training. The employee is entitled to severance pay (vykhodnoye posobiye) of one month’s average earnings, plus retained average earnings for a further two months during the period of job search (or three months if the employee registers with the employment service within two weeks) (Article 178).
Disciplinary Dismissal
Dismissal on disciplinary grounds requires compliance with the disciplinary procedure established by Articles 192–195 of the Labour Code. The employer must document the disciplinary offence (distisplinarnyy prostupok), obtain a written explanation from the employee, and issue an order of disciplinary sanction within the time limits established by the Labour Code (one month from the discovery of the offence, six months from the commission — except for offences discovered during audits, where the period is two years). The disciplinary sanction must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the circumstances of its commission. The Supreme Court has provided guidance on the application of disciplinary dismissal, emphasising the requirement of proportionality and the employer’s obligation to prove the employee’s guilt.
Termination Compensation
Employees dismissed on certain grounds are entitled to severance pay and other compensation. In addition to the redundancy severance pay (described above), employees dismissed due to the employer’s refusal to continue work in the context of organisational or technological change are entitled to compensation. Employees dismissed due to military call-up are entitled to two weeks’ average earnings. The Labour Code also provides for the payment of compensation for unused vacation upon termination. The employer may provide for additional termination compensation in the employment contract or collective agreement.
Reinstatement
The primary remedy for unlawful dismissal is reinstatement (vosstanovleniye na rabote) in the previous position. The Labour Code provides that an employee dismissed without legal grounds or in violation of the established procedure must be reinstated by the court (Article 394). The court also awards the employee compensation for forced absence (vyplata za vremya vynuzhdennogo progula) at the average wage for the period from the date of dismissal to the date of reinstatement. The employee may also claim compensation for moral damage (kompensatsiya moralnogo vreda), the amount of which is determined by the court. The court may, at the employee’s request, change the wording of the grounds for dismissal to dismissal at the employee’s own initiative if the employer’s grounds were unlawful. The reinstatement remedy is a distinctive feature of Russian labour law, reflecting the priority of job security. The employer who refuses to comply with a court order for reinstatement may be ordered to pay the employee the average wage for the entire period of non-compliance (Article 396).
Significance
Employment termination law in Russia provides significant protections for employees, reflecting the social protection orientation of the Labour Code. The detailed regulation of grounds, procedures, and remedies seeks to balance the interests of employers in managing their workforce with the interests of employees in job security. The reinstatement remedy provides strong protection against unlawful dismissal. The procedural requirements for redundancy and disciplinary dismissal impose significant obligations on employers. The Labour Code’s protections are enforced by the State Labour Inspectorate (Rostrud) and the courts. Russian employment termination law continues to evolve, with amendments to address emerging issues including remote work, digitalisation, and the economic impact of sanctions.