Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Russian Federation (Ratification: 1967)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Government indicates that the legislative changes in the reporting period focused in particular on the development of information and communication technologies to enhance the effectiveness of the employment promotion policy and develop the labour market of the Russian Federation and removed regional limitations for jobseekers, key for which is the Unified Digital Platform rolled out since 1 January 2022. In the absence of information in this respect, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and up-to-date information on the situation of employment, unemployment and underemployment in the country for the previous reporting period as well as for the new reporting period starting in 2022, including statistical data disaggregated by sector, age and sex. It also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of initiatives and legislative changes, including the Unified Digital Platform.

Groups vulnerable to decent work deficits. Persons with disabilities. The Government also stresses the entry-into-force of section 13.2 of the Employment Act on 1 March 2022 through which it is ensured that an employer only fulfils the quota for the employment of persons with disabilities if such person is actually employed. The Committee notes in this regard that Government Resolution of the Russian Federation No. 366 of 14 March 2022 enables an employer lacking the possibility to employ a person with disabilities to conclude an employment contract with such person for a position in another organization having contractual relations with the employer, and thus to fulfil the obligation to comply with the quota for employing persons with disabilities when they are employed in any other organization – including public associations of persons with disabilities and organizations formed by these persons. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information, including statistical data disaggregated by sex, age and region, on the nature, scope and impact of the measures and programmes implemented to promote the employment of persons with disabilities.

Youth employment. The Government refers to its Resolution No. 3581-r of 14 December 2021 approving the long-term programme for the promotion of youth employment up to 2030. Aimed at creating the conditions to realize the vocational, labour and entrepreneurial potential of young people in the context of labour market transformation, the four objectives of the programme with its 32 activities focus on developing career strategies based on personal abilities and labour market requirements, ensuring a labour-market-oriented-education, combining education with work or entrepreneurial activity and the creation of additional mechanisms to reduce the risk of youth unemployment. The Government highlights the importance of digital means, such as the Unified Digital Platform, which will be equipped with an electronic internship and practice platform and supplemented by an electronic skills exchange allowing for a real-time assessment of applicants and employers alike. The Government indicates that the proportion of minors between the ages of 14 and 18 having undergone professional tests is to increase from 5.9 per cent in 2022 to 15 per cent by 2024, and to 35 per cent by 2030. The Committee also notes that the programme also foresees the adjustment of curricula to improve employability and “industrial tourism” opportunities to facilitate 10,000 young people to make the right career choice. An emphasis is also laid on fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of youths as part of which they are to be accompanied by mentors from choosing their own business area to generating the first profit in which 30,000 young people participated in 2022, of whom at least 75 per cent were to become employed. In addition, 6,500 young persons are to receive targeted employment support in which at least 6,500 people will take part. The Government expects that the programme will result in increasing the share of employed graduates from 57 per cent in 2020 to 85 per cent in 2024 and to 92 per cent in 2030. At the same time, the youth unemployment rate of persons aged between 15 and 29 is to decrease from 10.7 per cent in 2020 to 8.5 per cent by 2024 and to 5 per cent by 2030, while the unemployment rate of persons aged 15 to 24 is to fall to 11 per cent by 2024, from 17.3 per cent in 2020, and to 8 per cent by 2030. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s plan to bring at least 117,000 young citizens into employment in 2022, for which 7 billion Russian Roubles were provided. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the measures taken to promote employment and job creation for young persons, particularly with regard to their long-term integration into the labour market.

Other vulnerable groups of workers. The Government refers also to its subsidized employment schemes, which aim at supporting unemployed citizens whose employment contract has been terminated in the current year, workers at risk of dismissal, including due to the introduction of part-time work, plant idling, temporary suspension of work, unpaid leave, certain categories of young people aged under 30, the most vulnerable on the labour market and those having difficulty in finding a job. The Committee notes that 800,000 persons were to take part in such schemes in 2022. The Committee also notes the vocational training programmes catering in particular for citizens of pre-retirement age and aged 50 and over, women on maternity leave, and women who are not in employment and have children of preschool age as part of which at least 345,000 persons, including at least 100,000 unemployed citizens, at least 100,000 workers at risk of dismissal, and at least 50,000 young people under the age of 35 years old were to participate in 2022 envisaging employment for at least 258,750 persons. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the measures taken to promote employment and job creation for vulnerable groups of workers, particularly with regard to their long-term integration in the labour market.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes that in reply to its request for further information on consultations, the Government indicates that the draft report on the application of the Convention was considered by the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labour Relations, which includes the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and other major trade union and employer associations in the Russian Federation and that no observations or suggestions were received. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the consultations held with the social partners concerning the formulation and implementation of an active employment policy.