17 November, 2010Members of the Russian parliament Andrey Isaev and Mikhail Tarasenko, president of the Mining and Metallurgical Workers' Union (MMWU), affiliated to the IMF, introduced a bill prohibiting agency labour for consideration by the Russian parliament.
RUSSIA: Members of the Russian parliament Andrey Isaev and Mikhail Tarasenko, president of the MMWU, introduced for consideration by the Russian parliament a bill banning agency labour.
Agency and contract labour as a form of precarious work is a global problem. It's on the rise both in developed and developing nations. This type of employment relations allows an employer to avoid its direct responsibilities, particularly in the area of occupational health and safety. Workers put in this situation are often deprived of their labour rights and social protection. In Russia an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people are employed on these conditions.
A bill proposed by Isaev and Tarasenko prohibits the use of civil-law agreements when there is a reasonable basis for regular employment relations. Employers diverging from signing a regular contract when there are signs of real employer-employee relations will be punished by law.
The bill also includes amendments to the Russian Labour Code ruling out so-called "triangular industrial relations": if a contract is not signed with a direct employer, but with an agency, which, in turn, serves an employer on the basis of civil-law agreement, the real employer should be considered that which directly uses the work of an employee and not a middleman, an employment agency.
Thus the bill forces employers to sign regular job contracts with employees in all cases when real work relations are present. If the bill passes the Parliament, a normal situation will be restored in Russia where employers can not avoid their responsibilities towards their workers.