The Russian government did not support the bill on depriving workers of bonuses

“The Government of the Russian Federation does not support the bill,” the document says.

According to the initiative, the deduction of bonuses implies non-payment or reduction of the incentive part of the salary. According to the text of the bill, an employee can be deprived of a bonus only if there are reasons established in the employment contract or local regulations. At the same time, the employee’s monthly salary should not decrease by more than 20%.

The bill’s authors say its goal is to protect employees from illegal actions by employers. The document was prepared as part of the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court and was presented to the State Duma by a group of LDPR deputies led by party leader Leonid Slutsky and senator Vadim Dengin.

However, the government noted that the proposed amendments contradict the position of the Constitutional Court. The Cabinet of Ministers emphasized that arbitrary reduction or cancellation of incentive payments is not permitted without changing the terms of the employment contract. The employee may not receive the bonus or receive it partially, but other incentive payments cannot be affected, the government explained.

Additionally, the review states that passage of the bill could worsen employees’ employment rights and will not achieve its stated objectives. Instead, the government submitted an alternative bill to the State Duma, which proposed other approaches to regulating incentive payments taking into account current legislation.

According to analysts from Anketolog.ru and the PR agency Mediacom.Expert, in Russia only 33% of employees receive a bonus in the form of a thirteenth salary. Most Russians expect to receive a payment of 50,000 rubles from their employer.