Starting September 1, 2026, new rules for requiring employees to work overtime will take effect in Russia. Olga Soldatkina, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute’s International Best Practices Analysis Department, explained in a comment for NEWS.ru why these changes are particularly important given the labor shortage and how they can protect employees from abuse.
According to the expert, the new regulations do not introduce fundamentally new labor practices. Rather, they codify into law what is already widely used by employers assigning employees to additional work.
“The practice of having employees take on additional work has become so widespread on the back of the labor shortage. Seeking additional staff means investing additional resources not only in the search, training, and onboarding of a new employee, but above all in competing with other employers,” noted Olga Soldatkina.
According to the expert, in the face of a labor shortage, employers are increasingly trying to solve the problem by reorganizing the work of existing employees, including through the use of overtime.
“Faced with a shortage of such resources, employers are simply optimizing their competitive position in the labor market by managing labor relations with current employees including through the use of overtime,” explained Olga Soldatkina.
According to the expert, the new rules do not so much change existing practices as they do establish a clearer legal framework for them.
“Therefore, oddly enough, the new regulations do not work against employees; on the contrary, they protect them from abuse by extending labor protections to ‘overtime,” - emphasized Olga Soldatkina.
Specifically, this refers to higher pay for overtime hours, as well as the requirement to obtain the employee’s explicit written consent in cases provided for by law. This makes the relationship between the employer and the employee more transparent and gives the employee additional opportunities to protect their rights.