Russia is the biggest country in the world and boarders with 14 other countries. Over 60% of the country is covered by forest and half of this forest is uninhabited. The coldest, inhabited city is in Russia - Oymyakon, in the Yakutia region, Siberia. Russia has a population of 144.5 million people. The capital city is Moscow and it is officially the largest city in Europe. The president is Vladimir Putin. Russian is the official language.
When doing business with Russians, be aware that one can be dealing with anyone from the young entrepreneur to the old-school soviet bureaucrat. Having a local connection helps when trying to do business in Russia. Patience is required as negotiations can often be slow. When in a meeting, Russians usually do not make an immediate decision but discuss it in private afterwards. Dress formally for meetings. One is expected to be on time for a meeting, even if the Russian counterpart is usually late.
Russian Ruble
The cost for an employer to hire someone in Russia is a plus of 30.00% to the gross salary.
Regular employees must be paid no less than once ever half-month. Employees must be paid in the national currency – Russian Rubles.
Commissions, incentives, and bonuses are variable and will be agreed upon directly with the employer.
January 1st – New Year’s Day
January 2nd – January 5th – New Year holiday
January 7th – Christmas
February 23rd – Defender of the Fatherland Day
March 8th – International Women's Day
May 1st – The Day of Spring and Labour
May 9th – Victory Day
June 12th – Russia Day
November 4th – Unity Day
Business hours in Russia are from 9am until 6pm.
A regular work week consists of 40 hours – 8 hour a day, 5 days a week.
Any hours worked over the 40 hours are considered overtime and are paid as such. The first 2 hours per day are paid at 150% the regular wage and any further hours are paid at 200%. One should not accumulate more than 120 hours of overtime in one year.
Employees receive 28 days of vacation per year in Russia. They are entitled to them after having worked for the company for 6 months. Any unused days in a year automatically get rolled over into the next year.
In Russia the employee is only required to submit a sick note (called a “sick leave sheet”) after his/her recovery. The first 3 days of an illness should be compensated by the employer. After this, the Russian State Social Insurance Fund pays the sick leave. The amount is set between 60-100% of an employee's salary, depending on an employee's uninterrupted work history and other circumstances. In the case of a work-related injury or occupational disease, the employee receives 100% compensation.
When terminating an employee in Russia, one has to adhere to the specific grounds provided in the Labour Code. These include reduction of the workforce, an employee's repeated failure to fulfill his/her duties without justifiable reasons or an unjustified absence from the workplace. An employee can terminate at-will with a 2 week notice.
If the employee was let go due to staff redundancy, the employer is required to pay one months salary as compensation. Should the former employee not have found new employment after one month, the former employer is required to pay a second months salary and possibly a third.
Healthcare is Russia is free under the Russian healthcare system via Obligatory Medical Insurance (OMI). The Russian Ministry of Health (министерство здравоохранения in Russian) oversees the Russian public healthcare sector.
Employer finance OMI through contributions. Once an employee begins working, he/she is covered by the compulsory medical insurance as the employer also pays about 2-3% of the employee's salary into the fund. The employee now receives free medical assistance from public Russian healthcare clinics.
Employers often offer voluntary healthcare insurance (VHI) coverage as part of their benefits package. This includes further treatments not included under OMI such as dental care.
Private insurances are also available although not many Russian citizens use them. With private insurances, one usually has to pay upfront and then claim reimbursement from the insurance company.