Unions demand companies suspending business in Russia to compensate for forced inactivity

Moscow, March 9 (Sputnik). – Companies that these days decided to suspend operations in Russia should compensate their employees for the period of forced idleness, the deputy head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) told Sputnik. Shershukov.

“This is a clear case of forced inactivity, to which all payments provided for in the Labor Code correspond,” said Shershukov.

Article 72.2 of the applicable Labor Code states that an employee has the right to receive at least two-thirds of his average salary when the period of work stoppage occurs due to the fault of the employer.

Some companies such as McDonald’s, which employs about 62,000 people in Russia, have announced that they will continue to pay all employees despite opting to temporarily close hamburger restaurants and suspend operations in the country.

Several countries condemned the military operation launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, and triggered several batteries of individual and sectoral sanctions that seek to inflict as much damage as possible on the Russian economy.

Since the end of February, hundreds of companies have announced the decision to suspend their business in and with Russia.

For the first time, sanctions include the partial disconnection of Russia from the SWIFT system, a freeze on the international reserves of its central bank, and, in the case of countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, a ban on Russian oil imports.

For its part, the Russian government added dozens of new names to the list of “enemy countries”.

To conduct transactions with citizens and companies of these countries, Russian entities will have to seek approval of the State Committee for the Control of Foreign Investments.

Currently, Australia, Canada, South Korea, the United States, Iceland, Japan, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, New Zealand, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, the 27-member European Union and Ukraine are on the list.

According to the Castellum.AI database, Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world, ahead of Iran, Syria and North Korea. Since mid-February, more than 2,800 new restrictive measures have been activated. (Sputnik)