Special assessment of workplaces
In an effort to improve worksite safety conditions, a new procedure for assessing labor conditions has been established by the Federal Law No. 426-FZ "On Special Assessment of Workplace Conditions," dated December 28, 2013, which became effective on January 1, 2014. Previously, Russian legislation provided for three different assessment procedures, which should have been performed by the employer: (a) special assessment of labor conditions, (b) state expertise of labor conditions, and (c) attestation of work places. Until now, organizations often failed to assess labor conditions due to the lack of knowledge of the law, ambiguity of the law or just simply a lack of willingness to comply with the law because failure to comply did not result in significant liability.
The aim of the new procedure, as established by the law, is to effectively identify hazardous and dangerous elements in the workplace and the risks that they pose to employees. In providing for this new procedure, the law establishes one unified assessment procedure. The special assessment procedure applies to all employers, regardless of their legal form, and all employees as well, except for employees working from home or remote employees and employees working for employers who are not individual entrepreneurs. Moreover, the new special assessment procedure applies to all workplaces without any exceptions, including workplaces with computers, and shall be conducted once every five years. In order to simplify the attestation process, an employer now has the right to declare that the labor conditions of the relevant workplace are in compliance with all norms and requirements, rather than conduct a special assessment every five-year period. However, this shortcut is only permissible in cases where the previous attestation revealed no violations or hazardous conditions in the workplace.
Additional guarantees for computerized work places
The ambiguity surrounding whether employees working with computers are subject to medical checks was recently addressed by the RF Ministry of Labor in March 2014. According to the RF Ministry of Labor, employers should organize obligatory preliminary and periodic medical checks for employees who are with computers more than 50% of their time at work. Such medical checks should be carried out by neurologists and ophthalmologists once the employee has been employed, and then once every two years (without exception). Violations of this requirement entail an administrative fine for the employer in the amount of RUB 30,000 to RUB 50,000 or suspension of operations for 90 days. The Ministry of Labor has not clarified as to whether these medical checks should be conducted at the workplace or at a medical organization (hospital, clinic, etc.).
