On July 1, 2016 the Federal Law No.122-FZ “On introducing amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 11 and 73 of the Federal Law ‘On education in the Russian Federation’” dated May 2, 2015 will enter into force, establishing the procedure for applying professional standards.

Please note that pursuant to the effective version of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (the “Russian Labor Code”), a professional standard means a description of the qualification required for the employee to perform a certain type of professional activity.

Starting from July 1, 2016, application of professional standards when determining the name of a position and its requirements for an employee’s qualification will become mandatory for employers if:

1) Pursuant to the Russian Labor Code or other federal laws, performance of works under relevant positions, professions and specializations is connected with provision of compensation and benefits or with restrictions (Part 2 Article 57 of the Russian Labor Code); and/or

2) Such requirements for the qualification of the employee are directly specified by the Russian Labor Code, other federal laws or other legislative acts of the Russian Federation (Article 195.3 of the Russian Labor Code).

In other cases, requirements provided by professional standards will continue to be of an advisory nature.

The Russian Labor Ministry maintains the Register of Professional Standards which you can view at: http://profstandart.rosmintrud.ru/reestr-professionalnyh-standartov or http://vet-bc.ru/node/452. At the same time, currently not all positions are provided with professional standards. For this reason, it is recommended for employers who will be obligated to apply professional standards to follow the process of requirements being developed for the relevant positions, as well as to participate in public discussion of professional standards on the web site of the Russian Labor Ministry http://profstandart.rosmintrud.ru.