Time Limits for Labour Disputes in Russia: One Month, Three Months, One Year

An employee in Russia has three different periods for going to court, depending on the dispute. Article 392 of the Labour Code (TK) gives one month for disputes about dismissal, one year for unpaid wages and other sums due on termination, and three months for other individual labour disputes. The employer has one year from the discovery of the damage to claim compensation from an employee.

The difference in length produces expensive mistakes. An employee who waits two months after dismissal has lost the right to reinstatement unless a valid reason is shown, while the same employee still has time to claim his unpaid wages. This guide explains each period, when it starts, how moral harm claims fit in, how to restore a missed period and how employees abroad should act.

Dismissal: One Month

An employee may go to court within one month in a dispute about dismissal. The period runs from the day he was handed a copy of the dismissal order, or from the day the work record or the information on his employment was given to him at the last employer.

The earliest of these dates matters. An employee who receives the order in person in the morning and the work record a week later should count from the first. A document sent by mail is counted from the day it was received, and the employee should keep the envelope.

The one month applies to claims of reinstatement and to disputes about the grounds and the date of dismissal. Many employees confuse it with the longer periods for pay claims.

Unpaid Wages: One Year

Article 392 gives one year for claims on non-payment or incomplete payment of wages and other sums due to the employee, counted from the day on which they should have been paid. The rule covers payments on termination too.

The year is counted separately for each payment. The oldest months of a long delay may expire while the later ones are still within the limit, so the employee should file early. Compensation for delay under Article 236 follows the main debt, as another page on this site explains.

A claim for unpaid wages can be joined with a claim of reinstatement or filed separately. The one-year period helps an employee who learns late that the final payment was calculated wrongly.

Other Disputes: Three Months

For all other individual labour disputes, for example about a disciplinary penalty, transfer, vacation or incorrect record in the work record, the period is three months from the day the employee learned or should have learned of the violation. The phrase "should have learned" means that a court may count from the date the employee could have found out from documents he received.

An employee should therefore act on the first sign of a violation: a payslip that looks wrong, an order that changes his position, a refusal of leave. A letter to the employer does not stop the period.

A dispute with several claims can have several periods. The employee should list each claim and calculate its own deadline.

Moral Harm

Article 392 lets the employee claim compensation for moral harm together with the claim to restore labour rights. It can also be claimed separately within three months after the court's decision that restored those rights fully or partly comes into force.

This rule helps employees who first obtain reinstatement and then decide to claim moral damages. The amount is determined by the court, with the degree of the employer's fault and the other circumstances in view.

Moral harm claims are discussed on another page of this site, and the general principles of the Civil Code on the amount apply.

Employer's Claims

An employer who claims compensation from an employee for damage has one year from the day the damage was discovered. The employer should record the date of discovery in an act, and the employee should ask for the act and the calculation.

Disputes about liability often depend on whether the employer properly organised the inventory and storage of property, which are matters for the details of each case. The employee should read the documents and respond in writing.

An employer who delays by more than a year loses the claim unless the court restores the period for valid reasons, which is unlikely for a commercial employer.

Restoring a Missed Period

If the period was missed for a valid reason, the court may restore it. The Article does not list the reasons; the Supreme Court's guidance (Plenum Resolution No. 2 of 17 March 2004, paragraph 5, and No. 15 of 29 May 2018, paragraph 16) names circumstances that prevented a timely filing, such as illness, a business trip or the need to care for a seriously ill family member, and also a timely complaint to the labour inspectorate or the prosecutor. Courts rarely accept mere ignorance of the deadline.

The employee files the claim and an application to restore the period with evidence for the whole time of delay. The court examines the application at the hearing. A person who was at home and well but did not know the deadline has no basis.

A request to restore the period is a rescue measure. The procedural rules on restoring terms are discussed on another page on this site.

Employees Abroad and Practical Steps

An employee outside Russia who loses a job in a Russian company should record the date of receipt of the dismissal documents, collect the contract, payslips and correspondence and consider a Russian representative with a power of attorney. Waiting for a signed document by courier may take weeks, so the claim can be filed by the employee himself and the representative can be added later.

Count the periods from the first date possible. Prepare a list of claims with deadlines. File early, with the claim for reinstatement if needed. Keep the proof of filing.

The attorney advises employees and employers on labour deadlines, prepares claims and applications for restoration and represents parties in court. First review covers the dismissal documents, the contract and the dates.

The main channel of communication with the attorney is email: attorneypetrova1@gmail.com.