Remote Work Under the Russian Labour Code: Contract Terms and Limits

Remote work in Russia has its own chapter in the Labour Code (TK). Article 312.1 defines it as performing the job function set in the employment contract away from the employer's premises and branches and away from any fixed workplace under the employer's control, using information and telecommunication networks, including the internet, for both the work and the communication with the employer. The arrangement can be permanent, temporary for up to six months continuously, or periodic, alternating remote and on-site periods.

The topic matters to companies that employ specialists in other cities and to foreign professionals who work for Russian employers from abroad. This guide explains the definition, the three forms, the difference from homework, the use of electronic documents, which papers still travel on paper and what an employer or employee should put in the contract.

What Counts as Remote Work

Article 312.1 requires three elements. The work is performed outside the employer's premises, outside a fixed workplace controlled by the employer, and through information and telecommunication networks. A person who works from a café with a laptop but must report to the office at fixed hours is not a remote worker in this sense.

A remote worker is a person whose employment contract, or a supplementary agreement to it, provides for remote work, or a person transferred to remote work under a local act of the employer as the Code allows in Article 312.9. Ordinary labour law applies, with the special rules of the chapter.

The commentary emphasises that a remote worker has no workplace in the sense of the general Article on the employer's duty to organise one, so he has wide freedom about where and how he works. Unless the contract, a collective agreement or a local act provides otherwise, he sets his working time regime at his discretion (Article 312.4).

Permanent, Temporary and Periodic Remote Work

Permanent remote work lasts for the whole term of the contract. Temporary remote work lasts up to six months continuously, and the contract or the local act states the dates. Periodic remote work alternates remote days or weeks with time at the employer's office.

The choice affects planning and costs. A company that expects the employee to attend the office once a month should choose the periodic form and describe it. A company that engages a specialist living in another country will use the permanent form and write down the practical rules on working hours.

A change from office work to remote work, or back, requires a written agreement in ordinary cases. The Code contains separate rules for temporary transfers on the employer's initiative in special circumstances, as provided in the chapter.

Remote Worker Versus Homeworker

The commentary distinguishes remote workers from homeworkers, who are covered by a different chapter. Under Article 310, a homeworker performs work at home from materials and with tools and mechanisms on the terms that Article sets, while the remote worker's link to the employer runs through information networks.

Under Article 312.6 the employer provides a remote worker with the equipment, software and information security tools needed for the job, or the worker may use his own or rented equipment with the employer's consent or knowledge; in that case the employer pays compensation for its use and reimburses the related costs in the manner set by the contract or a local act. The commentary adds that a remote contract does not create a separate subdivision of the company, because there are no equipped stationary workplaces.

For a company, the difference means that the contract should specify who provides the laptop, software, communication services and security tools, and who pays for them. A silent contract invites disputes about reimbursement.

Electronic Documents

Article 312.3 sets the rules of interaction. When the employment contract, its amendments, a liability agreement or an apprenticeship contract are concluded, changed or terminated by electronic exchange, the employer signs with an enhanced qualified electronic signature and the worker with an enhanced qualified or enhanced unqualified one. For other documents the parties may use other types of electronic signature or another agreed form that records receipt. The worker can be acquainted with documents by electronic exchange and send applications and explanations electronically.

Some documents still travel on paper. Originals needed for sickness and maternity insurance benefits go by registered mail with notice of delivery, unless the worker gives the number of an electronic sick note. Certified copies of work documents are sent within three business days of the worker's request, by registered mail or electronically if the worker asks for it. Article 312.2 covers the conclusion of remote contracts by the exchange of electronic documents.

Labour rules on electronic documents are amended from time to time, so the wording of Articles 312.2 and 312.3 should be confirmed in the current Code before it is put into a policy.

Remote Work From Abroad

A Russian employer who engages an employee living abroad faces issues beyond the Labour Code: the law applicable to the contract, tax residence, social contributions, currency rules and the foreign country's own requirements. Those subjects are treated on other pages of this site.

For the Labour Code itself, the practical points are the working time, the rest periods, the way the employer records time and the electronic channel for documents. The contract should state the time zone for working hours and the way to confirm attendance.

An employee who works remotely from another country for a Russian company should check how the foreign state treats such work, because Russian law does not decide this question.

What to Put in the Contract

State that the work is remote, the form of remote work and the period. Describe the way of communication, the equipment and who provides it, the reimbursement of costs, the working hours and the electronic document exchange. Mention the rules on confidentiality and data security.

Describe how the employer will assess the results and how the employee will report. State the place of performance if it matters, for example the city or country. Add the procedure to end remote work and return to the office.

An employee should keep the electronic records of his working time and the instructions received. If a dispute arises about unpaid work or overtime, these records are the evidence.

Practical Steps

Employer: choose the form, write the contract or an addendum, set up the electronic document exchange and prepare internal policies. Employee: read the contract, ask about equipment and costs, keep records of work. Both: do not assume that a remote status changes the rights under the Code.

The attorney drafts remote work contracts and policies and advises employers and employees on disputes. First review covers the contract, the form of remote work and the countries involved.

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