Federal law No. 476-FZ of December 27, 2019, introduced several amendments to the Federal law “On electronic signature” (“Law”). Changes to the Law come into force gradually.

The coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) served as a trigger for a targeted effort to assess and manage the possible effects of it. The Russian Government continues to update the measures taken or introduce new ones, trying to act ahead of the possible adverse consequences. Our lawyers are closely monitoring the situation, watching out for the new measures introduced in relation to the coronavirus.
We offer overview of key legislative changes and recommendations for business in the current pandemic.

On May 5, 2020, a law comes into force that establishes the procedure for experimenting on the use of employment in electronic form without their duplicating on paper documents by certain employers and employees. More detailed rules for experimenting will be set out in the regulations on conducting the experiment, which must be approved by the Russian Ministry of Labor.

Deputies of the Moscow city Duma introduced a bill suggesting adding provisions for remote work to the Labour Code. The ground for making such amendments are the difficulties in formalising transfer of employees to remote work which the employers faced during the pandemic.

In its recent Ruling, the Russian Constitutional court clarified the provisions of the Labor Code regarding the conclusion of a fixed-term employment contract with persons who are employed to perform certain work when the date of completion of work cannot be determined by a specific date (paragraph 8, part 1 of article 59 of the Labor Code).

On April 18, 2020, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree “On temporary measures to regulate the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Russian Federation in connection with the threat of the further spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)” (“Decree”).

Senior Associate of the dispute resolution practice at Lidings Elizaveta Fursova will speak at a conference entitled Economy of Virus. Right and Protection. The event organized by Kommersant newspaper.