Sakhalin residents who did not get to work because of a blizzard and traffic jams are afraid of punishment

17:40 January 17, 2022.

The editorial office of IA Sakh.com receives messages from residents of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, who are, to varying degrees, concerned about whether their employers will correctly evaluate the request of the administration of the regional center let go remote employees. More precisely, people are worried about how the time of remote work will be paid, as well as the time during which employees were absent from the workplace through no fault of their own. One of the inhabitants of the regional center today toldhow it took six hours to get to work: five by car from Novo-Aleksandrovsk and then, when patience ran out, another hour on foot, leaving the car in my pocket. This is a good reason, but will all employers understand it?

“Could you prepare an article on how people will (or will not) pay for the days of a snowstorm in which it was not possible to go to work, with a legal justification,” the co-author asks. – Some employers scare with dismissals, penalties, etc. Today, when I was riding the bus, I heard such conversations. And in general it is interesting how to be in this case. What is it – forced downtime or do you need to write on vacation without pay? Or take a certificate from the Ministry of Emergency Situations about the state of emergency?

Sakh.com tried to call the regional state labor inspectorate, but they did not pick up the phone either in the reception or in the advisory department.

The regional union of trade union organizations reported that they had not received any orders from the city administration regarding the actions of employers during this snowstorm and after the snowstorm. Usually, if there is some kind of official decision, the union receives it as a document, on paper.

“These days it’s up to the employer,” says a lawyer for the union of trade union organizations. – This is a request of the mayor, and each employer decides for himself whether to let his employees go to remote work or not. If he lets go, this is documented as a working day, he has no right to demand any working off. If he doesn’t let go, but a person, for example, is stuck in a traffic jam for a long time, he has no right to bet absenteeism. A person can take either a day on account of a vacation, or a day off without pay.

Meanwhile, in chats, discussing the situation, some South Sakhalin residents write that they do not find understanding with employers.