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Frequent
Legal Issues for Contractors on X. Annual Quotas for Foreign Employees and the Sakhalin Administrations Presented by Denis Marchenko, senior associate attorney in the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk branch office of Russin & Vecchi. The employment of foreign citizens in Russia is limited each year by an annual quota system. The Russian Government determines quotas for each calendar year, based on proposals from the executive bodies of subjects of the Russian Federation. These proposals must be based on a preference for the use of national labor resources, and must take into consideration the condition of the labor market, the demographic situation within the subject federation, and the subject’s capabilities with respect to accommodating foreign citizens. (124) The annual quota for 2003 was established in the amount of 530,000 foreign employees. (125) President Putin expressed his dissatisfaction with this amount due to the fact that the actual amount of foreign employees working in Russia currently exceeds 10 million, and establishing such a nominal quota would likely lead to further illegal use of foreign labor forces in Russia. Nonetheless, the annual quota established for 2004 is 213,000 foreign employees (126), approximately half that of the previous year. Regional authorities play a significant role in the process of establishing the quota, as most stages of this process fall within the competence of subjects of the Russian Federation. The executive bodies of each subject are charged with creating inter-departmental commissions (“Commission”), which coordinate the activities of all regional bodies involved in the process. (127) In the Sakhalin Region, such a Commission was formed on October 8, 2003 and is called the Commission on Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Employees of the Sakhalin Region Administration. Employers also play a significant role in this process, as the decision regarding quota amounts begins with a review of employer input pertaining to their need for foreign employees. Employers planning to recruit foreign citizens should file applications regarding the necessity of hiring foreign employees for vacant and newly created positions with the Commission before June 1 of the year preceding the year, for which the quota is being established. (128) Upon receipt of all employers’ applications, the Commission forwards them for consideration to the respective territorial executive bodies, the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the territorial employment bodies of the Russian Federation Ministry of Labor. (129) With regard to territorial executive bodies, for example, if an applicant is involved in construction, its application will be forwarded to an executive body regulating construction. These bodies analyze the applications within their competence and return them to the Commission with their comments regarding the reasonability of the number of foreign workers requested by employers and their own proposals for quota amounts. (130) The Commission decides on a final quota amount for the respective subject of the Russian Federation. This decision must be reached based on information received from the respective executive bodies, and must take into account the opinion of employer associations, professional unions, and the principle of priority of use of national labor resources. (131) The Commission then forwards its final decision to the Governor of the subject or to the Governor’s deputy for signature and forwarding to the Russian Federation Ministry of Labor for consideration. (132) The decisions received from all Russian subjects are then considered
at the federal level and the Russian Government reaches a final decision
regarding the amount of the annual quota for foreign employees. (124)
Law on Legal Status, Article 18, Section 1. |
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