The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection advocated abandoning the idea of linking the amount of unemployment benefits to the minimum wage (SMIC). According to RBC, this follows from the working version of the table of amendments to the second reading of the bill “On Employment”.
It is reported that the authenticity of the amendments was confirmed by a source familiar with the text of the proposed changes.
To make the maximum and minimum unemployment benefits dependent on the minimum wage is proposed by a bill adopted in the first reading, introduced by a group of deputies and senators led by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matviyenko. The document, which was approved by the State Duma in mid-March, implies equating the maximum amount of unemployment benefits to the minimum wage in the first three months of payment and to 50% of the minimum wage in the second three months of payment. It was proposed to make the minimum allowance equal to 30% of the minimum wage. A date for the second reading has not yet been set.
The table of amendments indicates that the Ministry of Labor proposes to formulate the norm as follows: “The unemployment benefit cannot be higher than the maximum unemployment benefit and lower than the minimum unemployment benefit, <…> the amount of which is annually determined by the government of the Russian Federation, taking into account the opinion of the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations. “The provisions of the articles of the bill need to be adjusted, providing that the size of the maximum and minimum unemployment benefits for citizens are not established by a legislative act, and also to determine the subject that will be endowed with the appropriate powers,” follows from the commentary to this amendment. The government is designated as the author of the initiative in the working version of the document.
In the form proposed by the Ministry of Labor, the norm does not make changes to the current procedure for determining the maximum and minimum unemployment benefits, except that the opinion of the RTK (a commission that unites the government, trade unions and business; the coordinator is Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova) will need to be taken into account. These limits are set annually by the government, and in the last two years (2022-2023) they have not changed, despite the regular increase in the minimum wage. The minimum allowance is 1.5 thousand rubles, and the maximum is 12.7 thousand rubles. in the first three months of the job search and 5 thousand rubles. in the next three months.
At the same time, the Ministry of Labor supported the provision of the bill, which proposes, in each specific case, the amount of unemployment benefits for citizens who previously worked for at least 26 weeks, to be set in the amount of average earnings at the last place of work, but not more than the maximum value, follows from the working version of the amendments to the second reading. Now such unemployed people receive benefits in the amount of 75% of the average earnings at the last place of work in the first three months and in the amount of 60% in the next three months (also within the maximum value). The difference between 100% and 75% of average earnings is relevant only for people who received very low wages.
In 2023, the minimum wage is at the level of 16.2 thousand rubles, which is 3.5 thousand more than the maximum unemployment benefit. According to the current rules, the minimum wage is set at a rate not lower than the subsistence level (PM) of the able-bodied population and amounts to 42% of the median wage. However, in 2023 and 2024, it is calculated “in a special manner” based on the growth rate of the SM of the able-bodied population compared to the previous year, increased by three percentage points.
“In all subsequent years, the minimum wage will increase at a faster pace,” Golikova stressed on May 19 at the collegium of the Ministry of Labor.
Source: Rosbalt
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