OREANDA-NEWS. Officials in Russian Ministry of Labour are discussing the possibility to pay Russian extra for emotional and intellectual stress. They consider it important when assessing working conditions.

The Ministry of Labor considers it appropriate to develop methods for assessing the emotional and intellectual stresses at work, as well as the impact on the health of employees of inconvenient work schedules, Russian media say. This would be important when evaluating working conditions along with noise, vibration and hazardous radiation. First of all, according to the new parameters, law enforcement officers, teachers and journalists may count on the “hardship pay”.

The issue of the “hardship” at work and a new version of the law “On special assessment of working conditions” was discussed at a meeting in the Ministry of Labor on March 11, follows from the meeting’s minutes signed by Deputy Minister Grigory Lekarev and Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR) David Krishtal.

The Ministry of Labor is going to start working on methods for assessing the impact of such factors as emotional and intellectual workloads on workers' health, as well as the schedule. After evaluation, working conditions can be considered optimal, acceptable, harmful, or dangerous. In the last two cases, according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee is entitled to get at least 4% in addition to the wage rate or salary, at least seven additional days of rest and a four-day workweek (36 hours instead of 40).

“It is known that overload, negative states and emotions have a cumulative effect and affect health. The pressure rises, insomnia begins, productivity decreases. It just has to be considered”, says Vitaly Trumel, secretary of FITUR. He added that the highest emotional and intellectual burdens at work are experienced by employees of security forces, doctors, teachers, journalists, and in some cases office workers, for example accountants.

Significant stress is also experienced by the transport sector employees: air traffic controllers, public transport drivers, engine-drivers and their assistants, added Alexander Safonov, a member of the advisory panel under the government.

“It is important to monitor the state of the employee, his degree of burnout in order to find ways to improve working conditions. If this is not possible, then you need to send the employee to rehabilitation in time”, Alexander Safonov stressed.