Soviet Archives - Collection of Government Documents on Workers

From the Collection of enactment and decrees of the government for 1921, Administration of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

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No. 24, Art. 116

Resolution of the Main Committee for General Labor Service and the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Labor and Social Security.

On exemption from labor service (Rules).

A. Category of released persons.

1. The following are not involved in the performance of general labor service:

a) men under 16 and over 50, women under 10 and over 40;

Note . Persons from 16 to 18 years old work no more than 6 hours.

b) invalids of I, II and III groups (according to the regulation on social security of October 31, 1918, Collection of Uzak. 1918, No. 89, art.

906 );

c)   pregnant women 8 weeks before childbirth and women in labor 8 weeks after childbirth;

d) mothers who are breastfeeding children;

e)   women who have children under 8 years of age with them, in the absence of a person caring for them.

Note . The category of persons specified in clause ʺeʺ may be involved in all work performed on the territory of the house they occupy;

f)    women, family members of workers and employees who are engaged in housekeeping, in the absence of a hired person and serving at least 5 family members (including herself);

g) persons caring for acute feverish, seriously ill, as well as family members who cannot do without outside help (no more than one for each patient).

2. Not subject to labor service not related to their permanent work:

a) persons of medical personnel whose work is associated with an increased risk of infection (working on epidemics, medical workers of general and special epidemic hospitals and outpatient clinics, concentration camps, prisons, doctors and drug assistants at home, sanitary doctors, disinfectants and orderlies for transportation sick);

b) workers who work overtime for at least 4 hours daily;

c)   members of presidiums: A) Executive Committees of Soviets of Workersʹ Deputies, central and local; B) councils of Trade Unions, central and local; C) the Central Committee of the All‐Russian Associations of Trade Unions; D) Peopleʹs Commissars and members of the collegiums of the central commissariats; E) members of the Presidium of the Central Union of Consumer Societies; F) heads of departments of central institutions and departments of local Soviets of Workers ʹand Peasantsʹ Deputies; G) chairmen of local Trade Unions.

3.                   None of the skilled workers employed in the pond service or previously engaged in this profession shall not be exempted from work in their specialty. Exemption from this work can be made only with the certificate of the Control Commission of the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Labor and Social Security in case of loss of professional ability to work.

4.                   All work in the order of compulsory conscription of a mass nature, for which citizens are involved, are divided into:

a)                   work of the 1st group, that is, of a heavy physical nature (for example, for clearing snow, transporting heavy loads, preparing and loading firewood, processing zeroes, combating floods, sanitary cleaning, etc.);

b)                  work of the 2nd group, which does not require the use of special physical efforts and is not performed in particularly harmful conditions (for example, cleaning hospitals and other buildings, sewing and mending linen, office work, caring for patients, cultural and educational work, etc. . P.).

When announcing each new obligation by the Main Committee on General Labor Service or by the local Committee on General Labor Service, this obligation must necessarily be attributed to one or another group.

5. The works of the first group, according to clause 4, are not involved:

a) persons under the age of 18;

b) patients, according to the schedule of diseases and disabilities, developed by the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Health in conjunction with the Department of Labor Protection of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Labor and Social Security;

c) pregnant women;

d) disabled people of the 4th group (according to the regulations on social security of October 31, 1918);

e) individuals and whole certain professions in cases where hard physical work can affect the loss of their professional ability.

The local commissions on the correct use of labor under the committees for general labor service shall immediately report all their decisions on this matter to the Main Committee on general labor service and the local department of the State Control.

Note 1 . For this purpose, the Main Committee on General Labor Service draws up special rules, which govern the local Commissions for the correct use of labor under the Committee on General Labor Service.

Note 2 . Those exempted from work of the 1st group are sent to the work of the 2nd group or to especially light occupations within the work of the 1st group according to the instructions of the local Commission on the correct use of labor under the Committee on general labor service.

6. Works of the 2nd group:

Individuals may be exempted from the work of the second group in those cases when, according to the Medical Control Commissions, any work should be prohibited for them due to their state of health. In all these cases, the authorization of the Commission for the Proper Use of Labor under the Committee on General Labor Service is required.

B. Procedure for release.

1. Age is certified by a workbook, passport, or birth certificate.

2. Disability and its group are determined (since it is not obvious) by the Medical and Control Commissions, and in rural areas ‐ by any doctor of a Soviet hospital according to the established scale of disability.

3. Pregnancy and its duration are certified by a sick leave or a special certificate of the Medical Control Commission, and in rural areas ‐ by a doctor or midwife of any Soviet hospital.

4. Breastfeeding is certified in cities for workers with a document for benefits from the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Labor and Social Security: for non‐workers ‐ a certificate of the Medical Control Commission for childrenʹs consultation, and in rural areas ‐ documents on the age of the child and the chairman of the volost or village council under their personal responsibility.

5. The presence of children under 8 years of age and the absence of outside care for them, the presence of 5 family members served by the hostess, the presence of acute feverish and helpless family members are certified in the cities ‐ by the commandant of the house, the manager of the district economy, the chairman of the house committee or the householder in the absence of house management, and in rural areas ‐ the chairman of the council. The specified persons are subject to personal responsibility for the correctness of the information.

6. Permanent overtime work over 4 hours daily is certified by the local tariff and pricing commission with the visa of the corresponding production union.

7. The profession and position held by medical personnel and responsible workers are determined by a certificate from the place of service signed by the head of the institution, and the list of those submitted for release must be immediately sent to the local Commission on the correct use of labor under the Committee on general labor service.

8. The disease, which completely exempts from work of the 1st group or any kind of work, is certified in the cities by the local Medical Control Commission, and in rural areas ‐ by any doctor, and in his absence, by the paramedic of the Soviet hospital.

Note 1 . Pending receipt of the timetable specified in Section “A” § 5 “b” on the spot, certificates are issued under the full personal responsibility of the signatories.

Note 2 . In cases where the local Medical and Control Commissions find it necessary to release a person on the basis not listed in the schedule specified in section ʺAʺ § 5 ʺbʺ equally in case of disagreement between members of the Medical Control Commission, doctors and representatives of workersʹ organizations , the issue with the relevant data is submitted for final permission to the local Pravtrud (Commission on the correct use of labor under the Committee on general labor service).

Note 3 . In the event of an acute illness or short‐term incapacity for work, deferrals of no more than 7 days may be given by any Soviet doctor, and in rural areas ‐ by the chairman of the council.

9. The risk of loss of professional ability is certified by the local Commission on the correct use of labor under the Committee on general labor service or special procedures for individual professions established by the General Committee on general labor service and local committees on general labor service.

10.                On the basis of the above data, all commandants of houses, chairmen of house committees or heads of district farms, householders in the absence of house management, and in rural areas ‐ village or volost councils maintain an exact list of those exempted from labor service under the headings: a) not subject to labor duties; b) temporarily released. This list clearly indicates the reasons for dismissal, from work and presented certificates or documents.

11.                Persons who declare their belonging to one of the categories that give the right to exemption of the above categories and who are not able to temporarily submit the required documents may be released from work for the period necessary for their submission, but not more than two weeks (in rural areas for sick and powerless up to 1 month), after which, in the absence of a certificate, they are called to duty in a general manner.

12.                Persons who, due to illness or any other good reason, cannot personally submit the necessary documents or provide the required information about themselves, submit this through family members or other means of application to the house committee, house management or the owner of the house, or, in rural localities, ‐ the village council. The chairman of the house committee, house management, the commandant of the house, or the chairman of the village and parish councils personally verify the correctness of the testimony of these persons, and, if necessary, organize their actual revision through medical control commissions or individual doctors.

13.                The list of those indicated in section “b” of § 10 is kept by the house committee, the house administration or the householder, and their compilers are personally responsible for the correctness of its compilation. Copies of the lists are sent within the time frame established by the local Committee on General Labor Service, to the local Committee on General Labor Service or other institutions, which can appoint audits and establish constant control over the correctness of release, as well as re‐certify individuals.

14.                No person who is not exempted from labor service on the basis of these rules or special regulations of the Committee on General Labor Service can replace himself with another, including family members.

15.                Any person who gives false information about himself in order to be exempted from labor service, depending on the circumstances of the case, is punished by the Committees for General Labor Service in disciplinary order or brought to trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal as for desertion. All officials issuing incorrect identification are punished for harboring deserters and a crime ex officio.

16.                All officials who engage in work persons entitled to release on the basis of these rules are punished in an administrative manner.

17.                All complaints about improper exemption or non‐compliance with these rules are submitted to the local Pravtrud (Commission on the correct use of labor and exemption from work under the local Committee on General Labor Service).

Signed by: F. Dzerzhinsky, Chairman of the Main Committee for General Labor Service . Peopleʹs Commissar for Labor and Social Security V. Schmidt . March 23, 1920. , Published in No. 67 of Izvestia of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets on March

27, 1920.