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 The Labor Laws of Soviet Russia

Containing a Supplement, "The Protection of Labor in Soviet Russia," by S. Kaplun of the Commissariat of Labor

ARTICLE II 

 

The Right to Work 

 

1. All citizens able to work have the right to employment at their vocations and for remuneration fixed for such class of work. 

 

Note. The District Exchange Bureau of the Division of Labor Distribution may, by agreement with the respective labor bodies, assign individual workers or groups of them to work at other trades if there is no demand for labor 

 

in the vocations of the persons in question. 

 

2. The right to work belongs first of all to those who are subject to compulsory labor. 

 

3. Of the classes exempt from compulsory labor, only those mentioned in subdivision "b" of section 2 shall have the right to work. 

 

4. Those mentioned in subdivisions " a" and "c" of section 2 shall absolutely have no right to work, and those mentioned in section 3 shall temporarily have no right to work. 

 

5. All persons of the female sex and those of the male sex under 18 years of age, shall have no right to work during night time or in those branches of industry where the conditions of labor are especially hard or dangerous. 

 

Note. A list of especially hard and health-endangering occupations shall he prepared by the Division of Labor Protection of the People's Commissariat of Labor, and shall be published in the month of January of each year in the Compilation of Laws all Regulations of the Workmen's and Peasants' Government. 

 

 

ARTICLE III 

 

Methods of Labor Distribution 

 

6. The enforcement of the right to work shall be se­cured through the Division of Labor Distribution, through trade unions, and through all the institutions of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 

 

7. The assignment of workers to work shall be effected through the Division of Labor Distribution. 

 

8. A worker may be summoned to work, save by the Division of Labor Distribution, only when chosen for a position by a Soviet institution or enterprise. 

 

9. Vacancies may be filled by election when the work offered requires political reliability or unusual special knowledge, for which the person elected is noted. 

 

10. Persons engaged for work by election must register with the Division of Labor Distribution before they are accepted, but they shall not be subject to the rules concerning probation which are set forth in Article IV of the present Code. 

 

11. Unemployed persons shall be registered to work through the Division of Labor Distribution in the manner stated in sections 21 to 30. 

 

12. A worker who is not engaged in work at his vocation shall register with the local Division of Labor Distribution as unemployed. 

 

13. Establishments and individuals in need of workers shall apply to the local Division of Labor Distribution or its division (Correspondence Bureau) stating the condition of the work offered as well as the requirements which the workmen must meet (trade, knowledge, experience). 

 

14. The Division of Labor Distribution on receipt of the application mentioned in section 22, shall assign the persons meeting the requirements thereof in the order determined by the same. 

 

15. An unemployed person has no right to refuse an offer to work at his vocation, provided the working conditions conform with standards fixed by the respective scale regulations, or in the absence of the same by the trade unions. 

 

16. A worker assigned to work for a period of not more than two weeks, shall be considered unemployed, and shall not lose his place on the list of the Division of Labor Distribution. 

 

17. Should the local Division of Labor Distribution have no workers on its lists meeting the stated requirements, the application shall be immediately sent to the District Exchange Bureau, and the establishment or individual offering the employment shall be simultaneously notified to this effect. 

 

18. Whenever workers are required for work outside of their district, a roll-call of the unemployed registered with the Division of Labor Distribution shall take place, to ascertain who are willing to go; if a sufficient number of such should not be found, the Division of Labor Dis­ tribution shall assign the lacking number from among the unemployed in the order of their registration, provided that those who have dependents must not be thus assigned be­ fore single persons. 

 

19. If in the Division of Labor Distribution, within the limits of the district, there be no workmen meeting the requirements, the District Exchange Bureau has the right, upon agreement with the respective trade union, to send unemployed from another class approaching as nearly as possible the trade required. 

 

20. An unemployed person who is offered work outside his vocation shall he obliged to accept it, with the under­standing, if he so desires, that this be only temporary, until he receives work at his vocation. 

 

21. A worker who is working outside his vocation, and who has expressed the desire that this be only temporary, shall retain his place on the register of the Division of Labor Distribution until he secures work at his vocation. 

 

22. Private individuals violating the rules of labor distribution set forth in this article shall be punished, by order of the local board of the Division of Labor Distribution, by a fine of not less than 300 rubles or by arrest for not less than one week. Soviet establishments and officials violating these rules of labor distribution shall be liable to prosecution for malfeasance in office.