Long Holiday Due To COVID-19, Workers In Moscow Still Get Paid

Red Square in Moscow, Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/Adam Baker)

JAKARTA - The city of Moscow, Russia has decided to lay off workers in the city, in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Not only that, but these employees also still get a salary.

This step is in line with the policy announced by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on Saturday, June 12. Stipulated in the form of a decree signed directly by Sobyanin, this policy applies to all employees in non-essential fields.

"In order to stop the increasing incident rate and save people's lives, today I signed a decree establishing a day off from June 15 to June 19, 2021, with the preservation of wages for workers. So, the long weekend in Moscow will last 9 days, from 12 June to June 20, 2021", Sobyanin wrote in his blog last Saturday, as reported by TASS.

Sobyanin explained, this decision applies to companies and organizations of all forms of ownership, which usually do not work on weekends (Sundays).

"But of course it does not apply to organizations that are very important for ensuring the functioning of urban infrastructure, as well as defense companies, Rosatom, Roscosmos, and some other strategic industries in accordance with the decree of the Russian President No. 316 from May 11, 2020", explained Sobyanin.

According to him, this step is considered important by epidemiologists to reduce the rate of spread of the coronavirus, along with the soaring number of infection cases in Moscow.

"Over the past week, the situation with the spread of the coronavirus has deteriorated sharply. The number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases jumped to last year's peak value", he said.

When this policy was announced, Moscow recorded 6.701 daily COVID-19 infections, 1.657 people were hospitalized and 67 patients died. All of them had pneumonia and tested positive for COVID-19.

In addition, as reported by The Moscow Times, Sobyanin also asked employers to hire 30 percent of their employees from home, especially those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccination, after a week-long shutdown.