Dismissal of citizens of pre-retirement age or refusal to apply for employment due to the advanced years of the applicant will now threaten the employer with a fine of up to 200 thousand. rubles or compulsory public works for a period of up to 360 hours. Such a measure is contained in the amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation adopted by the State Duma deputies in the final, third, reading on Tuesday, September 25. The first to introduce criminal liability for the infringement of the labor rights of elderly Russians was addressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also proposed to consider a pre-retirement age five-year period preceding the person's departure for a well-deserved rest and the appointment of an old-age insurance pension. Appropriate initiatives were sent to the State Duma. According to the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, the three factions supported the document "which solves the issues of protecting the rights of working citizens of pre-retirement age". Earlier, he noted that the presidential initiative is more likely to be of a preventive nature, since it will force the employer to think carefully before without a serious reason to refuse a man of pre-retirement age in his work. "We need especially in this transition period, when changes are made to the pension system, do everything to ensure that the labor man, the citizen of the pre-retirement age, is protected," the press service of the State Duma quotes Volodin. After the adoption of the amendments, the updated. 144 of the Criminal Code reads:.

"Unreasonable refusal to hire a person on grounds of achievement of pre-retirement age, as well as unjustified dismissal from the work of such a person for the same reason is punishable by a fine of up to 200 thousand. rubles or in the amount of the wage or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 18 months or by compulsory labor for up to 360 hours ". The government bill on improving the pension system of the Russian Federation was submitted to the State Duma in June this year.

To improve it, a special working group was created in the lower house, which included parliamentarians, representatives of trade unions, business communities, experts. Before September 24, the State Duma received about 300 amendments to the draft law. Consideration of proposals for changing the parameters of the pension system in the second reading is scheduled for September 26. In particular, according to the document, for men the retirement age will come at 65 years, for women - at 60 years, the channel "360".