Work Сalendar and Leave

National holidays in Russia are considered non-working days. Every year the Russian government issues a statement specifying the duration of national holidays, so it may vary from year to year. National holidays may also be followed or preceded by additional days off. Please note that a working day preceding a national holiday is normally one hour shorter.

National holidays are celebrated in Russia on the following days:

Professors usually work six hours per day Monday to Saturday, which results in 36 hours per week. Please refer to your work contract for your exact work schedule. Days off are marked in red. Working days - if marked in green and followed by a national holiday - are one hour shorter.

Researchers, including postdoctoral fellows, normally work eight hours per day Monday to Friday, which results in 40 hours per week. Please refer to your work contract for your exact work schedule. Days off are marked in red. Working days - if marked in green and followed by a national holiday - are one hour shorter.

Annual paid leave is provided according to the Employee Leaves Schedule, which is composed and approved at the department and submitted to the HR office in December at least two weeks before the start of a calendar year. According to the schedule, the leave and allowance are processed automatically during the year without any additional formal procedures.

Unplanned leave out of schedule is provided based on an application filled out by the employee and submitted to the head of their department at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the leave.

While it may seem advantageous to combine leave with holidays to prolong it, this may lead to certain monetary losses.

The reason is that compensation for leave days is calculated differently than a salary, and depends on 1) the amount of average wage and 2) the number of working days in a month. While salary is paid for workdays, leave is paid for calendar days (including weekends). Furthermore, public holidays that occur during the period of leave are not paid, though they prolong the period of leave to the corresponding number of days. It is important to remember that the fewer working days there are in the calendar month, the smaller your compensation will be.

If you want to know the details of how the payment for your leave days was or will be calculated, you may consult the Accounting Office. Consultations are offered only in Russian. If needed, please ask your coordinator to assist you with the visit or email consultation. 

The international hires are strongly recommended to use their Annual Paid Leave days before applying for a Short-Term Sabbatical Leave.

If you are interested in applying for a 28-day sabbatical (or part of its duration) or its prolongation up to 56 days, please make sure you complete the following steps two weeks before the planned start of the leave:

1. Complete the HSE Short-Term Sabbatical form (click at the 'Other Applications' option) and submit it to your coordinator(s). If you have two contracts, then you have to fill in 2 separate forms.
2. Your coordinator will start the paperflow.

Within two weeks upon your return from a short-term sabbatical, its results (in a format agreed upon prior to the leave) must be submitted to the head of your department.

As per the Regulations on the Procedures and Conditions of Granting Short-Term Sabbatical Leaves to Academic Staff of the National Research University Higher School of Economics,  you shall receive an average salary within the timeframes set by HSE's internal bylaws. If you haven't used all of your sabbatical days during the years (28 days), the remaining days can neither be transferred to the next calendar year nor renumerated. 

While on sabbatical leave, a staff member shall receive the average pay, as calculated for the last 12 months. Below is the formula for calculating the average pay rate:  

• The average pay rate is determined by dividing payment for the last 12 months by the total number of days in the working period.
• The total number of days in the working period = 29.3 x total number of working months + total number of days in incomplete working months.
• Total number of days in an incomplete working month = total number of working days in a month ÷ number of calendar days in a month x 29.3.

Salary for sabbatical leave shall be paid 1 (one) time a month and transferred to the staff member’s bank account as per the payment schedule.