How to apply for unemployment benefits: answers to frequently asked questions

“Unemployed” status: definition and conditions for assignment

Unemployed status is a position of a citizen in which he has lost an official source of income due to loss of work. This circumstance must be confirmed by documents (dismissal order, entry in the work book), verified by departmental bodies and recorded in the Employment Center.

To assign status, you must contact the regional inspectorate for employment of citizens with an application to register with the Employment Center as an unemployed person.

Important! Until the beginning of 2021, you can submit an application online through the State Services portal. If the coronavirus situation does not improve, the deadline may be extended.

The applicant must not have existing employment relationships with employers, and, accordingly, financial income for the provision of work and services. If these two mandatory conditions are not met, unemployed status will not be granted.

The applicant can also find out about open vacancies and notify a labor exchange specialist of his desire to find a new job.

Unemployment benefits: conditions and procedure for receiving

The required payments are increased by the size of the regional coefficient. In the second period, the unemployed are paid the minimum amount of unemployment benefits. Citizens of the second category receive benefits in the amount of the minimum amount multiplied by the regional coefficient.

• Failure to appear at the Employment Center within ten days from the date of registration.
• Providing false data.
• Repeated refusal of a job offered by the Employment Center if the type of activity suits the person based on his professional education and health status, and the job is within territorial accessibility.
• Refusal from professional retraining.

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Legal status of the unemployed

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF) establishes the legal status of the unemployed, but it does not contain a precise definition of this concept. The criteria for status recognition are established:

• Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Employment”.
• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, which guarantees financial assistance to the unemployed;
• The Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which describes the difference between the concepts of an unemployed person and an officially unemployed person.

(definition from the Employment Law)

The listed documents describe the conditions under which a Russian citizen can count on acquiring or terminating the legal status of an unemployed person.

Advantages of this situation

Many people who have lost their jobs turn to the Central Employment Center not only for unemployment benefits, but also for additional support measures. The advantages of obtaining unemployed status are as follows:

Early retirement

If a person of pre-retirement age has lost his job due to the liquidation of an enterprise or staff reduction, he can contact the Employment Center to look for a new job.

In addition, employees can offer him to retire 2 years earlier than expected. In 2021, men aged 58.5 years and women aged 53.5 years can take advantage of the opportunity to retire early. To do this, two conditions must be met: sufficient accumulated work experience (37 years for women and 42 years for men) and the inability to find work through the employment center.

Let us remind you that according to the new pension reform, by 2028 the retirement age will be 60 years for women and 65 for men. The retirement age is being raised gradually: in 2020, Russians can retire at 55.5 and 60.5 years, respectively, for women and men; in 2021, the bar will rise even further - 56.5 and 61.5.

Free training for a new profession

Every unemployed person has the right to undergo free training or retraining for a profession in demand on the labor market. To do this, you must meet one of the conditions: insufficient qualifications or lack thereof; there are no offers from the Center for Specialization in the current specialty; loss of work skills in the acquired specialty.

Citizens who successfully complete training or retraining and pass the final test will be able to receive a document (certificate, diploma) about the completed course.

Free medical examination

Those registered with the Center for Labor Protection have the right to undergo a medical examination when employed in a public clinic completely free of charge.

Finding a suitable job in your specialty

Employees of the Central Employment Center are obliged to notify the unemployed of vacancies that arise that correspond to his qualifications. If the applicant is interested, employees arrange an interview with a potential employer.

Other support measures provided for by regional law

Their availability should be clarified by telephone or in person at the local Employment Center.

Flaws

The “unemployed” status also has disadvantages:

• the need to visit the Employment Center on certain days according to a set schedule;
• failure to appear on the designated day must be justified by a medical certificate or other document;
• obligation to attend various job search events organized by the Employment Center;
• the impossibility of permanently refusing vacancies;
• reduction in benefit amount or termination of status if established rules are not followed;
• the possibility of being sent to public works that do not meet qualifications.

How to register official absence from work

So, how to obtain unemployed status, which will give you the opportunity to receive benefits from the state and help in finding a new employer?

Obtaining unemployed status as usual is carried out directly through the local Employment Center. You will need to provide the following documents:

• passport;
• work record (except for cases when the applicant is looking for work for the first time);
• education diploma or other documents confirming qualifications;
• certificate of average income from previous place of work;
• If an unemployed person has a disability, a rehabilitation program is required, which specifies the working conditions acceptable for the candidate.

Starting in the spring of 2021, you can apply for unemployed status online through the State Services website - a measure was taken with the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. To do this, you need to log in or register on the portal, and then follow the instructions for filling out applications in the “Work and Employment” section to obtain unemployed status.

Important! You can register as unemployed and obtain unemployed status remotely through State Services.

Mandatory conditions for obtaining unemployed status according to the law are:

• age over 16 years;
• lack of formal employment relationships and income;
• presence of Russian citizenship;
• lack of full-time study employment;
• lack of pension payments.

Application processing times

The period for recognition as unemployed from the moment of application is no more than 11 days from the date of filing the application with the Employment Center. During this period, the applicant may be offered vacancies from the labor exchange database that he or she meets in terms of professional skills and education. Notifications with current offers can be viewed in your personal account. If there are none or the applicant is not suitable based on the interview results, then he is automatically recognized as unemployed.

Definition, procedure and conditions for recognition as unemployed

As experts note, labor law attaches great importance to regulating and solving problems of employment and employment of citizens. However, in modern society, along with employed people who have permanent and temporary jobs, who are the majority, there are many citizens who do not have a job, but are able-bodied. They are called unemployed.

Unemployed are considered able-bodied citizens who do not have a job or income, are registered with the employment service in order to find suitable work, are looking for work and are ready to start it. Based on the legally established definition, the following conditions for recognizing citizens as unemployed can be identified:

• reaching 16 years of age;
• lack of work and income;
• registration with the employment service in order to find a suitable job;
• lack of suitable work;
• search for work by the unemployed themselves and readiness to start it.

As A. Dolgova and I. Zhukova note, only able-bodied citizens who have reached the age of 16 and who, in accordance with the pension legislation of the Russian Federation, have not been assigned a labor pension for old age (age) or long service, can be recognized as unemployed. Citizens who are disabled in the 1st group are not considered able-bodied.

Only a citizen who does not have a job or income can be recognized as unemployed. Unemployed status is not assigned to citizens engaged in activities specified in Art. 2 of the Law on Employment, that is, those working under a labor, civil law, author's contract, in a cooperative on the basis of membership, full-time students in a vocational educational institution, etc.

The payment of severance pay and maintained average earnings to citizens dismissed from organizations or from military service due to liquidation, reduction in numbers and staff is not taken into account as earnings.

However, the following persons are not considered unemployed:

• under sixteen years of age; old-age (age) pensioners, including early retirement, or receiving a pension for long service;
• those who refused two options for a suitable job offered within 10 days from the date of registration with the employment service, and those seeking work for the first time - in the case of two refusals from vocational training or offered paid work;
• who did not appear without good reason within 10 days from the date of their registration in order to search for work at the employment service to offer them a suitable job, and also who did not appear within the period established by the employment service to register them as unemployed;
• convicted by a court verdict that has entered into legal force to correctional labor without imprisonment, and punished with imprisonment;
• who submitted documents containing deliberately false information about the lack of work and earnings.

Citizens who are denied recognition as unemployed in the prescribed manner have the right to re-apply to the employment service authorities one month from the date of refusal to resolve the issue of recognizing them as unemployed.

According to V.A. Pavlenkov, readiness to start work is a condition that is purely subjective and determines a citizen’s attitude to work, his desire to work. If a citizen turns to the employment service not for the purpose of looking for work, but with the sole intention of receiving unemployment benefits, then this is clearly manifested in repeated refusals of suitable work, which gives the employment service the right to refuse registration of this citizen or apply appropriate sanctions.

The decision to recognize a citizen as unemployed is made by the employment service authorities at the citizen’s place of residence no later than 10 days from the date of presentation to the employment service authorities of a passport, work book or documents replacing them, documents certifying professional qualifications, a certificate of average earnings for the last three months at the last place work; for first-time seekers and those without a profession - a passport and education document.

Thus, state policy in the field of employment is based on the principles of ensuring equal opportunities for all able-bodied citizens in realizing the right to work, ensuring measures aimed at preventing unemployment, etc. The Federal Employment Service acts as an intermediary between the unemployed and employers, and the basis for the emergence of legal relations between the state employment service and the unemployed is the decision of the employment service to recognize the citizen as unemployed.

How long can you be registered with the Employment Center?

You can be registered with the Employment Center for an unlimited amount of time until the applicant finds a job. However, unemployment benefits are paid only for 6 months in 1 calendar year. If during this time the candidate fails to find a new job, he can continue to be registered, but without the required payments.

In order to be able to receive benefits again, you need to deregister with the Central Employment Insurance Center and register again after 6 months. However, in this case, the applicant can only count on the minimum amount of payments.

How to extend your unemployed status

To extend your unemployed status, you must report to the Employment Center at least once a month on the designated days. Failure to appear without a valid reason may result in termination of benefits.

Extension of unemployed status for more than 6 months is carried out by contacting the Employment Center. However, due to the quarantine, unemployed people who were registered before the introduction of the self-isolation regime and have already lost the right to payment of benefits have the right not to be deregistered from the labor exchange. In this case, the status is extended automatically.

When can I go to the employment center again? 6 months after deregistration. How many times can I register? Every time you lose your job.

When do payments stop?

The state undertakes to pay benefits to citizens who have lost their jobs. However, this cannot be indefinitely. The legislation establishes certain limits and restrictions regarding this assistance.

According to the norms specified in Article 35 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, termination of payment of material benefits can be made under the following circumstances:

• the subject got a job (this could be either an offered vacancy from the employment center or the result of personal searches);
• a person entered an educational institution for a free place and receives a scholarship;
• an unemployed person violates the rules of being registered with the Employment Center or tries to pull off a scam and obtain funds fraudulently;
• the person retired while at the labor exchange;
• the subject violated the law and was required to participate in community service;
• the person independently refused the services offered by the state;
• registration at the labor exchange exceeded the permissible norm (more than 3 years with interruptions or 2 years without temporary interruptions).

Unemployment in Russia is a pressing problem of the 21st century, the solution of which is only possible with the active development of entrepreneurship and business in the country. The state is taking measures to reduce the number of this category of people.

How to deregister from the employment center

Those who find a job must be deregistered from the labor exchange. You can do this in the following ways:

1. At your own request by contacting the central control center. To do this, you must provide a certificate from your place of employment confirming your employment and receipt of wages. Providing the document initiates termination of the unemployed status—exchange employees will delete the citizen’s data from the database.
2. Online through the State Services website. To do this, you will need to find the appropriate service (in the search, type “deregistration of unemployment”) and follow all the steps specified in the instructions.

Also, the applicant has the right to refuse the status of unemployed at any time by filling out an application for refusal to assist the Employment Center in searching for a job. The basis for termination of the status of unemployed by the labor exchange may be 2 refusals of the applicant from the offered vacancies.

In addition, deregistration is carried out automatically when:

• finding official work;
• moving to another city or town;
• assignment of pension;
• detecting the provision of counterfeit documents;
• criminal conclusion of the applicant.

How to obtain unemployed status in the Russian Federation

An able-bodied citizen who does not have a job or sources of income, is ready to engage in labor activity and has registered with the labor exchange in the manner prescribed by law can obtain the status of unemployed in Russia. This is stated in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

• Under 16 years of age.
• Those who retired due to age (including early retirement).
• Those who provided an incomplete package of documents, knowingly false and unreliable information about work activity, salary, etc.
• Convicts sentenced to imprisonment or correctional labor.
• Individual entrepreneurs.
• Those who have paid work under an employment contract, including temporary, seasonal, part-time work. The exception is citizens employed in public works.
• Those working under a civil contract providing for payment for the provision of services.
• Founders and accomplices of organizations (except for charitable, religious, public organizations, trade unions).
• Appointed to a paid position.
• Full-time students, including those assigned by the employment service.
• Serving in the military, the penal system, the State Fire Service, internal affairs bodies, and performing alternative civilian service.
• Temporarily absent due to valid reasons.
• Those who did not appear within 10 days from the date of registration at the employment center to consider the proposed work options.
• Those who refused 2 proposed job options (including temporary) within 10 days from the date of registration at the employment center.