The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has drafted a resolution on public holidays in Russia in 2024. This document is published annually. According to the project, the weekend reserved for May 1 will be four days in 2024. Minister Anton Kotyakov told the newspaper: “News”that the holiday schedule will be officially released soon.
It falls on Wednesday, May 1 in 2024, so the celebration may be limited to one day. But, according to Kotyakov, authorities “intensify May months to be convenient for citizens.”
In this regard, the previous two more days and Sunday, April 28, will be added to the weekend on May 1. The Russians will rest for four days in a row, on May 2 they will have to go to work.
The increase in the duration of the May holidays will not affect the New Year holidays, but the working week before the weekend will be six days. Saturday, April 27 will be a working day. From the November holidays, one more day will be moved to the occasion of the National Unity Day (November 4).
According to Kotyakov, the authorities are trying to strike a balance between the New Year and the May holidays.
“We are now hearing calls to shorten the weekend for Christmas. However, the method we currently propose gives very good results.”
The 2024 holiday calendar looks like this:
▪️ New Year holidays — January 1–7 (Monday to Sunday);
▪️ Defender of the Fatherland Day will be celebrated on February 23-25 (Friday to Sunday);
▪️ International Women’s Day – March 8-10 (Friday to Sunday).
Kotyakov did not say which days will be non-working on other holidays. It coincides with Victory Day on Thursday, May 9, Russia Day on Wednesday, June 12, and National Unity Day on Monday, November 4.
Expert opinion
Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that the New Year and May holidays in Russia should be kept in the current format, despite numerous proposals to change their duration.
In particular, Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University of the Government of the Russian Federation, believes that the increase in the number of days off for the May holiday could negatively affect the economy and lead to higher prices for some goods.
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In turn, the decrease in holidays after the New Year will hit the Russian winter resorts, which receive their main income during this period.
“In fact, Russia is among the top five countries with the highest number of hours worked per capita. “Because of low wages, people are forced to work part-time jobs, which of course leads to fatigue,” Safonov said.
To solve this problem, he called for increased productivity and the introduction of mechanized labor.
The debate on the extension of the month of May
In early April, the New People faction submitted a bill to the State Duma to allow four days off from the New Year holidays to the May holidays. As conceived by the authors of the bill, it was proposed to reduce the New Year holidays to four days (January 1-3 and January 7), and to increase and rest the May holidays from May 1 to May 9.
According to the authors of the initiative, the New Year holidays are associated with “boredom, overeating, and often injuries.”
“It’s better to go for an extra weekend barbecue in the spring forest than to sit at home with salads in the winter,” said Vladislav Davankov, one of the authors of the bill.
The development attempt was not accepted and New People was criticized by his colleagues. Deputy Yaroslav Nilov, in particular, stated that the prospects of the new draft law are “not very good”, as such initiatives have never been supported before, despite many years of debate around this issue.
Source: Gazeta
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