Transfer of an Employee to Another Job in Accordance with a Medical Report

The position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the constitutionality of article 73 of the Russian Labour Code on the transfer of an employee to another job in accordance with a medical report has been investigated. On the basis of an analysis of law enforcement and jurisprudence, the need for some improvement in the legal regulation of the transfer was made in order to ensure the health and employment of workers. In the case of the employer’s absence from the relevant job, it is proposed to provide for payment of the period of removal of the employee from work for health reasons as downtime for reasons beyond the control of the employer and the employee. Measures to eliminate problems related to the determination, interpretation or disregard of medical opinions by employers on the transfer of an employee to another work for medical reasons have been identified. Taking into account the foreign experience of legal regulation of procedures for changing and terminating employment relations, the idea of establishing in article 73 of the Russian Labour Code is advocated the period during which the employer is obliged to resolve the issues arising from the obligatory transfer of a suspended employee to another job in accordance with the medical report. It is considered appropriate to regulate the conditions of the analyzed transfer of workers to work in another area, to provide with the assistance of the employment authorities additional guarantees when transferring to persons who have suffered as a result of work injury, occupational disease or other damage to health related to work. The conclusion is based on the urgency of the obligation in the courts to prove the legality of termination of the employment contract in the event of refusal of the employee to transfer to other work, necessary for him in accordance with the medical opinion, or the absence of the employer of the appropriate work.