Duma gives Russians extra day off work to undergo medical
Russians have just received another concession from authorities who seek to soften the effects of pension reform – an extra day off which people can use to undergo a full medical check.
It is well known that close monitoring of one’s health and regular checks with specialist doctors is a key condition for successful diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, from common flu to cancer as well as an important factor for life expectancy increase.
It is also not a secret that in modern hectic times many people fail to follow this important advice. Some simply don’t care and some could be afraid of doctors or, more precisely, of some especially gloomy outcome of their visit to the clinic. But for the majority the reason is simple – they work a lot and medical institutions have the same working hours as wannabe patients, making a visit to the doctor, without taking sick leave, more complicated.
Of course, some professions, like test pilots, military elite or professional athletes have regular universal medical checks as part of their work, but the rest of ordinary Russians are not so lucky.
Or so it used to be, because on Thursday Russian Lower House approved the motion that obliges employers to give an extra day off every year to all workers of pre-retirement age and working pensioners so that they could undergo a full health check.
The pre-retirement age is a very new definition which means the period of five years before the official retirement age. The current retirement age in Russia is 55 years for women and 60 for men but in the course of the ongoing reform it is expected to rise to 60 years for women and 65 for men in slightly more than a decade.
The new motion also applies to younger workers but they can get only one day off in three years for a universal medical check.
The new bill still needs to be approved by the Upper House and signed by President Vladimir Putin, but there were no controversies surrounding it and such motions are usually passed smoothly. The scheduled date for the bill to come into force is January 1, 2019.
The mentioning of the bill, offering older Russians an opportunity to take better care of their health, has also been included in the general pension reform bill that is expected to get a final approval from the Lower House on Thursday.
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