Leave

(Russian, otpusk), in the USSR, an annual vacation guaranteed by the Constitution of the USSR during which a worker retains his job and average wage. The law also provides for temporary disability leaves, maternity leaves, and study leaves for industrial and office workers.

Industrial and office workers are granted an annual leave of at least 15 working days. Longer leaves have been established for certain categories of workers: industrial and office workers under 18 years of age (one calendar month), employees of research, educational, and cultural institutions (from 24 to 48 working days), and year-round workers and office employees in the lumber industry and forestry (24 working days). Disabled persons classified in groups one and two who are working at enterprises, workshops, and production sections established to employ such persons have the right to an extended leave of 24 working days. Disabled persons classified in group three, as well as disabled persons in groups one and two who work at home, receive a leave of 18 working days.

Annual supplementary leaves ranging from six to 36 working days are given to industrial and office workers employed in jobs with harmful working conditions. A list of the industries, workshops, occupations, and positions with harmful working conditions was ratified by the State Committee for Labor and Wages of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidium of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions on Dec. 24, 1960. Supplementary leaves of six to 12 working days are granted to workers with irregular working hours; the length of such leaves is established for each position by the enterprise’s administrative office and factory trade union committee.

Supplementary leaves are given to all industrial and office workers in the Far North (18 working days) or similar areas (12 working days). They are also granted to industrial and office workers in certain branches of the economy who have worked for a long time at one enterprise. Employees of enterprises and organizations in ferrous metallurgy are eligible for three to nine supplementary days if they have worked more than two years at one enterprise, and construction workers who have worked more than three years for one organization may receive up to six additional days. Among other groups of workers eligible for supplementary leaves are railroad workers, year-round workers in the lumber industry and forestry, and tractor and machine operators at sovkhozes and other state agricultural enterprises, water management enterprises, and enterprises of the All-Union Agricultural Equipment and Materials Agency (Sel’khoztekh-nika).

To encourage outstanding performance of state or public duties, supplementary leaves may be granted to members of public organizations engaged in educational work with minors (up to three working days), members of volunteer public order squads (up to three working days), and members of volunteer fire fighting units (up to six working days).

Leave is granted on the basis of the working year, not the calendar year. In the first year of work a leave is ordinarily given after 11 months of uninterrupted work at a given enterprise or institution. From the second year on, a worker may obtain a leave before he has worked 11 months in a given working year.

For purposes of granting leaves, work time includes time actually worked; time when the worker did not work but was entitled to part or all of his wages under the law (including absence resulting from incorrect discharge or transfer to another job); time of absence from a job because of temporary disability, when the worker is covered by state social insurance; a period of full-time study at a higher technical school affiliated with a factory; time devoted to production work, including the time that students in secondary specialized schools spend on the job while temporarily taking correspondence or evening courses; the time that an inventor or efficiency expert spends at another enterprise introducing his invention or efficiency proposal; and some other cases stipulated by law.

The schedule of leaves is drawn up jointly by the administrative office and the factory trade union committee. Leaves may be granted at any time during the year but must not disrupt the normal functioning of an enterprise or institution. Failure to grant leave for two consecutive years is forbidden, as is failure to give annual leave to industrial and office workers under 18 and workers eligible for supplementary leave because of harmful working conditions. Monetary compensation may not be substituted for leaves except in cases where an industrial or office worker is discharged before using his leave time. At the request of a worker the administrative office may grant a short-term leave without pay for family or other valid reasons. While on leave a worker may not be discharged by the administrative office except in cases where an enterprise is eliminated.

Paid leaves are also given to working people in other socialist countries. Since World War II, after persistent class struggle, laws providing for paid leave have been adopted in most capitalist countries, and the length of leaves has been increased.