The right to work less, which is not fulfilled

Doctors forbid working in 30-degree heat for more than five hoursAlexandra Gavycheva, GZT.RU

The temperature in Moscow will stay around the 30-degree mark throughout July. According to the existing sanitary standards, employees of the capital's offices can achieve a reduction in the working day when a certain temperature is exceeded indoors. But Rospotrebnadzor says that it is almost impossible to do this.

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The right to work less, which is not fulfilled

If the temperature of 28-30 degrees is fixed in the workplace, then employees have the right to demand that the employer shorten the working day. This is stated in the Sanitary Norms and Regulations (SanPiN) in force in the country.

Download the file "Hygienic requirements for the microclimate of industrial premises.doc" (204.5 KB)

The requirements for the workplace air temperature are prescribed in the section "Hygienic requirements for the microclimate of industrial premises". It indicates what the employer should do if the standards are exceeded. As one of the measures, it is proposed to reduce the working hours of employees.

So, for office workers, when the air temperature at the workplace is 30 degrees, the working day can be reduced to five hours (at the standard eight). At a temperature of 31 degrees – up to three hours, at 32 degrees – up to two hours, at 32.5 degrees – up to one hour.

Category Ia includes work with an energy consumption intensity of up to 139 watts, performed while sitting and accompanied by minor physical stress (a number of professions at precision instrument and mechanical engineering enterprises, watchmaking, sewing industries, in the field of management).
Category Ib includes works with an energy consumption intensity of 140-174 watts, performed while sitting, standing or walking and accompanied by some physical stress (for example, a number of professions in the printing industry, communications companies, supervisors, craftsmen in various types of production).
Category IIa includes work with an energy consumption intensity of 175-232 Watts, associated with constant walking, moving small (up to 1 kg) products or objects in a standing or sitting position and requiring a certain physical exertion (in particular, a number of professions in mechanical assembly shops of machine-building enterprises, in spinning and weaving production).
Category IIb includes work with an energy consumption intensity of 233-290 Watts, associated with walking, moving and carrying weights up to 10 kilograms, accompanied by moderate physical stress (a number of professions in mechanized foundries, rolling mills, forging, thermal, welding workshops of machine-building and metallurgical enterprises).
Category III includes work with an energy intensity of more than 290 watts, associated with constant movement, movement and carrying of significant (over 10 kg) weights and requiring great physical effort (a number of professions in blacksmith shops with manual forging, foundries with manual stuffing and filling of flasks of machine-building and metallurgical enterprises).

According to the SanPiN, in order to demand a shorter working day, the employer needs to create a commission that will measure the temperature in the workplace. The temperature must be measured in a certain way (for more information, see section 7 of the SanPiN). Based on the results of the surveys, a protocol is drawn up in which the measurements obtained and their assessment for compliance with regulatory requirements will be indicated.

However, to do it in practice, as GZT found out.RU, it will be extremely difficult. The metropolitan department of Rospotrebnadzor believes that it will "not work in any way" to achieve a reduction in the working day.

"It is written, but it is practically impossible," the Rospotrebnadzor said. – It is easier for the employer to provide employees with water and other attributes. All offices should also have climate control units – fans and other devices that mitigate the impact of the microclimate"

However, those who still intend to achieve a shorter working day are recommended by Rospotrebnadzor to contact the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in Moscow. (The Federal State Institution "Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Moscow" is located in Grafsky Lane, house 4/9)

"There are specialists there who have the equipment," the department explained. – They will come and measure the temperature with special thermometers. But the research is conducted on a paid basis. The tariff is set by the Russian Federation."

The employer will not revise the working hoursIn a recruitment company SuperJob.ru GZT.

RU also stated that the Moscow heat is a temporary force majeure, because of which the employer will not revise the working hours.

"A reduced working day is established at enterprises with constant extreme conditions," GZT said.EN Alexey Zakharov, President SuperJob.ru - Despite the fact that working capacity decreases in the heat, it cannot be said that natural conditions have destabilized the work of offices."

Alexey Zakharov said that each company struggles with the heat in its own way. Additional air conditioners and fans are installed in offices, and some companies allow relaxation in the dress code.

"Individually, employees can meet halfway and be allowed to work remotely," he added.

The fact that it is easier for an employee to achieve a change in the indoor climate from an employer than a reduction in the working day was also recognized in the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.

"All these norms are recommendatory,– GZT said.EN Chief Technical Labor Inspector of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Vitaly Trumel. – Even if the temperature exceeds the established standards, there is a fan to normalize the temperature by lowering it by 2-3 degrees. That is, to bring it to the maximum level – 28 degrees."

The working day can be shortened only if it is prescribed in the collective agreement, or in the agreement between the collective and the employer, Vitaly Trumel said: "A collective agreement is needed to specify all possible points that may affect the well-being of employees during the labor process."

"Everything can be done," he continued. – If a person sets himself the goal of shortening the working day and he is not interested in anything else, then this is a profound misconception. Everything can be organized at the workplace. There is an organizational process to improve working conditions. If the employer cannot, the relevant authorities must issue regulations."

Setting the temperature in the office will not be easy

It will be extremely difficult to compete with the employer because of the heat in the office, says lawyer Oleg Zaitsev of the firm (firm "Krikunov and Partners"). "The SanPiN data regulate precisely the duration of employees' stay in the workplace (at a temperature of 30 degrees), that is, if the employer has a rest room that is equipped with air conditioning, then the employee can simply go from his workplace to rest there," explained Oleg Zaitsev.

Fixing the high temperature in the office will also be difficult. "On a certain day, the temperature at the workplace can exceed 30 degrees, and when a Rospotrebnadzor employee comes to measure, at that moment the temperature may drop," Zaitsev explained. – On the other hand, the employer can put an air conditioner and it will be quite difficult to prove that the temperature here did not meet the standard."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.07.2010