This week, we detail another option that provides a general procedure for the employment of foreigners by Russian and foreign companies in Moscow, irrespective of legal status, structure and ownership of a company. Under this procedure, a company should obtain a permission to employ foreigners, and later register a "Confirmation of labor rights" (work permit) for each foreign employee.

This procedure is rather complicated and can take up to a few months. However, it reflects the state's policy of protecting Russians' right to priority employment as per law.

The documents to be submitted for permission are similar to those mentioned in Option 1 (see issue May 17, page 14). The Moscow Mayor's Instruction No. 183-RM has added another two documents to this list:

This is the step-by-step procedure for obtaining a work permit:

1. Employment of foreigners should be approved by the Moscow Area Department of Labor and Employment (where a company is registered and located).

A company should file an application, addressed to the department's director. The application requests approval for the employment of foreign specialists and gives grounds for the request. Provided there are no specialists who meet the qualifications and requirements of the job on the Russian labor market, the department will approve the request. It usually takes around one month for the department to process the documents.

2. The company should file another application to obtain a permission for foreigners' employment, which is considered at meetings of the Working Group of Foreigners' Employment in the Moscow Government.

The application for the permission, the approval of the Moscow Area Labor and Employment Department and other documents are to be submitted to the working group. The working group adopts an appropriate resolution and then submits it to the Inter-departmental Administrative Commission of the Moscow Government. It takes the working group up to 15 days to process the documents. Top executives of companies may also be invited to meetings of the working group to provide more information on requests.

3. The Inter-departmental Administrative Commission of the Moscow Government, which is responsible for the policy of foreigners' employment and is chaired by Moscow's deputy mayor, adopts resolutions regarding foreigners' employment at its sessions. Top executives of respective companies may also be invited to sessions of the commission.

The sessions take place no less than once each month. Conclusions regarding foreigners' employment by companies are issued in the form of the deputy mayor's instructions within 10 days.

4. Permission to employ foreign specialists should then be registered by the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation.

A company files an application to the Federal Migration Service asking to register a permission on the basis of respective instructions from the Moscow deputy mayor. The permission is processed in one month and issued upon presentation of payment orders confirming payment of the issuance cost, which equals one minimum wage per foreign specialist.

5. Confirmations of labor right sare issued at the Moscow Migration Service on the basis of permissions. The procedure is very similar to the one described in option 1, with the exception that the cost of issuance of the confirmation is not to be paid in advance.

The Moscow government has expressed its determination to ensure strict compliance by companies, their top executives and foreign employees, with the above procedure.

If companies fail to comply with these procedures, there are two types of responsibilities stipulated by Moscow Law No. 41 of October 22, 1997, namely, notification and penalty.

All cases of infringement may be divided into two groups: employment of foreigners without appropriate permissions and confirmations and employment of foreigners with discrepant documents. Examples of the latter case are when the position of a foreigner that is stated in a confirmation is different from the one he holds in reality or when a foreigner works in a company different from the one stated in a confirmation.

The maximum penalty for a company equals one hundred minimum wages for each foreigner employed with legal infringements.

The Moscow Migration Service inspects companies employing foreigners on a regular basis. Such inspections can be initiated by the Moscow mayor or the Moscow government, as well as by the service itself.

Under the Moscow government's Resolution No. 385 from May 27, 1997, top executives "should provide unlimited access to all premises, present all required documents, and create reasonably convenient working conditions for officials who carry out such inspections."

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