Work Calendar and Leave

Documenting Absence from the Workplace

Labor regulations stipulate that absence from the workplace should be documented. Employees have a personal responsibility for properly documenting their absence from workplace.  

An application for any leave of absence from the workplace should be signed and confirmed by relevant supervisors and other staff stipulated by the application forms and regulations. Please note, that the applications should be submitted only in original, and should be confirmed before the starting date of your leave/business trip.

Undocumented absence from the workplace violates labor discipline and can lead to undesirable consequences both for the employee and the University.

Leave

HSE faculty and staff are normally employed under work contracts where the employee’s working time on the territory of the Russian Federation is specified. Employees are free to travel outside Russia on their non-working days that are days off, Russian national holidays, or registered leaves. Naturally, leaving the country on a workday (if it is not an official business trip) is violation of the work contract.

Going on leave requires formal procedures that must be completed in advance; otherwise, leaves will not be registered. HSE teaching and research staff are entitled to different types of leave – annual paid leave, short-term sabbatical leave, and unpaid leave. Please read the information below for details on each kind of leave.

Annual Paid Leave

According to the Russian Labour Code and the internal regulations of the University, research fellows must be provided with the annual paid leave of 28 calendar days per year; faculty who have a teaching load are provided with an extended annual paid leave of 56 calendar days. Please consult your contract for the duration of your annual leave.

In general, faculty members take most of this leave in July and August, as there are no classes during these months.

Employees are supposed to use annual paid leave during the working year. Transfer and deferral of the annual paid leave is only possible in exceptional cases. To change the dates of the leave, an HSE Annual Leave Changing Application Form must be completed. Please note that when changing your leave you should specify the new dates for the entire leave period: either as one lump or in smaller pieces. 

Sabbatical Leave

A short-term sabbatical is a paid leave for conducting research activities. It is granted to employees whose primary place of employment is HSE University and who were hired either through the University’s international recruitment procedure or have received a Tier 3 academic bonus.

The international hires are obliged to use their annual paid leave days before applying for a short-term sabbatical leave.

A leave (in total parts) should not exceed 28 days per calendar year. It may not be preceded by or followed by a standard annual leave. It can be taken once or several times annually for periods when the applicant does not have classes or other in-class activities.

Unpaid Leave

Aside from annual paid leave, HSE faculty and staff can take unpaid leave upon the agreement of the head of their department.

Please keep in mind that unpaid leave exceeding one month can cause difficulties related to your immigration status. Please consult the HR Department for details of your individual case. Consultations are offered only in Russian. If needed, please ask your coordinator to assist you with the visit or email consultation.