By 2015, at least 800 professional standards will be developed in Russia

    Currently, the State Duma of the Russian Federation is considering a bill to introduce a number of amendments to the Labor Code. The bill defines concepts such as “employee qualifications” and “professional standards”, and also provides that the procedure for the development and approval of professional standards will be established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

    According to the bill, the qualification of an employee is the level of knowledge, skills and experience of an employee necessary for him to carry out professional activities; professional standard - requirements for the qualification of an employee in order to carry out his professional activities.

    In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federationit is planned to approve the plan for the development of professional standards by December 1, 2012, as well as develop at least 800 professional standards by 2015. At present, the preparation of the plan (and in the future, apparently, of the standards themselves) is being carried out by the Ministry of Labor of Russia together with interested all-Russian associations of employers and trade unions.

    There are a number of advantages that, with the high-quality implementation of these legislative initiatives, employees, employers, and the vocational education system will receive:
    • employees are given the opportunity to determine their professional level and improve professional knowledge, improve their qualifications, confirm their qualifications with a certificate, and receive a basis for further professional growth;
    • employers receive criteria for evaluating personnel in order to improve the professional level of employees, enhance their motivation, increase the efficiency and quality of labor, therefore, to achieve high economic results;
    • employers gain the ability to control the professionalism of workers, maintain and improve industry quality standards;
    • the vocational education system in the form of standards receives a meaningful basis for updating educational standards (applied component), developing curricula, modules and teaching materials.

    For subjects of labor relations, professional standards will be advisory in nature. Based on the requirements of professional standards, it is planned to create a personnel certification system to identify and confirm the level of qualifications of employees. Thus, the employer, hiring a certified specialist, will receive an additional guarantee of his competence. It is assumed that certification will be mandatory for those whose work involves technological risks and is voluntary for everyone else.

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