On 10 April 2026 the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation adopted Judgement No. 23-П in accordance with Article 47.1 of the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation”. The case on the review of constitutionality of Article 53 (part 6) of the Federal Law «On Service in Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation» was considered in connection with the complaint of citizen N.V. Andreevskih.Background
Nikolay Andreevskikh served in the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Krasnoarmeysky District of the Chelyabinsk Oblast from 1 November 2021 to 1 December 2022 as the shift supervisor of the duty unit, and from 1 December 2022 as the operational duty officer of the duty unit. He was assigned an irregular service day and a summarised recording of service time with a one-year accounting period.
In 2022 and 2023, the applicant was serving at night and on non-working public holidays according to a shift schedule: in 2022 – on 3 and 7 January, 23 February, 8 March, 12 June; in 2023 – on 1, 4, and 7 January. He received compensation for night-time service, but not for non-working public holidays. By a decision of the district court, upheld by higher courts, he was denied his claim for compensation under Article 236 of the Labour Code. The courts held that a police officer whose service time is subject to summarised recording is entitled to compensation for service on non-working public holidays only if his service time for the accounting period (in the applicant’s case, one year) did not exceed the standard duration of service time; if it did exceed the standard, such compensation is not paid.
Position of the Court
The right to rest is aimed at ensuring that every citizen has the opportunity to restore their ability to engage in productive labour or other socially useful activities through which the right to work is exercised. It is of a universal nature. The specific features of a particular type of service, although they may allow for the establishment of special rules for the implementation of this right, nevertheless do not imply its excessive and uncompensated restriction.
Service in internal affairs bodies is performed in the public interest and implies the need to perform assigned tasks at any time and under any conditions, including those involving a risk to life and health. Such persons are performing constitutionally significant functions, which determine their special legal status. The regulatory framework must guarantee internal affairs officers a level of material support consistent with their status.
The rules for engaging an internal affairs officer in the performance of official duties beyond the established normal service time, as well as at night, on weekends and non-working public holidays, are contained in the Procedure for Organising Service in the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation. The legal provision challenged by the applicant determines the mechanism for granting an officer additional time off in the event of being engaged in official duties under such conditions. Granting rest on other days of the week in such cases is the priority form of compensation, which is consistent with the Constitution. At the same time, the contested provision also provides for monetary compensation. Thus, increased labour costs associated with reduced rest time or night service may be compensated not only by granting additional rest time but also by increased remuneration, which is also consistent with the constitutional requirements for the protection of labour and the health of citizens.
The legal regulation should also be aimed at implementing these requirements, as well as ensuring fair remuneration, taking into account the specific features of public service. Meanwhile, in the applicant’s case, the courts applied the legal acts in such a way that their interpretation effectively deprived the applicant, whose service time is subject to summarised recording, of the possibility of receiving timely monetary compensation for service on public holidays. However, the performance by an internal affairs officer of duties on public holidays according to a shift schedule is always pre-planned. The very fact of service on such days becomes evident at the moment (regardless of whether summarised recording of service time applies to that officer) when the officer begins to perform duties in the corresponding shift, which is recorded in the service time sheet. This should guarantee him the payment of monthly monetary allowance at an increased rate that takes into account the presence of public holidays in such a period. Any other approach would violate not only the principles of fairness, respect for the working person and for labour itself, but also the right to remuneration without discrimination, as well as the right to fair pay.
The contested provision does not contradict the Constitution. It does not imply that an internal affairs officer may be deprived of the right to receive compensatory payment for the performance of official duties on non-working public holidays.
The applicant’s case is subject to review.
Press Service of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation