In February and March, Russians will have a three-day "micro-vacation" to celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day, as well as International Women's Day. It is possible that 2015 will be a "farewell" year for these holidays: State Duma deputies propose to make February 23 and March 8 regular working days.
How we rest on February 23
In 2015, 23 February falls on a Monday. Therefore, the celebration of the Defender of the Fatherland Day will be held "strictly according to the schedule": no transfers of days off are provided. Therefore, most residents of the country will rest for three days in a row: February 21 and 22 (Saturday and Sunday) plus an adjoining public holiday, followed by a four-day working week. Those who work or study on the "six-day" rest only on February 22 and 23.
The last working day of the week preceding the holiday (Friday, February 20) is not, however, a shortened working day. A pre-holiday day, when the working time is reduced by one hour, is considered only the day on the eve of the significant date, and in this case it is Sunday, a day off.
How we rest on March 8
International Women's Day 8 March this year is celebrated on Sunday. In this case, in accordance with Russian law, the day off is postponed to the next day, Monday.
Thus, on March 8, 2015, we will also rest for three days - from March 7 to March 9.
Some are confused by the fact that the postponement of the day off from March 8 to March 9 did not appear in the Government Decree “On the postponement of weekends in 2015”. There really only two transfers are marked: the first Saturday and Sunday of January, the 3rd and 4th numbers were moved to January 9 and May 4, respectively. The thing is that, if a holiday date falls on a weekend, then the transfer of an additional day of rest to the first post-holiday working day is spelled out in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, such transfers are made automatically, without special decrees.
Will February and March holidays be canceled?
In the summer of 2015, the State Duma will consider a bill introduced by deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party. Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his followers propose to make the majority of holidays as working days. According to the bill, only January 1 and 2 - New Year's holidays, Christmas on January 7 and Victory Day on May 9 - should remain a nationwide weekend. Long New Year's holidays, February 23, March 8, May 1, as well as Russia Day on June 12 and National Unity Day on November 4, the deputies propose to make regular working days.
As compensation, the deputies propose to grant Russians the right to an additional ten-day paid vacation.
LDPR representatives justify their proposal by the fact that it will be easier for citizens to plan their vacation time, in addition, they will be able to determine what holidays they want to celebrate - and when.
This is not the first time that LDAR deputies have tried to radically change weekends and holidays, but whether their proposals will be accepted this time is still unknown. Be that as it may, on March 8 and February 23 in 2015, we rest according to the usual rules.
