Russia expands grounds for dismissal of foreign workers

Starting March 1, Russia will expand the list of legal grounds for dismissing foreign workers.

Employers will be allowed to terminate employment contracts with migrant workers if regional authorities introduce restrictions on the use of foreign labour.

This follows from a document reviewed by TASS.

Previously, the Labour Code allowed termination of employment contracts with foreign nationals only in cases where restrictions were imposed at the federal level. The new amendments add decisions by regional authorities to the list of valid grounds for dismissal.

Explanatory materials to the law note that in 2025 such restrictions were introduced in Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory, and the Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Regional regulations banned the employment of foreign nationals working under patents in certain sectors of the economy.

As a result, employers found themselves in a legal dilemma: on the one hand, violating regional bans could result in fines of up to 1 million rubles or suspension of operations; on the other hand, dismissing a foreign employee could be deemed unlawful, with all the ensuing legal consequences.

According to the document, the adopted changes eliminate this legal gap and bring labor legislation into line with regional practices for regulating migrant employment.

By Khagan Isayev