On the background of increasing sanctions and growing economic problems, Russians have started complaining more often about salary delays. In 2024, the territorial authorities of the Federal Labor and Employment Service (Rostrud) received 18,400 such complaints, 37.4% more than the previous year. These figures were reported in a publication by the institution, consulted by the newspaper RBK.
Among the main causes of accumulating wage debts, Rostrud mentioned suspension of payments for delivered goods by companies, production reduction, resource redirection to credit repayment, and lack of working capital. The institution stated that by the end of 2024, territorial structures were able to ensure payment of outstanding wages for over 238,900 employees, totaling approximately 500 million rubles. Additionally, as a result of inspections regarding compliance with salary regulations, Rostrud’s territorial subdivisions transmitted 510 cases to the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigative Committee for initiating criminal cases. The majority of labor law violations were recorded in the construction, manufacturing, natural resource extraction, and agriculture industries.
Previously, Rosstat had announced that in 2024, the volume of outstanding salary debts of organizations (excluding small and medium-sized enterprises) had increased by 43%. In nominal terms, as of January 1st, these debts amounted to 508 million rubles – less than 1% of the monthly salary fund for employees in monitored economic sectors. At the sectoral level, the biggest increases in salary debts were recorded in construction (13 times), the production of computers, electronic equipment, and optics (3.3 times), as well as in transportation (+56%). In February 2025, the growth accelerated: by the end of the month, outstanding debts had reached 1.2 billion rubles – 2.3 times more than in the same period last year.
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