Ekaterina Bronitsyna highlights the key trends in labour disputes at the AmCham HR Committee meeting

On May 25, 2026, Ekaterina Bronitsyna, Senior Associate at ALRUD Labour and Employment Practice, took part in a face-to-face meeting of the HR Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham). As part of the topic “Complex personnel decisions and staff development” she presented a report “Key trends in labour disputes”.

In her speech, Ekaterina analyzed the current tendencies in judicial practice 2025–2026 and noted that the practice demonstrated a steady trend towards strengthening the protection of employees' rights. The courts form their own principles and criteria for legality of the employer’s actions which are not provided for by labour legislation.

One of the key trends was the expansion of judicial discretion: the courts began to take into account not only the formal observance of the procedure, but also the circumstances preceding the dismissal, the employee's personal situation, as well as the causes of his/her actions, including possible psychological abuse, family and financial difficulties. Special emphasis was put on the issues of payments with due regard to the current approaches of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and courts of general jurisdiction.

Ekaterina stressed that the key areas for development comprise interpretation of legislative provisions in favour of employees, an increase in the standards of proof for employers, expansion of guarantees for socially vulnerable groups, and the need for a systematic approach to HR processes. During her speech, taking into account the highlighted trends, Ekaterina also offered a number of recommendations, which included, among other things, conducting audits, training staff, documenting all procedures, and implementing internal control mechanisms.