Russian Rewards
Senior employees in Russia have access to pensions, share schemes, bonus plans and healthcare perks, but benefits packages that cover an entire workforce are rare.
Andrei Murygin, partner in Linklaters’ Moscow office, says: “There is no culture of offering [benefits] to every worker. The penetration levels are very low compared to the European countries.”
Tania Bearryman, group director of Ogier Corporate Services, adds: “The understanding of the benefits [employers] can get out of a properly implemented and communicated incentives package is just not there.”
Russia’s state pension system is constantly changing. Currently, Russians pay an average of 22%, capped for certain income levels, of their salary into the scheme, 16% of which goes to an insurance component and 6% to a savings fund. Ruxandra Stoian, partner, HR consulting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Russia, says: “The state pension is around 16% of [final] income, compared to the rest of Europe at about 40%. Like in all former communist countries, it is quite minimal.”
But no workplace pensions culture exists in Russia. Some large employers, such as those in the oil and gas industries, have legacy pension plans, and some multinationals roll out the schemes offered by their head office abroad.
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