1 www.cielolaboral.com One year after the official recognition of Covid-19 as a pandemic: case of the social situation in Russia Nikita Lyutov & Rustem Davletgildeev Population’s income support in general The most significant way to maintain the income of the population was to increase the maximum amount of the unemployment benefit from 8,000 rubles (about 108 U.S. dollars) per month to the minimum wage (12,130 rubles - about 164 U.S. dollars) as well as to increase the unemployment benefit’s minimum amount to 1,500 rubles (about 20 U.S. dollars) [1] and to 4500 rubles (about 61 U.S. dollars) in April-August 2020 [2]. A notable measure of social support was also an additional payment of an additional allowance to families with two or more children in the amount of 5,000 rubles (about 68 U.S. dollars) per month per each child under three years of age [3, 4], an increase of the unemployment benefit for April-June 2020 for people dismissed after 1 March 2020 in the amount of 3,000 rubles (about 40 U.S. dollars) per each child [5], as well as a single-time payment of 10,000 rubles (about 136 U.S. dollars) per each child aged three to fifteen [6. 7]. Measures aimed at protecting the population in the situation of loss of income also included subsidizing mortgage loans at a preferential rate [8], limiting forced eviction of debtors from residential premises, and extending the deadlines for paying property taxes in a number of regions. Support for jobs and employers In Russia, the State chose to transfer the main costs of preserving jobs and workers' incomes to employers. Part of March, all of April and part of May 2020 were declared “non -working days”. The Labour Code of the Russian Federation provides for days off and non-working holidays (Articles 111 and 112 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation) [9]. Non-working days provided for by the Executive Orders of the President of the Russian Federation [10, 11, 12] do not belong to any of these types. Employers not classified as continuously operating and vital and which were unable to carry out their activities remotely were required to maintain an average wage for their employees in full for the period of restrictions. In accordance with the explanations of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation of April 2, 2020 [13], a forced stop of work in this situation is not considered a downtime due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties, which is paid in the amount of two-thirds of the employee's official salary. A significant public response was caused by the Government's measures aimed at simultaneously supporting employers and preserving employment. We are talking about the issuance of interest- free loans to businesses related to the industries affected by the pandemic, provided that employers retain at least 90% of jobs compared to March 31, 2020. [14] In addition, in April 2020, the President instructed the Government to provide affected entrepreneurs with financial support from the federal budget on a non-reimbursable basis for solving urgent problems in the amount of at least one minimum wage (12,130 rubles - about 164 U.S. dollars) per employee per month [15, 16]. In