On the Transfer to the Eight-Hour Working Day, the Seven-day Work Week, and on the Prohibition of Unauthorized Departure by Laborers and Office Workers from Factories and Offices

Translation copyright © 1999 by Hugo S. Cunningham

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Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, 26 June 1940

Source:
«Vedemosti Verxovnogo Soveta SSSR», 1940 g. No. 20
as reprinted in
Ministerstvo Yusticii RSFSR, Ugolovnyj Kodeks RSFSR: Oficial'nyj tekst s izmeneniyami na 1 iyulya 1950 g. i s prilozheniem postatejno-sistematizirovannyx materialov, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Yuridicheskoj Literatury, Moskva, 1950; str. 157-163

View original Russian text.


In accord with the application of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions -- the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decrees:


The most interesting point is that, for ordinary workers, quitting one's job, missing a day of work, or even being (more than 20 minutes) late for work became a criminal offense, with a mandatory prison sentence [Paragraph
5].

This law was enforced; supervisors who attempted to cover up for their employees themselves faced prosecution and imprisonment [Paragraph 6].

Comment from the Ideology Dept:


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