From work to jail. Valid reasons for absenteeism are the main reasons for dismissal of an employee

02.06.2020

"... In the forty-second year, whole batches of children began to enter the camp. Their history was short, clear and terrible. All of them were sentenced to five years for violating the wartime law: "On unauthorized leaving work at military industry enterprises." These were those very “my dear boys” and girls of 14-15 years old who replaced their fathers and brothers who went to the front at the machine tools.
About these, who worked for ten hours, standing on the boxes - they did not reach the machine - a lot of touching and touching things have been written. And everything that was written was true.
The only thing that was not written was what happened when, due to wartime circumstances, the enterprise was evacuated somewhere. Of course, together with the "work force". It’s also good if a mother, sister, one of the relatives worked at the same factory ... Well, what if the mother was a weaver, and her girl sharpened shells? .. It was cold, hungry, unsettled and scary in the new place. Many children and adolescents could not stand this and, yielding to a natural instinct, ran to "mother". And then they were arrested, imprisoned, tried, given five years and sent to a camp.
Passing through the deafening conveyor of arrest, search,
prisons, investigations, trials, stages - these boys and girls arrived in our places already lost from hunger, from the horror that had happened to them, all resistance. They went to hell, and in this hell they clung to those who seemed to them stronger. These strong ones were, of course, the Blatars and the Blatars.
The whole camp caudle attacked the “fresh” ones. Bandits sold girls to drivers, contractors, commandants. For a ration, for a can of canned food, and even for the most valuable thing - a sip of vodka. And before selling the girl, they felt her like a chicken: you could take more for virgins.
The boys became "sixes" among godfathers, among the strongest, more wealthy. They were servants, dumb slaves, toadies, jesters, concubines, whatever. Any blatar, having acquired such a boy for a ration, could beat him, starve him, take away everything he wants, take out all the troubles of his unfortunate life on him.

According to the Decree of June 26, 1940, unauthorized leaving from work was punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 4 months, then according to the Decree of December 26, 1942, such leaving from a military enterprise was declared labor desertion and was punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years .
By the law of May 31, 1941, specially provided for teenagers, such crimes began to be imprisoned from the age of 14.
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 26, 1941, "... Workers and employees are considered to be mobilized and assigned for the period of the war permanent job in these companies...

“And a lot of truant women were brought to Kolyma. Those who were 15 minutes late for work and received 15 years in the camps for this according to Stalin's decree. Pavel Galitsky, former Gulag prisoner

"Lying like an eyewitness" - forensic proverb

There was a famous law “on three spikelets” in the USSR - many people “know” about it (or rather, they think they know), but there was another, no less famous law - LAW ON TRUMS. .

It (the law “on absenteeism”) is unequivocally classified as repressive. It appeared according to the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940. On the transition to an eight-hour working day ... ", which banned layoffs own will, independent, without the sanction of management, the transition from one enterprise to another, and also introduced judicial liability for absenteeism.

The grounds for the emergence of such a harsh law were substantial. In the face of a growing military threat, the industry of the USSR switched to a mobilization mode of operation. In 1940 the Second World War, the strongest country in Europe, was already in full swing - France was smeared within a month, and in the USSR at that time, for example, exactly FIVE TIMES LESS CARS were produced than in the Reich. Let's not talk about quality.

The moment when the army had to be “thrown with planes, tanks, shells” arose in 1940. But on this path, a new misfortune lay in wait for Soviet industry: staff shortage.

After the elimination of unemployment and in connection with collectivization, the spontaneous influx of labor into the city ceased. Enterprises began to experience an acute shortage of personnel. Thus, in 1939, industry, construction and transport lost more than 1.5 million workers.

Therefore, the Decree "On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions" was adopted:

- “To transfer work in all state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions from a six-day week to a seven-day week, counting the seventh day of the week - Sunday - as a day of rest.»

- “Prohibit the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions, as well as unauthorized transfer from one enterprise to another or from one institution to another.

Leaving an enterprise and institution or transfer from one enterprise to another and from one institution to another may only be authorized by the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution.”

- “Establish that the director of an enterprise and the head of an institution has the right and is obliged to give permission for the departure of a worker and employee from an enterprise or institution in the following cases:

a) when the worker.. commissions cannot perform previous job due to illness ... or when a pensioner who has been granted an old-age pension wishes to leave work;

b) when a worker ... must stop working in connection with his enrollment in ... educational institution.

Maternity leave for workers and female employees is preserved in accordance with applicable law.

“To establish that workers and employees who arbitrarily left state, cooperative and public enterprises or institutions are brought to justice and, by the verdict of the people's court, are subjected to imprisonment for a period of 2 to 4 months.”

“Establish that workers and employees of state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions are put on trial for absenteeism without a good reason and are punished with correctional punishment by the verdict of the people's court labor work at the place of work for up to 6 months with deduction from wages up to 25%.»

In this regard, cancel the mandatory dismissal for absenteeism without good reason.

However, in the case of repeated absenteeism, with the punishment for the previous absenteeism not served to the end, one could really go to jail. According to the decree Supreme Court USSR dated July 23, 1940:

“... when a person convicted of absenteeism without good reason for corrective labor at the place of work commits a new absenteeism without good reason while serving this sentence, such actions of the convict should be considered as evasion from serving the sentence imposed by the court. In this case, the unserved term of corrective labor is replaced by imprisonment for the same term.”

However, since maximum term corrective labor according to the Decree of June 26, 1940 was six months, the term of imprisonment in such a case also could not exceed six months.

The citation is necessary, since taking advantage of the mass ignorance of the actual content of the decree, the anti-Soviet "supplemented" them with terrible details, turning them into capacious elements of the myth of Stalin's repressions. Who today does not know what for being late for work under Stalin they put them in the Gulag?

The Sakharov Center, in an article describing the exposition dedicated to the Stalinist terror, reports:

Anything could be the reason for the arrest: non-proletarian origin, a handful of spikelets collected on a collective farm field, related or friendly relations with someone already arrested, “violation of the passport regime”, even being late for work».

Scout defector Viktor Rezun (Suvorov) writes: “On June 26, 1940, the decree “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions” thundered over the country ... By decree of June 26, they were planted for absenteeism, and being late for work over 20 minutes. The tram broke down, being late for work, those who are late are sent to the camps: they won’t let them be late there ”.

The text of the decree, however, clearly spells out the measures applied to violators of the law:

1. For an attempt to "dismiss", that is, systematic absence from work for a long time ("unauthorized leaving the enterprise") - imprisonment for a period of 2 to 4 months.

2. For absenteeism - corrective labor work at the place of work for up to 6 months with deduction from wages up to 25%.

It was also said there that the director of the enterprise is obliged to allow the “worker to leave the enterprise” in the following cases: by disability, by old age, by admission to a university and by pregnancy. He allows not to be late, and certainly not for a day releases an employee due to pregnancy or old age. He gives permission for dismissal or leave (in case of pregnancy).

But things are still there, the Memorial society in the introductory article to the section of its website "Victims of political terror in the USSR" reports:

“... there were millions more people convicted of various minor “criminal” offenses and disciplinary offenses. ... Tried ... for being late, absenteeism or unauthorized absence from work; for violation of discipline and unauthorized departure of students from factory and railway schools ... only from 1941 to 1956 convicted at least 36.2 million people, of which 11 million - for "truancy » !»

Here, among other things, it is not known where the number of 11 million convicted of absenteeism (and late absences) comes from. Since with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a decree was issued on the early release of certain categories of prisoners who had not committed serious crimes, with the transfer to the Red Army of persons of military age. Among them were those convicted under the article “on absenteeism”. In total, 420,000 people were released, incl. and "walkers"

In conclusion, I want to say that many people believe that corrective labor is "with a trolley in the hands of the Belomorkanal to build" or at worst "streets of revenge" rather than being fined a portion of the salary. And interestingly, usually the same people are outraged by the fact that "under Brezhnev, labor discipline was low, that the proletariat was idle at work and drank alcohol, or even skipped it, and that it's good that capitalism has reined in such lazy people." So I don't always understand what they want from the Union, often conflicting demands.

On September 9, 1940, the people's court of Kyiv sentenced to 5 months of corrective labor with a deduction of 25% from the salary of the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, academician Chernyshov, for not attending a lecture at the University on September 5, 1940. When checking, it turned out that that Chernyshov was on vacation and his vacation was allowed by the Academy of Sciences. Rector of the University and Deputy People's Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian SSR Kirk, when submitting the material to the court, did not check the reasons for Academician Chernyshov's absence from the university, and the people's court did not check this either. The case against Chernyshov was dismissed.

The People's Court of the city of Yartsev, Smolensk Region, sentenced the weaver of the Molotov factory Izarenkova Yu. It has been established that Izarenkova lives 5 kilometers from the factory in the village of Ulkhovo, where there are no nurseries and playgrounds. Izarenkova has 3 children aged from 1 month to 5 years. She is not able to carry children to the factory nursery. Izarenkova petitioned for an apartment, but she was not given an apartment in the city. After giving birth, Izarenkova applied for her release from work, which she was denied. The case of Izarenkova was dismissed by the judicial board of the regional court.

26 September 1940 Narsud 7th district Krasnogvardeisky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region sentenced in absentia on August 27 with. Mr. factory worker D.Z.M.O. Shramov for not returning to work after vacation. Subsequently, it turned out that Shramova returned from vacation in a timely manner, but was transferred to another workshop, where she worked. The case of Shramova was dismissed, the persons guilty of groundless bringing her to trial were brought to justice .

P/S / In 26 US states, a teenager can be jailed for skipping school and running away from home...

PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE USSR

DECREE

On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions.

According to the proposal of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decides:

1. To increase the length of the working day of workers and employees in all state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions:

from seven to eight hours - at enterprises with a seven-hour working day;

from six to seven hours - at work with a six-hour working day, with the exception of professions with harmful conditions labor, according to lists approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR;

from six to eight o'clock - for employees of institutions;

from six to eight hours - for persons who have reached the age of 16.

2. Transfer work in all state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions from a six-day week to a seven-day week, counting the seventh day of the week - Sunday - as a day of rest.

Leaving an enterprise or institution or transfer from one enterprise to another and from one institution to another may be authorized only by the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution.

4. Establish that the director of the enterprise and the head of the institution has the right and is obliged to give permission for the departure of a worker and employee from the enterprise or institution in the following cases:

a) when a worker, employee or employee, according to the conclusion of a medical and labor expert commission, cannot perform his previous job due to illness or disability, and the administration cannot provide him with another suitable job in the same enterprise or institution, or when a pensioner who has been assigned an old-age pension wants to leave the job;

b) when a worker, worker or employee must stop working in connection with his enrollment in a higher or secondary specialized educational institution.

Leaves for employees and female employees for pregnancy and childbirth are preserved in accordance with applicable law.

5. Establish that workers and employees who arbitrarily leave state, cooperative and public enterprises or institutions are brought to justice and, by the verdict of the people's court, are subjected to imprisonment for a term of 2 to 4 months.

Establish that workers and employees of state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions for absenteeism without a valid reason are brought to justice and, according to the sentence of the people's court, are punished with corrective labor work at the place of work for a period of up to 6 months with a deduction from wages of up to 25%.

In this regard, cancel the mandatory dismissal for absenteeism without good reason.

To propose to the people's courts that all the cases referred to in this article be considered within no more than 5 days, and that sentences in these cases be carried out immediately.

It is also to be established that directors of enterprises and heads of institutions who have hired persons who are hiding from the law, who have arbitrarily left enterprises and institutions, are subject to judicial liability.

Chairman of the Presidium
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
M. KALININ

Secretary of the Presidium
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
A. GORKIN

For a long time I have been working on a book dedicated to the mythologization of Stalin's repressions.

I will publish fragments of one of the chapters devoted to the famous "Law on absenteeism":

... A full citation of the decrees is necessary, since many years later, taking advantage of the mass ignorance of their actual content, anti-Soviet ideologists "supplemented" them with terrible details, turning them into capacious elements of the myth of Stalin's repressions. Who today does not know what for being late for work under Stalin they put them in the Gulag?

Meanwhile, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940 "On the transition to an eight-hour working day ...", being extremely repressive, nevertheless did not punish at all for being late, and did not exile truants to either camps or the Gulag.

If the law "on three spikelets" is usually unequivocally attributed to repressive ones, the so-called "law on absenteeism" is mentioned in this connection much less frequently. However, there are much more reasons to classify it as repressive. The Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940 "On the transition to an eight-hour working day ..." prohibited dismissals of their own free will, independent, without the sanction of the leadership, the transition from one enterprise to another, and also introduced judicial liability for absenteeism.

There were several reasons for the emergence of such a tough law. In the face of a growing military threat, the industry of the USSR switched to a mobilization mode of operation. From 1939 to June 1941, the share of military spending in the Soviet budget increased from 26 percent to 43 percent. Growth in the output of military products was three times ahead of the overall growth industrial production. Nevertheless, according to the military, it took two years to completely re-equip the army with new tanks, and 1.5 years for aircraft.

The inevitability of war was obvious, the Soviet Union was conducting accelerated preparations, and strategic stocks of food, vital raw materials, were created. G.K. Zhukov in “Memoirs and reflections notes:“ From 1940 to June 1941 total cost state material reserves increased from 4 billion to 7.6 billion rubles.

These included reserves production capacity, fuel, raw materials, energy, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, food. These reserves, laid down on the eve of the war, although rather modest, helped national economy in spite of the difficult year of 1941, quickly pick up the pace and scope necessary for the successful conduct of the war.

An almost twofold increase in strategic reserves within one year could not but affect the economy. In a number of regions of the country, food disappeared from store shelves, huge queues lined up for basic goods, soap disappeared - and medical services ascertained the beginning of pediculosis epidemics.

Such a sharp mobilization of the economy in 1940 is explained by the scale of the tasks that the country faced in the first two five-year plans. J.V. Stalin, summing up the results of the first five-year plan, noted:

« In carrying out the five-year plan and organizing victory in the field of industrial construction, the Party pursued a policy of the most accelerated rates of development of industry. The Party, as it were, whipped up the country, accelerating its run forward. […] It is impossible not to urge on a country that is a hundred years behind and that is in mortal danger because of its backwardness. […]
That is the basis on which a rapid rise in new construction, the pathos of full-scale construction, the heroes and shock workers of new buildings, and the practice of rapid development have grown in our country during the first five-year plan.
Can it be said that in the second five-year plan it will be necessary to carry out exactly the same policy of the most accelerated rates?
No, you can't say that.
First, as a result successful In the five-year plan, we have already basically fulfilled its main task - to lay the foundation for new modern technology for industry, transport, Agriculture. Is it worth whipping up and urging the country after that? It is clear that this is no longer necessary.
[…] as a result of the successful implementation of the five-year plan, we have managed to build tens and hundreds of new large factories and combines with new sophisticated equipment. This means that in the volume industrial products in the second five-year plan, the main role will no longer be played by the old factories, the technology of which has already been mastered, as was the case during the period of the first five-year plan, but by new factories, the technology of which has not yet been mastered and which must be mastered. But the development of new enterprises and new technology presents much more difficulties than the use of old or renovated plants and factories, the technique of which has already been mastered. It requires more time to improve the skills of workers and engineering staff and acquire new skills for full use new technology. Is it not clear after all this that, even if we wanted to, we could not carry out during the period of the Second Five-Year Plan, especially in the first two or three years of the Second Five-Year Plan, a policy of the most accelerated rates of development.
That is why I think that for the second five-year plan we will have to take a less accelerated rate of growth in industrial output.

Large-scale projects of accelerated development of the first five-year plan (1929-1932) were replaced by the development of production and the introduction of technologies of the second five-year plan of 1933-1937. In general, a comprehensive plan for the development of industry was carried out, the logical continuation of which was the plan for the third five-year plan of 1938-1942. The military industry, even being a priority, simply could not develop without related sectors of industry, ranging from agriculture to textile and chemical industries. Until 1940, no other spheres of the economy were going to be sacrificed to the defense industry. G.K. Zhukov in "Memoirs and Reflections" notes the difficulties of equipping the Red Army of this period, associated with the general plans for the development of industry:

“For example, objective circumstances limited the proposals of the People's Commissar of Defense to expand the mass production of the latest models of aircraft, tanks, artillery tractors, trucks, communications and other military equipment.
Of course, in industrial defense there were many shortcomings, difficulties [...] The procedure for the adoption of a new type of weapons for mass production was as follows.
The samples first passed factory tests, in which military representatives took part, then military ones, and only after that the People's Commissariat of Defense gave its opinion. The government, with the participation of the people's commissar of defense, the people's commissars of the military industry and chief designers, considered the presented new types of weapons and military equipment and accepted final decision for their production.
All this took quite some time. It also happened like this: while the process of manufacturing and testing new equipment was underway, the designers had already prepared a new, more advanced model, and it is quite natural that in this case the issue of adoption for service was postponed until the newest model was fully tested.
The military was often scolded for being too insistent in asking to expedite the adoption of one or another model for service. They were told: “Why are you flogging a fever? When necessary, we will bombard you with planes, tanks, shells.”

For Zhukov, as for a military man, such a procedure for accepting a new type of weaponry into mass production, of course, looks like a drawback. But you need to be aware that the young Soviet industry focused not only on the needs of the army, and each new serial model of weapons required a redistribution of forces, occupied the production niche of another product, required a pause in the work of the enterprise for the introduction new technology. From this point of view, a cautious attitude to a certain point in the mass production of new types of weapons looks quite justified. “Of course, then we, the military leaders, understood that there were many primary tasks in the country and everything had to be solved on the basis of big politics,” Zhukov adds in this regard.

The moment when the army had to be “thrown with planes, tanks, shells” arose in 1940. But along the way, Soviet industry faced a new problem: a shortage of personnel. S.G. Kara-Murza in the book "History of the Soviet state and law" writes

“From October 1930, in connection with the elimination of unemployment, the payment of unemployment benefits was stopped. […]
After the elimination of unemployment and in connection with collectivization, the spontaneous influx of labor into the city ceased. Enterprises began to experience an acute shortage of personnel. Thus, in 1937, over 1.2 million workers lost their jobs in industry, construction, and transport; in 1938, 1.3 million; and in 1939, more than 1.5 million workers. On October 2, 1940, the Decree On State Labor Reserves was adopted - on the planned training of personnel in vocational and railway schools and schools of the FZO. The state labor reserves were at the disposal of the Government of the USSR and could not be used by departments without its permission.

The actual transition of industry to mobilization rails in the pre-war period, which was superimposed by an acute shortage of personnel, was ultimately the reason for the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940 “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, a seven-day week and the prohibition of unauthorized departure workers and employees from enterprises and institutions”:

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions"

According to the proposal of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decides:

1. To increase the length of the working day of workers and employees in all state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions:
from seven to eight hours at enterprises with a seven-hour working day;
from six to seven o'clock - at work with a six-hour working day, with the exception of professions with harmful working conditions, according to the lists approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR;
from six to eight o'clock - for employees of institutions;
from six to eight hours - for persons over 16 years of age.

2. Transfer work in all state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions from a six-day week to a seven-day week, counting the seventh day of the week - Sunday - as a day of rest.

3. To prohibit the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions, as well as the unauthorized transfer from one enterprise to another or from one institution to another.
Leaving an enterprise and institution, or moving from one enterprise to another and from one institution to another, may be authorized only by the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution.

b) when a worker, worker or employee must stop working in connection with his enrollment in a higher or secondary specialized educational institution.
Maternity leave for workers and female employees is preserved in accordance with applicable law.

Establish that workers and employees of state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions for absenteeism without a valid reason are brought to justice and, by the verdict of the people's court, are punished with corrective labor labor at the place of work for a period of up to 6 months with a deduction from wages of up to 25%.

In this regard, cancel the mandatory dismissal for absenteeism without good reason.

To propose to the people's courts that all cases referred to in this article be considered within no more than 5 days, and that the sentences in these cases be carried out immediately.

6. Establish that the directors of enterprises and heads of institutions for evading prosecution of persons guilty of unauthorized departure from the enterprise and from the institution, and persons guilty of absenteeism without good reason, are brought to justice.
It is also to be established that directors of enterprises and heads of institutions who have hired persons who are hiding from the law, who have arbitrarily left enterprises and institutions, are subject to judicial liability.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M. Kalinin
Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. Gorkin

A full citation of the decrees is necessary, since many years later, taking advantage of the mass ignorance of their actual content, anti-Soviet ideologists “supplemented” them with terrible details, turning them into capacious elements of the myth of Stalinist repressions. Who today does not know what for being late for work under Stalin they put them in the Gulag?

The Sakharov Center, in an article describing the exposition dedicated to the Stalinist terror, reports:

“The arrest snatched a person out of his usual life unexpectedly, sometimes leaving his relatives with only a few little things, symbols of his former well-being: tableware, a wall rug, a matchbox, a hunting measure for gunpowder ... And a feeling of confusion, misunderstanding - for what?
Anything could be the reason for the arrest: non-proletarian origin, a handful of spikelets collected on a collective farm field, family or friendly relations with an already arrested person, “violation of the passport regime”, even being late for work.”

Scout defector Viktor Rezun (Suvorov) writes: “ On June 26, 1940, the decree “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions” thundered over the country ... 20 minutes. The tram broke down, being late for work, latecomers - to the camps: they will not be allowed to be late there.

The author had to hear personal testimonies in which they “remembered” how trains with people who were simply late for work went and went to Siberia in the 40s.

The text of the decree, however, clearly spells out the measures applied to violators of the law:

1. For an attempt to "dismiss", that is, systematic absence from work for a long time ("unauthorized leaving the enterprise") - imprisonment for a period of 2 to 4 months.

2. For absenteeism - corrective labor work at the place of work for up to 6 months with deduction from wages up to 25%.

Lateness, absences, attempts to take time off, etc., which modern literature is full of, have nothing to do with this decree at all and are not regulated by it in any way. The confusion arises from a misreading of the third paragraph - "Prohibit the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions" - and unwillingness to delve into the essence of the document.

Below, in the fourth paragraph, it is said that the director of the enterprise is obliged to allow "the departure of a worker and employee from the enterprise" in the following cases: due to disability, old age, admission to a university and pregnancy. He allows not to be late, and certainly not for a day releases the worker due to pregnancy or old age. He gives permission for dismissal or leave (in case of pregnancy).

But things are still there, the Memorial society in the introductory article to the section of its website "Victims of political terror in the USSR" reports:

“... there were millions more people convicted of various minor “criminal” offenses and disciplinary offenses. They are not traditionally considered victims of political repression, although many of the repressive campaigns carried out by the police were clearly politically motivated. Tried ... for being late, absenteeism or unauthorized absence from work; for violation of discipline and unauthorized departure of students from factory and railway schools; for "desertion" from military enterprises... The punishments, as a rule, were not too severe - very often the convicts were not even deprived of their liberty. It is difficult to calculate the number of people who were overtaken by these "soft" punishments: from 1941 to 1956 alone, at least 36.2 million people were convicted, of which 11 million were for "truancy"!

Here, among other things, it is not known where the number of 11 million convicted of absenteeism (and being late with absenteeism) comes from, and, moreover, up to 1956. Although during the Great Patriotic War wartime laws were in force (and for absenteeism one could go under execution), and in the post-war period the decree of June 26, 1940 was practically not applied. It was not canceled, but it was not canceled in 1956 either, formally acting further.

The number of those convicted in accordance with this decree is already quite large, it is not clear why this senseless nightmare of readers continues today. V. Zemskov in the article "GULAG (historical and sociological aspect)" writes:

“... the transit prisons at that time were overflowing with convicts under the Decrees of June 26 (“on absenteeism” - author) and August 10, 1940 (“on responsibility for the release of poor-quality and incomplete products” - author). According to the Decree of June 26, 1940, a minority of violators were sentenced to imprisonment for a period of two to four months, but still there were hundreds of thousands of them.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on the early release of certain categories of prisoners who had not committed serious crimes, with the transfer of persons of military age to the Red Army. Among them were those convicted under the article “on absenteeism”. A total of 420,000 people were released.

http://users.livejournal.com/_lord_/1159557.html

In conclusion, I want to say that many people believe that corrective labor is "with a trolley in the hands of the Belomorkanal to build" or at worst "streets of revenge" rather than being fined a portion of the salary. And interestingly, usually the same people are outraged by the fact that “under Brezhnev, labor discipline was low, that the proletariat was idle at work and drank alcohol, or even skipped it, and that it’s good that capitalism has reined in such lazy people.” So I don't always understand what they want from the Union, often conflicting demands.

P/S / In 26 US states, a teenager can be jailed for skipping school and running away from home…

PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE USSR

ON THE CANCEL OF JUDICIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES

FOR UNAUTHORIZED LEAVING FROM ENTERPRISES AND FROM INSTITUTIONS

AND FOR TRAVELING WITHOUT A GOOD REASON

As a result of the growth of the consciousness of the working people, the improvement of their material well-being and cultural level, discipline has been strengthened in enterprises and institutions. Under these conditions, the existing judicial responsibility of workers and employees for unauthorized departure from enterprises and institutions and for repeated or long absenteeism without a good reason is not necessary and can be replaced by measures of disciplinary and social influence.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decides:

1. To cancel the judicial responsibility of workers and employees for unauthorized departure from enterprises and institutions and for repeated or prolonged absenteeism without a good reason.

2. To release from serving a sentence persons convicted of unauthorized leaving enterprises and institutions and absenteeism without good reason.

3. To terminate all cases of unauthorized departure from enterprises and institutions and absenteeism, which were not considered by the courts before the issuance of this Decree.

4. Remove the conviction from citizens who were previously convicted and served sentences for unauthorized leaving enterprises and institutions and for absenteeism, as well as those released from punishment on the basis of this Decree.

5. Upon dismissal of their own free will, workers and employees are required to notify the administration of an enterprise or institution two weeks in advance.

6. Workers and employees dismissed from work of their own free will lose their continuous work experience and become entitled to temporary disability benefits after they have worked for at least six months at a new place of work.

This rule does not apply:

a) to workers and employees who leave due to illness, disability or transition to an old-age pension;

b) to persons who have stopped working in connection with enrollment in a higher or secondary specialized educational institution or in graduate school;

in) to those leaving in connection with the transfer of a husband or wife to work in another area;

d) to pregnant women and mothers with children under the age of 1 year, in connection with their transfer to work at the place of residence;

e) to persons dismissed for other valid reasons, provided for by the decrees of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

7. For absenteeism without a valid reason, committed by a worker or employee, the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution shall apply one of the following measures:

a) disciplinary action according to the rules of the internal work schedule, and in enterprises and institutions where special statutes on discipline are in force, in accordance with these statutes;

b) deprivation of the right to receive a percentage premium for long service for a period of up to three months or a reduction in a one-time remuneration for long service in the amount of up to 25%;

c) dismissal from work with an indication in the work book that the employee was dismissed for absenteeism without a good reason. The dismissed person loses the length of continuous work and becomes eligible for temporary disability benefits after he has worked for at least six months at a new place of work.

Instead of applying these measures, the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution, at his own discretion, may transfer the material about absenteeism without a good reason to the consideration of a comrades' court.

a) Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940 "On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions", with the exception of Art. Art. 1 and 2 of the Decree;

b) Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 17, 1940 "On the prohibition of unauthorized departure from work of tractor drivers and combine operators working in machine and tractor stations";

c) Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 19, 1940 "On the procedure for the mandatory transfer of engineers, technicians, craftsmen, employees and skilled workers from one enterprise and institution to another";

d) Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 14, 1951 "On the replacement of the judicial responsibility of workers and employees for absenteeism, except for cases of repeated and prolonged absenteeism, by measures of disciplinary and social influence";

e) Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 13, 1952 "On introducing amendments and additions to the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 17, 1940" On the prohibition of unauthorized departure from work of tractor drivers and combine operators working in machine and tractor stations "and dated October 19, 1940 "On the procedure for the mandatory transfer of engineers, technicians, craftsmen, employees and skilled workers from one enterpriseand institutions to others".

Chairman of the Presidium

Supreme Soviet of the USSR

K. VOROSHILOV

Secretary of the Presidium

Supreme Soviet of the USSR