Labor adaptation and vocational training as areas of social support for participants in a special military operation

Girfanova Arina Radikovna postgraduate student of the Department of Legal Support of State and Municipal Service, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation; Expert, Analytical Center for Monitoring Activity 82 Vernadsky Ave., Moscow, 119571, Russia arina.girfanova@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Persons taking part in a special military operation, as well as their family members, need special support at every stage: from the moment of signing the contract to returning to civilian life after the end of military service. A citizen who has returned from a military operation zone needs qualified support, thanks to which he will be able to return to his usual rhythm as efficiently and painlessly as possible. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that military service often entails injury, sometimes disability. In this case, the citizen will need special assistance to return to his usual life, creating conditions for economic and social independence. In this connection, it is relevant not only to receive individual measures of social and economic support, but also assistance in returning to professional activity: to a previous or new place of work. A special military operation has become one of the catalysts for the development of a large area of organization of comprehensive social support for military personnel and their family members. Some areas of such work deserve detailed consideration.

In different years, works devoted to the issue of adaptation, rehabilitation and social support of veterans have been published by such scientists as A. G. Chepurnoy (constitutional and legal regulation of the state policy of Russia in the field of protection of combat invalids), V. G. Suslyaev (some aspects of early prosthetics in the system of rehabilitation of military personnel), V. M. Koryakin (legal support of military- Social Policy of Russia), E. A. Zakharova (professional rehabilitation and employment of combat invalids), M. V. Ludanik (realization of the right to work of combat invalids), etc. The foreign practice of organizing a system of adaptation of dismissed servicemen, ensuring their health protection and social support for veterans and their family members are considered in the works of I. G. Tarent, D. N. Petryakhin, P. V. Razov, A.V. Ivashchenko, etc. At the same time, the issue of support, adaptation and social reintegration of SVO participants, as well as the issue of the legal status of state civil servants participating in SVO as part of mobilization or in volunteer formations, has not yet been comprehensively reflected in the works of scientists, at the moment certain aspects and novelties of legislation are being considered.

On September 21, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree "On the declaration of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation", according to which citizens of the Russian Federation are called up for military service upon mobilization into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the status of military personnel undergoing military service under contract. As part of the Address to the Federal Assembly, held on February 21, 2023, one of the tasks set by the President is to create a state fund that coordinates assistance to the families of the deceased and veterans, including issues of rehabilitation, employment, professional development and obtaining a new profession. This assignment is not the only one of its kind. Earlier, the Government of the Russian Federation was instructed to develop a comprehensive program aimed at providing professional retraining, employment, rehabilitation and psychological support for persons who participated in a special military operation. The subjects of the Russian Federation are also working on the implementation of certain support measures, and the Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation in the direction of "State and Municipal Administration" is charged with ensuring the dissemination of best practices in providing assistance to family members of persons participating in a special military operation, persons participating in a special military operation, as well as family members of persons killed in connection with with the performance of tasks during a special military operation. At the same time, measures can have significant differences from subject to subject. For example, Decree of the Head of the Altai Republic, Chairman of the Government of the Altai Republic dated September 26, 2022 No. 247-u "On providing social support measures to certain categories of citizens" established a one-time cash payment in case of injury, injury or contusion in the amount of 500 thousand rubles, whereas in the neighboring Republic of Tyva additional payments in case of injury, in addition to those established at the federal level, are not provided. Also, the amount of such payments may differ from subject to subject, including a number of subjects of the Russian Federation establishes the gradation of the amount paid depending on the severity of the injury or the disability group established as a result. The subjects are introducing both financial measures (one-time and monthly payments, exemption from payment for certain services and tax benefits) and organizational and administrative measures (granting priority rights to obtain a place in an educational organization for the children of the participants of the SVO, psychological and legal assistance). Such fragmentation has not been ignored at the federal level, in particular, the working group on ensuring interaction between public authorities and organizations on issues of mobilization training and mobilization, social and legal protection of citizens of the Russian Federation participating in a special military operation and their family members has prepared a unified standard of support measures, including 20 mandatory types of assistance, recommended for implementation in the subjects of the Russian Federation.

The experience of the United States of America is of interest in the development of a balanced integrated system of organizing measures to support combat veterans: The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for upholding the legal rights of veterans and their family members to special benefits and services. In addition, certain issues in this area fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense (United States Department of Defense) and the Department of Health and Human Services (United States Department of Health and Human Services). There are also two standing committees in the Congress:

1) The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, responsible for overseeing the problems and issues of U.S. veterans;

2) The US House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs, responsible for analyzing current legislation and making proposals for the adoption of new laws and amendments to laws concerning veterans of the US armed forces.

Modern researchers highly appreciate the system of state support for US veterans ^{[1, 2]}. The developed state apparatus really has not the least importance in the formation of a strong legal status of veterans, which takes into account, among other things, the belonging of a former serviceman to a certain category, the nature of service, injuries and injuries, the circumstances of the end of service and retirement ^[3]. The Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Department implements both direct financial measures (for example, disability compensation ranging from 10% to 100%, benefits for dependents of deceased servicemen, pension payments, burial and burial benefits) and non-financial measures (for example, educational programs for veterans of the post-Vietnam period and after September 11, the program of assistance to reservists, the program of assistance to dependents), as well as insurance programs, mortgage lending support, in particular, grants for specialized adapted housing for veterans with disabilities. Veterans also have preferences when applying for public service, which causes quite complex assessments in scientific circles, moreover, Gregory Lewis in his work "The influence of the policy of preferential hiring of veterans on the composition and quality of the federal civil service" notes: despite the fact that this topic has attracted the attention of scientists and the government from time to time, there are no objective data on the impact on changes in the composition of the federal workforce and on the qualifications of federal employees ^[4]. The author cites a number of conclusions that are important for the civil service in the United States and which should be paid attention to in order to take into account foreign experience in the development of the system of attracting veterans to civil service in Russia. Firstly, the benefits of veterans affect the entry into service of other groups with limited representation (by gender, race, nationality, orientation): the study showed that Americans who served in the army are 3-4 times more likely to enlist, while due to the fact that the majority of citizens who have served - men, in the absence of veterans' preferences, the federal service would be divided almost in half between men and women; for Russia, the problem noted by the author is not so acute, the balance of interests of social groups is ensured by competitive procedures. Secondly, the preference of veterans affects the age composition and level of education of federal employees: older people with a lower level of education are accepted for service; the measures taken today in Russia, among other things, are aimed at providing participants in a special military operation with higher education opportunities. Thirdly, differences in the programs of benefits for veterans at the federal and state levels can lead to a "skew" in the recruitment of veterans, so some positions become more desirable than others; thanks to the unity of the principles and legal foundations of the federal civil service and the civil service of subjects in Russia, it is possible to maintain a balance in the recruitment of veterans ^[4]. A team of authors of another study aimed at studying the differences between former servicemen and civilians in relation to their work in the Veterans' Health Administration concluded that veterans, like those who are not, perceive their strengths in work equally: teamwork and dedication, which add up to a common mission. This common mission positively affects both the working environment and the final result – the quality of medical care for veterans ^[5]. At the same time, it is noted in the work that veterans express concern about the incomprehensible promotion procedure, which entails the need for special training of managers and personnel specialists in terms of working with veterans. The proposal for special training can be considered as a positive practice for consideration and implementation when developing proposals to improve the legal status of veterans in the civil service in Russia.

In the Russian Federation today, the pace of improving the system of support for veterans, as well as active military personnel and their families, is increasing, including the opening of specialized support centers, such as the state budgetary institution of the city of Moscow "Unified Support Center", digitalization of services for such categories of citizens is provided. Along with regional, federal measures to support participants in the military operation are being expanded, including changes in labor legislation that guarantee the preservation of the workplace for the mobilized and volunteers. However, it is necessary to note separately such a professional group as state civil servants, whose legal status differs from ordinary workers within the framework of labor relations.

On October 7, 2022, amendments were adopted to Federal Law No. 79-FZ of July 27, 2004 "On the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation": a new article was introduced establishing such guarantees related to the conscription of civil servants for military service on mobilization or voluntary assistance, as the retention of a position for the period of service, the provision of leave within 6 months after the resumption of civil service, accounting for the length of military service in the length of civil service. In addition, a number of other significant changes were adopted to the regulatory legal regulation of public service relations: the procedure for suspending and resuming public service was fixed (Article 12.1 was introduced into Federal Law No. 58-FZ of May 27, 2003 "On the System of Public Service of the Russian Federation"). Legal scholars note that the changes introduced generally solve the problem of the lack of legal regulation of the status of a civil servant undergoing military service on mobilization or in volunteer formations. At the same time, D. E. Zaikov, in his work "Social and labor guarantees for state civil servants in connection with conscription for military service on mobilization," referring to the draft federal law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" (on suspension of proceedings in the case of the defendant's participation in hostilities), notes that that the formation of the legal status of participants in a special military operation is still ongoing ^[6]. At the same time, Part 4 of Article 6 of Federal Law No. 379-FZ of October 7, 2022 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", which amends the legal status of civil servants, and the provisions of which are reviewed in the previously reviewed work of D. E. Zaikov, establishes the following: "Citizens who, from February 24 to September 21, 2022, concluded, in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 38 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998 "On Military Duty and Military Service", a contract on military service or a contract on voluntary assistance in performing tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and with whom employment contracts (service contracts) were terminated during the specified period, within three months after completing military service on mobilization or military service under a contract or a contract on voluntary assistance in performing tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, have a preferential right to employment for work (service) in a previously held position the employer (the employer's representative) with whom they were in an employment (service) relationship prior to the conclusion of a contract for military service or a contract for voluntary assistance in performing tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. If it is impossible to provide such a position, the employer (the employer's representative) offers another job (service) available to him, which is not contraindicated to these citizens for health reasons." The Federal Law on Civil Service establishes that a civil servant who, for health reasons, in accordance with a medical report, cannot perform official duties for a civil service position, is provided with another civil service position that is not contraindicated for health reasons. At the same time, the law or by-laws do not establish requirements for the state of health, diversified by civil service positions, which can make it possible to unambiguously determine which positions may be available to an employee with a particular disease. Judicial practice in relation to this provision shows the following: to verify the compliance of the position with the conditions specified in the conclusion of the medical organization, the employer's representative examines the workplace certification card, including the indicators of the intensity of the labor process according to the degree of emotional stress, responsibility, etc., it should be noted that since 2014 the certification of workplaces has been replaced by a special assessment of working conditions. In fact, there is no clear unambiguous mechanism for determining health contraindications for holding a particular civil service position and, as a result, there are no criteria for determining the possibility of transfer to another position. In addition, it should be noted that there is no correlation between the severity and intensity of the labor process, as well as the nature of the labor process (for example, the traveling nature of work) and the physical and psychological characteristics of employees. In this connection, it is not obvious how contraindications to the occupation of certain positions by citizens who served during a special military operation will be determined, including taking into account possible injuries and their consequences. Work "Service law in Russia: meaningful novelties of legislation on public service 2020-2022" by Yu. N. Starilova is devoted to the review of changes in the legal status of a civil servant ^[7]. At the same time, there are currently no works considering potential problems of law enforcement practice that may arise in the near future. Thus, according to research in the field of physical and rehabilitation medicine, limb injuries leading to amputation and disruption of the body's statodynamic functions account for 60-70% of wounds in the structure of combat surgical trauma ^[8]. By Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 77 of January 24, 2023, paragraph 15 of the Rules for Recognizing a Person as disabled, fixing the list of established causes of disability, was supplemented by subparagraph p (1) "disability due to injury (injury, injury, contusion) or illness received in connection with the performance of duties under the contract of stay in a voluntary formation". In addition to this basis, the Rules also include reasons such as military injury and illness received during military service. According to the open data of the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, as of June 1, 2023, there are 10.3 million people in the territory of the Russian Federation. disabled people, of which about 2% are citizens whose disability is caused by a military injury or a disease received during military service. Until 2022, there is a tendency to reduce the number of people who have been disabled as a result of military trauma by an average of 5.5% annually, while in 2023 an increase of 1.16% is recorded. In fact, this means the need to implement rehabilitation programs, as well as social and labor adaptation and integration into social processes of about half a thousand citizens.

Studies show that disabled people and people with impaired bodily functions can make up a significant proportion of combat veterans. Thus, the work of V. N. Petrova, S. N. Puzin, S. S. Memetov, A. S. Makarenko, S. S. Puzin, devoted to the study of the age-sex structure of the contingent of persons treated in the conditions of the specialized medical organization "Hospital for War Veterans" showed that more than 10% of combat veterans have persistent violations of body functions ^[9]. At the same time, the authors note that one of the main problems of the life of this category of citizens is their employment. In this connection, it is necessary to pay attention to the labor adaptation of veterans and, in particular, disabled veterans.

The labor adaptation of a disabled person in accordance with the National Standard of the Russian Federation is understood as "a system of measures that facilitate the entry of a disabled person into the open labor market, involving the management of the social process of mastering a new work situation by a disabled person, in which a person is actively involved in a system of new professional and socio-psychological relations for him, assimilates new social values and norms of civil life with taking into account the state of disability". As the authors of the work "Standardization in the field of complex rehabilitation as a guarantee of the quality of rehabilitation services provided to disabled people of various categories" note: "the transition from military service to civilian life, employment on the open labor market requires not only overcoming external circumstances, but also a revision of existing internal attitudes and habits, a number of psychological barriers" ^[10]. It is impossible not to agree with this conclusion. Proceeding from this, one of the important aspects of labor adaptation is seen as professional training and retraining of citizens who have completed military service, including those who have received disability as a result. In accordance with the national standard, labor adaptation includes such stages as:

· stage 1 - preparatory;

· stage 2 - career guidance;

· stage 3 - professional training or retraining;

· stage 4 - job search and employment;

· stage 5 - production adaptation.

At the stage of professional training and retraining, such services are provided to a citizen as:

· medical rehabilitation, consisting of medical support with correction of somatic distress and psychotherapy aimed at solving possible problems and adaptation in order to optimize the learning process;

· vocational rehabilitation in the form of vocational education;

· social rehabilitation in terms of psychological, psychological, social and legal support, as well as providing the necessary technical means to improve the effectiveness of training.

Vocational education in accordance with the National Standard under consideration, among other things, implies training in retraining programs for disabled employees in order to obtain a new civil servant position, along with the education of disabled people in basic professional educational programs. In this connection, the amendments made to the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation" are extremely relevant, according to which the right to study under bachelor's degree and specialty programs within a separate quota is granted to participants of a special military operation (in addition to the quota for admission of disabled people of groups I and II, disabled due to military trauma, veterans of military operations). Thus, 60 places are allocated at the Moscow campus of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration as part of the admission for the 2023-2024 academic year within a separate quota and a special quota, of which 12 places are allocated in the direction of "economics", 9 – "management", 4 – "state and municipal administration". At the same time, if you pay attention to the customers of targeted training in similar areas, it can be noted that the bulk of these are federal executive authorities and state budgetary institutions. Thus, it can be concluded that graduates of these programs are in demand in the civil service and for work in subordinate institutions.

To date, much attention is paid to the issues of social integration and adaptation of persons who took part in a special military operation as part of mobilization, participation in volunteer formations, as well as in professional activities outside of military service: specialized funds, non-profit and public organizations are being created, rehabilitation programs are being developed, new approaches to social support measures are being introduced. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that despite the universality of general approaches, a deep study of individual areas is required, which may be related to the specifics of the professional and other social experience of a participant in a special military operation. One example of such a track is state civil servants: despite the clarification by the legislator of the legal status of a civil servant in terms of retaining his position, some issues related to ensuring the adaptation of the workplace of such an employee to possible new needs associated with acquiring the status of a disabled person due to injury or illness remain unresolved. In such a situation, it seems necessary to take an integrated approach, which consists in a qualitative revision of legal regulation in terms of the adoption of subordinate legal acts defining the currently missing requirements and procedures for determining the compliance of working conditions in the position being filled with the health of a civil servant, procedures for selecting the optimal position in order to balance the public interests of society and the private interests of the employee, as well as in the implementation of labor rehabilitation at the place of service, including vocational training, retraining and advanced training programs. The application of the comparative legal method also allows us to consider certain foreign practices, to identify among them the most relevant and relevant, the use of which will allow us to develop the most effective tool for attracting or returning veterans to civil service. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the balance of measures implemented at the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, especially taking into account the unity of the legal and organizational foundations of the state civil service in Russia.