On February 25, 2014 WatersOAG hosted a Round Table dedicated to “Outsourcing and Outstaffing: Important Issues Including Transition Periods and Risk Management”. The workshop included a range of issues such as legal, organizational and staff matters as well as problems and solutions associated with hiring freelance (leased) personnel. Participants debated specifics of HR administration in cases where a company uses contingent labor and ways to minimize related risks.

 Reviews:

“I enjoyed your seminar. Everything was informative, to the point and clear-cut. Thank you and personally to speaker Svetlana Anatolievna”.

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On February 21, 2014 WatersOAG hosted Round Table on Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation.

Participants from major Russian and international companies shared their experience in dealing with practical aspects of migration laws.

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The two-day event brought together more than 2000 delegates including representatives of federal and regional authorities, heads of major Russian and international companies, investment funds and banks, representatives of chambers of commerce and other leading experts to discuss current issues relating to the investment climate in Russia. Ms. Olesya A. Galkova, WatersOAG Partner, attended the Forum.
The Forum was opened by Sergei Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow. Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister; Alexander Beglov, Presidential Envoy for the Central Federal District; Sergey Cheremin, Minister of Moscow Government, Head of the Department for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations as well as Igor Slyunyaev, Minister of Regional Development of Russia were among the many speakers.
Topics under discussion included the protection of foreign investors` interests, amendments to legislation, approaches to the creation of a favorable investment climate, foreign companies’ experiences in the Russian regions.
The Second Moscow International Foreign Investment Forum outlined developing trends in Russian investment policy and the investment potential for foreign investors to undertake business activity in Russian cities and regions.

WatersOAG is pleased to announce that Lubov Lopatina (Gulyayeva) has returned to WatersOAG team after a lengthy leave.
Lubov Lopatina has a great deal of experience with WatersOAG specializing in corporate, immigration and labor law. Lubov is actively engaged in projects associated with her practice areas.

Chief accountants, compensation specialists (including heads of HR departments) and others listened to various examples regarding the calculation of average earnings and wages for weekend and public holidays including overtime pay per summarized recordings of working time.

There was great interest in the discussion on vacation pay.  . Key issues included how to calculate vacation pay if the company exercises summarized recording of working time and the amount of vacation pay if employee’s vacation is interrupted.  Many other examples were discussed as well.

At the conclusion of the seminar, participants noted the high professional level of the speaker, the easy and clear method of the presentation.  Participants expressed their desire to continue to attend subsequent events on the subject.

Reviews:
”Thank you very much for the seminar. I found it very interesting, informative and held in a pleasant atmosphere. I think it was highly organized. I’d like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Tatyana Nikolaevna.  With great pleasure I will attend future seminars. It would be very interesting to talk about difficult cases of interaction with non-budgetary funds, insurance premiums calculation as well as payment due to sick leave and benefits.” -Head of Payroll Payment Department

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HR managers and specialists focused on special aspects of employment agreement conclusion and termination, internal labor order and labor discipline, secondary employment as well as military registration within the company as the lead speaker gave close attention to such as grounds for termination, order and procedure as well as proper document execution.

Reviews:

“Thank you very much for your attention to this topic and organizing this seminar.  IiIt was held with the greatest care in a pleasant atmosphere. The speaker is true professional who presented the topic not only in a very interesting manner, but, that is most important, explained it intelligibly. It was a positive experience!” -Head of HR recordkeeping

“I really liked the format  –  round table, few participants and very comfortable environment. Pleasantly surprised by the speaker. She explained the topic in a clear and interesting way so I learned a few new details as well as get answers to questions proved to be very useful. Unfortunately, Alina and I were late and were already embarrassed to ask speaker`s name. If opportunity occurs, I will be sure to attend the seminar on personnel matters once again, because “Repetition is the mother of learning”, and life, as they say, cannot be specified by  Labor Code as controversial issues always arise, and sharing experience with colleagues is always helpful and pleasant! Thank you very much!”- Head of HR department

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On September 12, 2013 a roundtable discussion focused on changes in workplace assessment. The event was attended by representatives from occupational health services and human resources professionals as well as lawyers from the major Russian and foreign firms.
The participants were able to discuss specific features regarding certification of workplaces with harmful labor conditions as well as methods for assigning “hazard grade, requirements for organizations and implementation of mandatory medical examinations of workers. Moreover, along with the issue of selecting a certification organization, recommendations on reducing costs related to workplace assessment were reviewed.

Participant Reviews:

Thank you for the informative roundtable on workplace certification conducted by a competent expert and based on a good theoretical basis! It was very interesting and a lot of professionally relevant information was provided taking into account recent legislative changes. I would be happy to be invited to future meetings. Thank you!
Management Specialist in Labor Relations and Accounting Personnel

I enjoy attending the roundtables organized by your staff as there are, as always, a lot of new and interesting things to be learned. At the last roundtable colleagues provided examples of an their cases and discussed the peculiarities of workplace certification. It was interesting to compare our approach to solving some of these issues.
Occupational Safety Engineer and Ecology

Thank you very much to WatersOAG for the invitation to participate in your recent roundtable dealing with “Changes in workplace certification”. Everything was professionally organized and the firm’s staff provided a lot of useful information on the topic. The handouts were thoughtfully prepared, informative and set out practical issues.
Specialist HR department

Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in your roundtable and seminar. There was indeed a lot of useful information.
HR Manager

We were very happy to attend your roundtable on workplace certification. It was beneficial and the information provided along with the exchange of experiences will prove to be useful in the future. Also, I’d like to extend a special thank you to the Speaker, Marina Alexandrovna.
I’ll be pleased to attend future roundtables.
HR Specialist

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On July 5, 2013 our round table: “Preparation and Handling of Employer Inspections by the Federal labour Inspectorate” was attended by the heads of HR departments as well as specialist and legal professionals representing Russian and foreign companies. Attendees to the round table were able to share their personal experiences regarding past inspections, discuss with the speaker practical examples and to exchange opinions on the matter. Participants to the round table were moved by other real issues as well, for example, the certification of the work place.

These and other questions will be up for discussion at round tables being planned for the near future. Please stay tuned for future news updates.

Participant reviews:
I am so thankful for having received an invitation from the employees of WatersOAG to participate in the round table. I enjoyed everything about this professionally organized event that was hosted in comfortable meeting room with a friendly and warm atmosphere. The material was presented in a reasonable fashion offering the proper analysis of complex situations with the speaker and colleagues sharing experiences with the participants.
From participation in the round table we learned a lot of interesting and valuable information. We learned about certain areas of concern that may come up during inspection and how to maneuver around them effectively. In dialoging with colleagues and the speaker we analyzed the most common controversial situations occurring in companies. We found optimal solutions for these situations. There was an exchange of experiences among those participating in the round table, which is very important in our work (for HR professionals), in my opinion.
I would be very happy to take part in any of your future planned events. I shall wait for invitations!
Sergei Samysh HR Inspector
 
As for me personally, it was very interesting to learn all the little nuances of the labor inspectorate and get recommendations on how to act as an official. It was also very useful to communicate with colleagues who are HR specialists from other companies.
Victoria Belova. A leading expert of human resources
 
Many thanks to the organizers of the round table! The event was hosted on an extremely high professional level. The information was presented correctly and competently to go along with the informative material that was distributed to the participants.  I am confident that the knowledge gained in participating in this event will be useful in preparing for the inspection by the Labor Inspectorate.
Ekaterina Petrova. Head of Human Resources

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WatersOAG is always delighted to add young, promising professionals to our team who are ready to take the next step in their professional development and achieve great results. It is with great pleasure that today we welcome a new employee to our group, Anastasia Kruglyakova – paralegal. Anastasia is a graduate of the Faculty of International Law at MGIMO: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Anastasia shall work in support of the Managing Partner, Olesya Galkova, taking an active role in working on company projects.

The Round Table discussion dedicated to the Federal Labor Inspectorate that monitors and controls employers was held on June 21, 2013. Topic was of great interest. Participants asked their questions, shared experience and exchanged their ideas.

Feedback from participants:
Please allow me to express my many thanks to you, to all the organizers and in addition to all those who participated in the seminar. It was my first time taking part and found the experience to be extremely helpful to my work. What was most advantageous was the way in which the seminar was organized, specifically its duration, which allowed participants the necessary time to focus, understand and discuss the issues. I hope to participate in similar events in the future.
A specialist in HR administration and benefits….

I am very pleased that I decided to take part in the Round Table hosted by the firm of WatersOAG. Thanks to the professional and accessible presentation of the material by the speaker, as well as the relaxing and friendly atmosphere that always seems to emerge at events hosted by WatersOAG, the participants (including the speaker) supplemented theory with practical case studies; and that for me is especially valuable.
I will with great pleasure participate in any such future events
Administration Director…

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