Social support
GRI 3–3
Collective Bargaining Agreement
GRI 2–30, 401–2
The fundamental document in regulating social and labour relations and an important motivational tool in our recruitment and retention framework is Russian Railways’ Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Its key functions include:
- social protection of employees
- maintaining social stability among employees
- boosting Russian Railways’ attractiveness as an employer
- developing social partnership
Overall, Russian Railways delivered on its obligations for 2024 under the Collective Bargaining Agreement 2023–2025, meaning the Company maintained its status as a socially responsible employer. There were no collective labour disputes. The decisions on securing employment and personnel earnings ensured social stability among employees.
To ensure social protection of Russian Railways’ employees called up for military service by mobilisation or who entered into contracts for voluntary assistance in fulfilling tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of Russia, we decided to preserve social and labour guarantees for them and their family members, as provided by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and internal regulations of Russian Railways. We developed mechanisms for providing benefits and compensation to family members without employee participation.
We operate a Support Centre for employees involved in Russia’s special military operation and their family members through a hotline.
To attract and retain qualified specialists long‑term, within our Housing Policy Concept, locomotive crews received compensation (reimbursement) of expenses for temporary rental of housing from third‑party owners up to 100% in 2024, and we expanded categories of employees who can participate in our housing mortgage programme.
Social support of employees
As a socially responsible employer, Russian Railways offers an extended social package in the following areas.
Basic social package:
- free annual travel by public railway transport for employees and their dependent children up to 18 years of age:
- for personal needs on long‑haul trains,
- from the place of residence to the place of work or study and back,
- from the place of residence to the place of medical treatment and back,
- from the place of residence to the place where goods can be purchased for family needs – for employees living at stations, passing loops, or transport stops not covered by retailers;
- financial support for motherhood and childhood:
- supplement to the maternity allowance to raise the total payment to the average monthly earnings,
- financial assistance in excess of the allowance established by laws in the event of the birth of a child (or adoption of a child),
- monthly allowance for those on leave to care for a child aged 1.5 to 3 years;
- voluntary health insurance;
- supporting employees in need of household fuel;
- financial assistance for those taking an annual paid leave;
- accident insurance of children during their stay in children’s recreational camps;
- lump‑sum remuneration for diligent work upon retirement;
- guarantees and benefits when an employee is discharged;
- employee insurance providing for payments to families of deceased employees.
Co‑financed social package:
- private pension plans;
- health resort treatment and recreation for employees and their family members;
- providing places for employees’ children in educational institutions established by the Company;
- corporate support for those acquiring their own housing;
- financial compensation for the cost of fitness sessions.
Compensated social package:
- An employee can be refunded, within a certain limit, for their expenses related to social services included on an approved list.
The Regulation on the Compensated Social Package is amended annually. In 2024, to support employee families, we expanded the list of criteria for determining significant categories. This list included employees with many children and employees raising children and living in high‑response zones. New elements were added for them: compensation for the cost of vouchers for health resort treatment and recreation at Russian Railways facilities, compensation for travel fares for personal needs in second‑class compartments of long‑haul trains for spouses who are not Russian Railways’ employees. Locomotive crews and other employees can now be reimbursed for catering services on board.
Bonus package:
- Financial and non‑financial incentives through the mechanism of accrual and exchange of bonus points for activity, involvement in solving corporate tasks, or participation in important corporate projects. Employees can spend the bonus points they have earned on the website of Vitrina, a digital platform for railway workers (mp.rzd.ru).
In 2024, the bonus package covered more than 165,000 people. During the year, more than 58,000 achievements worth 4 million bonus points were registered.
To inform employees about benefits and compensation provided by Russian Railways’ Collective Bargaining Agreement 2023–2025, we created a Social Benefits Handbook. It presents all social support measures offered to employees throughout their employment with Russian Railways in plain terms.
Platform of social and HR services
Vitrina, mp.rzd.ru
The Vitrina digital platform enables employees to remotely redeem points from their bonus packages, receive unique product and service offers from partners, and buy services at social infrastructure facilities.
Pulse, pulse.mp.rzd.ru
Via the Pulse corporate sports app, users can learn about the Company’s events, participate in them or create their own events, and find like‑minded people for doing sports or competing in friendly tournaments.
In 2024, Pulse contained information on
events
Year of Railway Traditions
Railway traditions featured prominently at corporate events, awareness raising days, meetings with teams, and new employee onboarding sessions. As part of the Year of Railway Traditions, Russian Railways hosted over 58,000 events reaching more than 1.2 million employees, their families, and industry veterans. These included veteran railway worker meetings, career guidance for students and schoolchildren, volunteer initiatives, and railway worker family support events.
For more details on railway traditions and Company events in the reporting year, see "Devoted to traditions"
The Unified Register of Railway Worker Dynasties encompasses dynasties from Russian Railways and Group companies, totalling
dynasties
employees
The Russian Book of Records recognised Russian Railways for the Largest Number of Dynasties (At Least Two Generations) Employed at the Same Company in Russia.
Dynasties of railway workers
Russian Railways also staged a competition for railway worker dynasties and determined winners in the following categories:
- Oldest Dynasty (the greatest length of service since the dynasty’s foundation) – Omelyanenko dynasty, founded in 1863;
- Dynasty in History (the most numerous dynasty) – Chemerkin‑Polozkov dynasty, comprising 51 people;
- Generational Continuity (the greatest cumulative length of service) – Kurochkin dynasty, with 1,177 years of combined length of service.
Company support for the dynasty institution preserves railway traditions, strengthens corporate culture, and motivates employees. Dynasties play a crucial role in Russian Railways’ operations, providing a reliable foundation for securing qualified personnel over the long term.
The Company designated 2024 as a Year of Railway Traditions.
Youth policy
The Company runs the Russian Railways’ Youth targeted programme, focusing on professional and personal development of young workers. Over 1,000 youth events and projects in 2024 reached more than 200,000 young employees. A flagship project is the New Link youth competition, designed to stimulate scientific and technical thinking among young employees while engaging them in solving corporate challenges and innovation activities.
The year’s highlight was the 16th Annual Youth Conference of Russian Railways, bringing together over 1,000 young employees, representatives of industry companies, young professionals from 15 state‑owned corporations and large companies, plus guests from 17 countries worldwide.
To engage youth in policy implementation, we establish youth councils. Over 2,000 youth councils operate at different Company levels.
In order to build a direct, open dialogue between associations of active young people and the management of Russian Railways, youth affairs committees are in place at the railways and the Company’s branches.
Six youth centres operate at Russian Railways to increase youth involvement in corporate tasks and develop cross‑functional interaction.
Supporting retired and soon‑to‑be‑retired employees
Corporate pension system
All of the Company’s employees can benefit from the private corporate pension system. Its strategic target is to ensure a replacement rate of at least 40% of an employee’s lost earnings.
The current corporate pension system relies on shared employer/employee contribution to the employee’s future pension, full financial security of corporate pensions, and lifelong payments under the programme.
In 2024, the number of the Company participants in the plan exceeded 553,000. Over 270,000 retired employees receive a corporate pension. In the reporting year, pensions were granted to 10,373 Russian Railways’ employees, with the average accrued corporate pension being RUB 5,512, up RUB 221 y‑o‑y.
Social support for Russian Railways’ retirees
GRI 404‑2
The Company’s social responsibility efforts include benefits to veteran workers retiring from railway enterprises.
Russian Railways’ Veteran Organisation is Russia’s largest, with
including 417 Great Patriotic War veterans and 969 concentration camp prisoners
Retirees receive medical care at Russian Railways’ corporate health centres in line with the local compulsory health insurance programmes, and high‑cost treatment according to the list of services stipulated by the Company.
We grant free railway transportation to retirees annually, as stipulated by the Company.
In 2024, corporate benefits of the Company included health resort recreation for 16,500 retirees.
The Company holds corporate celebrations of the Victory Day and Day of Older Persons, organises trains to visit the sites of labour and battle glory, and holds workshops to exchange experience between veteran organisations. We provide premises, phone connection, and stationery for veteran councils and arrange for car transportation to visit disabled people and lonely retirees.
We have developed and approved the Russian Railways Veterans targeted programme for 2021–2025, which includes assistance programmes, healthy lifestyle and self‑fulfilment promotion, long‑term care arrangements, and development of digital technologies for veteran services. The programme aims to improve veterans’ quality of life and longevity through comprehensive support systems. Over 2,200 programme events took place in 2024.
- >44,000 retirees received monthly financial aid in 2024, with RUB 309.3 m allocated.
- >RUB 12.7 m supported over 7,000 Great Patriotic War veterans, concentration camp prisoners, and home front workers.
- >26,000 retirees received cash compensation for household fuel purchases totalling RUB 572.5 m.
- 3,858 veteran council chairmen and deputy chairmen received RUB 150.2 m in financial aid.
- RUB 18.8 m provided monthly financial aid to 256 keepers of local and site railway museums.
- The Company operates a Unified Social Operator delivering benefits to retirees through remote services. In 2024, over 16,400 retirees submitted benefit applications through the Pensioner Service Portal and hotlines 8 (800) 775‑95‑97 and 1810. Over 262,700 veterans are registered on the portal, with 17,600 actively using it for information access and online benefit processing.
Housing policy
The Company cares about the comfort and well‑being of its employees, offering corporate benefits to help improve their living conditions and buy housing:
- reduced mortgage rate of 2–4.5%;
- partial compensation of a subsidised mortgage loan for families with new‑born or adopted children;
- corporate housing for employees of rare and sought‑after professions;
- compensation of up to 70% of rental fees for employees renting third‑party housing (up to 100% for locomotive crews);
- subsidies to purchase housing for vulnerable population groups: single parents, multi‑child families, people with disabilities caused by a workplace injury, and employees who lost their housing as a result of an emergency or a natural disaster.
In 2024, 972 employees improved their living conditions with the Company’s support, including:
- 965 employees received subsidies for a portion of mortgage loan interest. The subsidies totalled RUB 248.04 m;
- seven employees of certain categories (single parents, multi‑child families, and others) received non‑repayable subsidies totalling RUB 25.4 m;
- 1,096 employees received non‑repayable subsidies for the birth of children during the period of subsidised mortgage loan repayment. The subsidies totalled RUB 230.2 m.
As part of the investment project, we completed construction of a 9‑apartment residential building at the Smolyaninovo station of the Far Eastern Railway and a 16‑apartment residential building at the Khvoynaya station of the October Railway.