Those who fire older employees should be jailed - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that one should introduce administrative and even criminal responsibility in Russia for dismissing employees of pre-retirement age.

"I deem it necessary to introduce administrative and even criminal responsibility for employers for  dismissing workers of pre-retirement age, as well as for refusing to hire citizens for work because of their age," Putin said in a televised address to the nation in connection with the widely discussed pension reform in Russia.

One should envisage such responsibility within in the framework of additional guarantees that will protect interests of older citizens on the labor market.

Today, the retirement age in Russia is 60 years for men and 55 years for women. This retirement age was introduced during the 1930s. The need to raise the retirement age in Russia has been discussed for a long time already due to the increased life expectancy and the inability to provide a decent pension while the number of employed individuals in the country is decreasing, and the number of pensioners is growing. In most countries of the world, the retirement age is 60-65 years.