In the new issue of the magazine on personnel management for managers “State” (March, 2008), Valery Narezhny, managing partner of Levant and Partners, comments on the situation of an employee’s long absence from the workplace, if this time exceeds the main or additional leave.
“This may be due to the need to complete some scientific work, care for a sick relative, carry out repairs, go to another city or state for a social or educational program, etc. As a rule, if an employer is interested in retaining such a specialist, he meets him halfway, providing a similar opportunity and preserving his job for such an employee,” says Valery Narezhny.
In the future, the employer, who agreed to let the employee go while maintaining his job, and the employee have a problem – how to correctly formalize such an agreement.  Valery Narezhny notes that there are two main ways to develop this situation:
1. Grant the employee leave for the entire period of his absence from the workplace for any of the reasons given below.
2. Do not issue leave to the employee, but legally continue to consider him to be performing his job duties in full (regardless of whether the employee actually works at home in between caring for a sick relative or not).