The key facts
- November 4 (Wednesday) is a non-working holiday; there will be no long weekend
- November 3 is a shortened working day, one hour earlier, under Article 95 of the Labor Code
- November 2026: 20 working and 10 days off; the norm for a 40-hour week is 159 hours
A mid-week holiday will split up the working days
Next week, Russians on a standard five-day schedule will work only four days: Monday and Tuesday (November 2 and 3), as well as Thursday and Friday (November 5 and 6). The reason is National Unity Day, which in 2026 falls on Wednesday, November 4: the holiday will be a non-working day, but there will be no long weekend at the start of the month. This is reported by Life.ru.
A shortened day and November norms
November 3 will be a shortened working day: according to Article 95 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the shift immediately preceding a state holiday is reduced by one hour, so with a usual eight-hour schedule, work can end an hour earlier. In total, November 2026 provides for 20 working days and ten days off and holidays; for employees on a 40-hour week, the monthly norm will be 159 hours. Under a shift schedule, the working order on holidays may differ. Mikhail Afanasyev, an associate professor at MGIMO (Moscow State Law Academy), whom the outlet previously quoted, also recalled the absence of transfers of holiday days off to adjacent dates.
Previous and upcoming long days
The previous shortened working week was in June: then Russians worked from June 8 to 11, and rested on the 12th in honor of Russia Day. The next extra day off after the November holidays will fall on December 31, which this year has also been declared a non-working day.
