Your right to earned pay does not disappear. During asset realisation, however, determine who brings the claim: the financial administrator or the employee personally. The Constitutional Court has identified an important condition for bringing your own claim.
Checked on 7 September 2026. This guide concerns the employee’s own bankruptcy in Russia. Employer bankruptcy is a different situation with additional rules and is not assumed here.
Disclose the debt owed to you
Unpaid wages are a claim against the employer, not simply an absence of assets.
Personal filing is conditional
You need to establish the protected component of the potential recovery.
Deadlines are separate
Do not assume that waiting for the administrator automatically extends employment claim deadlines.
Who normally pursues the debt?
Under Article 213.25(6) of Federal Law No. 127-FZ, during asset realisation the financial administrator conducts litigation concerning the citizen’s property rights, including claims against third-party debtors, on the citizen’s behalf. The citizen may also participate personally. Advice to simply file a claim yourself is therefore incomplete without checking the bankruptcy stage and the nature of the claim.
Give the administrator the employer’s details, employment contract, accrual records, partial payments and due dates. Request a written position on recovery steps. If the bankruptcy application is still being considered or debt restructuring is in progress, do not mechanically apply the restrictions of asset realisation.
When can the employee bring a claim personally?
In Resolution No. 36-P of 14 July 2021, the Constitutional Court explained that a citizen may bring a claim independently of the administrator’s position if the recovered wages, or at least part of them, would in the particular circumstances be funds excluded from the bankruptcy estate. In particular, recovering arrears may provide money for living needs where the citizen has no funds or regular income in the relevant period.
If disputed, the citizen must prove that basis. Prepare evidence of other income, dependants, essential living needs, funds already released and the periods covered by the arrears. Simply saying that wages are needed for living costs is not enough. The Court’s reasoning also covers recovery that is only partly protected: it is not a rule limiting the claim to one subsistence-minimum amount.
The employment dispute and the release of protected funds in bankruptcy are separate matters. A calculation covering several months must account for accrual periods and money already received. Do not assume that subsistence allowances automatically accumulate for every month.
Different applications serve different purposes
| Problem | Required action | Key evidence |
|---|---|---|
| The employer disputes the wage debt | Resolve the employment dispute with appropriate participation by the employee and administrator | Contract, payslips, work records and payments |
| You need to establish a right to file personally | Demonstrate the conditions in Resolution No. 36-P | A connection between at least part of the recovery and funds excluded from the estate |
| The administrator unjustifiably fails to pursue the debt | Assess a complaint about inaction in the bankruptcy case | Documents supplied, requests, replies, deadlines and consequences |
| Recovery succeeds but the living allowance is disputed | Resolve the release of protected funds | Accrual periods, receipts, amounts already released and dependants |
Practical steps: from calculation to application
- Prepare a month-by-month debt schedule. Show the due date, amount accrued, actual payments and balance. Separate disputed sums that were never accrued from accrued but unpaid amounts.
- Collect employment records. Include the contract and amendments, payslips, bank statements, orders, correspondence about arrears and dismissal documents where applicable. A single total in a message to the employer is insufficient.
- Send the file to the administrator. Identify approaching deadlines, request a recovery assessment and keep proof of delivery. Even if you file personally, disclose the dispute and potential recovery.
- Determine the procedural route. Establish who files, how the administrator participates and what supports personal filing. Do not waive part of the debt or agree to reduce the claim without assessing the impact on the estate.
- Arrange receipt after recovery. Keep the judgment and payment records, inform the administrator and arrange release of the protected component. Do not divert recovery to someone else’s card to evade the procedure.
If the administrator does not act
Resolution No. 36-P allows unjustified failure to recover wages to be challenged in the arbitrazh court within the bankruptcy case. Refusal alone does not establish a breach: the evidence of debt, recovery prospects and objectives of the procedure matter. Ask for specific reasons and provide missing documents.
In addition, Article 213.9(7) of Federal Law No. 127-FZ allows the administrator to report signs of violations concerning wages and other employment payments to the labour supervisory authority. Such a report should not be treated as a substitute for a necessary court claim. Damages for the administrator’s inaction are a separate issue requiring proof of unlawfulness, causation and loss of the opportunity to recover money. They are not an automatic substitute payment for the employer’s debt.
Check the deadline promptly
Article 392 of the Labour Code provides one year from the prescribed payment date for claims concerning unpaid or underpaid wages. Its application must be checked for each component, considering the nature of the breach and documents. Do not assume that every debt older than a year is necessarily lost: the law allows a missed deadline to be restored for valid reasons. Nevertheless, correspondence and waiting for others to act are not reasons to postpone a deadline assessment.
A hypothetical example without an automatic allowance
A former employer owes two months’ wages. The citizen has no other regular income during the relevant period and has a dependant. The citizen gathers evidence and explains why part of the recovery should fund protected living needs. This may support personal filing under the Constitutional Court’s approach. Neither two months of arrears nor the mere existence of a dependant automatically determines the final amount the debtor will retain.
If the issue is regular access to wages rather than recovering an employer’s debt, see receiving wages during personal bankruptcy.
Frequently asked questions
Does the employee’s bankruptcy release the employer from its debt?
No. It does not end the obligation to pay what is owed. It affects how the property claim is pursued and how recovered funds are handled.
Does every personal claim require the administrator’s consent?
Resolution No. 36-P allows filing independently of the administrator’s position when the conditions concerning a protected component of recovery are established. It is not a general permission to conduct all property litigation independently.
Can the entire debt be claimed if only part is protected?
The Court also addresses cases where only part of the recovery will be excluded from the estate. Personal filing should not automatically be limited to that component, but the basis for filing and the calculation must be disclosed. Distribution of recovered money is a separate issue.
Can a complaint against the administrator replace a claim against the employer?
No. The complaint reviews the administrator’s conduct; the employment claim establishes the employer’s liability. Assess the choice and timing of each application separately.
Need to recover wages during bankruptcy?
We can review the debt evidence, procedural stage and grounds for personal filing or action through the administrator.
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