How did Saturday become the sixth day of the week? calendar reforms of the USSR and their consequences. When Saturday became a day off What year did Saturday become a day off

Today the working week in Russia and many other countries is regulated by the labor law, which sets its duration. In most civilized countries, it is about 40 hours a week.

But it was not always so. On the territory of Russia, the usual five-day working week with two days off appeared only 50 years ago.

March 7, 1967, USSR Council of Ministers and All-Union Central Council trade unions adopted a resolution "On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day working week with two days off."

A week later, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a corresponding decree.

After the abolition of serfdom, which marked the beginning of the capitalist formation in the country, the peasants worked for hire, doing everything in a row, from weaving bast shoes and carriage to pottery and flax processing. At that time there was no question of any norms of working time. In winter, the peasants hardly worked, in summer they got up at dawn and worked until the sun went down. The peasant population was mostly employed in the fields, during the working season they went to the fields and on Sundays - the wheat could crumble from the heat. Usually Sunday was a day off, when the peasants attended church, and then dispersed - some to their homes, some to taverns.

In the city, the situation was not much better. Workers were often employed in factories for 14-16 hours a day. Only by 1897 was the law "On the duration and distribution of working time in the establishments of the factory industry" adopted, establishing an 11.5-hour working day for men and 10 hours for women. Sunday was a day off. But under a special agreement, overtime work could also be introduced, so in practice the working time did not change.

Major changes took place after October revolution 1917 of the year.

Then the Council people's commissars issued a decree stating that work time should not exceed 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week.

The very same working week remained six days.

Farther Soviet authority started experimenting with working hours. First, in 1929, the working week was reduced to 42 hours - 7 working hours a day. Then the working week became five days - four working days and one day off. Because of this, they even had to issue special calendars so that people would not get confused: on the one hand, the days passed, as is customary in the Gregorian calendar, on the other, they were divided into five-day days. All workers were divided into five groups, whose weekends were highlighted in a separate color on the calendar. This allowed the authorities to organize continuous production, but it was inconvenient for the workers themselves - the days off for family members and acquaintances did not coincide, which complicated personal and social life. People's Commissars and some other institutions since 1931 worked on a six-day period and rested on the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th of each month, as well as on March 1.

When the Great began Patriotic War then all weekend and holidays were, of course, canceled. People worked seven days a week, and it was not until March 5, 1944 that a decree was issued granting adolescents under 16 a weekly day of rest and leave.

The working week returned to the seven-hour six-day week again only in 1960.

And it took another seven years to decide to give citizens one more day off.

By the 1960s, the idea of ​​a 40-hour work week had been implemented and most European countries... This process was greatly facilitated by the development of the economy and technology, an increase in the proportion of women who receive a salary, and not engaged only in housework, a decrease in the birth rate, which reduced the cost of children and, of course, the struggle of trade unions and workers' parties to improve working conditions - which only cost Morozovskaya strike in 1885, in which about 8 thousand workers took part.

In 1930 english economist predicted that working hours would be 15 hours a week in the future.

Unfortunately, his predictions have not yet come true - the shortest working week is now in the Netherlands, where citizens work an average of 29 hours in four working days, and the remaining three are resting. And the most hardworking are the Japanese and Koreans, who spend up to 55 hours a week at work.

The last changes in the law regulating the time of work were made in 1991, when the RSFSR Law "On increasing social guarantees for workers" was issued. According to him, the duration of the working time cannot exceed 40 hours per week.

In 2010, the billionaire proposed introducing a 60-hour work week, but this caused a sharp negative reaction from the trade unions, and the deputy chairman of the committee on labor and social policy called such amendments unconstitutional. Later, however, Prokhorov explained that he meant only the possibility of a person to work an additional 20 hours part-time. But such a proposal, in fact, would allow entrepreneurs not to pay overtime, did not arouse much interest.

On October 29 (November 11), 1917, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) in Russia established an 8-hour working day (instead of 9-10 hours, as was the case earlier) and introduced a 48-hour working week with six workers and one day off in the afternoon. Shorter working hours were envisaged for jobs especially harmful to health. On December 9, 1918, the Labor Code of the RSFSR was adopted, which enshrined these provisions.
From January 2, 1929 to October 1, 1933, in accordance with the decree of the Central executive committee and SNK, a gradual transition to a 7-hour working day was carried out. The working week was 42 hours.
On August 26, 1929, by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the transition to continuous production in enterprises and institutions of the USSR" a new timetable was introduced, in which a week consisted of five days: four working days for 7 hours, the fifth was a day off.
In November 1931, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution in which it allowed the people's commissariats and other institutions to switch to a six-day calendar week, in which the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th of each month, as well as March 1, were non-working.
On June 27, 1940, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR entered into force on the transition to an 8-hour working day from the "regular" working week according to the Gregorian calendar (6 working days, Sunday is a day off). The working week was 48 hours.
On June 26, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree "On the working hours of workers and employees in war time", in accordance with which mandatory overtime work of 1 to 3 hours a day was introduced and vacations were canceled. These wartime measures were canceled by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 30, 1945.
At the end of the post-war recovery period in 1956-1960. working day in the USSR gradually (by industry National economy) was again reduced to 7 hours with a six-day work week (Sunday is a day off), and the work week - to 42 hours.
At the XXIII Congress of the CPSU (March 29 - April 8, 1966), it was decided to switch to a five-day working week with two days off (Saturday and Sunday). In March 1967, a series of decrees and resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Central Committee of the CPSU in the USSR introduced a standard "five-day period" with an 8-hour working day. V mainstream schools, higher and secondary special educational institutions a six-day work week with a 7-hour work day has been preserved. Thus, the working week did not exceed 42 hours.
On December 9, 1971, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a new Labor Code (Labor Code), according to which the duration of working hours could not exceed 41 hours. The Constitution of the USSR, adopted on October 7, 1977 (Article 41), legalized this norm.
In Russia, the law of April 19, 1991 "On increasing social guarantees for workers" reduced the length of the working time to 40 hours per week. On September 25, 1992, this norm was enshrined in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In this form, the working week still exists in Russia.

It is known from the Bible that God, having created the whole world in 6 days, rested on the seventh.

"And on the seventh day God completed His works that He did, and He rested on the seventh day from all His works that He did."

(Genesis 2: 2)

Although this does not apply to the topic of our article, I wonder what the world looked like when God was resting? Did he stand still for the whole time of God's rest, like a freeze frame? Or maybe he moved "on the machine"? After all, all the details have been created and all connections have been established. The water will flow from the source to the mouth all the seventh day, and overwhelm on the waterfall, and the water dust will rise to the sky, and the rainbow will become entangled in drops, and the thunder of the falling water will fly away to the nearby mountains and return from there with an amazing echo. In general, as the voice of the artist Kopelyan said in the cult Soviet film, information for thought.

But God not only rested on the seventh day, but also commanded man, created in His image and likeness, to make every seventh day a day of rest

"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, for on that day He rested from all His works, which God did and created."

(Genesis 2: 3)

Now believing in God has become fashionable, and many have succumbed to this fashion. Such people are sure that a person rests every seventh day at the behest of God. Those who are indifferent to the change in the ideological fashion, and who doubt the existence of God-creator of the Universe, are more inclined to explain the existence of a day of rest in human society by natural reasons. In addition to the daily cycle of changes in the body's working capacity from minimum to maximum and vice versa, there is also a weekly cycle, at the end of which the working capacity decreases and more intensive rest is required than on other days of the week. It is quite possible that this weekly cycle is associated with the movement of the moon across the sky, because the lunar month is 4 weeks. Physiologists also argue that there is a monthly cycle, and not only women, but also men are subject to this cycle. In general, there is room for research.

The first code to define the seventh day of the week as a day of rest is the Bible. Sabbath observance is the fourth of the ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Moreover, due to the importance of this commandment, it is repeated three times in the Bible in three different places.

“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy; work six days and do all your works, and the seventh day is Saturday to the Lord your God: do not do any work on this, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your handmaid, nor your cattle, nor a stranger, which is in your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and sanctified it "

(Exodus 20: 8-11)

“Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you; work six days and do all thy works, and the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord thy God. Do not do any work in this, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor all your cattle, nor your stranger who is with you, so that your slave can rest yours, and your servant, like you; and remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an exalted arm, therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. "

(Deuteronomy 5: 12-15)

“For six days one can do deeds, and on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of rest, a sacred meeting; do nothing; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. "

(Leviticus 23: 3)

The ban on work on the seventh day of the week was absolute. It was impossible to do anything that, in one way or another, is connected with the creation of something new, it was impossible to light a fire. The transfer of objects was only allowed within a limited area. Reading, singing unaccompanied by instruments, or talking on Saturday afternoon were allowed, but writing was considered work. Indeed, in the process of writing, a new text appears.

The ban on work applied not only to free members of the community, but also to slaves and even animals.

V Ancient Greece and in Ancient rome there was no custom of not working once a week. And they themselves strained, and the slaves were exploited. True, everyone knew about the stupid custom of the Jews. They also knew that you could not force them to abandon the covenant of their own God with a whip, a whip, or the threat of death. Therefore, Jewish slaves in the slave markets were not valued. Moreover, they, as a rule, were ransomed from slavery by their compatriots. This was another stupid Jewish custom.

However, in 72 AD, after the suppression of the uprising in Judea, 100 thousand Jewish slaves appeared in Rome. They were sent to an important imperial construction site, a huge circus, which we now call the Colosseum for its stunning size (from the Latin word "colosseus" - "huge, colossal"). It would seem that there was a scythe on a stone. All Jewish slaves refused to work on Saturday! And this is at a construction site of national importance! Which is controlled by the Emperor Vespasian himself! And you can't execute everyone, you can't replace them with others! Where can I find another 100 thousand slaves !?

I had to listen to the opinion of the Jewish priests. It seemed reasonable - if all weekly work will be done in 6 days, then on the seventh day let the slaves pray to their wonderful invisible God. It turned out that after a day of rest, work was more productive. Indeed, a weekly lesson could be completed in 6 days. Thus, a day off entered Roman life.

Pretty soon, another Eastern teaching came to Rome, and also from Judea, which had already been successfully renamed Palestine, so that there would be no memory of the Jewish uprising. Christians from the point of view of the Romans were not much different from the Jews. Unless they prayed to some kind of God. About this God they told something out of the ordinary. Like, he was both God and man at the same time, and was crucified like a robber on the cross, although he was not a robber, but a doctor, sage and miracle worker. And that the day after the execution, he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. But he will still return and become the king of the world.

The Romans were positive people, they did not believe in fairy tales and did not tell fairy tales. For this, they had clever Greeks, who were entrusted with raising children and therefore were called in Greek, "teachers".

Many Christians, like the Jews, kept the Sabbath. Some of them also strictly observed the day of rest, but for some reason moved it to the next day. None of them gave a sensible explanation of why they did it. Oh Jupiter, this East is so strange! Every year, a new god is born there!

The years passed. Christians were first persecuted and destroyed. Then they were allowed to practice their strange religion. Then many Romans appreciated the sad story of the Christian god, which the Christians called the “good news”, which in Greek sounded like “the gospel,” and which they told this way and that way.

After 250 years, the entire Roman Empire, which was then ruled by Emperor Constantine I, became a Christian empire. The cults of the pagan gods, which had flourished earlier, were abolished. A March 7, 321 by order of the same Constantine I, Sunday was officially declared a day off for the first time.

When, 300 years later, another monotheistic doctrine, Islam, arose in Arabia, it inherited from Judaism the custom of the seventh day of the week not to work, but to devote this day to God. But Friday was chosen as the day off, the day preceding the Jewish Sabbath. Why? Because it was on Fridays that there was a market day in Mecca. Many people came there. Therefore, on this very day, with a large crowd of people, the Prophet Muhammad preached his teaching.

Russia, although it positioned itself as an Orthodox country, but Sunday was not recognized as a day off here very soon. Only from the 17th century did they begin to introduce official bans on working on Sundays. It was forbidden to force serfs to work in corvee on Sundays. However, sometimes the work for the master took so many days a week that the peasant had to work in his field on Sunday - otherwise he could not survive. A similar case - at that time already ugly - was described by AN Radishchev in his "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow". Finally, Sunday was declared a general holiday rather late - July 14, 1897.

In the 1930s, in the USSR, it did not come to the cancellation of weekends. However, the so-called "continuous" was introduced. The continuous work week consisted of five days. The sixth was a day off. All working days were divided into five groups. Each group was marked with its own color: yellow, pink, red, purple, green. Each group had its own day off. There were more non-working days, but it was inconvenient. Husband and wife (or worse than that, a guy with a girl) could work on different five days. And when to meet?

True, the industry was "spinning" continuously. True, this did not bring happiness. And even the elementary prosperity did not increase.

In general, on June 26, 1940, the previous week was returned to the workers. The workers breathed a sigh of relief. Who survived the transition to winter time and vice versa, will understand this relief.

The request to amend the labor market committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) about a 60-hour work week came not from employers, but from workers' collectives, said businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, who heads the committee, in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

In most cases, human labor is measured by working time. Labor legislation most often uses units of measurement such as the working day (shift) and the working week.

A further reduction in working hours was provided for by the Law of the RSFSR of April 19, 1991 "On increasing social guarantees for workers." In accordance with this law, employees' working hours cannot exceed 40 hours per week.

The duration of daily work is 8 hours, 8 hours 12 minutes or 8 hours 15 minutes, and in jobs with harmful working conditions - 7 hours, 7 hours 12 minutes or 7 hours 15 minutes.

In April 2010, Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov proposed changing labor laws and introducing a 60-hour work week instead of a 40-hour one. In November 2010, the bureau of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs approved amendments to the Labor Code, which met with fierce opposition from the trade unions. However, later the document was to be sent to the Russian tripartite commission with the participation of employers, trade unions and the government.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

On July 14, 1897, Sunday in Russia was declared an official day off. And for the first time Sunday was declared a day off on March 7, 321. It was on this day that the Roman emperor Constantine I the Great proclaimed Sunday a day of rest. Markets were closed that day, and government agencies stopped all activity.

Prior to that, the citizens of the Roman Empire celebrated on this day the "day of the Sun" - dies Solis. The tradition of the celebration has continued in the modern name of this day of the week in many European languages ​​- Sunday (English), Sonntag (German), søndag (Danish and Norwegian) and söndag (Swedish).

Why did the emperor order to rest on Sundays?

Emperor Constantine in 321 AD issued a special decree commanding to consider every Sunday as a day off. According to legend, the emperor had a dream. On the night before the battle, which was to take place on Sunday, Constantine saw in a dream the sun, and on it was a cross and an inscription that foreshadowed victory for the emperor. The battle really went well for the emperor's troops. Constantine the Great, returning home and remembering the vision, commanded to prohibit all kinds of physical labor on Sundays.

By his order, markets did not work on this day of the week and all state institutions stopped working. But at the same time, no restrictions on agricultural work, in which the overwhelming majority of the population took part, were not envisaged.

After another 50 years, with Emperor Theodosius the First(388-395), a decree was issued, according to which on that day no one could demand payment of the state or personal debt. At Feodosia Second In 425, an imperial decree forbade circus and theatrical entertainment on the day of the Sun in order to emphasize the special sacredness of this day. And in 538, during the third Synod in the city of Orleans, it was decided to ban all work, including in the countryside, on Sundays.

Was Sunday considered a day off among the Slavs?

The concept of "Sunday" appeared in Russia after the adoption of Christianity, and at first only one day was called Sunday (the beginning of the celebration of Easter) - Light Christ's Resurrection on the third day after the crucifixion. Only in the 16th century did Sunday appear as a separate day of the "week".

In all Slavic languages, except for Russian, Sunday is called "week" (Polish - niedziela, Ukrainian - nedіlya, Belarusian - nyadzel, Czech - neděle, etc.), that is, during the day when "they don't do it", they don't work. Also, the word "week" is a tracing-paper from the Greek apracos, that is, "not doing", "ineffective", idle.

In Russian, this name - "week" - has been preserved in Orthodox church terminology, for example, in the combination "Fomina week".

What did "Sunday" mean in Old Church Slavonic?

The verb “to resurrect” in the Old Church Slavonic language is derived from “krѣsati”, or “resurrect”, “kresѣ” - revival, health. The word "kresalo" is also closely related, which means "they will create fire with a blow."

Is Sunday a day off in all countries?

In most parts of the world, the work week generally runs from Monday to Friday.

In Israel, the main day off is Saturday, with the work week starting on Sunday and ending on Thursday or Friday afternoon. Shabbat is sacredly honored on Saturday, on this day all offices, shops are closed, it does not work public transport(except for taxis).

In Muslim countries, the main day off is Friday. Muslims devote this day to visiting the mosque and prayer. The work week lasts from Saturday to Wednesday (Algeria and Saudi Arabia), from Saturday to Thursday (Iran), or from Sunday to Thursday (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, United Arab Emirates).