In Russia, the damage caused by unpaid salaries by employers amounted to 11 billion rubles.

In 2026, the amount of damage established during the investigation of criminal cases and procedural checks on non-payment of wages amounted to 11 billion rubles. This was announced by the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation following an operational meeting of the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin.

"During the procedural checks and the investigation of criminal cases, damage in the amount of 11 billion rubles was established. At the investigation stage, the injured employees have been compensated for damages in the amount of 10 billion rubles," the UK Telegram channel says.

According to the agency, since the beginning of 2026, the investigative authorities have initiated almost 1,000 criminal cases on non-payment of salaries. At the same time, 1.5 times more criminal cases were sent to court than in the same period last year, and 236 cases were terminated after full repayment of the debt by employers. The central office of the department received almost 2.5 thousand complaints from citizens.

Bastrykin cited statistics according to which the highest level of wage arrears remains in the Kemerovo, Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Tver, Tyumen and Jewish Autonomous Regions, the Nenets Autonomous District and the Khabarovsk Territory. The head of the UK stressed that full compensation for damage to employees remains one of the priorities of the UK's work.

"A.I. Bastrykin demanded further measures aimed at improving the efficiency of work to protect the violated rights of employees," the press service of the Investigative Committee notes.

Thus, Bastrykin instructed to intensify personal receptions of citizens, visits of employees to labor collectives, strengthen cooperation with the bodies of inquiry, the State Labor Inspectorate and other regulatory structures for the timely detection of such crimes.

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Evgeny Masharov, a member of the commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for the public examination of draft laws, said on December 11 last year that employees who are not compensated by their employers for overtime hours can contact the labor inspectorate or the prosecutor's office. Before submitting the application, he recommended handing over a copy to the employer so that he could sign it. If the issue could not be resolved peacefully, you should contact the relevant authorities.