I. The Code of Labor Laws shall take effect immediately upon its publication in the _Compilation of Laws and Regulations of the Workmen’s and Peasants’ Government_. This Code must be extensively circulated among the working class of the country by all the local organs of the Soviet Government and be posted in a conspicuous place in all Soviet Institutions. II. The regulations of the Code of Labor Laws shall apply to all persons receiving remuneration for their work and shall be obligatory for all enterprises, institutions and establishments (Soviet, public, private and domestic), as well as for all private employers exploiting labor. III. All existing regulations and those to be issued on questions of labor, of a general character (orders of individual establishments, instructions, rules of internal management, etc.), as well as individual contracts and agreements, shall be valid only in so far as they do not conflict with this Code. IV. All labor agreements previously entered into, as well as all those which will be entered into in the future, in so far as they contradict the regulations of this Code, shall not be considered valid or obligatory, either for the employees or the employers. V. In enterprises and establishments where the work is carried on in the form of organized cooperation (Section 6, Labor Division A of the present Code) the wage earners must be allowed the widest possible self-government under the supervision of the Central Soviet authorities. On this basis alone can the working masses be successfully educated in the spirit of socialist and communal government. VI. The labor conditions in the communal enterprises organized as well as supported by the Soviet institutions (agricultural and other communes) are regulated by special rules of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and of the Council of People’s Commissars, and by instructions of the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture and Labor. The labor conditions of farmers on land assigned them for cultivation are regulated by the Code of Rural Laws. The labor conditions of independent artisans are regulated by special rules of the Commissariat of Labor. ARTICLE I ON COMPULSORY LABOR 1. All citizens of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, with the exceptions stated in Sections 2 and 3, shall be subject to compulsory labor. 2. The following persons shall be exempt from compulsory labor: (_a_) Persons under 16 years of age; (_b_) All persons over 50 years; (_c_) Persons who have become incapacitated by injury or illness. 3. Temporarily exempt from compulsory labor are: (_a_) Persons who are temporarily incapacitated owing to illness or injury, for a period necessary for their recovery. (_b_) Women, for a period of eight weeks before and eight weeks after confinement. 4. All students shall be subject to compulsory labor at the schools.