What did the USSR actually get right? Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Anatoly Grakhov/TASS; Boris Kavashkin/Sputnik; Viktor Ruikovich/MAMM/MDF/russiainphoto.ru) Many today forget that the Soviet Union was a frontrunner in several areas of life at a time when much of the Western world still somewhat lagged behind. 1. Vacations and work time organization Beaches of Abkhazia, Georgian SSR. Valentin Kunov/TASS Even before the formation of the USSR, the early Russian Soviet republic became the world leader in terms of regulating work and vacation time. The June 14, 1918 Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars “On vacations'' established an annual two-week vacation for all workers. What is important, the workers were still paid. Meanwhile in Europe, far from every country had state-regulated paid vacations for its workers. The 1936 International Labour Organization Convention “On paid vacations” proposed only an annual six-day vacation.