Purpose: study of the values of labor and leisure in historical evolution. Methodology and methods: application of the comparative method in the axiological analysis of attitudes towards work and leisure and the method of secondary analysis of sociological data in the analysis of various types of attitudes towards labor and leisure. Results: revealed a tendency to erase the rigid boundaries between the areas of work and leisure in the lifestyle of a modern person; the determining influence of the value factor in the person’s attitude to work and leisure is substantiated; identified various types of value orientations of work and leisure in the minds of modern Russians. The conclusion is made about the formation in the conditions of modern production of a single work / leisure activity system reflecting the current hierarchy of individual values. Scientific novelty: suggested the author's definition of leisure; identified four types of value orientations that determine the attitude of Russians to work and leisure - “workaholic”, “traditionalist”, “hedonist”, “creative”.