Our salary was cut at work. Allegedly, the company is incurring losses, and they didn’t even show the order. All employees were simply notified verbally. Tell me, can we somehow defend our rights? Are there any legal grounds for withholding money from wages?

LEGAL RETENTIONS
An employer has the right to withhold money from wages only in strictly defined cases:

• to reimburse an unearned advance paid to an employee on salary;
• to repay the unspent and not timely returned advance issued in connection with business trip or transfer to another job in another area;
• to return amounts overpaid to the employee due to accounting errors;
• upon dismissal of an employee before the end of the working year for which he has already received annual paid leave for unworked vacation days.

• § Art. 137 Labor Code RF

But apparently in your question we're talking about not about deductions from wages, but about its reduction.

WHITE SALARY
The employer can cut the salary, but this procedure is very problematic, since the terms of remuneration (including the size of the tariff rate or official salary) are specified in the employment contract.

• § Art. 57 Labor Code of the Russian Federation

It is possible to unilaterally reduce your earnings only if organizational or technological working conditions have changed (for example, changes in equipment and production technology, improvement of jobs based on their certification, structural reorganization of production). In this case, the employer is obliged to justify the need to reduce wages.

• § Art. 74 Labor Code of the Russian Federation

You were required to be notified in writing about upcoming changes, as well as the reasons that caused such a need, no later than 2 months in advance. But after this period, if you do not want to work with the new salary, you have the right to fire you. The basis is “the employee’s refusal to continue working due to a change in the terms of the employment contract determined by the parties.” The same entry about the reason for dismissal will also be in work book, unless, of course, you write a statement at will or by agreement of the parties.

• § Clause 7 Art. 77 Labor Code of the Russian Federation

Often employers do not cut the salary itself, but cut all kinds of bonuses and bonuses. The terms of these payments are established by a collective agreement, agreement, and local regulations. The document should determine whether an additional order is required in the event of a reduction in additional payments or whether the decision of the manager is sufficient. As a rule, such actions of the employer do not contradict labor laws, and in the event of a dispute, the courts often support the managers.

If your salary was cut or incentive payments were reduced without issuing an order, while local regulations provide for its issuance, then this is a direct violation of the law.

Stand up for your rights! Complain (collectively) about the employer’s actions to the labor inspectorate and the prosecutor’s office.

GRAY SALARY
It is also not uncommon for such cases to occur if employees receive “gray” wages. In this case, unfortunately, you will not be able to defend your rights. According to the documents, your salary was small. Now it will be almost impossible to prove that you were paid some additional amount in the envelope. So the employer has every right to reduce your salary to the limit that you were paid on the payroll. The only consolation: the employer has no right to pay you less than 5,554 rubles. (minimum wage).

How to legally reduce employee benefits: employer actions

Legal and illegal ways to reduce wages

Reasons for salary reduction

Amount of wages Every year on the territory of the Russian Federation a minimum wage level is established or a minimum wage level that is valid throughout the country.

Labor Code salary reduction

How to legally reduce an employee's salary?

by agreement with the employee (for example, as a result of transfer to another job, establishment of a part-time working schedule, revision of job duties in the direction of reducing them); unilaterally (at the initiative of the employer) in the event of a change in organizational or technological working conditions under which the salary amount (tariff rate, piece rate) determined by the parties in the employment contract cannot be maintained.

Labor Code salary reduction

By general rule The employer cannot, at its discretion, reduce the employee’s wages, the amount of which is fixed in the employment contract. However, in some cases, a monthly salary may be paid in a smaller amount than established, without obtaining the employee’s consent. We will tell you what these cases are in the provided consultation.

Labor Code on cases of reduction of wages by an employer

Mandatory for inclusion in are, in particular, the conditions for remuneration (including the amount of the tariff rate or salary (official salary) of the employee, additional payments, allowances and incentive payments) (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

According to Part 1 of Art. 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for an employee is established by an employment contract in accordance with the current regulations of this employer wage systems. At the same time, changing the terms of the employment contract, including in terms of reducing wages, is allowed only by agreement of the parties to the employment contract.

However, in some cases, monthly wages may be paid in a smaller amount than established in the employment contract, without obtaining the employee’s consent.

Rostrud in its Report identified the following reasons for reducing wages.

Let's consider these cases in more detail.

Remuneration for non-compliance with labor standards or non-fulfillment of labor duties

Failure to comply with labor standards should be understood as performing a smaller amount of work, failure to complete an established task, failure to achieve the specified quantitative result, etc.

For your information: employees are guaranteed the use of labor standardization systems determined by the employer, taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees or established by a collective agreement (Article 159 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). According to Art. 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee’s wages are defined as remuneration for work depending on the employee’s qualifications, complexity, quantity, quality and conditions of the work he performs, and also includes compensation and incentive payments. Labor standards are used to determine the amount of work performed. They also serve to calculate the labor intensity of work and the cost of expenses by type of work.

The amount of remuneration in case of failure to comply with labor standards (if labor is standardized) or failure to fulfill labor (official) duties (if labor is not standardized) depends on the reason for it:

reasons due to the employee's fault. The employee’s guilt can be expressed in his violation of technical or technological standards, violation of internal labor regulations, refusal to perform work without good reason, etc.;

reasons due to the employer's fault. The employer’s fault may lie in failure to provide work stipulated by the employment contract, failure to provide normal conditions for the employee to comply with labor standards, etc.;

reasons beyond the control of either the employee or the employer. They can be expressed in circumstances of an emergency, unforeseen nature ( disaster, quarantine, etc.).

The presence of guilt (or lack thereof) must be established and recorded in documents.

With regard to the employee’s failure to fulfill his job duties, the employer must also take into account the following. In accordance with Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee is obliged to conscientiously fulfill his labor duties assigned to him by an employment contract, comply with internal labor regulations and labor discipline.

For your information: according to Part 2 of Art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is mandatory for inclusion in employment contract is a condition about the labor function (work according to the position in accordance with the staffing table, profession, specialty indicating qualifications, the specific type of work entrusted to the employee). If in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws the performance of work in certain positions, professions, specialties is associated with the provision of compensation and benefits or the presence of restrictions; the names of these positions, professions or specialties and the qualification requirements for them must correspond to the names and requirements specified in the qualification reference books approved in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation, or relevant provisions of professional standards.

When hiring (before signing an employment contract), the employer is obliged to familiarize the employee, against signature, with the internal labor regulations and other local regulations directly related to labor activity employee, collective agreement (Part 3 of Article 68 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Failure to perform or improper performance job responsibilities may include, among other things, unlawful abuse of official powers, as well as unlawful non-use and abuse of them. Accordingly, excess and abuse of official powers may be considered failure to perform or improper performance of job duties. Job responsibilities are defined as the scope and limits of the functions performed by the employee and the tasks assigned, as well as the limits of responsibility to the employer. Disciplinary liability is provided for improper performance of official duties.

Labor legislation establishes the following types disciplinary sanctions: reprimand, reprimand, dismissal on appropriate grounds (Part 1 of Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The procedure for bringing an employee to disciplinary liability is enshrined in Art. 193 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Violation of the procedure for bringing an employee to disciplinary liability is a violation of labor legislation and entails administrative liability under Part 1 of Art. 5.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Remuneration for labor in the manufacture of products that turned out to be defective

Defects in the manufacture of products should be understood as a decrease in the quality of products as a result of deviations in the manufacturing process from established technical conditions and state standards, sanitary norms and rules, building codes and regulations, as well as from other documents that provide for mandatory requirements for the quality of goods and work , services.

For your information: The amount of remuneration for manufacturing products that turn out to be defective also depends on the presence or absence of the employee’s fault. The absence of the employee’s fault may consist in the presence of defective raw materials (materials) from which the products are made, confirmed by documents.

In addition to reducing an employee’s salary for producing defective products, compensation to the employer for damage caused is also provided (Articles 238, 241 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), in particular:

if the employee agrees to compensate for the damage and the amount does not exceed the average monthly salary, the recovery is carried out by order of the employer. Such a disposition must be formalized by order no later than one month from the date of final determination by the employer of the amount of damage caused by the employee;

if the one-month period has expired or the employee does not agree to voluntarily compensate for the damage caused to the employer, and the amount of damage caused to be recovered from the employee exceeds his average monthly earnings, recovery can only be carried out by a court decision.

Before making a decision on compensation for damage by specific employees, the employer is obliged to conduct an inspection to establish the amount of damage caused and the reasons for its occurrence (Article 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). To conduct such a check, the employer has the right to create a commission with the participation of relevant specialists. The commission must establish:

absence of circumstances excluding the employee’s financial liability;

the illegality of the employee’s behavior that caused damage to the employer’s property, the employee’s guilt in causing the damage;

a cause-and-effect relationship between the employee’s behavior and the resulting damage;

the presence of direct actual damage to the employer.

How to determine the amount of damage to the employer caused by an employee who committed a marriage? The amount of damage caused to the employer due to damage to property is determined by actual losses based on current market prices on the day the damage was caused, but not lower than the residual value of the property according to data accounting(Part 1 of Article 246 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). It is necessary to take into account the direct losses of the employer associated with excess consumption of raw materials, costs of electricity, thermal energy, payment of wages to employees correcting the defect, payment of taxes and other obligatory payments, etc. In addition, the amount of damage depends on whether the defect was caused by the employee’s fault, partial (correctable) or complete (incorrigible).

For your information: direct actual damage is understood as a real decrease in the employer’s available property or deterioration in the condition of said property (including property of third parties owned by the employer, if he is responsible for the safety of this property), as well as the need for the employer to make costs or excessive payments for the acquisition, restoration of property or compensation for damage caused by the employee to third parties.

The deduction of amounts from wages is carried out on the basis of a corresponding order from the head of the organization, which the employee familiarizes himself with under his signature. The maximum amount of all deductions for each salary payment (by order of the manager) cannot exceed 20% of the salary due to the employee after personal income tax withholding. If amounts are withheld from an employee under several enforcement documents, the amount of deductions cannot be more than 50% of his earnings (Article 138 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

For your information: arbitrators recognize the employer’s actions as illegal if, in violation of Art. 248 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, amounts are withheld without issuing an order and proper official investigation, and also in an amount exceeding the amount of deductions from wages established by law (Cassation ruling of the Saratov Regional Court dated January 19, 2012 No. 33-76, Decision of the Krasnoglinsky District Court of Samara dated 07/19/2011 No. 2-1148/2011). In this case, the employee will have to return the withheld amount in full.

Withholding amounts from an employee’s salary for marriage is a right, not an obligation of the employer. The employer may, at his discretion:

or apply the provisions of the Labor Code on attracting an employee to financial liability;

or limit yourself to disciplinary action with loss of bonus.

Example.

In January 2018, an employee of the main production committed an irreparable defect. According to the calculations compiled, the actual rejected products amount to 26,400 rubles. Rejected products were capitalized at the price of possible use - 2,800 rubles. The average monthly earnings of an employee who has committed a marriage is 23,500 rubles.

How to record damage collection transactions in accounting?

* According to paragraphs. 3 p. 2 art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, losses from defects are included in non-operating expenses taken into account when determining the tax base for income tax.

An employee who is guilty of causing damage to the employer may voluntarily compensate it in full or in part (Article 248 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If, at the employee’s request, the amount of damage will be paid by him to the organization’s cash desk at a time, the following correspondence of accounts must be drawn up: Debit Credit - 23,500 rubles. – the amount of damage is paid by the guilty person to the organization’s cash desk.

If the employer deducts damage from the employee’s salary, you should remember the limitation: with each payment of salary (by order of the manager), the amount of deduction cannot exceed 20% of the salary.

Let’s assume that an employee received a salary of 23,500 rubles for January. Personal income tax from salary – 3,055 rubles. (RUB 23,500 x 13%). To simplify the example, let’s assume that the employee is not entitled to deductions for personal income tax.

In this case, 4,089 rubles can be withheld from the employee’s salary for January 2018 to pay off his debt for compensation for material damage caused to the organization as a result of marriage. ((23,500 – 3,055) rub. x 20%).

The following entry should be made in accounting: Debit Credit - 4,089 rubles. – amounts are withheld from the employee’s salary to pay off his debt for compensation for material damage caused by him to the organization as a result of marriage.

Deductions will be made monthly until the employee's debt for damages is fully repaid. In this case, it is advisable to draw up a debt repayment schedule.

Payment for downtime

During downtime, the employee does not have the required amount of work. If labor standards are not met, work is provided, but the conditions necessary for its implementation are not provided.

Payment for downtime depends on whose fault it occurred:

due to the fault of the employer. This is a temporary suspension of work for reasons of a technological, economic, technical or organizational nature;

due to the fault of the employee;

in the absence of fault of the employee and the employer.

Reasons for reducing an employee’s wages may include cases of failure to comply with labor standards and failure to fulfill job duties, as well as manufacturing of products that turned out to be defective, and downtime. In this case, the presence of the employee’s guilt (or lack thereof) must be established and recorded in documents. Deductions from wages are carried out on the basis of a corresponding order from the head of the organization. The maximum amount of all deductions for each salary payment (by order of the manager) cannot exceed 20% of the salary due to the employee after personal income tax withholding. If amounts are withheld from an employee under several enforcement documents, the amount of deductions cannot be more than 50% of his earnings.

Reducing the cost of paying employees is one of the measures that employers resort to in order to optimize the organization’s expenses. This mechanism is used especially actively during the financial crisis. Today we will talk about how to reduce salary, what are the legal methods today and what risks exist for a manager who uses this method of reducing the wage fund.

Remuneration: employee rights, organization obligations

When hiring an employee, the company enters into an employment contract with him. In this document, in addition to basic information, the following indicators should be recorded:

• the amount of the official salary;
• availability of bonuses, additional payments, premiums, conditions for their payment/non-payment;
• working conditions in accordance with labor legislation;
• surcharge for harmful conditions labor (if available);
• working hours ( shift work, 40 hours work week and so on.);
• amount of days annual leave(legally provided leave + presence/absence of additional days of rest). Read also the article: → “”.

By signing an agreement with an employee, the company assumes obligations to fulfill its terms. That is, the company’s management does not have the right to make changes to the contract unilaterally, and the employee, in turn, has the right to demand full compliance with the terms of the employment agreement.

However, there are situations when a company is forced to reduce an employee’s salary. For example, the company introduced technological innovations in the production process, which led to a significant reduction in the workload of the employee. What should a company do in this case? Below we will look possible options legal reduction of an employee’s salary, either by agreement of the parties or unilaterally.

We reduce the salary by agreement of the parties

Let's say your company has decided to reduce the financial burden on the wage fund. There may be several reasons for this: a decrease in the volume of orders due to the financial crisis, a decrease in seasonal sales, optimization of the production process due to the commissioning of high-tech equipment, etc.

If one of the above situations occurs (or another that, in the opinion of the company, is significant for reducing the employee’s salary), then the company’s management has the right to contact the employee with a proposal to revise the terms of the employment contract, including the level of wages.

The terms of the Labor Code clearly regulate the following: the company has the right to make changes to contract of employment only with the consent of the employee.

Thus, you need to contact the employee with a proposal to amend the contract by concluding an additional agreement. It is important to understand that when making changes, you must indicate the reason for them (for example, a decrease in work responsibilities due to a decrease in sales). Otherwise, regulatory authorities have the right to recognize the changes made as unfounded and, therefore, illegal.

Possible options for changing the terms of the contract are presented in the table below:

As we can see, in each case the basic condition must be met: the salary reduction must be justified for objective reasons.

Procedure and required documents

When reducing an employee's salary, follow the following algorithm:

• Stage 1. Notify the employee of the planned salary reduction, providing objective reasons for this. Get the employee to agree to the changes.
• Stage 2. Draw up an additional agreement to the contract, indicating in it the new salary amount and the reason for its reduction. If changes are made to the scope of work (job responsibilities) and the number of working hours, then this must also be indicated in the agreement.
• Stage 3. Prepare the order in 2 copies and familiarize the employee with it. An additional agreement and an order to change the salary are considered valid only after it is signed by both parties: the employee and the official of the company.
• Stage 4. You can calculate your salary according to the new norm from the moment the order comes into force. Depending on the conditions, this may be the date of signing the document or the date specified in the order (for example, from 02/01/2017).

We reduce wages unilaterally

Despite objective reasons, an employee often does not agree with the need to change his own salary downward. In general, according to the Labor Code, the employer does not have the right to reduce wages unilaterally. How should an organization deal with this situation? There are several legal ways, the main ones are presented in the table below:

Step-by-step instructions, documents

The methods of unilateral salary reduction are described above, but on the condition that notification of the employee is not required, or the employee agrees with the changes. Let’s say that organizational standards for working conditions have changed at your company, but the employee does not agree with the new salaries and working conditions. Is it possible to reduce the salary yourself in this case? The answer is yes. Below we will look at this procedure step by step.

• Stage 1. The company has implemented production equipment, thanks to which the output of the workshop worker was halved. The company's management prepared a notice of a salary reduction for a workshop employee due to technological changes and submitted the document to the employee for signature (2 months before the salary reduction).
• Stage 2. Having received the notice, the employee indicated in it the refusal with new working conditions and salary.
• Stage 3. The company's management offers the employee a position in another production department (in accordance with qualifications or lower).
• Stage 4. If the employee agrees with the new working conditions, then he begins his duties within the agreed time frame. The transfer of an employee to another workshop is formalized by a transfer order. Read also the article: → “”. If an employee refuses a proposal for new working conditions, then the company’s management has the right to catch him (Article 77 of the Labor Code).

How to reduce the CEO's salary

The question of reducing the salary of a manager is quite common. The answer to this depends on whether the director is an employee or a founder. Let's consider the first option. If the general director is hired, then an employment contract is concluded with him, therefore, changes can be made to it in the general manner.

If the manager agrees with the salary reduction, then an additional agreement must be signed. If the salary is reduced due to organizational conditions, then the salary change is carried out with notification to the director and, after his consent, an additional agreement is also drawn up. If the director does not agree with the new working conditions and/or salary, he is offered another position, which he can accept or resign.

Often CEO is the sole founder of the company. In this case, he has the right at any time to change his salary independently, either downward or upward. The new salary should be recorded in an order, which is drawn up on behalf of the director and signed by him.

Since there is no employment contract in this case, there is no need to draw up an additional agreement to it.

Mistakes and possible risks

Above we described legal ways reducing the salaries of the organization's employees. Below we will look at examples of the most common mistakes made by organizations when reducing employee salaries, as well as possible risks and liability for violations.

Example No. 1. In October 2016, the management of GlavStal JSC decided to reduce salaries for employees production workshops based on a decrease in sales of manufactured products. On 11/01/16 (2 months before the planned salary reduction), employees received relevant notifications.

The order to introduce new (reduced) salaries was issued on 01/05/2017 and came into force from the moment of signing. Shop workers received wages for January 2017 based on new salary indicators. In March 2017, a GIT inspection was carried out at GlavStal JSC, as a result of which it was established that the salary reduction for shop workers was illegal.

The reason for the violation is the lack of grounds that are sufficient to change employment contracts unilaterally. A salary reduction by unanimous decision of the employer due to a decrease in sales volume is not provided for by the Labor Code.

JSC GlavStal did not introduce technological innovations that influenced manufacturing process, and also no organizational changes were made to working conditions, so the organization did not have the right to reduce wages without the consent of the employees. The State Labor Inspectorate issued an order to cancel the order, and additional payments were made to shop workers for January-February 2016. GlavStal JSC received a fine for violating labor laws.

Example No. 2. When hiring K.L. Serova for the position of economist at Molot LLC. The salary was set at 12,500 rubles. and a bonus of 7,500 rubles.

In November 2016, the management of Molot LLC issued an order to change the components of Serova’s salary: salary - 7,500 rubles, bonus - 12,500 rubles.

In January 2017, Serova’s bonus was not paid (based on the provisions specified in the employment contract).

In February 2017, Serova filed a lawsuit due to Hammer’s violation of labor laws. The court upheld Serova’s claim due to the fact that Serova was not notified of the change in salary components in in the prescribed manner. There is also no additional obligation to amend the employment contract.

Based on Serova’s court decision, an additional payment of funds was transferred based on the salary indicator of 12,500 rubles, bonuses - 7,500 rubles. The management of Molot was fined for violating labor laws.

Frequently asked questions and answers about reduced salary

Question No. 1. In October 2016, internal regulations were drawn up at Monolit JSC, according to which fines were established as a method disciplinary action. In November 2016, through fines, the monolith will reduce the wage fund by 7.5%. Are Monolith's actions legal?

A fine as a method of disciplinary action is not provided for by the Labor Code, that is, “Monolit” violates labor legislation with these actions. GIT has the right to impose an administrative fine on the management of Monolit (from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles), on the organization - from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles.

Question No. 2. In connection with changes in working conditions at Mechanic LLC, on April 12, 2016, a notice was submitted to the worker of workshop No. 5 Petrenko indicating a new (reduced) salary. Having received the notice, Petrenko refused to continue working in workshop No. 5. Petrenko was not offered an alternative place of work at Mechanic LLC. 07/05/16 Petrenko was fired. Are the actions of the “Mechanic” legal?

No, the management of “Mechanik” was obliged to offer Petrenko something else workplace, requiring similar (or lower) qualifications. Petrenko has the right to file a lawsuit against the management of Mekhanik in connection with violation of labor laws.