The issues of remuneration are traditionally one of the most controversial in the framework of the relationship between employees and the employer. And if the size and procedure for paying a salary (official salary) are fixed, then the procedure and size of bonuses remain at the discretion of the employer.

The absence in the current legislation of norms that allow to clearly define the procedure for the implementation of bonuses for employees of organizations that are not related to state and municipal institutions, is explained by the objective impossibility both at the state level and at the level of local government provide for all the nuances of wage systems that may take place in a particular organization.

In practice, this leads to the need to regulate the conditions and indicators of bonuses directly at the organization level. And those few rules on bonuses that were provided for in the original version Labor Code Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), have undergone changes since October 2006.

At the same time, errors made in the process of documenting both the bonus procedure and the payment of a specific bonus can have consequences for the organization not only in the form of claims from employees and administrative liability for violation of labor laws, but also cause claims from the tax authorities.

Considering the importance of the employer's formation of the correct approach to the development, adoption and implementation of provisions on bonuses, the author of the article offers readers an analysis of the norms of the current labor legislation on bonuses and reveals the practical aspects of drawing up and adopting these acts.

The essence and types of awards

Issues of bonuses within the framework of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation are regulated by the norms of Articles 129, 135, 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with Article 132 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the salary of each employee depends on his qualifications, the complexity of the work performed, the quantity and quality of labor expended. In addition, any discrimination in the establishment and change of working conditions is prohibited.

The previous version of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation separated the concepts of "remuneration" and "wages", indicating that remuneration is a system of relations related to ensuring the establishment and implementation by the employer of payments to employees for their work in accordance with laws, other regulatory legal acts, collective contracts, agreements, local regulations and employment contracts. According to the current version of Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the concept of "wage" has become synonymous with "employee's remuneration" and includes an indication of the following components:

Remuneration for work depending on the qualifications of the employee, the complexity, quantity, quality and conditions of the work performed;

compensation payments;

Incentive payments (additional payments and allowances of a stimulating nature, bonuses and other incentive payments).

Thus, the version of Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, effective since October 2006, classifies bonuses as a type of incentive payments. And they, in turn, are a kind of incentive payments, along with additional payments and allowances.

Incentives are made in order to establish the material interest of the employee in the final results of labor. In this regard, there are:

a) bonuses paid in excess of the main part of earnings on the basis of predetermined indicators and conditions - this is an integral part of the time-bonus or piece-bonus wage systems, the size of which depends on the fulfillment of certain indicators and conditions. These bonuses are paid periodically (monthly, quarterly, etc.) based on the results of work for the relevant period and may be a variable part of the salary;

b) bonuses issued on the basis of overall assessment labor of employees outside the system of remuneration, are of a one-time nature, are paid not for pre-established indicators and conditions, are entered in work book as a measure of encouragement in the prescribed manner .

The previous edition of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation made it possible to clearly distinguish between these two types of bonuses based on a comparison of the norms of Article 144 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which provided for bonuses as incentive payments within the framework of the bonus component of the wage system, and the norms of Article 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in which bonuses belonged to a different category of payments - incentive, one-time. Now the line between these types of payments, which are different in essence and purpose, has been erased.

Therefore, it is all the more important to determine their features and the procedure for payment in relation to the conditions of a particular organization.

Methods of documenting the procedure and conditions for the payment of bonuses

Before starting to write draft documents that would establish the types, frequency, size and procedure for paying bonuses in an organization, it is necessary to determine the most appropriate way for the organization to regulate them.

Guided by the norms of legislation, in practice there are several ways to fix the rules for the implementation of bonuses.

First way

This is the easiest way. It consists in the fact that when deciding on the payment of bonuses to certain employees, separate bonus orders are issued indicating the type of bonus, the grounds for paying bonuses, the list of persons subject to bonuses, the amount of bonuses and the timing of payments.

This approach to the design of the award has the following positive aspects:

Does not require detailed regulation of the procedure for the implementation of bonuses;

It does not provide for the agreement with each employee of the amount of upcoming payments, but only bringing to the attention of the relevant orders under the personal signature of the employee;

By separate orders in the organization, it is possible to time the payment of bonuses to anniversaries, holidays, and other memorable dates. And you can also issue an incentive for work when performing especially important and complex tasks in the manner of Article 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, etc. At the same time, the employer is not obliged to undertake the obligation to make such payments every time the relevant events or actions occur on the part of employees.

At the same time, there is also negative consequences use of individual orders to process the payment of bonuses:

This method is suitable only for those organizations that do not intend to implement systematic bonuses. This means that it is not acceptable in relation to the time-bonus and piece-bonus systems of remuneration, when the bonus can be a variable part of the wages of employees and is paid periodically;

An attempt to disguise a periodically paid bonus as a one-time bonus in order to provide the employer with the opportunity at any time to make a smaller payment or to deprive the employee of the bonus as a whole is criticized by the inspection authorities. In addition, if the employee defends his right to receive a bonus in a fixed amount in court, then the actions of the employer may “not please” the court (magistrate). Such payments will be subject to their essence in order to determine their legal nature regardless of how specifically they are named;

Lack of documentary justification for the difference between premiums individual workers can be qualified as a violation of labor legislation in relation to discrimination in the establishment and change of wage conditions. After all, wages (including incentive payments, which include bonuses) depend on the qualifications of the employee, the complexity of the work performed, the quantity and quality of labor expended (Article 132 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

At drafting orders it is necessary to be guided by unified forms No. T-11 and T-11a, approved by the Decree of the State Statistics Committee of January 5, 2004 No. 1 "On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting for labor and its payment." In the instructions regarding the rules for filling out these forms by the State Statistics Committee, it is established that these orders:

They are used to design and record rewards for success in work;

Compiled on the basis of the presentation of the head of the structural unit of the organization in which the employee works;

Signed by the head of the organization or a person authorized by him, announced to the employee (s) against receipt. Based on the order (instruction), an appropriate entry is made in the employee's personal card (form No. T-2 or No. T-2GS (MS) and the work book of the employee.

Second way

This method requires include provisions on the amount of bonuses and the procedure for the implementation of bonuses in the texts of labor contracts concluded with each specific employee hired by the organization .

Among pluses In this approach, one can single out the literal fulfillment of the requirement of Part 2 of Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which incentive payments relate to the conditions of remuneration that are mandatory for inclusion in an employment contract. This excludes the detection of violations of labor legislation by inspection and judicial authorities in this part.

However, this method of fixing the rules for the implementation of bonuses has a number of significant shortcomings and often does not fully reflect the interests of the employer:

If the employer includes the rules for the implementation of bonuses in the employment contract, then he will lose the opportunity to change these rules unilaterally (including changing the amount, procedure for the implementation of bonuses) without signing amendments to the current employment contract with the employee, and the employee may refuse to make changes that worsen his situation;

Organizations often use developed forms of employment contracts, in which it is difficult to add provisions on the implementation of bonuses due to the need to fix different approaches to bonuses depending on the category of personnel and working conditions for each position (if the organization uses a differentiated approach to encouragement).

And the inclusion of an indication of the entire set of sizes, conditions, bonus indicators, terms of payment of bonuses in each employment contract makes it cumbersome in volume. The absence of this information may raise questions from inspectors regarding compliance with labor laws and the judiciary in terms of the validity of differentiation in the payment of bonuses in relation to individual employees;

Agreeing on the conditions on the specific amounts of bonuses paid, the frequency of their payments automatically entails the obligation of the employer to comply with the terms of the concluded employment contract in this part. Any discrepancy in the direction of worsening the situation of the employee may entail both material and administrative liability for the employer. Absence in employment contract An unambiguously interpreted list of omissions, in which the employee does not have the right to a bonus or a bonus can be paid in a different amount than in the absence of these omissions, entails the illegality of reducing the amount of the paid bonus or not paying it in general. To provide for these circumstances in the text of each employment contract means, as already mentioned, to significantly increase the volume of the latter.

Thus, the inclusion of provisions on the payment of bonuses in the texts of employment contracts is advisable in those organizations where the bonuses included in the remuneration system are not differentiated, have a pre-fixed amount and are part of the wages that the employer pays along with the main salary, and one-time bonuses paid in predetermined cases and amounts.

Third way

This method involves the inclusion types, amounts and other rules for the implementation of bonuses directly into the text of the collective agreement concluded in the organization and (or) its branch, representative office .

This approach has all those positive features that are typical for the inclusion of provisions on bonuses directly in the text of the employment contract. Compared with the previous method of fixing the types, amounts of premiums paid and the rules for making payments, there are other pros :

The inclusion in the texts of labor contracts of references to the implementation of bonuses in the manner established by the collective agreement in force in the organization makes it possible to exclude these rules from the texts of individual labor contracts and eliminates the need to make significant changes to it when changing the provisions on bonuses;

The structure of the collective agreement makes it possible to clearly and in detail reflect in its text both the types, frequency of payment and amounts of bonuses (including by establishing a differentiated scale, conditions, bonus indicators linked to the results of the work of employees), and a list of omissions, in the presence of which employees do not have the right to receive the premium or the premium is paid in a different amount. Therefore, the rules for the implementation of bonuses for employees can be fixed in the structure of the collective agreement, both in the section on remuneration (Article 41 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and placed in a separate appendix to the collective agreement, which has the appropriate name (“Regulation on remuneration”, “Regulation on bonuses”, “Regulations on labor incentives”, “Regulations on incentives”, etc.) and is an integral part of the collective agreement.

However, this design method has a number of significant shortcomings, namely:

Not all organizations have a practice of concluding collective agreements;

The procedure for concluding a collective agreement involves the coordination of its text with the employees of the organization represented by their representative (primary trade union organization or other representatives elected by employees), it is necessary to comply with the procedure for conducting collective bargaining established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 36-38). At the same time, bonus issues related to remuneration are the most controversial and it is often difficult for the parties to reach a compromise;

If the employer decides to make changes (additions) to the current collective agreement before its expiration, then he must agree on these changes with the employees represented by their representatives, either in the manner established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for its adoption, or in the manner prescribed by the collective agreement itself (Article 44 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

The latter rule compares favorably with the norm that was in force until October 2006, when a change (addition) to the collective agreement was possible only in the manner prescribed by the code for concluding a collective agreement. Therefore, at present, the text of the collective agreement can provide for a simplified procedure for making changes (additions) to it, but subject to the consent of the employees represented by their representatives to include this provision. However, it should be remembered that in this case, not only the employer, but also employees, represented by their authorized representative, have the right to use the simplified procedure, putting forward their requirements in matters of the implementation of incentives for work.

Fourth way

It consists in the fact that types, sizes and other key moments of the implementation of bonuses in an organization can be regulated by a local regulatory act - the Regulations on bonuses, adopted in the manner prescribed by current legislation. The very name of the act in this case may be different: “Regulation on remuneration”, a separate section in which is directly devoted to bonus issues, “Regulation on stimulating the work of employees”, “Regulation on encouragement”, etc.

Among benefits, which gives the presence of a competently drawn up and approved in the manner prescribed by law a local regulatory act on bonus issues, the following can be distinguished:

The possibility of including in the texts of employment contracts (if any - and collective agreements) only references to the implementation of bonuses in the manner established by this local regulatory act (indicating its name and date of approval) in force in the organization. This will exclude a detailed presentation of the issues of payment of bonuses from the texts of individual labor contracts (collective agreements) and eliminate the need to make changes to it when changing the bonus rules;

The ability to foresee all the nuances associated with bonuses that are typical for the organization, which allows the organization to introduce a mechanism for a real increase in labor productivity as a result of improving the systems of payment and incentives for work;

No need to agree on the conditions on the size and procedure for paying bonuses with employees, compliance with only the procedure for taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees of the organization (if any).

This approach is not without some cons :

The need for strict compliance with the conditions and obligations prescribed by the Regulations, assumed by the employer. At the same time, the payment of the bonus depends on compliance with the conditions, bonus indicators and the absence of predetermined omissions in the work, which reduces this negative moment to a minimum;

If a local regulation on bonus issues is adopted in an organization for the first time, then it is advisable to amend the existing labor contracts with employees (see Example) with references to the effect of this act in relation to the types, amounts and procedure for bonuses.

When deciding on the implementation of bonuses on the basis of a separate local regulatory act - we will continue to call it traditionally the “Bonus Regulations” - as a next step, it is necessary to determine what types of bonuses this provision will apply to.

As already mentioned, there are two main types of premiums. In this case, the following approach is often used: premiums that are integral part wage systems are included in the regulation, and in relation to one-time bonuses, reference is made to the possibility of their payment on the basis of separate orders of the head of the organization or persons authorized by him, as well as linking to anniversaries, holidays, other memorable dates, performance of special tasks, assignments and other.

Structurally, the Regulation on bonuses may consist of the following sections:

1. General Provisions.

AT this section fixed:

1.1. The purpose of this provision.

So, here the motivation for increasing labor productivity, encouraging highly productive and initiative work, stimulating the timely and high-quality performance of each employee of their labor duties, increasing the responsibility of employees in achieving high end results labor, creating conditions for the manifestation of the creative activity of each employee, etc.

For example, "Award is sum of money, which can be paid to employees in excess of the salary (official salary) in order to encourage progress in labor under the conditions and in the manner established by this provision.

1.3. The scope of the provision, including the main issues that are subject to regulation: types and amounts of bonuses, indicators and conditions for bonuses, the procedure for calculating, approving and paying bonuses to employees, etc.

1.4. Information on which categories of personnel this provision applies to.

1.5. Sources of payments, taking into account certain types of premiums.

2. The procedure for calculating, approving and paying monthly (quarterly, etc.) bonuses.

Within this part, provisions relating to the payment of bonuses, which are an integral part of the time-bonus or piece-bonus wage systems, can be grouped. Their size depends on the fulfillment of certain indicators and conditions.

If the organization decides to implement bonuses based on the results of work for different reporting periods (for example, to establish both monthly and quarterly bonuses at the same time), then in the provision it is necessary to economically justify the presence of several payments, linking them to the achievement of different bonus indicators in order to the inspection authorities did not get the impression that in this way the employer is trying to legalize the delay in the payment of the bonus, which is due to the employee in excess of the salary (official salary).

So, in this section you need to specify:

2.1. Reporting period (periods) for the implementation of bonuses - month, quarter, etc.

2.2. For what results in general is the bonus paid (these can be the results of production, production and economic, management, etc. activities).

2.3. Prize amount.

There are several options for specifying the amount of the premium to be paid:

Indicate in the regulation the specific amounts of bonuses for all employees, including differentially, using the developed scale for categories of personnel and individual structural divisions;

Indicate in the provision a "fork", including a differentiated one, for individual structural divisions. In accordance with it, the specific amount of the bonus should be established by labor contracts with employees of the organization (often this is done to avoid publicity of the amounts paid to each specific employee of the organization as bonuses). At the same time, the provision can provide for the right of the head of the organization or persons authorized by him to increase the size of the bonus by his decision, issued by order for the organization.

In addition, the rules for calculating the bonus should be provided here: in a fixed amount, as a percentage of the salary (official salary), with or without the established allowances and surcharges, for the time actually worked in the reporting period. And also indicate whether the bonus is due to the employee if he actually did not work the entire reporting period.

In practice, in many provisions, if there are good reasons, the list of which is also advisable to foresee in advance in order to avoid further disputes, the issue of paying a bonus is decided either by the immediate supervisor of the employee, or by the head of the organization or a person authorized by him, who sign the order for the next bonus.

So, the issue of paying a bonus to an employee who quit before the end of the reporting period for own will, is traditionally considered taking into account good reasons established in part 3 of article 80 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Regarding the question of whether it is necessary to fix in any way the amount of the bonus paid on the basis of the provision, the following should be noted in the framework of labor legislation:

The bonuses carried out as part of the remuneration of labor, in accordance with Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, refer to the conditions of remuneration that are mandatory for inclusion in the employment contract (of course, if the organization has a bonus system);

The implementation of bonuses for the purpose of encouragement, the establishment of a material interest in the results of labor can be carried out provided that the employee is aware of what successes to what extent (amount) he can be rewarded for, and for what violations and omissions non-payment of the bonus or its payment in another way may follow. size;

The employee does not at all have the right to a bonus in the absence of conditions and indicators of bonuses. However, if we are talking about depriving a bonus, then only that payment, the specific amount of which is foreseen in advance, can be deprived. Therefore, either in the employment contract or in the Regulations on bonuses, the basic amount of the bonus should be established.

In the event of a trial, in the absence of a base size, the court (magistrate) will be forced to assess how much the employee claims. The employee will present his arguments, including by referring to the amount of payments made to him earlier, or to bonuses paid to employees with similar qualifications. And if these arguments are not properly refuted by the employer in the form of documents and other evidence of the quality characteristics of the work, the court may satisfy the requirements of the employee.

2.4. The necessary conditions bonuses.

In this case, each organization must develop its own conditions that would reflect the economic feasibility of expenses, for example, the implementation production program, product sales plan, etc.

2.5. Mandatory bonus indicators (indicators are also developed individually, taking into account the specifics of the activities carried out).

As such indicators, one can indicate, for example, the implementation of approved work plans of departments; execution of the document flow sheets, regulations, regulations, instructions, procedures, etc., in force in the organization, the manifestation of reasonable initiative, creativity, application in work modern methods labor organization, etc.

If, for objective reasons, there are no grounds for paying a bonus (namely: the indicators and conditions previously stipulated in the Regulations are not achieved), the employee does not initially have the right to a bonus.

2.6. A list of omissions in work, in the presence of which, in relation to a particular employee, the amount of the bonus may be reduced or the bonus may not be paid at all.

It is possible to develop a special scale that would show how certain types omissions in work affect the final amount of the bonus paid.

Let us give an example: “The amount of the bonus of a particular employee is reduced in case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment by the employee of his official duties established by the employment contract, job description, Rules of internal work schedule for employees, other local regulations of the organization, orders and orders of authorized persons, including as a result of violation of the established deadlines for the performance or delivery of work. When:

For a single omission or violation in work during the reporting period, the amount of the bonus of a particular employee, provided for by this provision (employment contract), is reduced by 25 percent;

Repeated omissions or violations in work during the reporting period, the amount of the bonus of a particular employee, provided for by this provision (employment contract), is reduced by 50 percent;

Three or more repeated omissions or violations in work, as well as a gross violation by the employee of labor duties, the bonus for the reporting period is not paid.

This list allows you to distinguish between cases where the employee does not initially have the right to a bonus (non-fulfillment of bonus indicators and the absence of its conditions) and when the bonus is not paid or its size is reduced (for failure to fulfill any official duties, regulations, individual instructions and instructions from management) which is recognized by the jurisprudence.

If the employer links the payment / non-payment of the bonus with non-performance / improper performance of official duties, regulations, individual instructions and instructions from the management, then in the event of a dispute with the employee in the course of legal proceedings, the organization will have to prove the validity of its actions. And the employer can do this more or less confidently, first of all, if there are properly drawn up documents that record the fact:

Instructions for the performance of any official duties, regulations, individual instructions and instructions from the management;

Failure to fulfill any official duties, regulations, individual instructions and instructions from the management, the degree of participation in the performance of certain works.

At the same time, it is better to clarify the method and procedure for fixing the fact of omission, the list of persons authorized to control this question, since it can be foreseen that an omission does not necessarily entail the application of a disciplinary sanction to the employee in accordance with Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

We recommend avoiding the use of the term “bonus deductions”, since for inspection bodies it often causes associations with deductions from wages, the use of which is limited by law. It is also unlawful to use "penalties" for violation labor discipline(lateness to work, unauthorized increase in time lunch break etc.), during which the amount of wages paid is reduced unilaterally by an amount corresponding to such a fine. This type of "responsibility" also contradicts the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on the cases and procedure for making deductions from wages (Articles 137–138 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Separately, it should be emphasized that it is unlawful to classify non-payment of a bonus or its payment in a reduced amount as disciplinary sanctions, since the list of types of disciplinary sanctions is provided for in Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation with reference to federal laws and is not subject to broad interpretation.

2.7. Reasons for awarding bonuses:

Relevant data on the existence of bonus conditions and the fulfillment of its indicators - as a rule, accounting and financial services organizations, as well as the office (secretariat);

Information about the absence of omissions and violations that, according to the Regulations, may affect the emergence of the employee's right to receive a bonus in a specific amount, as well as persons who are authorized to provide such information (usually they come from the immediate supervisors of the employees being paid).

We also recommend that the Regulation provide for clear deadlines for the provision of such data, otherwise the issue of paying the bonus may not be resolved in a timely manner and will entail the employer's liability for the delay in paying wages in the manner prescribed by Article 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition, the Regulations should include:

Responsible unit (as a rule, personnel or accounting services), which ensures the collection and processing of the submitted data, compiling a list of bonus employees indicating the bonuses due to them and submitting them within the prescribed time to the person authorized to issue the bonus order;

The person (persons) authorized to make the final decision and issue an order for the next bonus, and the basis of his powers.

If the procedure for making a decision on the payment or non-payment of the bonus and its amount is not properly spelled out in the Regulations, then the inspection bodies, and in the event of a dispute being referred to the court (magistrate) - the judge (magistrate), may have questions regarding the validity payment of a premium in a certain amount or non-payment of a premium. When considering a dispute, the court (justice of the peace) will be forced to summon to the court session each time officials who made a decision on non-payment of the bonus or on the specific amount of the bonus and its amount. Otherwise, other evidence of the justification for non-payment or payment in a certain amount of bonus disputed by the employee may not be taken into account.

3. The procedure for accrual, approval and payment of a one-time bonus.

This section may include:

3.1. The list of cases when an employee can be paid a one-time bonus.

For example, for the prompt and high-quality implementation of particularly important production projects or especially urgent instructions from the management, the development of new ideas, the introduction of new, resource-saving technologies, increased efficiency, initiative, efficiency, as well as for anniversaries, professional holidays, and other memorable dates.

3.2. Estimated amount of payments: specific, an indication of the maximum amount, etc.

3.3. The basis for considering the issue of a one-time bonus to an employee.

The grounds may be a reasoned appeal (report, memo) of a person in charge of the execution of a particularly important task (project), especially urgent work, a one-time assignment, personnel issues, etc. in the name of the head of the organization or a person authorized by him.

3.4. The person authorized to make a decision on the payment of a one-time bonus and its specific amount and the time frame for making such a decision, as well as the procedure for submitting a draft order on bonuses for signature.

4. Final provisions.

This section covers the following main issues:

4.1. Establishment of a person responsible for the correctness of the calculations and accruals of bonuses.

4.2. Establishment of a person exercising control over the correctness of calculations and accrual of bonuses.

4.3. The procedure for agreeing and approving the regulation, making changes and additions to it.

4.4. Date of entry into force of the provision, if necessary - the period of its validity.

4.5. The procedure for bringing the situation to the attention of employees of the organization.

As can be seen from the material presented, when preparing the Regulations on bonuses, it is advisable to involve specialists from the personnel, accounting, financial and legal services of the organization.

When determining the person authorized to sign the Regulations on bonuses on behalf of the employing organization, one should be guided by the norms of part 6 of article 20 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

So, the Regulation can be signed by the head of the organization acting on the basis of the organization's charter (other constituent document legal entity), by another person who has the right to act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney on the basis of an indication to this in the charter of the organization (other founding document), as well as by persons authorized by them in the manner prescribed, among other things, by the local regulations of the organization.

Taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees when adopting the Regulations on bonuses

Once the content of the future Bonus Regulations has been determined, it is necessary to follow the procedure for its adoption before its final approval.

The fact is that, according to Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, this local normative act contains norms labor law. And it is subject to the rule of Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which local regulations establishing wage systems are adopted by the employer, taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees (if such a body exists). The procedure for taking into account the opinion is provided for in Article 372 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for the elected body of the primary trade union organization(by analogy, it is also used when taking into account the opinion of another representative body) and boils down to the following (see Figure).

Picture

Responsibility of the employer related to violation of the rules on the implementation of bonuses

With regard to issues of possible liability in connection with violation of the rules on the implementation of bonuses, the following can be noted.

Violation of labor law in this part may result in:

Administrative responsibility in accordance with part 1 of article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses Russian Federation(hereinafter - the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Violation of labor legislation entails the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of up to 50 minimum wages. A person previously subjected to administrative punishment for a similar administrative offense is subject to disqualification (according to part 1 of article 3.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, this is the deprivation of an individual of the right to hold senior positions in the executive management body of a legal entity, etc.) for a period of 1 to 3 years (part 2 of article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses);

Non-payment of the bonus may be considered by the court (magistrate), taking into account the delay in the payment of wages and other violations of wages (Article 142 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). According to article 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in case of violation by the employer due date payments due to the employee, the employer is obliged to pay them with interest ( monetary compensation) in the amount of not less than 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation effective at that time from the amounts not paid on time for each day of delay starting from the next day after the established payment deadline until the day of actual settlement inclusive;

Rewarding employees for what is possible - wording the grounds for bonuses may be different depending on what the bonus is for and how rich the imagination of the leadership is. Consider how the procedure for fixing the wording in the bonus order is regulated and which of them is better to use in certain cases.

Why, according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, is a bonus paid to an employee?

The norm of the law that determines what a bonus is is part 1 of article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. According to its provisions, a bonus is a payment of an incentive or incentive nature. The name of such a payment may change, but its purpose remains the same.

It is important to remember that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not oblige the administration of the organization to pay bonuses to its employees. Grounds for bonuses to employees, the procedure and terms of its conduct, Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation refers to the competence of a particular organization, which has the right to determine all this with its own internal documents. Despite such a “gap” in labor legislation, the bonus system operates almost everywhere, since the interest of each employee in the results of labor is the best guarantee of the overall success of the organization.

In practice, several bonus systems are used. The most common in Russia is general bonuses, when incentive payments are paid to almost all employees in the absence of shortcomings in their work, the amount of the bonus can be either fixed or dependent on the size of the salary.

A more flexible option is based on a careful assessment of the contribution of each employee to the overall result. With this approach, not all employees can receive a bonus, but only the most successful ones who have brought maximum benefit to the organization. The size of the bonus in this case may even significantly exceed the amount of the salary of the encouraged employee.

The main advantage of the individual bonus system is the encouragement of the specific qualities of the employee, the result that the organization expects from its employees. It is in this that the stimulating nature of such payments is most manifested, since other employees will strive to perform their duties better, having a real example in front of them.

Conditions for awarding an award, examples of wording

Bonus conditions are determined on the basis of the employee incentive scheme that has developed at the enterprise. When applying a general bonus, the main condition is the fulfillment of certain (often averaged) indicators, the completion of work on time, etc. If the work plan is successfully completed, the bonus is assigned by a general order based on the results of the month, quarter or other period. At the same time, a list of employees who have committed any violations that deprive them of bonuses is determined.

The wording of orders for bonuses in such cases is rather monotonous:

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• “for the successful completion of the task (plan, assigned duties)”;
• "behind high quality work done";
• “for achieving high results in work”, etc.

When using an individually oriented bonus system, the payment of a bonus may not be determined time period, and paid for specific successes. Accordingly, the order to award one or a group of employees will contain the exact wording of the achievement:

• "for the successful representation of the interests of the company in negotiations with the client and the conclusion of a particularly advantageous contract";
• "for the performance of a particularly difficult urgent task";
• “for the use of a non-standard (creative) approach to solving the issue”, etc.

What can be given an additional bonus?

For an enterprise working for the future, it is important not only to meet the planned targets on time, but also to encourage employees to grow professionally, improve the company's image, attract more partners for cooperation, and strengthen its position in relation to competitors. Such goals can be achieved in various ways, including by taking into account the individual achievements of employees, to stimulate which the bonus system is aimed.

Successful participation of employees in various exhibitions, competitions, development programs is a huge plus for the company's image. It is quite logical to hold various competitions with subsequent financial incentives within a single enterprise. With a reasonable approach, the economic effect from improving the skills of employees, improving the quality of work, and coherence of the team will be an order of magnitude greater than the funds spent on bonuses.

Forms for employee bonuses in this case, millet can describe the achievements of employees, for example:

• "for participation in the competition of professional skills";
• “for representing the company at an international competition”;
• "for winning the mini-volleyball competition among employees of stationery stores."

Another way to improve the microclimate in the team and increase responsibility for the result of each employee is the payment of individual bonuses dedicated to significant dates in the life of an employee (birth of a child, marriage, anniversary, etc.).

A significant aspect of the company's activity is the desire to retain qualified and experienced employees. Award for loyalty to the company, long-term successful work in it, the encouragement of labor dynasties, the creation of conditions for their emergence - all this is of great importance.

The content of the award order

When drawing up an order on bonuses, it is recommended to use the unified form T-11 (for bonuses for a group of employees - T-11a), approved by the Decree of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation “On Approval ...” No. 1 of 01/05/2004.

In addition to the standard details of the organization, when filling out this form, the following data is entered:

• initials and position of the promoted employee;
• wording;
• indication of the type of award (amount of money, gift, etc.);
• the basis for calculating the bonus (representation or memo from the head of the structural unit).

When specifying the wording, you can use either one of the structures indicated in our article, or come up with own version. It is worth remembering that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not impose any special requirements for such wording, leaving this issue to the discretion of the head of the organization.

As you can see, the wording can be different and depend only on the grounds for bonuses and the opinion of the management. The law does not impose requirements on wording - the main thing is that it is clear from the text what the premium is paid for.

How to determine how well the employee coped with the duties assigned to him, and what amounts of work can be considered sufficient to pay remuneration? For this purpose, in accounting practice, a special normative document. It sets out the basic conditions for the award.

But the indicators themselves are specifically designed conditions for which it is possible to reward an employee. That is, it is important not only to designate, for example, conscientious performance duties, but also to indicate specific facts - timely delivery financial statements or execution necessary plan work.

Therefore, compiling the main provisions of bonuses for employees it is necessary to prescribe specific indicators by differentiating with respect to:

• type of work;
• official responsibility;
• scope of work;
• period of performance of work;
• working conditions;
• the quality of the work done.

Condition system

In order to develop a system of indicators, it is necessary to take into account many factors related to the individual principles of the work of a given enterprise.

Important! It is also important that bonuses are established as a kind of incentive to improve the performance of employees, thereby allowing you to increase the profitability of the company.

Most often, when developing provisions on bonuses, the following classification of indicators is taken as a basis.

Awards according to position held:

1. individual accrual of a bonus, the amount of which is measured depending on the position held (related to individual responsibility employee);
2. a general bonus for all categories of personnel, which is charged in the same amount for each employee (related to the performance of the entire organization, or from the achieved indicator).

Depending on the period of work:

• (to find out when an incentive payment is issued to an employee and how to correctly fill out an order for a bonus at the end of the month, read);
• quarterly;

Bonus from the accrued amount of remuneration:

1. expressed in a certain amount;
2. as a percentage of wages.

Remuneration based on the number of payments per year:

• one-time accrual, most often timed to coincide with holidays and solemn dates (you can find out how to arrange and record the payment of one-time bonuses);
• systematic.

Depending on taxation:

1. subject to taxes;
2. not subject to taxes.

Bonus depending on the funds from which the remuneration is accrued:

• accrued from the fund of the enterprise for wages;
• accrued from other funds of the enterprise.

Who decides who gets the award?

The main task of developing a provision on bonuses is to stimulate employees. Moreover, the conditions for bonuses conceived depend not only on how the employee worked his shift, but also on the profitability of the enterprise itself (for details on what incentive payments are, read in). That is why indicators can be set:

1. directly by the leader;
2. manager together with an elected representative of the labor collective.

At the same time, all the conditions and indicators of bonuses that will be fixed in the "Regulations on bonuses" must be quite adequate and comply with the profitability of the enterprise, as well as all labor protection and safety standards.

General criteria for all employees

As mentioned earlier, a manager can reward an employee not only for working out a certain period of work, but also for its high-quality performance. Therefore, during the development of the Regulations on bonuses, it is possible to draw up general evaluation criteria for all types of employees.

The most common of these are:

After a certain period of service, the manager can draw conclusions about his employee. Therefore, if, in his opinion, this employee meets certain criteria, according to Art. 144 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the accrual of allowances is possible.

Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of employees

An integral part of the development of indicators of the bonus system is the evaluation of the effectiveness of the work performed. To do this, you first need:

1. determine the type of work;
2. to study its specificity;
3. determine the level of professional training;
4. find out about the availability of special equipment or technology;
5. define conditions;
6. establish the level of knowledge and skills of the employee.

To do this, most often, enterprises already have a template list with questions for each category of personnel, enabling the employer to analyze the work of the employee.

But this is not the only evaluation method. In general, the following can be applied in practice:

• interview method, during which the manager analyzes the answers of the employee, and, based on the results, makes his impression of his work;
• observation method. This method is suitable for those employees who are involved in certain types of work, allowing you to visually determine the quality of work;
• questioning. This method is the creation of template questions that allow you to correctly assess the employee.

Ways to encourage staff by departments of the enterprise

The bonus is a kind of incentive for the employee to work better and avoid mistakes in work. Therefore, when drawing up a provision on bonuses, managers determine specific criteria that allow you to set, so to speak, the bar for an employee.

There may be a certain hierarchy of indicators in the bonus system. That is, they can be:

1. main criteria;
2. additional indicators.

The main indicators can be expressed in several important criteria on which the productivity of an employee depends, which accordingly increases the profitability of the enterprise itself.

Additional indicators are already defined for certain categories of personnel in order to improve the quality of work of employees.

In the process of developing the main provisions, it is necessary to think about the date of entry into force of this regulatory act and the duration of its validity. They can be spelled out both in the document itself and fixed in the manager (you can find out how a sample order for a bonus for a professional holiday looks like, and in we told you what the procedure for accruing an incentive for an anniversary is). If the terms of validity are not mentioned in the act, then its validity is unlimited in time.

The main point in the compilation is the correspondence of working conditions and moral stimulation, the balance of which is achieved while ensuring social justice.

Thus, in order to increase the working capacity of employees and thereby increase the profitability of the enterprise, it is necessary not only to stimulate them with bonuses, but also to conscientiously treat wages in general.

Bonuses are a welcome event in the life of any employee. It is safe to say that employees expect a bonus much more than a fixed part of the salary. Salary is a constant phenomenon. Another thing is a bonus when you receive an increase based on your own merits and production results. The main question for the employer is: how to issue the bonus correctly so that there are no disputes with employees and inspection bodies?

General requirements for bonuses

The employer encourages employees who conscientiously perform labor obligations. In particular, through the payment of bonuses. He has the right to establish various bonus systems, incentive payments and allowances (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

When paying bonuses and developing documents for bonuses to employees, the following should be taken into account.

1. Local regulations, including those on bonuses, should not worsen the position of the employee in comparison with the current legislation (Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

2. A mandatory condition for inclusion in any employment contract is the condition on remuneration (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), therefore, the employer must indicate the possibility of making incentive payments in the text of the employment contract. In addition, the employer cannot unilaterally cancel bonuses if they are provided for by the employment contract.

3. Payroll costs include bonuses for production results, bonuses to tariff rates and salaries for professional skills, high achievements in work and other similar indicators (Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, hereinafter referred to as the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). That is, the employer must establish production indicators for which bonuses are provided. These, for example, may include: for a sales manager - the number of concluded and actually executed contracts, for a lawyer - the amount of debts collected in a judicial or claim procedure, VAT refunded in an administrative or judicial procedure, disputed amounts of additional taxes and fees, fines and etc. Such indicators can be set in plans and confirmed by reports on the work performed.

4. Expenses must be economically justified and documented (Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, if the company receives losses, then the payment of large bonuses for production indicators by the tax authority may be recognized as illegal.

Regulations on bonuses

Many companies do not have a bonus clause. It is believed that a reference in the employment contract to the fact that the employee is entitled to receive a bonus in some amount, for example, 50% of the salary, is sufficient. However, in practice, to establish effective system this reward is clearly not enough. The positive aspects of developing a provision on bonuses are:

1) establishing the frequency of bonuses;

2) determining the criteria for the existence of grounds for bonuses, for example, a company making a profit, implementing a new project, etc.;

3) reduction of subjective factors for awarding a bonus, such as the will of the immediate supervisor;

4) providing evidence of the legitimacy of bonuses in the event of a tax audit or audit labor inspectorate. There is no unified form for the provision on bonuses, so each organization develops it independently. The document can be issued as a separate local regulatory act (see example 1) or in the form of the relevant section of the collective agreement / section of the local regulatory act - the regulation on remuneration.

Note that the content of the rules on bonuses may also vary. We recommend reflecting the following points:

- bonus indicators;

- conditions of bonuses;

- the circle of bonus workers;

- the amount of bonus payments;

- the procedure for calculating premiums;

- frequency of bonuses;

- sources of bonuses;

- a list of circumstances under which the premium is paid in a smaller amount compared to the base amount or not paid at all;

- a list of payments for which the premium is accrued and for which it should not be accrued.

Example 1. Fragment of the provision on bonuses.

APPROVED

By order of Stik LLC

From 09/01/2014 N 28

REGULATIONS ON BONUS

1. General Provisions

1.1. This Regulation is introduced in order to improve the performance of each employee, structural divisions enterprises, the material interest of employees of the enterprise in obtaining the maximum effect from their activities.

1.2. The Regulation applies to all employees on the staff of the enterprise, including workers under fixed-term employment contracts, and does not apply to those working at the enterprise under civil law contracts.

2. Bonus indicators

2.1. The basis for the calculation of the bonus is the accounting data, statistical reporting and operational accounting.

2.2. Decisions on the payment of bonuses to a particular employee are made on the basis of plans and reports on labor activity employee, approved in accordance with the procedure established by the enterprise.

2.3. Bonuses are not paid if a negative economic effect is achieved in the whole enterprise, the criteria for which are defined in local regulations enterprises.

3. The circle of bonus workers

3.1. Bonuses are paid to all employees, regardless of position (profession).

3.2. Employees of the enterprise who have worked for an incomplete month in connection with conscription into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, transfer to another job, admission to educational institution, retirement, downsizing or other good reasons, the bonus is paid for the actual hours worked in this accounting period.

3.3. Employees of the enterprise, newly hired, the bonus for the time worked in the first month of work is paid if the time actually worked in the calendar month is at least half of the billing period (except for bonuses accrued for the fulfillment and overfulfillment of production standards).

4. The amount of bonus payments

4.1. Upon achievement of indicators exceeding the planned ones by 20%, the bonus is paid in the amount of 100% of the salary.

4.2. Upon reaching the planned targets by 100%, the bonus is paid in the amount of 50% of the salary.

4.3. If the planned indicators are not achieved, the bonus is not paid.

5. Periodicity of bonuses

5.1. The bonus is paid once a quarter upon fulfillment of the indicators and bonus conditions established by these Regulations no later than five days after the end of the corresponding quarter.

<…>

When developing a local regulatory act regulating bonus issues, the following features should be taken into account.

1. The regulation on bonuses must be written in clear and concise language. Its content should be clear to all employees, regardless of their education and position (profession) in the company.

2. In the provision on bonuses, it is possible to set both one and several types of bonuses in particular for:

— intensity and high results of work;

- the quality of the work performed;

- continuous work experience, length of service;

- results based on the results of work for a certain period.

3. When accepting the provision on bonuses, the procedure for approving this document should be taken into account.

4. In the provision on bonuses, it is advisable to indicate that the organization has the right, but is not obliged to pay bonuses to employees.

Arbitrage practice. An indication in the regulation on remuneration, bonuses and benefits in relation to employees of the company that the company has the right, but is not obliged to make an additional payment to the employee, defined as the difference between the official salary and the amount of temporary disability benefits, does not indicate that each employee of the company such an additional payment is guaranteed (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated March 26, 2014 N F05-1712 / 2014 in case N A40-171364 / 12).

Labor contract

Recall that the conditions that are mandatory for inclusion in an employment contract include a condition on remuneration, including incentive payments (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The bonus as an incentive payment of a stimulating nature is an integral part of wages (Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Therefore, provisions on the very possibility of bonuses and a reference to a local regulatory act, which specifies the specific procedure and conditions for payment, should be included in the employment contract.

It should be noted that the employer, having freedom in establishing incentive payments, is at the same time limited in their unilateral change, since, in accordance with Art. 72 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a change in the terms of an employment contract determined by the parties is allowed only by agreement of the parties to the employment contract, with the exception of cases provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, if the company cancels bonuses or reduces their size, it is necessary to prepare additional agreements for employment contracts (part 2 of article 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In some situations, it will be necessary to take into account the opinion of the representative body of workers (Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Typically, employment contracts establish bonuses for performance indicators. At the same time, it is not necessary to clearly prescribe the procedure for their payment if it is regulated by a separate local regulatory act, for example, a regulation on wages.

Arbitrage practice. If the amount of the bonus is indicated in the employment contract, then it is also necessary to provide links to local regulations where the bonus conditions are indicated, or reflect them directly in the document. This must be done so that the bonus is not considered an integral part of wages and is not paid in without fail(Determination of the Leningrad Regional Court dated October 14, 2010 N 33-5015/2010).

Award Order

Rewards are made on the basis of an order. The order, as a rule, is prepared by the personnel department, and signed by the head of the organization or a duly authorized person. The document can be drawn up both on the basis of a unified form, and in accordance with the form approved in a particular organization.

When drawing up an order for bonuses, you must also remember the following.

1. Decisions (orders) of the person exercising the functions of the sole executive body on bonus payments to employees are recognized as invalid if they do not comply with the internal regulations, other local regulations regulating the wage fund in the organization, labor contracts and the collective agreement (if any) (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of September 24, 2013 in case N A56-32267 / 2012).

2. One order for bonuses is not enough to assign a bonus. Bonuses that are not provided for by either labor or collective agreements are not taken into account for tax purposes (clause 21 of article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 05.04.2005 N 20-12 / 22796).

3. If the bonus order is drawn up in its own form, then it must contain the mandatory details provided for in Art. nine federal law dated 06.12.2011 N 402-FZ "On Accounting".

4. With the order of bonus workers, you must familiarize yourself with a personal signature.

Confirmation of production indicators

For the purposes of bonuses, it is necessary to confirm the performance indicators on the basis of which bonuses are accrued to employees. This is important both for the purposes of management reporting and in order to avoid conflicts with the employees themselves, as well as with inspection bodies.

Plans and reports can be daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, based on the results of the year. Filling out plans and reports too often distracts employees from work. However, if reports and plans are prepared quarterly or annually for the purpose of issuing an annual bonus, they may be formal.

There are no strict requirements for reports and plans in the legislation, so companies can develop them on their own. Several general recommendations can be made.

1. Reports and plans are necessary to confirm the legitimacy and validity of the accrual of bonuses. When applying incentive measures, the employer must comply with the requirements of the current legislation, in particular, not allow discrimination when encouraging employees (Articles 2, 3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And you can confirm the absence of discrimination just with the help of reports and plans. They will help to avoid a biased attitude towards the employee if the reports are signed not only by the immediate supervisor, but also by the person who evaluates the personnel and can act as an independent expert.

2. Reports should reflect real indicators, for example, the company needs to confirm the actual production of goods, the execution of purchase and sale transactions.

3. In practice, the employer often makes the amount of wages dependent on the conscientiousness of the performance of labor duties. And conscientiousness is a moral, evaluative category, therefore, to reveal its content, it is easiest to turn to the already established judicial practice.

Arbitrage practice. The Cassation Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic in the Ruling dated 04.04.2011 in case No. 33-1160/11 made the following conclusion. The employer has the right, at its own discretion, to establish the procedure for bonuses to employees. This right is not unlimited, since the local regulations adopted by virtue of Art. 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation must comply with labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law norms. Deprivation of a monthly bonus for one year on the basis of a disciplinary sanction is contrary to the principles legal regulation labor relations. Therefore, the penalty applied to the employee in one month cannot be the basis for depriving him of the bonus based on the results of work subsequently.

Arbitrage practice. The Judicial Collegium of the Moscow City Court in the Appellate Ruling dated June 28, 2012 N 11-11954 / 2012 indicated that the reduction of the bonus or the deduction of the employee's bonus must be reasonable, the current labor legislation does not allow arbitrary reduction of the previously accrued bonus.

Arbitrage practice. The Moscow City Court, by ruling dated May 28, 2012 in case No. 33-11166, recognized as correct the conclusion of the judge of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court on the discriminatory nature of the norm of the local regulatory act of the employer, which provided that in the event of dismissal of an employee after the end of the motivational period (month, quarter, year), but until the bonus is paid, the bonus to the employee is calculated and paid only by a separate decision CEO on the proposal of the head of the structural unit / supervising head.

Therefore, keep in mind that depriving an employee of an employee's bonus can lead the employer to court.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the friendly atmosphere in the team, the ability to eliminate staff turnover, and the absence of conflicts with the employer depend on how the establishment and payment of bonuses are formalized, how transparent the mechanism for calculating them. On the other hand, properly executed documents make it possible to prove the legitimacy of bonuses for tax purposes in court, as well as in the case of verification by the labor inspectorate.

is an effective tool staff motivation. Additional remuneration stimulates employees to improve their work efficiency, provides a material interest in the maximum effect of their work, improving the quality of services provided, growth and competence.

If we are talking about remuneration for work, then first of all we mean wages. Art. 129 of the Labor Code defines: wages (remuneration of an employee) - remuneration for work depending on the complexity, quantity, quality and conditions of the work performed, as well as compensation payments (surcharges and allowances of a compensatory nature, including for work in conditions that deviate from normal, work in special climatic conditions and in territories exposed to radioactive contamination, and other compensation payments) and incentive payments (additional payments and allowances of a stimulating nature, bonuses and other incentive payments).

Taking into account the provisions of the above article and the analysis of their practical application list of types of additional rewards can be a little more precise.

• By purpose: compensatory, incentive and incentive payments;
• According to the method of accrual: bonuses and allowances in the wage system and outside it;
• By the frequency of payments: periodic and one-time;
• According to the terms of the bonus: remuneration for work or payment that is not related to labor function employee;
• According to the method of taxation: reducing corporate income tax or not.

Compensatory, incentive and incentive payments

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation to compensation payments include additional payments and allowances of a compensatory nature for work in conditions that deviate from normal, namely:

• Work in special climatic conditions;
• Work in areas subjected to radioactive contamination;
• work at night;
• Work in multi-shift mode;
• Work in difficult, harmful, especially harmful conditions labor;
• work overtime;
• Work on weekends and holidays.

incentive payments

• incentive payments;
• Incentive bonuses;
• Prizes.

Article 191 of the Labor Code establishes that the employer encourages employees conscientiously fulfilling their duties by:

• Thanksgiving announcements;
• issuance of an award;
• Awarding a valuable gift;
• Issuance of an honorary diploma;
• Representing an employee to the title of the best in the profession.

What is a wage system

The remuneration system establishes the ratio between the measure of labor and remuneration for it, on the basis of which the procedure for calculating the employee's earnings is built.

Labor legislation (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) establishes the structure of the remuneration system and methods of its organization.

Remuneration systems, including the size of tariff rates, salaries (official salaries), additional payments and allowances of a compensatory nature, including for work in conditions that deviate from normal, systems of additional payments and bonuses of a stimulating nature and bonus systems, are established by collective agreements, agreements, local regulations in accordance with labor law and containing labor law norms.

Thus, the remuneration system includes the conditions, the procedure for payment and the amount of additional payments and allowances of a compensatory nature, the conditions, the procedure for payment and the amount of additional payments and allowances of a stimulating nature, bonuses.

The main types of wage systems

There are two main types: time and piecework.

With time wages, the employee's salary depends on the time period actually worked and the salary established by the employer.

Piecework remuneration implies the dependence of remuneration on the amount of work performed.

Both piecework and hourly wage systems are often complemented by an incentive bonus system.

This means that a certain circle of employees, upon reaching certain indicators and fulfilling a number of conditions bonus guaranteed.

Establishment bonus system remuneration is, which is implemented through the adoption of a special local act - the Regulations on Bonuses.

If the organization does not have a Regulation on bonuses, then the issues of encouraging employees should be reflected in the collective agreement or directly in the one concluded with the employee.

The above system assumes that if all the conditions are met and the required indicators are achieved, the employee has eligibility for an award, and the employer has an obligation to make these payments.

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We must not forget that any bonus system must be correctly fixed in a local regulatory act. In the jurisprudence on labor disputes, there are examples when the unsuccessful wording of the Bonus Regulations forced the employer to pay bonuses to the employee, even if he did not fulfill one of the mandatory conditions receiving it.

It is most reasonable to make a reservation that the payment of bonuses is the right of the employer to stimulate employees on the terms of the Regulations on the remuneration of employees, the Regulations on bonuses.

The Regulations on bonuses should provide:

• Award indicators;
• Award conditions;
• The size and scale of bonuses;
• Circle of bonus workers;
• Award source.

Other types of remuneration included in the remuneration system

These, for example, include remuneration based on the results of work for the year. If the conditions for receiving remuneration based on the results of annual work are met, y require appropriate payments.

Besides, in wages employee may be included seniority pay, which is usually set as a percentage of tariff rate(salary) and depends on the continuous work experience of the employee.

With bonuses based on the results of work for the year, you should also be careful. It is best to accurately indicate in the local act the minimum number of days after which the employee is subject to bonuses, for example, at least 200. And be sure to make a reservation that we are talking about employees working in the organization at the end of the reporting year with the last working day on December 31. Such a clear designation of the recipient of the award will not allow dismissed employees to apply for it, judicial practice knows such cases.

Art. 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for incentive bonuses issued on the basis of an assessment of the work of an employee, but already outside the remuneration system. They, as a rule, are of a one-time nature and, which is of key importance for taking them out of the aforementioned system, cannot be associated with pre-established indicators and conditions.

Such bonuses include bonuses for achieving high results in work or for participating in any work (development of new technologies, programs, fulfillment of urgent important tasks, etc.).

The most important thing to remember is that Article 191 of the Labor Code does not contain an indication of the obligation of the employer to pay this type of incentive.

The employee, accordingly, cannot demand payment of remuneration to him that is not provided for by the wage system.

In local regulations, such bonuses are either not prescribed (as are the conditions, the amount of their payment) and are a one-time incentive for work, or they are prescribed, but with important reservations.

If they are not provided for in the Regulations on bonuses, then the basis for their payment is the order of the head of the promotion, for example, on unified forms No. T-11 and T-11a, approved by the Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1 (it should be remembered that from January 1, 2013 they are not mandatory for use).

In order to make it easier to justify the costs of paying bonuses and include them in labor costs to reduce income tax, it is often advisable to reflect one-time bonuses in the Regulation on bonuses of the organization.

First of all, you need to immediately make a reservation in the text of the Regulation that the employer has the right to special merit, achieving the best results by a separate order to encourage specific employees. As an incentive at the choice of the employer, the following applies: certificate of honor, memorable gift, award.

In the case of a bonus, one should be even more careful and, in particular, provide for the following in the Regulations:

• The list of cases when an employee can be paid a one-time bonus.

  It will be critical in this context to clearly distinguish between the grounds for rewarding individual employees and the targets and conditions specific to an incentive bonus system. In addition, do not try to disguise periodic bonuses as one-time bonuses. This can lead to poor outcomes labor disputes, because the legal relationship that has arisen will be considered by the courts on the merits. to encouragement for exceptional labor achievements can be transformed into paying the employee well-deserved bonuses.

• Estimated amount of payments: specific or an indication of the maximum amount.
• The basis for considering the issue of a one-time bonus to an employee.

  The grounds may be a reasoned appeal of the immediate supervisor addressed to the head of the organization or a person authorized by him.

• A person authorized to make a decision on the payment of a one-time bonus and its specific amount.

Payments not related to the work function of the employee

This refers to the premiums also provided for in Art. 191 TC, for example, bonuses for holidays, anniversaries of employees or company, other memorable dates. Their important difference from one-time incentive payments is that such bonuses, in principle, are not related to the labor function.

Meanwhile, they can often be related to a certain circle of people, hence the need to be careful when prescribing such bonuses in the Regulations on Bonuses. If we are talking, for example, about the award for the Defender of the Fatherland Day, then, of course, men should receive it, women - awards by March 8, if the award is for the New Year, then all employees. It must be remembered that if the category of recipients is not defined, it is assumed that each employee is subject to bonuses.

One-time and one-time bonuses paid on holidays, anniversaries and other similar events do not apply to wages. Therefore, when calculating the average earnings, they cannot be taken into account. This, in particular, is indicated in the letter Rostrud from23.10.2007 № 4319-6-1 . When calculating average earnings, one-time and one-time bonuses are taken into account (with the exception of those paid on holidays, anniversaries, etc.), which can be attributed to wages.

In addition, this type of premium does not reduce the tax base for income tax, because. is not wages.

Deprivation of the employee of the bonus or reduction of its size

With regard to the deprivation of the bonus, we are talking about the bonuses included in the wage system.

It should be remembered that statements such as "forfeiture" or "deprecation" are not provided by law.

The employer only establishes the compliance or non-compliance of the employee with the conditions and indicators of bonuses, which in the second case leads to the employee's lack of the right to a bonus.

The deprivation of a bonus for a disciplinary offense is also not provided for by law. Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation says that for the commission of a disciplinary offense, the employer has the right to apply one of three things to the employee: a remark, a reprimand, and on appropriate grounds. This list is exhaustive.

If a violation of labor discipline led to non-fulfillment of the conditions and indicators of bonuses, then the employer, of course, will have grounds for non-payment of premium However, in this case, it is necessary to substantiate a causal relationship.

In this situation, it is most reasonable to make the observance of labor discipline one of the conditions for the employee to have the right to a bonus, providing for this in the Regulations on bonuses. If during the reporting period the employee has disciplinary action, there will be no bonus payments.

The same applies to the reduction of the amount of the bonus, the grounds and limits for changing the amount of incentive payments should be determined by the Regulations on bonuses or other similar regulations.

As mentioned above, the bonus is part of the employee's earnings. Prizes are subject to income tax individuals in general order. Contributions to the Social Insurance Fund are paid from all premiums without exception.

Now let's see How is the premium amount corporate income tax.

According to article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in order to determine taxable profit, the taxpayer reduces the income received by the amount of expenses incurred. Expenses in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are recognized as reasonable and documented expenses incurred by the taxpayer. Expenses are recognized as any costs, provided that they are made for the implementation of activities aimed at generating income.

The exception is the costs indicated in article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, in accordance with paragraphs 21 and 22 of Article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses that do not reduce the tax base for income tax include:

• Expenses for any types of remuneration provided to management or employees other than remuneration paid on the basis of (contracts);
• Expenses in the form of bonuses paid to employees at the expense of funds special purpose or target income.

According to Article 255 of the Tax Code, the taxpayer's labor costs include any accruals to employees in cash and (or) in kind, incentive accruals and allowances, compensation accruals related to the mode of work or working conditions, bonuses and one-time incentive accruals, expenses related to with the maintenance of these workers, provided for by the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation, (contracts) and (or) collective agreements.

These provisions undoubtedly apply to incentive bonuses in the wage system, but what about one-time incentive payments outside the wage system?

One-time incentive bonuses and income tax

Regarding one-time bonuses related to the labor function of an employee, there is an opinion of the Ministry of Finance of Russia, expressed in a letter dated 10.07.2009 No. 03-03-06/1/457. When paying a one-time non-guaranteed bonus for production results provided for by an employment contract, the organization also has the right to take these amounts into account when calculating income tax.

Thus, the inclusion of one-time incentive bonuses in the Regulations on Bonuses or an employment (collective) agreement looks appropriate, as already mentioned above in this article.

In other letters, the financial department draws attention to payments that are not related to the employee's labor function. In particular, letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 16, 2007 No. 03-04-06-02 / 208, dated November 9, 2007 No. 03-03-06 / 1/786, dated May 22, 2007 No. 03-03-06 / 1/287 and dated 10/17/2006 N 03-05-02-04 / 157 contain instructions that payments for holidays cannot be equated to incentive payments, therefore they cannot be taken into account as part of labor costs and reduce the tax base for tax on profit, even if they are provided the terms of the collective agreement.

It follows that the payment of these premiums can only be made at the expense of special-purpose funds referred to in Art. 270 of the Tax Code, which refers to the funds determined by the owners of organizations for the payment of bonuses from the profits remaining after the payment of income tax.

Can be summarized the above information in the following way:

• For the purpose of taxation of profits, only bonuses for production indicators, and not for significant dates and holidays, can be taken into account.
• It is necessary that the issue of bonuses be fixed in the employment contract and the local act.
• Bonus expenses must be documented.