When hiring a new employee, the parties must sign an employment contract between themselves. This is the main document that regulates the relationship between employee and employer.

The same validity conditions apply to an employment contract as to other civil contracts. That is, it must contain essential and additional conditions.

Essential conditions include those conditions without which the contract loses its validity. This includes wages. Remuneration for the work performed must be specified in the employment contract. Remuneration for labor is the salary of a specific employee. It depends on several factors:

• qualifications;
• level of education;
• experience in this position.

That is, two employees occupying the same position may receive different wages. But the salary received cannot be lower than the level established at the federal level - the minimum wage. From May 1, 2018, the minimum wage is equal to the subsistence level.

Salary amount in the employment contract

Salary is a prerequisite for the validity of an employment contract. Many employers make the following mistakes when drawing up a standard contract with an employee:

• do not indicate the specific salary amount in the “body” of the contract. For example, they write it like this: “salary according to the staffing table.” This is not true! An agreement containing such conditions can be declared invalid in court. You need to indicate a specific numerical value - 25,000 rubles (twenty-five thousand rubles). Be sure to use numbers first and then words;
• incorrect indication of the payment of bonuses, bonuses, allowances, etc.;
• omission of the fact of payment of the advance. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, wages must be paid twice a month, every half month. Specific dates for payment of advance payments and salaries can be specified either in the employment contract or in local regulations. Payments cannot be made once a month, even if the employee himself requests this in writing;
• Incorrect wage designation. It also happens that the employer pays part of the salary in some kind of product, but “forgets” to mention this in the contract. This is a big mistake! The Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that payments in food products cannot exceed 20% of the employee’s monthly salary. Payments in kind can only be made with the written consent of the worker. Also, you cannot indicate your salary in foreign currency. Regardless of the currency of which country the employer makes payments to its counterparties, it must pay wages exclusively in rubles;
• Many employers, wanting to save on their employees and their salaries, introduce penalties for any, even the smallest violations and stipulate them in the employment contract. If the management decided to include sanctions for violations in the contract, then their list must comply with Art. 137 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Other types of wage deductions are considered illegal. In addition, if the employer has not violated the list from Art. 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, he must remember that the amount of all write-offs cannot exceed 20% of the salary of a particular employee. In some cases, this percentage can rise to 50%, and in exceptional cases - up to 70%.

Description of payment of bonuses and premiums

If an employer pays its employees additional bonuses and premiums, then it can stipulate their availability in the employment contract. But you need to be very careful. It is not enough to indicate the presence of additional payments and indicate their size; you also need to specify the conditions for receiving them.

If you do not reflect the conditions for receiving additional bonuses and allowances, and also do not provide references to local regulations, it will turn out that the employer will have to pay them all. That is, he will have to pay all those bonuses, bonuses, allowances and other incentive payments regularly along with wages.

If the employer decides to make a reference to a normative act, then he must accurately reflect all the details of this document. Without these details, this link will also not be valid. Any audit from the tax office or labor inspectorate will identify this deficiency, and then penalties will be applied to the employer.

What does the salary depend on?

An official salary is a fixed amount of money that an employee receives for performing his immediate job responsibilities. It does not include any type of payment - neither incentive, nor social, nor compensation.

The salary of any employee depends on many factors, including:

• workload;
• education according to the profile of the work performed;
• qualifications;
• experience in this position.

The amount of remuneration for working personnel is established based on the salary scheme that is used in a single enterprise or in an entire industry.

If an enterprise is financed from the budget of one of the levels, then it must adhere to the industry salary scheme. If the enterprise operates exclusively at its own expense, then it is obliged to approve the staffing table, in which the nomenclature of official salaries must be specified.

Additional agreement upon salary changes

Salary is one of the essential terms of an employment contract. If there is a change in salary, this must be reflected in the documents.

This does not mean that you need to immediately rewrite the new employment contract. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation has provided for the possibility of changing the terms of an employment contract by drawing up and signing an additional agreement. This rule also applies to changes in the salary of a specific employee.

If an employee’s salary or other terms of the employment contract change, the employer must take the following steps:

• prepare a model of an additional agreement;
• discuss its provisions with the employee;
• after reaching an agreement, the parties sign this agreement;
• it comes into force from the moment of its signing.

The employer does not have the right to independently change the terms of the employment contract. In addition, he must notify his employee in writing that there is a change in salary. This must be done at least 2 months in advance. The written notice must be given directly to the employee. The employee must be familiar with it by signature. If the employee does not agree with the new terms of the contract, including the change in his salary, then the employment contract terminates. And the employee is subject to dismissal.

If the parties reach an agreement, then they sign an additional agreement in 2 copies - one for each party to the labor relationship. When drawing up an agreement, it is necessary to indicate the details of the employment contract to which this agreement relates.

Specifying the terms of salary payment in the contract

The salary is paid to the employee for the performance of his direct labor duties. The salary amount must be specified in the employment contract. It must be written first in numbers, and then in words, indicating kopecks. It cannot be stated that payment occurs “according to the staffing schedule.”

If the employer has a system of additional payments to the basic salary, then this also needs to be prescribed. In this case, you need to provide a link to a specific local act related to the wage system. If the enterprise does not have such an act, then it is necessary to specify in the contract all additional, compensation, incentive and other payments, as well as indicate the conditions under which these payments are made.

If the company is located and operates in the Far North or in areas that have a similar status, then do not forget about northern allowances and regional coefficients. An employee must be very careful when signing an employment contract.

There are unscrupulous employers who “lower” the regional coefficient. For example, during an interview with applicant P., the employer announced his salary of 25,000 rubles, and P. agreed. In fact, in the “body” of the employment contract, the employer indicated a salary of 22,000 rubles and 3,000 rubles - this is the regional coefficient. It turns out that the employee will receive only 22,000 rubles, since personal income tax will be calculated in the amount of 13%.

In fact, it should be written like this:

• salary of 25,000 rubles;
• regional coefficient, according to the one established for a given region by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Calculation of personal income tax occurs only after all allowances and coefficients.

Frequency of payments

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, wages must be paid twice a month - every half month. Specific payment dates must be indicated in one of these documents:

• employment contract;
• collective agreement;
• labor regulations.

It is imperative to record specific payment days. This could be 2 days a month or several. For example, the advance payment is on the 25th, and the salary is on the 5th. Or it can be written as follows - the advance is paid from the 23rd to the 25th of each month, and the salary is paid from the 5th to the 7th of each month. This is convenient for large enterprises with several thousand employees.

The employer may establish another frequency of payments, but not less than twice a month. The law does not prohibit paying employees the money they earn, for example, 4 times a month. But it is imperative to indicate this in the employment contract or in another local regulatory act, to which a link will be given in the employment contract, the details of this LNA.

Hourly wage

An employee’s work can also be paid by the hour, that is, for actual stay at the workplace. But such working conditions must be specified in the employment contract.

Each hour of work must “cost” a certain amount of money. To calculate it, you need to divide the minimum wage for a given position by the number of hours that the employee will have to stay at the workplace. You will get a certain tariff rate.

It’s worth starting from this value. Supplements are “inflated” on him for:

• length of service;
• performing a certain amount of work;
• plan overfulfilment;
• work experience;
• employee qualifications;
• other factors that may increase the amount of the tariff rate.

After all the “markups”, the resulting amount exceeds the established tariff rate. The newly obtained value cannot be less.

If the employer decides to set a bonus for the amount of work performed, then the amount of the bonus, which will increase the tariff rate, must be specified in the employment contract. For example, it is important for an employer not only how many hours a particular employee worked, but also how well he performed his work. Then he stipulates in the contract a bonus for the quality of work.

For example, at a standard tariff rate of 100 rubles per hour of work and with an 8-hour working day, employee N. must make 20 parts. The permissible amount of defects is 2 parts. If there is only 1 marriage, then N. will receive an additional 100 rubles, if there is no marriage at all, then 200 rubles. These provisions must be spelled out in the employment contract.

Conclusion

An employment contract is an important document of labor relations. It must be concluded with each employee. Salary is an essential condition of this document. If this condition is not specified, the contract will be considered invalid, and the employer will face penalties for non-compliance with labor laws.

How this article will help: You will correctly indicate the terms of remuneration in the contract with the employee. In the article we gave clear formulations.

What it will protect you from: You will have no reason to worry that you have violated the requirements of employment contracts.

If your company is simplified

Every company must have employment contracts with employees, so the article will also be useful for those who use the simplified form.

Any employment contract must specify how much the employee will receive and under what conditions. This is required by Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. If this rule is neglected, you and your management may get into trouble. Claims are not excluded from both inspectors and employees.

We will tell you what mistakes to avoid when formulating the conditions for remuneration. Check if everything is so in your contracts with employees. And if you suddenly see that some point needs to be corrected, fix the change in an additional agreement with the employee.

Mistake 1. They don’t write a specific salary amount in the contract.

Some employers believe that it is not at all necessary to indicate the salary in numbers in an employment contract. And they make a link to another document where this amount is indicated. Most often - for staffing purposes.

You can't do that. After all, Article 57 of the code directly states that the contract must indicate the amount of the salary or tariff rate. And this is always a fixed value, expressed in rubles. So representatives of Rostrud think so, as they said in a letter dated December 24, 2007 No. 5275-61.

Example 1: How to correctly specify the salary amount in an employment contract

S.P. Vasilkov was hired as a driver at Buket LLC. According to the staffing table, he was given a salary of 30,000 rubles.

We clearly show below how to correctly indicate an employee’s salary in an employment contract. But you’ll see what’s best not to do next. And you can compare both options.

Right

The contract must specify the salary amount in rubles.

By the way, the specific amount in rubles must also be written in the additional agreement by which you establish the new salary amount.

Plus, don’t forget that the employee’s salary should not be lower than the federal minimum wage. Under no circumstances. This is directly stated in Article 133 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Let us remind you that from January 1, 2013, the minimum wage is 5205 rubles. Moreover, the employee’s total monthly income is taken into account. That is, a salary and various additional payments.

But it is not necessary to fix the specific amounts of allowances and additional payments in the employment contract. If you wish, you can provide for them in some separate local regulatory act, for example, in the regulations on remuneration. In the contract itself, it is enough to provide a link to this document (read more about this below).

Mistake 2. Having divided the salary into the basic salary and bonuses, they forget to specify the conditions for such bonuses

As you know, a manager can assign employees various allowances and bonuses to their salaries. In a word, incentive payments. And often such bonuses become part of the monthly salary. The director reasons like this: if anything happens, at any time it will be possible to give the employee only a salary. And forget about the surcharge.

Yes, bonuses really don’t have to be paid. But this is only the case when in the employment contract itself or in some separate local document (for example, in the bonus regulations) you have set out clear conditions, upon fulfilling which you can count on additional payment. And it is precisely these conditions that people often forget to mention.

Does the employment contract simply say that the employee receives a salary and bonus in such and such an amount? And there are no reservations, just as there is no link to the document where the conditions for issuing the bonus would be? Then by default you are obliged to pay all specified amounts monthly under any circumstances.

Not giving a bonus for reasons not directly provided for in the contract - they say, the manager decided so - means violating the rights of his employee. After all, he must be notified in writing two months in advance against signature that the salary is changing. These are the rules of Article 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Therefore, if your company’s incentive payments are irregular, say at the end of the year or half a year, then it is safer to indicate the minimum salary in the contract. That is, only the salary. And one-time bonuses should be assigned by order of bonuses immediately before they are issued.

Does management want to reward its employees on a more regular basis, including with the goal of splitting monthly salaries into fixed and variable parts? Then be sure to write down the conditions for the bonus. As we said above, they can be enshrined in an internal act of the company or in a collective agreement. Then make only a reference to it in the employment contract. Or you can immediately indicate restrictions in the employment contract.

Example 2: How to safely indicate incentive payments in an employment contract

LLC “Bouquet” hired O.K. Landysheva as a sales florist. According to the staffing table, she was given a salary of 20,000 rubles. In addition, the manager promised the new employee a monthly bonus of 10,000 rubles. Provided that the retail outlet’s revenue at the end of the month is at least 100,000 rubles.

We have provided a fragment of the employment contract, which correctly specifies incentive payments and the conditions for them, below. A version with errors is shown next to it for comparison.

Specific conditions for bonuses are not specified.

Right

The employment contract must indicate for which achievements the employee will be awarded a bonus (if provided).

Mistake 3. Ignoring the requirement to pay advances

Sometimes it happens that the employee himself asks for his salary to be given only once a month. Let's say we are talking about an external part-time worker who appears in the office from time to time. And he has to receive his salary in cash at the company cash desk. So such an employee doesn’t want to have to travel for money once again. Then he writes a statement or receipt to the head of the company stating that, at his own request, he asks to be paid wages once a month. And he takes responsibility for this.

However, the employer will still have to answer. And no receipts from an employee, alas, will help here. The fact is that Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation strictly states: salaries must be paid at least every half month. This is precisely the condition that should be fixed in the contract with the employee. Specific deadlines can be fixed here or, for example, in the internal labor regulations.

And note: between the issuance of the advance and the salary, no more than half a month should pass, that is, 15 calendar days. If, for example, a company finally pays employees 20 days after the advance payment, then inspectors regard this as a deterioration of the employee’s rights. The basis is Article 9 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. But such conditions are not applicable. And in the event of a conflict with the same employee in the future, the auditors will not support you.

Let us show with an example how best to specify the terms of salary payment in an agreement with an employee.

Example 3: How to correctly indicate salary payment terms in a contract

E.V. Romashkina was hired for the position of merchandiser at Buket LLC. Since the new employee already has her main place of work in another company, she was registered as a part-time worker. In addition, the duties of a merchandiser do not require daily attendance at work.

The internal labor regulations of Buket LLC provide for payment of wages twice a month: on the 5th and 20th. E.V. Romashkina asked the accountant to give her income once a month. And I wrote a statement about this addressed to the manager.

We have shown below the correct option for how to reflect the frequency of payments to an employee in an employment contract. And for comparison, they also gave an erroneous version.

The procedure for paying wages in the contract is incorrectly stated.

Right

Salaries must be paid every half month. This must be stated in the employment contract.

Error 4. The form of remuneration is indicated incorrectly

Another mistake they make is when part of the salary is paid in kind - say, in company products. They either completely forget to mention this in the employment contract, or the share for such payment in kind is not limited in any way. And it cannot be more than 20 percent of monthly earnings.

Moreover, payments in kind are permissible only upon a written application from the employee. Such a strict rule is spelled out in Article 131 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Duplicate it in the employment contract. This way, the inspectors will definitely have no doubt that you are properly complying with the requirements of the law.

In the same article 131 of the code there is another important restriction. In the employment contract, the amount must be determined and fixed in Russian rubles. But only. Indeed, often in job advertisements the salary amount is indicated in foreign currency. However, this way of reflecting salaries in documents is unacceptable.

Example 4: How to specify the form of remuneration in a contract

L. Yu. Gvozdikina was hired as commercial director at Buket LLC. The manager set her salary at 1,500 euros.

A new employee asked to give her several bouquets as part of her salary. Because she had a family celebration planned. Gvozdikina L.Yu. wrote a statement addressed to the manager.

We have posted the correct version of the terms of the employment contract on the form of salary below. And they placed the wrong one next to it.

Salary cannot be expressed in foreign currency. Payments in kind at the initiative of the employer are unacceptable.

Right

Salaries must be paid strictly in rubles, and in kind - only at the request of the employee.

Mistake 5. Prescribing illegal penalties

Prudent managers often seek to include in the employment contract all kinds of monetary fines and deductions from wages. For example, for being late or not fulfilling the plan. And as usually happens, they exceed the boundaries of the law.

Carefully!

It is impossible to cut an employee’s salary because he is regularly late or has not fulfilled the plan.

Amounts can be deducted from employee salaries only in strictly defined cases. They are listed in Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and in certain federal laws. Let's say an employee reimburses the company for an advance payment he has not worked out. Or the travel allowance debt is deducted from him. You can also withhold some amounts from an employee’s income if you overpaid him due to a calculation error - that is, an arithmetic error (see table below).

When and how much can employees' salaries be cut?

* The guilt of the employee is determined by controllers, for example labor inspectors.

So in an employment contract you can only duplicate the norms of Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Additional grounds for deduction cannot be established.

Let's look at an example of how to correctly provide for possible penalties in an employment contract.

Example 5: How to correctly reflect the terms of deductions in the contract

Buket LLC hired S.I. Nezabudkina as a manager. The manager decided to provide not only ways of encouraging the new employee, but also educational measures. Namely, deductions from salaries in the amount of 1 percent of the salary for failure to fulfill the sales plan for three months in a row.

We have provided a fragment of the employment contract, which correctly states the terms on deductions, below. And next to it is the wrong option so you can compare them.

It is impossible to indicate deductions in an employment contract if they are not provided for by law.

Right

In the contract you can duplicate the rules of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

When withholding from an employee's salary for legal reasons, do not forget about the restrictions. The amount of all penalties cannot exceed 20 percent for each salary payment. In rarer cases it is 50 percent, and in exceptional cases it is 70.

Lina Stavitskaya - expert of the magazine "Glavbukh"

• Motivation, Incentives and Remuneration

Keywords:

1 -1

The article tells how to draw up a clause on remuneration in a contract and reflect other important points in an employment contract.

The parties independently agree on financial issues. Responsibilities are paid differentially. Seniority, experience, class rank and other conditions matter.

The manager determines the terms of payment for the employee. The HR specialist records them in local acts.

It is necessary to take into account: the remuneration specified in the contract cannot be less than the minimum amount in the employment contract. In other words, a person cannot earn less than 5,965 rubles.
You also need to indicate what the premiums are paid for. Clarity is brought through local acts, where a system of incentives is established.

What conditions must be specified in the contract?

The wage payment algorithm in the contract should be clarified. There should be no doubt about how payment is handled after reading the agreement.

Financial issues in the contract

Procedure for changing the amount of remuneration

If the wages in the employment contract change, this must be recorded in writing. For this purpose, the parties sign an additional agreement, which adjusts the terms of remuneration in the employment contract.

Important! The boss cannot at will reduce the salaries of employees. The procedure must be followed, otherwise the law will be broken.

Employees must be notified in advance if the remuneration in the employment contract changes. The notice is sent two months before the salary reduction. If you are not satisfied with the new salary in the contract, then no signature is placed in the employment contract. Instead, the employment relationship is terminated.

Common Mistakes

Despite the fact that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation regulates how working conditions should be specified in the contract, mistakes are made.

5 things you should not do when filling out a contract:

1. Use vague language about the amount of remuneration. For example, a specialist’s work is paid in accordance with local regulations approved by the enterprise. It is better to avoid such inaccuracies, because inspectors can issue fines.
2. Prescribe a reward system without specifying the basis of payment. An employer will make a big mistake if it indicates an employee's right to bonuses, but does not indicate what they are paid for. Indeed, in this case, the manager will be obliged to make incentive payments on an equal basis with the basic salary. Therefore, you need to carefully formulate provisions on how duties will be paid.
3. Omit the provision in the form that the specialist receives an advance. There must be a written condition establishing the frequency of payments. Remuneration must be transferred at least twice a month. Other conditions contradict Art. 136 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The rights of a specialist are violated if the time interval between wages and advance payment is more than fifteen days.
4. Decide how to prescribe the form of payment of remuneration at your discretion. Let's show it with an example. Remservis LLC established that employees receive part of their earnings in the form of their own products, and the rest in money. However, it is not stated how much percent of the income specialists receive in kind. This condition is incorrect. The law stipulates that prepayment cannot be less than twenty percent of income.

If the contract form establishes wages in foreign currency, then the document is void. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the unit of payment is the ruble.

1. It is illegal to set fines. Example. The director of the company does not like the fact that his employees smoke during the day. So he established fines for smoking. Such punishment is illegal. Art. 189 of the Labor Code lists the types of sanctions, and fines are not among them. According to the law, there are no material sanctions. You can be fined for property damage or other material damage. But the boss may well take disciplinary measures against the violator.

So, it is advisable to carefully choose the wording in order to draw up documents in accordance with the letter of the law.

Questions related to the execution of the contract

Payment of remuneration is carried out in various ways. Therefore, questions arise about how to correctly draw up an employment contract.

The nuances of transferring remuneration should be correctly reflected in the contract.

Summary

1. The amount of remuneration and the terms of its transfer are essential terms of the employment contract.
2. Not only the salary is indicated, but also additional payments, as well as the grounds for their transfer.
3. It is wrong to make references to local acts. You must indicate the exact bet size.
4. It is impossible to arbitrarily change the terms of remuneration in an employment contract. If the salary increases or decreases, an additional agreement must be signed.
5. The specialist is notified of changes in working conditions two months in advance.

The terms of remuneration in the employment contract are prescribed without fail, since information on rates, salaries, and additional payments must be indicated in it in accordance with labor legislation. In this article we will tell you how to correctly formulate salary conditions in an employment contract depending on the type of remuneration, and provide examples of their wording.

How to specify a fixed salary in an employment contract?

Fixed remuneration in an employment contract takes the form of a clearly defined official salary. The Federal Service for Labor and Employment (Rostrud), in its letter “On expressing the amount of payment in an employment contract” dated December 24, 2007 No. 5275-61, recommends that wages be specified in specific numerical terms. Options in which the salary is indicated as a reference to the staffing table, order of the director of the company or other documents (i.e., without indicating a specific amount) are not allowed.

The best option is to fix wages in digital and verbal terms in the employment contract. For example, with a salary of 20 thousand rubles. It is recommended to use the wording “20,000 (twenty thousand) rubles.” Deciphering the amount will allow you to avoid various types of additions, corrections and other actions aimed at illegally changing its size.

Wages calculated according to tariff rates are subject to the same rules - the corresponding provision is contained in the above-mentioned letter from Rostrud. The only difference in this case is that when calculating the salary according to the tariff schedule, it is necessary to indicate a reference to the labor standards in accordance with which the amounts payable are calculated.

IMPORTANT! The fixed monthly salary should not be lower than the minimum wage. From January 1, 2019, the minimum wage will be equal to the subsistence level for the second quarter of 2018.

Piece payment in an employment contract (samples of wording)

Piece wages as a method of remuneration have begun to spread in recent decades thanks to the actively developing sales sector, although historically it was formed before the fixed one. The legislator in Art. 150 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation described this method of remuneration in a general way, referring to the prices for the activities performed by the employee. Due to the fact that payments in the form of interest and shares of company income have been used for quite a long time, a certain practice has developed of enshrining them in employment agreements.

An ideal example for establishing piecework wages in an employment contract is the formula “salary + percentage (or additional payment).” A fixed amount helps to comply with the requirement that the salary level correspond to the minimum wage; additional allowances make the employee’s income dependent on the results of his activities. However, in some situations it is permissible to establish exclusively piecework wages without salaries.

Salary + percentage

Under this system, in addition to a fixed amount, the employee is paid a percentage of the contracts he has concluded, goods sold, or the total revenue that he brings to the company. In this case, it is necessary to clearly define the share paid to the employee and the indicators that serve as the source of bonuses. This can be recorded as follows:

“The employee’s incentive bonuses at the end of the month amount to 10 (ten) percent of the value of the contracts concluded by him, determined in accordance with the Book of Receipt Transactions.”

Transferring to the employee all funds earned for the company as wages also applies to this formula. The difference from the above example is that in fact the percentage of income under such a scheme is 100%.

Salary + additional payment

The formula with additional payment gravitates more towards a fixed amount of remuneration. The parties to the employment relationship establish a specific amount that supplements the basic salary in cases where the employee fulfills a certain plan. A clear example is the system in which wages increase by 5 thousand rubles. for every 50 thousand rubles. income generated by the company. To reflect such a remuneration scheme in an employment contract, sample wording could be as follows:

Don't know your rights?

“The employee is given an additional payment in the amount of 5,000 (five thousand) rubles. at the end of the month, provided that the income of the sales department for the corresponding reporting period is at least 50,000 (fifty thousand) rubles.”

Percent

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not prohibit the establishment of fully piece-rate wages. For example, the parties can only agree on percentages of sales or the amount of concluded contracts. However, in this case, the total amount of payments for the month must be no less than the minimum wage. To fulfill this requirement, you can specify the terms of remuneration in the employment contract according to the following model:

“For the performance of labor duties, the employee is paid a monthly salary in the amount of 20 (twenty) percent of the sales department’s revenue at the end of the month, but not lower than the minimum wage in force at the time of payment of wages.”

Terms of remuneration in fixed-term employment agreements

The main feature of a fixed-term employment contract is the grounds on which it is concluded. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes a wide list of conditions that allow the drawing up of a contract of this type (details are in our other material), while the legislator does not disclose the specifics regarding remuneration. The grounds for concluding fixed-term contracts determine the predominance of piecework wage provisions in them.

If you need to indicate piecework wages in a fixed-term employment contract, you can take any of the options discussed above for contracts without a term limit as a sample. The exceptions are when the employer specifies the total amount to be paid to the employee during the contract period. At the same time, payments cannot be made at a time: the requirements of the law on remuneration at least twice a month also apply to fixed-term agreements.

Fixed-term employment contracts are close in content to civil law ones, so the level of salary under them often depends on the result of the work performed. The document may also include provisions on the quality of work results, on which the final amount of remuneration depends.

How to specify wages in an employment contract when they are calculated hourly?

There are a number of specialties for which payment is made depending on the time actually worked based on hourly rates. This category mainly includes administrative and business personnel, although hourly pricing can also be found in other areas. However, employment contracts with hourly wages are rare, since such a wage calculation system is found, as a rule, in civil contracts for the performance of work or the provision of services.

It is recommended to prescribe provisions on hourly rates with the indication of documents recording the actual time worked. For example, when paying 1000 rubles. for 1 hour of work you can use the following formulation:

“The employee is paid cash in the amount of 1000 (one thousand) rubles for each hour of performance of work duties. The actual time worked is determined in accordance with the Working Time Book.”

IMPORTANT! Some modern large companies use automated time and attendance systems. Their data can also serve as a source for determining hourly wages.

Is it possible to conclude an employment contract without payment?

It’s worth mentioning right away that all samples of unpaid employment contracts posted on the Internet cannot be used in practice. It will not be possible to draw up a full-fledged agreement on their basis, since in any case it will turn out to be illegal. The absence of conditions on wages is a trick that representatives of small businesses try to resort to in order to pay only actual wages.

The motive for concluding such agreements with employees is simple - evasion of mandatory payments to the tax service, pension fund, social insurance fund. However, such “cunning” employers should remember that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes the regulation of wages as a mandatory condition of the employment contract. Thus, the best legal option for companies trying to save on wages is to set a fixed amount in the form of a minimum wage or use piecework payment.

So, the employee and the employer can choose different methods of calculating wages (you can read about them in detail in our article “What are the types of wages and forms of remuneration?”). At the same time, regardless of the chosen method, the monthly wage level, provided that labor standards and working hours are met, should not be lower than the minimum wage. It should also be remembered that the terms of remuneration must certainly be reflected in the employment contract. It is prohibited to enter into an employment agreement without specifying these conditions.

Piece wages in an employment contract (sample)

If an employer asks you to develop (download) a sample employment contract with piecework wages, then you should not think that this is something special. For an employer, the use of this type of remuneration is an effective way to increase the employee’s performance and achieve a larger volume of manufactured products during the billing period.

Employment contract: types of remuneration

Current labor legislation gives the employer the right to independently choose and establish what type of remuneration he will use when setting the employee’s salary. He has similar rights in terms of setting the amount of remuneration.

It is important to understand here that this right may be limited if the employer abuses his rights and his actions in establishing working conditions worsen the situation of his employees compared to those established by labor legislation (for example, the employee’s salary will be below the established minimum wage).

Among the main types of remuneration often used in practice are the following:

• piecework (the amount of wages depends on prices and the number of products produced per month);
• time-based (the employee is given a salary, the amount of which does not depend on the production rate and the number of days in the month);
• commission (the employee receives a set percentage (commission) for goods sold (work, services)).

Types of remuneration can be mixed among themselves, and can also be divided into subtypes depending on the specific working conditions of the employer.

The employee’s salary in accordance with one or another type of remuneration established for a specific category of workers must be specified in the employee’s employment contract, since it is an essential condition (Articles 57, 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Employment contract with piecework wages

When developing a sample employment contract with piecework wages, you need to pay attention to the following points:

• setting unit prices.

In practice, prices are approved by the employer by an order establishing prices at the enterprise for a manufactured unit of product (another operation or work, service) or in another local act;

• specifics of remuneration on holidays, including payment of additional remuneration to the employee.

The employer has such an obligation if there are non-working holidays in the billing month. The parties fix the procedure and amount of additional payment either directly in the employment contract, or the employer approves a local act, which the employee must be familiarized with in writing when hired. Additional remuneration is part of the salary. These provisions are established in Part 3 of Article 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

If an employer provides a shift work schedule for piecework workers, including night shifts, then the employer is not obliged to pay additional remuneration for the employee’s work on holidays. In this case, the employer becomes obligated to pay for work at night and on holidays.

Sample employment contract with piecework wages