Legality and features of administrative leave at the initiative of the employer

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Published: 06/17/2016

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A special type of leave, which is distinguished in the labor legislation of the Russian Federation, is administrative, the better known name of which is leave at one’s own expense.

Its peculiarity is that during the rest period the employee retains his job, but wages are not paid.

Thus, it acts as a kind of social support measure for workers who, due to certain circumstances, cannot appear at work. However, in some cases, the employer may also be the initiator of free leave. It is worth considering how legal such actions are and what are the conditions for obtaining leave.

• Legality of the employer's actions
• Grounds and reasons for sending an employee on administrative leave
• Maximum vacation period and amount of payments
• Employer's liability

How is downtime paid?

Downtime can be called a vacation at a stretch. It all depends on the situation due to which the employer suspended work.

Let us remind you that downtime due to the fault of the employee himself is not paid.

If the reason for the unscheduled “rest” of employees was the actions or inaction of the employer, then he is obliged to pay the employees at least 2/3 of their average earnings.

If neither the employees nor the employer are to blame for the unscheduled suspension of work, then employees have the right to claim payment in the amount of 2/3 of their salary or tariff.

We also note that the period of non-working days according to Presidential Decrees in 2021 in most cases was not subject to registration as idle time. First of all, for the reason that workers sent into self-isolation should have received a payment in the amount of 100% of their earnings for these days.

Some employers tried to send their workers on leave without pay. Many were forced to write statements at their own expense. This is illegal, and the employee had the right to complain to the labor inspectorate, the prosecutor's office and go to court.

Legitimate ways to optimize personnel costs

If the company has a need for strict savings, choose one of the legal paths to avoid negative consequences for yourself and your employees. Among these options:

1. Downtime is a temporary stoppage of work, including for economic reasons (Article 72.2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, workers will receive 2/3 of the average earnings (Article 157 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). It is drawn up by an order indicating the reasons and periods of downtime, a list of positions and full name. workers for whom downtime has been declared, the amount of payment, the need for employees to be present at work places during downtime. Everyone affected by the downtime is familiarized with the order.
2. Reduction in staff or numbers. The procedure is prescribed in Art. 180 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The main thing is to give 2 months’ notice to the employee being laid off due to redundancy. By making this decision, the employer can count on savings in the amount of salary paid to the laid-off employee after all payments in his favor. However, redundancy payments are significant:
   salary for time worked before dismissal;
3. compensation for unused vacation;
4. severance pay in the amount of average earnings;
5. average earnings for the period of employment.
6. Introduction of part-time work (shift). This option is possible on the basis of Art. 93 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for a period of no more than six months. But introducing it solely for the purpose of saving money will not work. This measure is possible only if two reasons exist simultaneously: it is introduced to change organizational or technological working conditions and if such a change will lead to mass layoffs. Specific justifications are needed, including a description of the actual actions for applying this method. Employees are warned two months in advance of the intention to introduce part-time work. In the order to introduce these measures, it is necessary to indicate their reasons, the procedure for reducing working hours (gradually or at a time) and, accordingly, wages for the period of reducing working hours. Be sure to notify the employment service of your decision. An additional agreement is signed with employees who agree to forced measures.

IMPORTANT!

Read more materials about working during quarantine in a special section of our portal.

Suspension from work

A forced period of non-working time will also include removal from work. You can be suspended from work for appearing at work in a state of intoxication if the employee has not passed a medical examination or refused to undergo safety training. All these are special cases of suspension from work.

In most cases (though not always), this is the employee’s fault, so such “rest days” are not paid.