Time off for previously worked time according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: procedure for provision and payment, how to properly prepare documents?

09.07.2019

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5 minutes.

When concluding an employment contract, the employer and employee fix the working hours. In most cases, we are talking about a forty-hour week, unless a rotation method is provided. When an employee, at the request of his superiors, overworks a certain number of hours, he has the right to receive monetary compensation or an additional day off for them. The features of providing the second are described in the article.

Labor Code of the Russian Federation

Employees have the opportunity to take time off for previously worked time:

Who went to work on Saturday or Sunday.
Worked on official holidays.
We stayed late at work at the request of our manager. If the delay occurred on the initiative of the employee, the likelihood of realizing this opportunity is low.
Who worked on days that were days off for them at an enterprise with a 24-hour or daily operating schedule.

It is also worth remembering that in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation there is no such thing as time off. It is used only in colloquial speech, but is absent from the official and legal sides. Instead, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation has another concept - a day of rest. This is stated in Article 153 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

For your information

A day of rest is more of a compromise solution. If a person goes to work on a non-working day, he is required to pay him. But, from the employer’s point of view, providing an additional free day is much simpler and more convenient - in this case, the working day and the day off for previously worked hours are simply swapped.

Article 153 talks about the standards of remuneration during non-working hours - every employee who decides to take so-called time off must be familiar with it.

Employment contract (example)

The remuneration system can be determined for an individual specific employee, for several employees, or for the entire staff of employees. The choice of a remuneration system in any case must be economically justified, correspond to the economic characteristics of the organization, and contribute to the activities of the organization.

The remuneration system should be fixed in a collective agreement or other local regulation. It is not necessary to specify the remuneration system in the employment contract. It can contain a link to a document that sets out the company’s current remuneration system (for example, the Regulations on the remuneration of employees).

How to write time off for previously worked time?

Article 153 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that another day of rest can be provided only at the request of the employee - that is, no one can oblige him to this. The choice: another day off, or the monetary compensation is not paid by the employer.

If the decision is nevertheless made in favor of time off, it is important to follow three rules:

You can choose only one type of compensation: money or a free day; it is impossible to demand both;
According to the law, it is impossible to apply this sequence in practice: first not coming to work, and then working. You can only rest for the time that was devoted to work earlier;
The employee is obliged to notify his superiors of his desire. It is impossible to not go to work and then formalize it - in this case, absence from work will be perceived as absenteeism.

Attention
If you want to take advantage of the right to time off, you must notify your superiors in advance and this must only be done in writing - a verbal agreement in this case is invalid.

The application should be submitted a few days before the desired day off, especially if it requires adjustments to the current work schedule. Only after the employer reads it and signs it, the day indicated in it will be considered a day off.

What to do if you quit without taking time off?

The moment when an employee quits, but has accumulated unused time off, is also regulated by the internal regulations of the organization. The Labor Code (Article No. 127) states that for untaken rest days, a one-time monetary compensation may be provided upon dismissal, or before dismissal, the employee is sent on paid leave according to the number of “compensation” days.

Article 127. Exercise of the right to leave upon dismissal of an employee

However, we recommend not accumulating time off, since not every boss is ready to pay money to an employee who intends to end his career in a given institution or company. It is better to alternate evenly between processing and rest days, if this happens regularly. This decision will not only allow you to protect your labor rights, but will also help you correctly distribute labor resources, have proper rest and participate in social life.

Application for time off

It is very simple to write an application for time off for previously worked time - the application form is standard. But, it is important not to forget that such a concept as “time off”, as mentioned above, does not exist in the legislation. That is why the application is written not for time off, but for an additional day off on account of previously worked time.

The application can be either handwritten or printed using a standard form used by the company. If there is none, here is a simple reminder:

In the “header”, that is, in the upper right corner, it is necessary to indicate whose name is written, and then from whom, indicating the surname, initials of the name and patronymic, as well as the position held;
Below, in the middle of the sheet, the word “Statement” is written in large letters;
After that there is the main text: “Please provide me with a day off (the desired date is indicated) for the early hours worked (date of return to work)”;
The employee's signature and date are placed in the lower right corner.

Control tools

The time that can be spent fulfilling the employer's accounting duty can be reduced by using various automated employee time tracking systems.

Even in small organizations, labor costs for recording working hours can take up to several working hours a week, but in large organizations it is impossible to do without automation.

Simple

Time tracking tools can be automatic and simple. The choice depends on the needs and objectives of the company.

If the only need is to reduce the time spent on information processing and payroll calculations, simple accounting programs will be enough for you. And then I’ll go over them in more detail.

1.1 Excel table. Google Sheets

Excel spreadsheet
Perhaps the easiest way to keep track of working hours. Suitable if you have a very small organization that does not require detailed accounting of all actions.

For free;
Just;

“On my knees”;
No automation;
Only for small organizations;
Do not reflect the quality of time worked;
Errors and confusion during shift schedules.

If you are just starting your business or have a small company, then you definitely do not need an employee time tracking terminal.

I advise you to use these tools and keep track of employee working hours in an excel table. Such accounting is better than no accounting at all.

1.2 Accounting programs

Accounting programs
These include, for example: 1C, Sky, My Business, Kontur.Accounting and others. Here we are talking about automated recording of employee working hours.

Of course, strict control will not work; rather, such programs will simplify accounting for the relevant specialists.

It’s convenient for accountants and HR officers;
You can add charts, record orders;
Ready-made payroll sheets;

Do not reflect the quality of time worked;
The security function is not solved.

Accountants will definitely thank you for such programs, because here, after all, we are talking about automatic recording of working hours and you no longer have to manually calculate everything for each employee.

1.3 Video surveillance

Video surveillance
Simple or more complex, with microphones and voice recorders. Video surveillance does not solve discipline problems; rather, it is an auxiliary tool for enterprise security.

Shows who came to work at what time;
You can find out who did what during the working day;
Help control security;

Working hours are recorded in programs;
Impossible to integrate with accounting programs in practice;
It is difficult and time-consuming to keep track of everyone.

An interesting story from practice: one of the employers installed video surveillance with a microphone in the sales department, but “forgot” to warn the staff about it.

One day, after a conversation between a manager and a client, he couldn’t stand it and gave feedback over the speakerphone. A department employee broke the silence with the phrase: “Thank you, Lord!”

1.4 Crm systems

Crm systems
These include: Bitrix24, Megaplan, S2 Crm. Almost all CRMs are equipped with a time tracking function.

How this happens - when you turn on the PC and enter CRM, either the start of work is automatically recorded, or CRM offers to mark the start of work by pressing special buttons.

Operating time is recorded automatically;
Uploading to special report forms;
Augmented activity: number of calls, letters, etc.;

A good tool for analyzing the quality of time spent;
The actual picture may not reflect;
Does not resolve discipline issues;
For analysis, more detailed information is needed - call details, etc.

Such programs already show a clearer picture and will help analyze the work of each employee and evaluate his effectiveness, as well as show hours of stagnation.

By the way. Do you want to double your sales and increase business efficiency? Then implement CRM quickly! I recommend Bitrix 24, Megaplan (“Megastart” 10% discount on everything +14 days free) or S2 CRM (“pjzmbw” 50% discount on the “Corporation+” tariff). Then you will say thank you.

Complex

Next, we will look at more complex technologies - automatic systems for recording working hours using cards, time tracking and terminals for controlling entry and exit to the enterprise.

2.1 Controllers with access via electronic passes

Controllers with access by electronic passes
The principle of operation of the time recording equipment - controller is as follows: you can get into the room and leave it using a special card.

The card is programmed for one employee, of course, each entry and exit is taken into account. This is already an electronic recording of working hours.

Easy to use;
Unloading analysis allows you to track all personnel movements;
The card can be configured to provide access to individual rooms;

Cards are often lost or stolen;
Responsible persons may grant access for other purposes;
Control over the use of cards is carried out separately.

For small businesses and offices with low traffic, there are programs with maps and video recording at the time the card is activated. But if such a small terminal is installed at the entrance to a large enterprise, a queue is possible.

2.1 Biometric terminals and controllers

Biometric terminals and controllers
The same time and attendance equipment as card readers, but to get through such a terminal you need to scan your retina or use your fingerprints. Here is a more interesting option.

It is almost impossible to fake such a “pass”;
It is possible to integrate with accounting systems;

The access opening time is longer than regular cards;
There are system errors that need to be corrected;
Not suitable for places in enterprises with high human traffic.

Another significant disadvantage is that workers themselves do not really like such electronic time tracking devices, believing that this is super control and is not always justified.

If the cost of company equipment or trade secrets is high, then such measures are quite acceptable.

2.3 Time trackers

Time trackers
Time trackers: Crocotime, Kickidler, Timedoctor. These are screen screening programs that are installed on personal computers, monitor their performance throughout the day, and take photographs from the screen.

The functions allow you to analyze how much time was spent and on what business process, how it could be simplified, and which third-party sites the staff visited.

Form a general picture of the working day;
Take screenshots;
Helps analyze time spent;
Legality;
No permission is required for installation;
Information Security;
The optimal choice for tracking the working hours of remote workers;

Does not provide general security;
Suitable for positions that constantly work with a PC.

A really convenient tool, unlike the employee time card system, as it will show the employee’s entire working day.

You can easily figure out when a specialist is taking time off from work and minding his own business.

Procedure for provision

After the application is signed, the manager issues an order and gives it to the employee for review. As soon as the latter signs, his request is considered valid.

You also need to know: if an employee needs an additional day off, he does not have to work overtime to provide it - there are two other ways to get another day off, or even several, when you can solve all your business:

Take a day off as paid vacation;
Take a vacation at your own expense.

Let's take a closer look at these two options:

Time off towards vacation

After six months of work in the company, each employee is given 28 days of paid leave. You can use them either by using them all at once or by dividing them into several parts. The only rule that is important to follow in this case is to go on vacation once for at least 14 days. The remaining time can be used as you please.

To do this, you need to write a statement about your desire to take extraordinary paid leave, indicate from what date and for how many days. You can use it one day or take it for several days in a row.

Vacation at your own expense

If there are no vacation days left, or another six months have not passed since the date of registration with the company, you have the opportunity to take a vacation at your own expense at any time. It will not be paid - the salary will be deducted from the rate for those days that the person was absent.

The application is written in the same form, only the following must be written as the main text: “I ask you to grant me leave without pay from (indicate the start date of the leave) for (number of days) for the reason (indicate it).” Most often, the reason is simply “family reasons.”

The decision to provide leave at his own expense always remains with the employer. If an employee does not have a good reason why he cannot come to work, he may be denied time off.

There are only three reasons why leave without pay is mandatory:

wedding;
birth of a child;
death of a relative.

Sometimes it is necessary to provide a document confirming the veracity of the reason specified in the application.

Reasons for accounting

For employers, taking into account working hours is especially important, since no one wants to pay for their subordinates’ sleep.

Also in the legislation there is an article that talks about the importance of recording working time and its payment, and the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for sanctions in case of violation.

Working time is the time spent performing work duties with payment for these actions.

Are you sure how serious it is? In addition to the main one - legal, there are additional reasons for counting time worked. Find one of your own below, or maybe even a couple.

Are we violating it? Don't we take working hours into account? Welcome to the station

Reason 1. State

The state clearly says that it is necessary to take into account the hours of employment of staff. Therefore, even formally, you must organize accounting. Keep time sheets, note sick days, days off, absenteeism, and so on.

During the course of work, the employer and the employee may have mutual claims regarding whether their working hours are paid fairly; in such situations, documents will help resolve the controversial issue.

Example: one of the company’s employees appealed to 6 different authorities after her dismissal from the company.

Prosecutor's office, GIT, Rospotrebnadzor and others. One of the first documents that was requested was the internal labor regulations and employee time sheets. All 6 checks were completed successfully.

Reason 2. Efficiency

It is important to pay your staff fairly. But an employee can also be unproductive? Or even spend paid time on things other than work. Let’s say those who like smoking breaks manage to leave the workplace two to five times during the working day.

Example: in one of the organizations I observed 16 employees smoking on the porch of the building during working hours. Let's calculate that the smoke break was 10 minutes, which means 160 minutes of the company's total time were spent.

Reason 3. Discipline

Remember the “broken windows theory”, according to the theory, where there are no penalties for minor violations, more serious ones are more likely to be committed.

That is, where simple things such as the quality and quantity of work time are controlled, employees can more easily be held accountable for larger obligations, such as project deadlines.

Example: the company measured the compilation time, naturally it was much longer than expected.

They then told employees how much they should spend on average on this task. Then we monitored the indicator for a month, and surprisingly, not only the average time per task decreased, but also the quality improved.

Reason 4. Automation

Time tracking is also a management tool. With the help of some programs, you will not only see who is working and how much, but also influence the involvement of colleagues by introducing or reducing bonuses in general and individual motivation.

Also, by analyzing time, you can reduce unnecessary operations, change business processes, and implement automation of employee time tracking.

Example: in the production of vegetables in a greenhouse, the total time spent on caring for plants was analyzed.

Further, several simple operations were excluded from the work of greenhouses, several were divided, and different people began to do them. Thanks to time savings, the total time for harvesting has increased, there have been fewer rejects of overgrown vegetables, which means more profit.

Reason 5. Security

If you control the quality of an employee’s working time, you can avoid problems with the general and information security of the company. And yes, I’m not joking, then you will see for yourself.

Example: a laptop was stolen in one of the Moscow offices, the investigation was carried out very quickly, and thanks to electronic time tracking systems and video surveillance, it was possible to punish the perpetrators and return the laptop.

How is time off paid for time previously worked?

If an employee decides to choose an additional day off instead of paying for overtime, he will not be paid, as mentioned above. The employee will receive money only for the days worked: that is, for the time that he went out or stayed extra. Roughly speaking, the days are simply swapped; this does not affect payment in any way.

In the case where the time off was taken as vacation pay, payment for it is made in accordance with the vacation pay that will be accrued. In accounting, special formulas are used for this.

Days off taken at your own expense are not paid. The employee himself takes responsibility for this.

About deception

In this chapter, I will tell you a few stories from practice about how company employees managed to deceive accounting systems. So read carefully and take it into account. And then suddenly there are people like that in your surroundings.

Story 1 – CRM system

Valentin came to work first, turned on all the computers, pressed start, but what did he care about, he was a morning person. Later, colleagues arrived, some with coffee, some after a party. Well done Valentin. But there is no discipline.

Story 2 – pregnant women

The organization had a terminal at the entrance with an electronic card pass. No one made any complaints against pregnant employees. So, through the door opened by the pregnant woman’s electronic pass, colleagues went out to smoke in groups of 5.

The deception was discovered when the security service decided to check why the employee went outside and back in three times within fifteen minutes.

Story 3 – about accounting in Excel

The production manager redid the time sheet five hundred times before handing it over to the personnel officer and then to the accountant. Since he didn’t have time to make time sheets, it was easier for him to guess what was wrong than to check all the employees’ outputs.

There was a pile of statements and explanatory notes on the table. And on payday, he ran from his female team of 30 ladies who had been paid incorrectly.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 32,000 people. TURN ON

In-scale / marketing

Deadlines

The Russian Labor Code does not say when a person should use time off for previously worked time - the choice is completely left to him. In fact, you can use it several months after unscheduled working hours or days.

The only exception to this can be the case if the deadlines for their provision are stipulated in the internal regulations of the company, with which the employee was familiarized with when hired, or to which he signed, if the regulations were updated during the work process.

The number of days or hours of leave is directly proportional to the number of days or hours during which the employee was present at the workplace.

Accounting Features

Depending on what function the employee performs in the organization and at what time his presence in the organization is required, we assign him a working time (shift).

One organization may have not only several different modes for personnel, but also several different accounting systems.

I'll tell you about everything in detail, but let's start with the types of working hours. This is the first category with which the recording of working time in an enterprise begins.

Who needs what schedule

Based on the amount of time worked in a day, labor legislation requires that the time worked be taken into account in hours.

Check this time against the norm, and if the employee works more than expected, then compensate for this with additional rest time or pay.

And then, depending on the needs of the organization, the employee is assigned a schedule.

1.1 Standardized day

Office employees, ordinary accountants, often sales departments, human resources departments, etc. In the timesheet we record 8 hours 5 days a week, in the employment contract we write - normal working day. No benefits or privileges.

Maximum free cookies. But we will pay for overtime or give you an unpaid extra day of rest.

1.2 Irregular days

Leading specialists and managers who often go on weekends and go on business trips.

In this case, overtime is not paid, but the employee has the right to additional paid leave from 3 to 10 (in practice up to 7) days.

1.3 Flexible schedule

You can assign this mode to remote programmers, marketers, and sales managers with whom you regularly collaborate.

Set by agreement the time at which the employee will also be available in instant messengers.

By the way, there is no mythical free schedule if the employee has an employment contract. You should still agree on how many hours he will have to work.

1.4 Shift schedule

Factory workers, sales consultants, administrators, etc. Personnel must be familiarized with the shift schedule one month in advance.

If there are night hours in the shift schedule, and this is from 10 pm to 6 am, they pay twice as much. Night hours are highlighted separately in the report card.

Example of a shift schedule

Who should work how much?

In total, there are three types of working hours - normal, reduced (provided for a group of people, those who, for health reasons, cannot work more) and part-time. Next I will tell you about each in more detail.

2.1 Normal

Normal working hours are 40 working hours per week, regardless of work schedule. Anything worked beyond normal hours will be considered overtime hours.

2.2 Abbreviated

The reduced time is not disputed, it is unconditionally provided to the following: minors, employees with limited work ability, pregnant women - at their request. Paid in proportion to time worked.

2.3 Incomplete

Part-time working hours are established by agreement between the worker and the provider of employment. At the same time, for teenagers, the restriction depends on whether they combine study with work or work part-time during the holidays.

For people with disabilities, the duration is determined by medical indications. Those who work in hazardous industries are also entitled to a shorter day.

I didn't know this...

Complex cases

In this chapter I will tell you about the most common problem cases when recording working time.

Pay special attention to this chapter, as there may already be such employees among your employees and it is worth reviewing their work schedule.

3.1 Remote workers

For remote workers, the best option is a flexible work schedule. You can set anything, the main thing is not to go beyond the standard 40 hours a week.

Do not write evening and night time in the additional agreement. And not only pay a salary, but also assign bonuses and additional payments for project results - delivery deadlines, compliance with technical specifications, timeliness of reporting, and so on.

On topic: Organization of remote work: 70 services

3.2 Pregnant women

If a pregnant employee needs to leave frequently, they negotiate a shorter day and pay the average wage for the time actually worked.

The report card records the number of hours actually worked per day - three, four, five. Pregnant women cannot work overtime.

3.3. Part-timers

For part-time workers, a regular working week is established; most often, records are kept on a five-day work week, 4 hours a day - half of the normal duration.

It doesn’t matter whether part-time workers are internal or external, they still cannot work more than 20 hours a week.

3.4 Traveling and business trips

In the employment contract for employees who frequently go on business trips, we specify the “traveling nature of the work” so as not to overpay the employee for ordinary trips. Yes, yes, here we are talking about your savings as an employer.

3.5 Overtime

That is, this is the time worked in excess of that established for this position. The first two hours of overtime are paid at one and a half times the rate, and the subsequent hours at double. According to the law, when actual working time is recorded, the employer pays for overtime immediately.

By the way, in order not to pay for overtime, summarized time tracking is introduced, and I’ll talk about it below.

Time calculation example

Time off for previously worked time in the report card

The work process, taking into account weekends, vacation days, absenteeism and business trips, is recorded in a special table - a working time sheet. This is the main document used in accounting to calculate payroll. That is why the accuracy of the reflection of real data for drawing up a report card is very important.

In the table, each concept has its own designation:

If an employee has been granted time off, this is reflected in the report card with the letters “OV”;
In the case where additional days off were taken on account of paid leave, “FROM” is indicated;
If the employee took several days at his own expense, the letters “TO” are entered in the timesheet.

Legislation and responsibility

Since this indicator is controlled by law, let’s talk about it. I will also tell you about the main documents that in one way or another touch on the topic of accounting:

Production calendar. Approved by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation and published at the end of the next year;
Labor Code. Most of its sections in one way or another relate to the assessment of labor and wages, but the main one is the third part of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation . From 05.01.2004 N 1 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation”;
2 tbsp. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ. The law also contains requirements for the processing of primary accounting documents.

Everything else is regulated by internal orders. Responsibility for maintaining is assigned to department heads, secretaries, personnel managers, and accountants.

There are two forms that are used to organize accounting - T12 and T13. All possible options for marks in the report card are deciphered in form N T12.

They are almost the same, except for a small difference. Form T13 is used for automatic time tracking programs, for manual filling out form T12.

Time sheet