How to make changes to the vacation schedule correctly? Procedure for registration and sample order

Time relax

Olga Yakushina

Tax expert-journalist

Current as of September 30, 2019

Drawing up an annual vacation schedule is a mandatory procedure for the employer. However, this does not mean that the schedule will remain in its “pristine” form throughout the year. Let's figure out in what situations it is necessary to make changes to an already approved vacation schedule and how to do it.

Vacation schedule

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation introduces the obligation to draw up a vacation schedule for employees and places it on the employer.
Art. 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation explains that such a schedule is a document drawn up annually and approved by order of the manager. The vacation schedule has a number of features:

The document is drawn up and approved no later than the last 2 weeks before the new year.
Taking into account the opinion of the trade union committee (if there is one) when registering it is a mandatory procedure.
Once the annual schedule has been approved, the enterprise administration is obliged to adhere to it all year, just like the employees.
When creating a schedule, you need to take into account that some categories of employees have advantages when choosing vacation time. You can learn about how leave is granted and what the procedure is for this in the article Procedure for granting leave under the Labor Code.

The schedule can be drawn up in free form, but the T-7 form is often used, approved. Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1, since it already provides for all the points required by labor law.

The vacation schedule must be approved by the head of the company. You can do this in 2 ways:

Issue a separate order approving the document, as well as other related actions for its execution, signed by the manager.
Provide an approval stamp in the schedule itself (as in the already mentioned T-7 form). In this case, an order to approve the vacation schedule will not be needed.

How is it formed?

According to the materials written in it, the schedule is the main document that determines the order in which employees are sent on paid leave each year.

It is important to understand that the described document is mandatory not only for the employer, but also for all employees of the organization.

The process of drawing up the document in question is, first of all, determined by the company’s needs in planning its activities in order to avoid operational disruptions while simultaneously respecting the vacations of each employee.

In the process of drawing up the document, the following factors are taken into account:

features of the main field of activity of the organization;
responsibilities of employees and the degree of intensity of their participation in the work process;
the presence of a seasonality factor in the organization’s activities;
other specific features inherent in the company’s field of activity.

Can an employer change the vacation schedule?

A situation often arises when it is necessary to change the vacation schedule, since the document is accepted in advance for a long period and there is no way to take into account special circumstances, business needs, employee illness, etc.

The current legislation does not contain any rules indicating how and how changes and additions to the vacation schedule should be formalized. However, personnel service employees are of the opinion that registration of additions and changes is necessary for a number of reasons:

The irrelevance of the information specified in the vacation schedule may entail the imposition of penalties by the labor inspectorate, namely: the fact that it is provided outside the approved and agreed upon dates (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
Unscheduled absence of workers from their workplace can have a significant impact on the company's production process.
Uncoordinated leave can interfere with the work of the accounting department, which in this case creates reserves for payment of relevant expenses.

You can modify your vacation schedule in several ways:

Making an addition to an existing document. This method is most convenient when hiring a new employee.
Making changes to an existing schedule. This method is convenient when rescheduling an employee’s planned vacation date.

In any case, it is necessary to take into account that in order to change the vacation time of a particular employee, his consent is required (see Articles 124, 125 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and sometimes an administrative act of management dedicated not to changing the schedule, but to its reason (for example, an order to recall from vacation ).

On what grounds can you postpone your vacation?

The grounds for postponing an employee’s vacation at the employer’s initiative may be:

An important task that can only be performed by a specific employee.
Urgent business trip due to production needs.
Introduction of innovative work methods into the company , installation of new equipment, replacement of software.
The company has undergone reorganization procedures : mergers, acquisitions, staff reductions, etc.
Unscheduled inspections of the company’s activities by regulatory authorities.
Illness of a manager whose job responsibilities can be delegated to a limited number of people.

In any case, it must be taken into account that in order to change the time a particular employee goes on vacation, his consent to this must be obtained. This rule is specified in Art. 124, 125 TK.

If the change in schedule occurs at the initiative of the employer (if he intends to call the employee back from vacation early), then he must issue an order to recall him from vacation.

The employee himself may also have good reasons for changing the vacation schedule. These may include family, personal or financial circumstances (in particular, maternity leave, upcoming dismissal, the need to reschedule vacation so that it coincides with the spouse’s rest period).

The company's management can independently draw a conclusion as to how significant and weighty the reasons for postponing vacation are. The employer's refusal to postpone vacation time is legal. Then the employee must go on vacation according to the schedule, and it cannot be changed.

It is worth considering that some categories of employees can take leave at any time convenient for them and the employer does not have the right to refuse them. We are talking about the following categories of workers:

underage workers;
part-timers;
female employees before maternity leave;
husbands of women on maternity leave;
having two or more children under 12 years of age;
certain categories of Chernobyl victims;
honorary donors;
military spouses;
who adopted a baby under 3 months;
other categories under Art. 322 Labor Code .

Changing the vacation schedule at the initiative of the employee

The vacation schedule can be changed not only at the initiative of the employer (if there is consent from the employee - Part 1 of Article 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), but also at the request of the employee himself.

Let us highlight the following features of the procedure that immediately precede a change in the vacation schedule at the employee’s initiative:

The employee must notify the employer of his desire to postpone the approved vacation to another date or change its duration. For these purposes, an application is submitted in the form approved by the organization (I ask to reschedule the planned (date) vacation, I ask to make changes to the vacation schedule - the sample application usually contains these or similar phrases). Important! Unlike going on scheduled leave, if the leave is postponed, you must submit an application (see article “Scheduled leave - is an application necessary in this case?”).
The employee must notify the employer in advance. The deadline for an employee to apply for a postponement of vacation is not regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. But the employer must be able, in accordance with the law, to carry out all the necessary procedures. For example, pay vacation pay at least 3 days before the start of the vacation (Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
In general, the employer’s consent is required to reschedule leave at the employee’s request.

These include workers under the age of 18, part-time workers, spouses of military personnel - the reader can find a complete list in our article “Is it necessary to draw up a vacation schedule?”

When providing an employee with a vacation not according to plan, the employer himself determines how such changes in the vacation schedule will be recorded: by approving a new schedule, additions to it, or by entering the relevant information into an existing form (see below).

Useful video

Also, for a more complete understanding of the procedure for registering and changing the schedule of upcoming annual vacations, we suggest watching the video:

Thus, changes can be made throughout the year even if the schedule has already been approved by the manager. To make adjustments, you can edit the approved T-7 form by filling out the last 3 columns of the tabular section, or create an addition to the current form.

Changes are required when postponing vacations both at the initiative of the employee and the employer. When hiring a new employee, such an action is not necessary, however, if the employer wishes, an addition to the current document can be drawn up.

Sample addition to the vacation schedule. Additional vacation schedule for new employees

If other persons are employed during the working year, there is no obligation to make changes to the vacation schedule. By agreement with the head of the enterprise, it is possible to grant leave at any time upon a written application from the employee.

But when deciding on documenting the vacations of such employees, it would be reasonable to draw up a new schedule (addition to the existing one). In this case, the procedure for its implementation will be similar:

When filling out the unified T-7 form, there is no need to issue an order approving the new schedule. But at the same time, in the “Notes” column you should indicate the date the employee started working.
When drawing up a vacation schedule in free form, it is necessary to issue an order from the manager approving the specified document and agreeing on the schedule with the trade union.

The procedure for drawing up an addition to the vacation schedule will be similar to the procedure for drawing up the main document.

A sample supplement to the vacation schedule can be downloaded here: Sample supplement to the vacation schedule.

Deadlines

Such a document must be approved two weeks before the start of the new calendar year. Moreover, if the organization has a trade union, the manager must take its opinion into account when approving it.

After this, each employee must familiarize himself with the schedule, only after that it will come into legal effect. Employee familiarization must occur no later than two weeks before the first vacation on the schedule.

You can draw up introductory sheets (in any form) and distribute them to all structural units and departments for employee signatures.

Are 2 weeks of work paid after dismissal? Find out all the information from us. Find out more about the most effective remuneration system in our material. If you are paid a salary “in an envelope,” then our article located here should be very useful to you!

Change of vacation date. Issuing an order to change the vacation date and replacing the schedule

If the employee’s expected start date for vacation changes, appropriate changes can be made to the existing schedule of the T-7 form as follows:

Column 6, containing information about the planned start date of the vacation, remains unchanged.
Columns 8, 9, 10 are filled in accordingly, namely:

Column 8 informs about the documents that served as the basis for transferring the vacation;
column 9 indicates the date of the proposed vacation;
Column 10 indicates the possible reasons that served as the basis for postponing the employee’s vacation.

In this case, the postponement of the start date must be formalized by an appropriate order of the manager, indicating the reasons that served as the basis.

All persons named in it must be familiarized with the order and signed. In addition, the employee’s consent to postpone the vacation is drawn up in the form of a separate document (for example, an application to postpone the vacation with a sick leave attached) or an inscription on the order signed by the employee.

If the vacation schedule was drawn up in free form, the procedure for making changes to it is similar to the previous one.

Order

In case of postponement of the vacation period, the change in the date of going on vacation must be formalized by an appropriate order indicating the reasons that served as the basis for this. This order must be familiarized with the signature of all persons specified in it.

The employer should obtain written confirmation that the employee agrees to the transfer of leave. Written evidence may include a sick leave certificate, an order signed by the employee and indicating his consent to the transfer, etc.

The mandatory execution of an order approving the amended vacation schedule is not prescribed anywhere. But if the order procedure is accepted by the company’s existing document flow system, then its preparation is possible.

The order should reflect the following aspects:

Employer company name.
The name of the document that is being drawn up (“Order”).
Date and place of preparation of the order.
Serial number of the document (according to the internal numbering system).
Reason for issuing the order (to make changes to the approved vacation schedule).
The main part with the essence of the manager’s will (for example, the decision to recall employees from vacation early).
Signatures of the manager and persons listed in the order.

conclusions

It is possible to change the approved T-7 schedule, but for this purpose the employer draws up an order. The initiative can come from the worker or management.

There are two columns for adjustment - 7 and 8, the first contains the details of the basis document, the second - the new dates for granting vacation.

If a new person is hired, then information about his vacation does not have to be included in the schedule. If the employer does this, then an additional document is drawn up to the current approved one.

Common mistakes

Typical mistakes are as follows:

in case of any changes in the schedule, this was not previously agreed upon with the company management;
vacations cannot be granted solely on the basis of a written application from a hired worker - it is always necessary to additionally formulate a corresponding order;
complete or partial disregard of the approved vacation schedule , this means an unauthorized change of priority without approval;
providing incorrect information;
the presence of errors in the process of dividing the vacation schedule into parts - it is important to remember that one of the parts cannot be less than 2 weeks;
Accumulation of annual paid leave is not allowed;
Incorrectly accrued monetary remuneration for vacation granted.

It is always necessary to remember that neglect of the vacation schedule, including incorrect adjustments to it, is punishable by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Identified violations may result in administrative liability in the form of fines.

Attention!

Due to frequent changes in legislation, information sometimes becomes outdated faster than we can update it on the website.
All cases are very individual and depend on many factors. Basic information does not guarantee a solution to your specific problems.

That's why FREE expert consultants work for you around the clock!

via the form (below), or via online chat
Call the hotline:

APPLICATIONS AND CALLS ARE ACCEPTED 24/7 and 7 days a week.

Vacation