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Most workers work five days a week for eight hours. And it’s no wonder that they physically don’t have time to go to the clinic, housing office, or their child’s school - after all, the opening hours of these institutions are almost the same. I don’t really want to take a whole day off because of a parent-teacher conference; most often, employees simply ask to take time off from work. In this regard, the employer has many questions: what to do with payment for absence time, how to take it into account, whether it needs to be formalized, etc. Read the article and you will find answers to these and some other questions.
Indeed, “asking for leave” from work is not uncommon. Mostly, employees ask to be released for a couple of hours or half a day. Sometimes, of course, they ask for more time—a day or even two.
Let us say right away that this situation is not regulated either by the Labor Code or by any other acts containing labor law norms. Therefore, the solution to the issue of registering and paying for the absence of an employee who has asked to take time off depends on various circumstances.
If an employee asks to take an hour or two off
First of all, we note that if an employee decides to leave for personal matters during the lunch break, then he does not need to take time off from work. Breaks during the working day (shift), including for rest and food, are considered rest time (Article 107 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And according to Art. 106 Labor Code of the Russian Federation rest time - time during which the employee is free from performing work duties and which he can use at his own discretion. Thus, during lunch, an employee can leave work and resolve his issues without the consent of the employer.If you need a couple of hours during working hours, you need a corresponding application from the employee addressed to the head of the organization. You will say: why multiply pieces of paper, because you can verbally inform your immediate supervisor and that’s it? We believe that an application is still required. If the manager agrees, the corresponding visa, the manager’s signature and the date are affixed on it. In this case, the employee will be sure that his absence will not be regarded as a violation of labor discipline, and the employer will know that the employee was absent. There is no need to issue an order.
For your information
Absenteeism is considered absence from the workplace without good reason during the entire working day (shift), regardless of its duration, as well as more than four hours in a row during the working day (shift).
Judicial practice also speaks about the need for an application. So, the employee was fired for absenteeism. Not agreeing, he filed a lawsuit for reinstatement, citing the fact that he took time off from work from the director. The court, examining the case materials, did not find confirmation of this fact, since the employee did not contact the employer with any written statements about the need for absence, for example, about granting leave without pay. Accordingly, the dismissal was recognized as legal (Appeal ruling of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court dated September 19, 2016 in case No. 33-12406/2016).
Please note that absence upon application must be recorded in the time sheet, because the employer is obliged to keep accurate records of the working time worked by each employee. The period of absence is taken into account when calculating the employee’s salary.
If an employee takes time off for the whole day
There are different design options available here:- leave without pay wages;
- annual paid vacation;
- time off
Let's consider these options.
Leave without pay
Based on Part 1 of Art. 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, for family reasons and other valid reasons, an employee, upon his written application, may be granted leave without pay, the duration of which is determined by agreement between the employee and the employer. As we see, the legislation does not establish either a minimum or maximum duration of such leave. This means that unpaid leave can be granted for any period that the parties to the employment contract agree on, even for one day.As can be seen from the wording of the norm, the provision of such leave is a right, not an obligation, and if the employer considers the reason unjustified, he can deny the employee unpaid leave. At the same time, you need to remember that there are categories of employees to whom the employer does not have the right to refuse this. In particular, based on a written application, the employer is obliged to provide the following leave:
- for working old-age pensioners (by age) - up to 14 calendar days per year;
- for working disabled people - up to 60 calendar days per year;
- employees in cases of the birth of a child, marriage registration, death of close relatives - up to 5 calendar days;
- in other cases provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws or a collective agreement.
So, such a vacation is arranged as follows:
- The employee writes a statement addressed to the head of the organization, indicating the date of leave and the reasons why it is required. If the application is written for several hours, you need to indicate specific hours.
- The manager marks the visa application as “Agreed” or “I do not object”, and in case of refusal to grant leave - “Refuse”.
- If the head of the company agrees:
- an order is issued to grant leave without pay (the employee must be familiarized with such an order and signed);
- a personal card is filled out (form T-2) - it is necessary to keep records of the number of days of unpaid leave, since the length of service for the provision of annual paid leave depends on this;
- a time sheet is filled out.
Annual paid vacation
Each employee is guaranteed annual paid leave, which is provided in accordance with the vacation schedule, mandatory for both employees and employers (Article 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).note
The vacation schedule is approved no later than two weeks before the new year, taking into account the opinion of the elected body of the primary trade union organization.
At the same time, nothing prevents the provision of annual leave outside the schedule if the employee and the employer have agreed on this. We add that, as a general rule, vacation can be divided into parts, one of which is at least 14 calendar days (Article 125 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). But the remaining part can be used as the employee and employer agree. Therefore, providing one day of annual paid leave is completely legal.
To apply for annual leave for one day (if the employer agrees), you need to:
- Receive a statement from the employee indicating the specific desired day.
- Issue an order granting annual leave.
- Make appropriate notes on the time sheet.
Therefore, providing one day of annual leave is convenient if the employee knows in advance that he needs to leave on such and such a date. However, in most cases, employees ask for time off spontaneously when certain circumstances arise.
Time off
Despite the fact that the Labor Code does not define the concept of “time off,” according to established practice, time off is considered rest provided as compensation for work or duty during non-working hours. Time off should not be confused with leave without pay, since it is not provided as compensation for something, but for personal reasons that employees have or by force of law.Labor legislation provides for several cases when an employer must provide an employee with a day off for working outside of working hours. (Let's present them in the form of a diagram on page .)
The procedure for applying for time off is as follows: the employee writes an application requesting a day of rest indicating the reasons, for example, for overtime work or working on a day off. (Donors must attach a certificate to the application confirming the fact of donating blood.) Based on such an application, an order is issued, which must be familiarized to the employee against signature.
Of course, you need to make notes on your time sheet:
— additional days off without pay are indicated by the letter code “НВ” or the digital code “28”;
- day of rest for donor employees - letter code “OV” or digital “27” (additional paid day off).
| When required to work overtime | By virtue of Art. 152 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the first two hours of overtime work are paid at least one and a half times the rate, the subsequent ones - at least double the rate. At the request of the employee, overtime work, instead of increased pay, can be compensated by providing additional rest time, but not less than the time worked overtime, while rest time is not subject to payment |
| When hired to work on a weekend or non-working holiday | In accordance with Art. 153 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, work on a day off or a non-working holiday is paid at least double the amount. At the request of the employee who worked on that day, he may be given another day of rest. In this case, work on a weekend or holiday is paid in a single amount, and a day of rest is not subject to payment. |
| When an employee donates blood and its components | According to Art. 186 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if an employee goes to work on the day of donating blood and its components, as well as on the day of the related medical examination, he is given another day of rest at his request. In the case of donating blood and its components during the period of annual paid leave, on a day off or a non-working holiday, the employee is given another day of rest at his request. In addition, after each day of donating blood and its components, an additional day of rest is provided. |
| For overtime within the work schedule when working on a rotational basis | Due to an increase in working hours and a reduction in rest time during the shift period, employees usually accumulate overtime hours, which are paid in the amount of the daily tariff rate, daily rate (part of the salary (official salary) for the day of work). Overtime hours that are not multiples of a whole working day can be accumulated throughout the year and summed up to whole working days with subsequent provision additional days inter-shift rest. The hours of daily (between shifts) rest that are underused in this case, as well as the days of weekly rest, are summed up and provided in the form of additional days off from work (in the form of days of inter-shift rest) during the accounting period |
If an employee systematically asks for time off
There are workers who constantly need somewhere. Such employees may be allowed to work part-time. Article 93 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows the introduction of this mode of work by agreement between the employee and the employer when hiring or in the course of work.
Payment for part-time work is made in proportion to the time worked or depending on the volume of work performed. Moreover, work under such conditions does not entail any restrictions on the duration of the annual basic paid leave, calculation of length of service and other labor rights.
To establish part-time working hours, you must:
- Conclude an additional agreement with employment contract, in which to specify the specific start and end times of work, the length of the working week and the period for which part-time work is established. This document is signed by both parties to the labor relationship.
- Issue an order to introduce part-time work for a specific employee, indicating the reasons for this decision.
So, if employees occasionally take time off during working hours for personal matters, this must be documented, at least with an application with a management visa confirming permission to leave. If they ask for a day or two off, other options are possible - taking leave, paid or unpaid. If the employee periodically requests time off, for example, every Tuesday and Friday for a certain number of hours, it may be worth considering introducing a part-time working regime for him.
If situations arise when an employee needs to leave his workplace, an application for time off is written, which lists the reasons indicating its need. But sometimes figuring out how to take a day off from work is not so easy. Some reasons for time off are considered valid, and this is even stipulated in the law, but in reality the validity of each request is considered by the boss. And he decides whether to release the employee from the workplace or not.
Request for time off
Even if the manager is fine with employees taking regular time off, it is better not to abuse his trust. The most difficult topics for a boss are lateness and vacations of employees, so frequent absences will eventually begin to irritate the boss, and problems will no longer evoke sympathy. This is a psychological trait of many employers - after all, even if an employee is on social networks, he is at work, and the boss is happy with this. And a completely different matter is an empty workplace and constant excuses and absences. It is considered normal to take time off no more than three times a month.
Conversation with the boss
It is considered rude to ask for a day off over the phone, as well as to ask for time off on the day of the day off. It would be best to approach your manager at the beginning of the work week or in advance, in the evening. You need to ask for time off a few days in advance so that your boss can delegate urgent matters to other employees. It is necessary to inform about your plans in person, since asking to leave work for 1 day by phone is considered acceptable only in case of serious illness, when you should not appear in the office due to the risk of infecting colleagues, or in any emergency situations.
When talking to your boss, you need to explain the reason for taking time off clearly and confidently, but not go into unnecessary detail. You can also explain that part of tomorrow’s work has already been done, and everything else will be ready on time and without comments. You need to leave your phone number and email so that if incomprehensible situations arise, employees or the manager himself can get a solution to the problem.
Medical reasons
- Necessity medical care. At feeling unwell employee (or his minor child), the boss is obliged to release the employee in medical institution. It could be toothache, elevated temperature or passing the necessary tests.
- Donation. Donating blood is a legal way to get two days off (the day you donate blood and the day after). According to the law, these days even have to be paid. In this case, you must provide a document confirming that blood was donated. Also, bosses do not always calmly release an employee to donate regularly, but only in cases where blood is needed by relatives and friends or if there is a rare blood type.
Personal reasons
- Personal circumstances. Time off is provided to the employee in the event of the birth of a child, death of close relatives and registration of marriage.
- Summons to a court hearing. In cases where an employee is summoned to court as a jury or participates in investigative and judicial actions, the employer will not be able to prohibit the subordinate from leaving the workplace.
- The occurrence of emergency household problems. In unforeseen situations when the lock on the front door, an employee gets stuck in an elevator or cannot go to work due to a water pipe break, the boss must give him time off. However, in such situations, it is advisable to confirm the reason for your absence from work with a certificate from management company or emergency service.
Possible reasons for taking time off
- Visiting official bodies. Such organizations usually do not work on weekends, so you can only get into them during your working hours. You can spend a whole day waiting in line at the passport office, gas service or water utility, so it is better to warn your boss about possible temporary time off. Registration of real estate transactions also takes a lot of time due to the preparation of related documents.
- Problems with transport. Traffic jams, a minor accident or car breakdown can cause you to be late for work. But in a situation where a personal vehicle has been stolen, you should take a day off from your boss in order to clarify all the circumstances with the police.
- Family circumstances. Usually, bosses consider them quite compelling reasons for taking time off. This could be a relative's anniversary, a children's party, or a child's graduation. This also includes meeting relatives at the airport or train station.
- Exams passage. Time off is provided for exam days at a university, driving school, or to complete language courses.
Application for time off
How to take 1 day off from work? An application for time off must be written even if the boss does not insist. After all, later he may forget about the verbal agreement to release the subordinate from work, and this may be followed by a reprimand, fine or dismissal. There is no template for requesting time off, but there are a number of general rules accepted at most enterprises:
- The application must be drawn up in two copies - one of them, signed by the boss, must remain with the applicant.
- Before writing an appeal, you should clarify who it should be addressed to - the first manager or directly to the boss? The organization must have its own standards and concepts of subordination that must be met.
- If any documents or certificates are attached to the application for time off, then a link to them must be made in the text of the application. This applies to extracts from a hospital record or referrals for examination from a local doctor.
- It is necessary to indicate in the application the number and time of absence from work. It happens that you need to go away on business for a short time, and then it becomes unclear how to take time off from work for 1 hour? The application contains information about the time that the employee will be absent, and deductions from wages will only be strictly for the required period, without any misunderstandings.
The rest of the application is drawn up according to a standard form (to whom, from whom, reason for the request, date, signature), which can be clarified with the personnel officer.
Colleagues
You should not tell other employees about the manager’s “indulgences,” as this can create dissatisfaction among them and cause a feeling of envy among those whom the boss did not let go from work for similar reasons. If you have to tell your colleagues about your time off, you shouldn’t give advice on how to talk to your boss. After all, if the manager hears some gossip, then next time he may no longer treat the employee’s problem with sympathy and will not let him go from work.
There is no need to be afraid to approach your boss with a request for time off, because unforeseen situations can happen to anyone. You just need to clearly explain the reason for your request, and also make sure that an unexpected day off does not affect the quality of the work performed.
Registration of an employee’s absence from the workplace during working hours and his failure to fulfill the duties stipulated by the employment contract in connection with this depends on the will of the parties to the employment contract. By agreement between the employee and the employer, it may be provided leave without pay of any duration, including for several hours. The provision of such leave is formalized by order if the document flow rules in force in the company require the issuance of an order when granting leave or the mandatory use of unified forms of personnel documents is enshrined in the employer’s accounting policy.
The parties may also agree to set the employee on a certain day part-time. The issuance of any order in such a situation is not required; a written agreement of the parties is sufficient.
In any case, the time sheet reflects the time actually worked by the employee.
Let me explain. The length of the working week, as well as daily work (shift), the start and end time of work, the number of shifts per day, the alternation of working and non-working days are elements of the employee’s working time regime, which is established by the internal labor regulations, and if the employee’s regime differs from the general rules established by a given employer - in the employment contract (Article 100 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
At the same time, by virtue of Part 2 of Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee is obliged, in particular, to conscientiously fulfill his labor duties assigned to him by the employment contract, comply with the internal labor regulations, and observe labor discipline. As follows from Art. 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, during working hours an employee is obliged to fulfill his job duties.
Registration of an employee’s absence from the workplace during working hours and his failure to fulfill the obligations stipulated by the employment contract, as we noted above, depends on the will of the parties to the employment contract.
So, according to Part 1 of Art. 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, for family reasons and other valid reasons, an employee, upon his written application, may be granted leave without pay, the duration of which is determined by agreement between the employee and the employer. In addition, the employer is obliged, on the basis of a written application from the employee, to provide leave without pay in the cases listed in Part 2 of Art. 128 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
As follows from the above rules, in any case, granting leave without pay requires the presence of a corresponding expression of the employee’s will, expressed in writing. The employer does not have the right to independently classify a particular period of absence of an employee from work as leave without pay without an application from the employee containing a request for such leave.
If the parties have reached an agreement on the provision of leave without pay (or the provision of such leave was requested by an employee whom the employer cannot refuse by virtue of Part 2 of Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), then it should be taken into account that labor legislation does not establish a minimum duration of leave without pay wages. There is also no indication in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation that leave without pay can only be granted for a whole number of days. Provisions of Art. 120 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for calculating the duration of vacations in calendar days, relates only to annual basic and additional paid vacations of employees and, accordingly, does not apply to vacations without pay. Consequently, by agreement between the employee and the employer, any duration of vacation at his own expense, including several hours, can be established.
Providing leave without pay, including for part of the day, is usually formalized by order.
Employers who continue to use unified forms approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording labor and its payment” (hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 1), in such a situation fill out form No. T-6. It provides for the reflection of the granted leave only in calendar days. However, the Procedure for the application of unified forms of primary accounting documentation, approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated March 24, 1999 No. 20 “On approval of the Procedure for the application of unified forms of primary accounting documentation” (hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 20), established that in unified forms (except for forms for cash accounting operations), the organization can, if necessary, enter additional details. The amended form of the order must be approved by the relevant organizational and administrative document of the organization.
In our opinion, in the above situation, an order in form No. T-6 can be issued as follows:
- in the line “per calendar days” the duration of vacation is indicated in fractions of a calendar day (for example, 0.5 days);
- in the line “from “” 20 to “” 20.” the vacation period is indicated (for example, from August 11, 2017 to August 11, 2017);
- the order is supplemented with a line in which you need to indicate the time range during the day for which leave is granted (for example, from 14:00 to 18:00).
However, please note that if an employee is granted unpaid leave for only part of the day, the employer will inevitably face a number of difficulties. In particular, it is unclear how to take such vacation time into account when determining an employee’s vacation period and whether it should be excluded from the calculation period when calculating average earnings.
In our opinion, the listed difficulties can be avoided if, instead of providing leave at your own expense for several hours, you set the employee to work part-time for that day.
According to Art. 93 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, part-time working hours can be established by agreement between the employee and the employer, both upon hiring and subsequently. Establishing part-time working hours for an employee entails changing the terms of the employment contract on the working hours (Articles 57, 100 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, the parties can sign an additional agreement to the employment contract, which will establish the day during which such an agreement is valid and the required duration of the working day. In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 93 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, when working on a part-time basis, the employee’s payment is made in proportion to the time he worked or depending on the amount of work he performed. Accordingly, as a result of using this method, the same goals are achieved as when providing an employee with leave without pay for part of the day. There is no need to issue any order in such a situation.
In accordance with Part 4 of Art. 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer is obliged to keep records of the time actually worked by each employee. The forms of the time sheet (No. T-12 and T-13) are approved by Resolution No. 1. According to the Instructions for the use and completion of forms of primary accounting documentation for the accounting of labor and its payment (hereinafter referred to as the Instructions), approved by Resolution No. 1 in forms No. T -12 and No. T-13 (in columns 4, 6), the top line is used to mark the symbols (codes) of working time costs, and the bottom line is used to record the duration of worked or unworked time (in hours, minutes) according to the corresponding codes of working time costs for every date. When reflecting absences from work, which are recorded in days (vacation, days of temporary disability, business trips, leave in connection with training, time spent performing state or public duties, etc.), only codes are entered in the top line of the timesheet in the columns symbols, and the columns in the bottom line remain empty. If necessary, it is allowed to increase the number of boxes to enter additional details according to the working hours, for example, the start and end times of work in conditions other than normal (see Resolution No. 20, letter of Rostrud dated March 18, 2008 No. 660-6-0).
Therefore, in the situation of taking leave without pay for part of the day, we believe that the employer can enter another column for the corresponding date of the month. In the top line of the first column the letter code “I” or the digital code “01” is entered, in the bottom line - the number of hours and minutes worked; in the top line of the second column for the same number the letter code “BEFORE” or the numeric code “16” is entered, in the bottom line - the number of hours of vacation at your own expense.
When an employee is assigned part-time work, the letter code “I” or the digital code “01” is entered in the top line of the column for the corresponding day of the month, and the number of hours and minutes worked in the bottom line.
According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee has the right to choose in what form he will receive remuneration for work in excess of the norm. Having started work on a day off, a worker has the right to count on double pay or receive money in a single amount, as for a regular working day, but with the right to take a day off at any time at his own discretion. However, this rule applies with a 100% guarantee only if the overtime is documented, since the concept of time off is excluded from the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In what cases does an employer have no right to deny a subordinate time off? In the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, there are reasons why an employer is obliged to give an employee time off.
December 26, 2016if an employee takes time off from work
Home/Time off When getting a job, a person must know his responsibilities. But, along with this, you should not forget about your rights. One of the rights of workers under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is the right to time off.
In order to take advantage of the required additional day off, you should know who is entitled to it under labor law, and under what circumstances. For your information Previously, this concept was included in the labor code: time off was assigned to those who work more than indicated in their job responsibilities. The changes made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation also affected this point.
Now an employee has the right to receive legal additional days off only in a number of certain cases. What is time off and who has the right to count on it? Time off is considered a day off that an employee receives for completing any overtime tasks. This day does not coincide with scheduled weekends.
Time off according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation
A manager cannot infringe on the rights of his subordinates; for this he will have to suffer appropriate punishment. Even despite the fact that this happens by mutual consent of the parties. Additional information Another example when it is impossible to replace vacation with monetary compensation: according to the law on the protection of persons who were exposed to radiation as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the vacation they are entitled to cannot be converted into a monetary equivalent.
When are time off granted? The time off according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which is due for additional duties assigned to an employee or for carrying out work activities during non-working hours, is assigned differently, depending on the specific situation. For example, citizens working on a rotational basis, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, have the right to additional days off attached to their rest time.
If an employee takes time off from work
Each of us has thought about how to take time off from work at least once. We suggest exploring all options for safely leaving the workplace to resolve urgent personal matters. Let's make an excuse! The pattern of behavior is largely determined by the loyalty of the employer, because there are still those who do not make sure that all employees are sitting in their seats “from” to “to”.
For them, the main thing is that the company prospers and things get done. In this case, there will be no difficulties with how to ask your boss to take time off from work. Sometimes, it’s not even necessary to report to your boss about being away for a few hours - he’s unlikely to notice your absence from the workplace, and if anything happens, his colleagues will cover for you.
But what if the boss is harsh and controls every step of his subordinates? In this case, you can try to find a valid reason for urgently solving problems, and, by the way, the boss himself is not immune from them.
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In these cases, you don’t have to think about how to take 1 day or more off work, because labor legislation obliges the employer to provide days off. For family reasons, the following must also be unconditionally released:
- veterans of the Great Patriotic War(and persons equated to them);
- disabled people with working groups;
- spouses or parents of military and police officers;
- working pensioners.
On account of vacation How to properly take time off from work if all of the above methods do not work? For example, when planning how to take half a day off from work, you can write an application for time off on account of the vacation, accurately indicating the time of absence. The law will not allow the boss not to let the employee go, because here we are no longer talking about time off, but about granting extraordinary leave.
Is it possible to take time off from work if the employer is against it?
In this case, there is no need for an order for time off: the subordinate’s absence from the workplace has already been documented. Example of an order: Download the order form for time off In a number of individual situations, overtime is the direct responsibility of the worker.
- Elimination of the consequences of disasters or other consequences of destructive force that pose danger and harm to others.
- Prevention of criminal activity, the consequences of which may affect the lives, health and well-being of citizens.
- Performing work that is necessary and included in labor duties when a state of emergency is introduced in a certain area or country.
IMPORTANT An employee’s refusal to perform his duties in one of these situations or leaving without permission will entail serious consequences. This could be disciplinary action or even dismissal.
Took time off from work
An employee cannot demand a cash payment instead of time off according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: according to the law, the manager has the right to refuse payments, allowing his subordinate to take the leave he is entitled to by law. The employer does not have the right to replace vacation with compensation in a number of individual cases:
- You cannot refuse leave, replacing it with compensation, even with the consent of the parties, if the employee is pregnant.
- You cannot replace vacation with payments for more than two years in a row: the employee must use vacation at least once during this time.
- If work activity is carried out in harmful or dangerous conditions.
- If labor activity is carried out by a person who has not reached the age of majority: in our country, this definition means age from 18 years.
These four cases are a legally certified reason in the labor code for refusal of cash payment in lieu of vacation.
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By making a compromise, the employer makes it clear that not only the employee’s work is important to him, but also himself. By this act he shows his disposition. It would be unreasonable not to accept such an offer unless there are serious reasons for doing so. Option #3. If an employee still needs to leave the workplace on the day when he is supposed to be present according to his timesheet, there is a loophole.
If management refuses time off or does not compromise for one reason or another, the employee can become a blood donor that day. This is the only option under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation when his absence from the workplace will be documented. This will help him avoid absenteeism being entered into his personal file.
What you should not do if your boss denies you leave at your own expense:
- Making a scandal will only ruin relations with your superiors and put you in a bad light.
Good excuses include:
- helping my wife when her car breaks down;
- a call from an elderly lonely neighbor with SOS signals;
- small child alone at home;
- be on time for the post office, tax, insurance, social security and other institutions whose operating hours coincide with your work schedule;
- unexpected arrival of distant relatives who are hovering under the door.
In all these cases, you can only put pressure on the boss’s conscience - he is also a person, he must understand. But the less often such “cataclysms” happen, the easier it will be to leave early or stay late during the lunch break.
Is it possible to take time off from work according to the law of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation?
Thus, when working at a particular enterprise, you should be aware of your labor rights so that, if necessary, you can use this to your advantage. Employers often take advantage of the fact that their subordinates do not know their rights. This should not be abused either, since many professions require overtime from the very beginning. This is due to the specifics job responsibilities. First of all, this applies to all military and medical workers. Such professions are not just a job, but a way of life. This needs to be understood before enrolling in one of these specialties.
Otherwise, you need to know your rights and apply them as necessary. This is why the Labor Code of the Russian Federation exists.
The need to leave for some time for personal reasons.
- Poor health caused by a busy work schedule: the desire to rest without using sick leave.
- The need to devote more time to part-time work: reporting period, inspections.
- September 1, when you need to accompany the children to school and personally attend the assembly.
- Disciplinary meetings of parents at school.
- A situation where the director of a school where a worker’s children are educated insists on his personal presence during working hours.
- Wedding of children, relatives, close friends.
- Funeral of relatives and loved ones.
- Serious emotional distress when the employee is mentally unable to perform his duties.
- Other personal circumstances.
All this may make the employee want to ask for leave at his own expense.
There is no organization where employees would not turn to the manager with a request to allow them to leave work for a couple of hours or to let them go early due to personal circumstances: some to a parent-teacher meeting, some to the clinic, and some to the bank. What can I say? The reasons may be valid, and the manager, meeting his employees halfway, satisfies their requests. But the question arises: how to take into account that the employee is taking time off from work and will not be at work for “a couple of hours”? Leaving him without attention would be, at the very least, unfair to the others who have worked their full time limit. In addition, the possibility of an accident with an employee who was officially at the workplace cannot be excluded. So how do you file a case when an employee takes time off from work? Personnel officers offer different options, and we will choose the legal ones.
Let's start with the fact that in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 91 Labor Code Russian Federation dated December 30, 2001 No. 197-FZ (hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), the employer is obliged to keep track of actual hours worked by each employee. As a rule, for these purposes the organization uses a time sheet, the form of which is approved by order of the manager. It records working and non-working days, as well as the number of hours worked by each employee.
If an employee takes time off from work, naturally, he does not work, which, we believe, should be included in the working time sheet and taken into account when calculating wages. But how to do that?
What to do if an employee takes time off from work during a legal break
In accordance with Art. 106 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the time during which the employee is free from performing work duties and which he can use at his own discretion is rest time.
It would seem that the period of time for which an employee takes time off from work in agreement with the employer can also be classified as rest time. In order to confirm or refute this assumption, you will have to remember the types of rest time specified in the legislation. And to them, according to Art. 107 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation include:
break during the working day (shift); daily (between shifts) rest; weekends (weekly continuous rest); non-working holidays; vacation.
This list is extremely important point! - is closed. Consequently, the period for which the employee takes time off from work cannot be recognized as rest time.
At the same time, the law talks about breaks that are provided to employees during the working day (shift). To them, in particular, according to Art. 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation includes a break for rest and food, the duration of which should be no more than two hours and no less than 30 minutes. The time for providing a lunch break and its specific duration are established by internal labor regulations or by written agreement between the parties to the employment contract.
Please note: during the lunch break, the employee is free from performing his job duties and can use it at his own discretion, including leaving the workplace and being outside the organization’s territory.
If an employee takes time off from work during a lunch break, this cannot be considered an absence without good reason, since this time is not included in working hours and the employee has the right to use it at his own discretion.
It turns out that if an employee takes time off from work for personal matters during a lunch break, he has the right to leave the workplace without warning. True, only within the limits of the time allotted for rest and food and established in the internal labor regulations.
As a rule, the lunch break is not indicated in any way on the working time sheet, since it is not included in working hours. Therefore, if an employee takes time off from work at this time, it is not recorded in any way.
In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, for certain types of work, employees are provided with special breaks during working hours, determined by the technology and organization of labor production. The types of this work, the duration and procedure for providing breaks are established by the internal labor regulations.
In addition, according to Art. 258 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, working women with children under the age of one and a half years are provided with additional breaks for feeding the child (children) at least every three hours, lasting at least 30 minutes each. If there are two or more children under the age of one and a half years, the duration of the feeding break is set at least one hour. At the request of the employee, breaks for feeding the child can be added to the break for rest and food, or in aggregate form transferred both to the beginning and to the end of the working day (shift) with a corresponding reduction.
These types of breaks are included in working hours and, as a result, are paid in accordance with the procedure established by law. In this regard, we believe that employees should use them only for their intended purpose.
How to formalize in writing that an employee is taking time off from work
And yet, what to do if an employee asks to leave work not during the lunch break - for example, a couple of hours before the end of the working day?
Such a desire of the employee is a change in the terms of the employment contract determined by the parties, which is allowed only by mutual agreement, except for cases provided for by labor legislation.
The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in paragraph 39 of Resolution No. 2 dated March 17, 2004 “On the application by the courts of the Russian Federation of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation” recognizes as absenteeism the presence of an employee without good reason for more than four hours in a row during the working day outside the workplace.
Thus, if the employer is ready to change the employee’s working hours, even for one day, he needs to draw up a number of documents, in particular an additional agreement to the employment contract, specifying the new working hours, and an order to change the working hours.
However, you must agree: when we're talking about In an isolated case where an employee takes time off from work, compliance with this procedure looks simply ridiculous. It is much more convenient to let the employee go early and agree with him, if the employee does not take time off from work very often, that he will work these hours on another day.
In this case, you should refer to the norms of Part 1 of Art. 99 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which work performed by an employee outside the established working hours is considered overtime and requires a certain procedure for recruitment and payment.
Therefore, we cannot recommend this method if the employee takes time off from work - an oral agreement to work outside the established working hours: such a practice may be considered a violation labor legislation. In addition, the question arises of what to put on the report card if the employee asks for time off.
For cases where an employee takes time off from work, and the employer is ready to accommodate the employee and let him go during working hours to solve personal problems, we offer two ways to formalize the “agreement.”
Method 1. Request from an employee written statement in any form about absence from work, which will indicate the time period and date when the employee plans to take time off (Appendix 1). The number of hours actually worked must be recorded in the time sheet for this day (Appendix 2). Remuneration for this billing period should be done in proportion to the time worked. This must be remembered if an employee takes time off from work - a mark on the time sheet will allow the calculation to be made correctly in the future.
Method 2. In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for family reasons and other valid reasons, if an employee takes time off from work (subject to his written application), he may be provided leave without pay, the duration of which is determined jointly by the employee and the employer. If there are such reasons, the employee has the right to contact the employer with an application for granting this type of leave on the day of his choice (Appendix 3). Since vacation is provided in calendar days, we advise that the employee take it for the whole day, even though he plans to be absent from work for a certain number of hours. Thus, if an employee asks to take a couple of hours off, it is better to let him finish his business during the entire working day - the registration will still be the same.
The employer's decision to grant leave without pay is formalized by an order, which is brought to the attention of the employee against signature.
In the working time sheet, the vacation period is marked with the letter code “DO” (digital - 16), unless, of course, the organization has adopted a different form of designation.
Annex 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
