The economic development of the country is characterized by many indicators. The level achieved by the country depends on how an individual lives. One of these indicators is the minimum wage. Let's try to figure out what the minimum wage is, why it is needed, how it affects the welfare of citizens.
Minimum wage - what is it?
Determining the minimum wage is necessary to calculate the amount of taxes, fines or additional fees.
What is the minimum wage? This is the legislative minimum that the employer must pay the employee for the full month worked. The employee must know this amount, as he is the guarantor that his total salary will not be charged below the threshold. A smaller amount is a violation of the law. The employer must pay the employee wages equal to or greater than the minimum. Violations will result in administrative or criminal liability.
What is the minimum wage used for?
First of all, the minimum wage in Russia regulates wages. It is required to assess the right of insured citizens to pension contributions. The minimum wage amount is also used to determine the amount of social benefits. This includes payments for pregnancy and childbirth, for temporary disability. Entrepreneurs, individuals engaged in private legal or other practice, make insurance payments depending on the minimum wage. This means that if the minimum increases, then not only salaries will increase, but deductions from entrepreneurs and commercial organizations will increase. This inevitably leads to higher prices.
The amount of taxes and fines depends on the amount of the approved minimum wage. The minimum wage is used in the Tax Code, Administrative Code and Civil Code as the initial level, according to which the payment of sanctions or obligations is multiplied.
How is the minimum wage determined?
The decision of which minimum wage will be valid for a certain time on the territory of the country is made at the federal level. Regional authorities have the right to decide to increase the amount of the minimum payment, but it cannot be lower than that established by the government. In this case, the employers of this entity are required to pay employees the minimum wage established in the region.
The amount is regularly adjusted depending on inflation. The minimum wage should ideally not be lower than the subsistence minimum in the region for the able-bodied population.
AT Labor Code of the Russian Federation article 133 secures the sources for financing the minimum wage. The main resource is the employer's own funds. For budgetary organizations, the source is a budget of the appropriate level (federal, local or federal subject).
The Federal minimum wage is adopted by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, signed by the President of the Russian Federation and becomes the force of federal law. In subjects, the minimum wage is established by a trilateral agreement. It should be developed, having come to a common decision, and approved:
- the government or administration of the region;
- a trade union or their other association on behalf of workers;
- The union of industrialists and entrepreneurs on behalf of employers.
After the agreement is published in the regional media, employers can express their rejection within a month (thirty days) by writing a statement to the regional administration. If no disagreement is declared within the specified period, then the employer shall be deemed to support the decision.Reality shows that such cases are extremely rare.
What is included in the minimum wage?
Since the minimum wage in Russia is the smallest amount of cash payments for the labor of an unskilled worker for a full day. At the same time, labor activity should be carried out under normal conditions. Article 129 of the Labor Code defines the components of this minimum.
- Payment for work, taking into account the qualifications of the employee, the volume, complexity and conditions of activity.
- Surcharge for deviation from normal conditions (northern zone, increased radiation levels, etc.)
- Bonus, bonus, incentive promotion.
An additional charge should be paid separately. Part-time work or at 1.5 rates does not mean that the total income should be minimum wage. Minimum earnings should be calculated taking into account the additional load (part-time).
Minimum wage and work on holidays and night hours
Recycled time is not included in the minimum charge. TC articles establish payment rates for hours that fall outside the work schedule.
Article 152 determines the payment for overtime hours (the first two hours are calculated 1.5 times more expensive, the next 2 times). At the request of the employee, cash compensation can be replaced by additional leave.
Section 153 characterizes the features of payment for work on weekends and holidays. If there was an urgent need, and the employee was forced to work on such days, the employer must pay them in double amount. The specific amount of remuneration on weekends or non-working holidays can be established in a collective agreement, a local regulatory act adopted taking into account the views of the representative body of employees, an employment contract.
Section 154 deals with nighttime earnings. According to this article, pregnant women and employees under the age of 18 should not work at night. The remaining categories of workers go to night shifts solely by voluntary consent. Every hour of night work is paid in an increased amount compared to professional activities in ordinary conditions. The specific size of the increase depends on many factors, but they should not be less than 20% of the hour tariff rate or salary, which is calculated for each hour of work at night.
Minimum wage and salary
As mentioned above, the minimum wage takes into account the final payments to the employee. If a person works for a net salary without surcharges, then the amount of the official salary cannot be lower than the minimum wage. If bonuses in the form of compensations or rewards are applied, the salary may be lower than the minimum amount. But in this case, the final accrual should correspond to the minimum wage.
The amount of income received on hand may be lower than the minimum wage. The fact is that the accrued amount must correspond to the minimum wage. But the tax on personal income (PIT) is calculated from the final result. Accordingly, if only the minimum amount is accrued, then after deducting payments, the salary received on hand will be less than the minimum wage.
Salary less than the minimum wage, what to do?
Articles 129 and 133 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation state that if earnings taking into account compensations and incentives are below the minimum, then the employee should pay the missing amount. After all, according to the law, what is the minimum wage? The minimum wage. Accordingly, surcharges for processing, performance of duties on holidays and night hours are not included in the calculated amount. In such cases, there is discrimination against employees who conduct their activities with deviations from normal conditions, compared with colleagues working under normal conditions.
Each employee must be able to protect their rights. To do this, start with self-education. Examine the provisions of the law. Find out what the minimum wage is, what is its value at the moment in the region of residence.
If the employee is convinced of a violation, a claim for the right to receive compensation payment. Without this document, no one will know about the violation, and the perpetrators will not be punished.When the document is drawn up, the employer will be required to make adjustments to official salaries.
For violation of the law sanctions are provided. The administrative code in article 5.27 speaks of a fine on officials from 1 to 5 thousand rubles, on legal entities - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles. The activities of the enterprise can even be suspended for up to three months.
Living wage and minimum wage
Define the meaning of another concept. The value of the living wage (VPM) is the smallest indicator of a person’s income, allowing him to maintain his life activity at a minimum level in a particular place of residence. The state is committed to the equation of indicators of VPM and minimum wage. But this requires an upswing in the economy. Today in Russia the minimum wage is much lower than the subsistence level. It is only 70% of the VPM. Statistics show that 13% of Russians have incomes below the subsistence level, as their salary is close to the minimum wage.
Legal base
For the first time, the minimum wage was prescribed in the Federal Law of June 19, 2000. Since July 1, 2000, the minimum wage in the amount of 132 rubles was determined in the law, and from January 1, 2001 - 200 rubles. For 2016, the Federal Law of December 14, 2015 No. 376-FZ established the minimum wage of 6204 rubles.
The observance of the legal minimum is observed by authorized bodies: the prosecutor's office, the tax inspectorate, the labor inspectorate, and the social insurance fund. If violations are found, sanctions are applied. Their structure and application are fixed in the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Sanctions are imposed on the official and on the enterprise itself. The organization and the leader are fined, the entrepreneur and the organization are forced to pay penalties or suspend their activities for an agreed period.
Minimum wage and sick leave
Sick pay depends on two criteria: salary and seniority. With an experience of less than 5 years, 60% of the salary is paid, with an experience of 5 to 8 years - 80%. The allowance is 100% received by an employee with a labor output of more than 8 years. If a person has an experience of less than six months, then based on the minimum wage, sick leave is charged.
Regional minimum wage
The subject of the federation has the right to appoint on its territory a minimum different from the state one. In 2015, this was done in 27 regions of Russia. Article 133, paragraph 3 of the Labor Code of Russia makes specific demands on them.
1) The regional minimum should be higher than the federal one.
2) The minimum should be calculated taking into account the current level of unemployment, prices and salaries in the region.
3) the minimum wage should be formed taking into account the cost of living.
Typically, donor entities, that is, regions with a developed sector of the economy, increase the minimum wage on their territory. So do the regions of the Far North, because their prices completely absorb a small salary. The minimum wage at the federal level does not even allow it to survive. Traditionally, one of the highest minimum wages is installed in Moscow.
Minimum wage in Russian regions
Let us compare the highest and lowest indicators of the minimum wage by subjects for 2016. Since January, the minimum wage at the federal level is set at 6,204 rubles. This amount is adhered to in the following regions of the Russian Federation:
- republics: Adygea, Buryatia, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkess, Mordovia, North Ossetia, Tuva, Udmurtia, Khakassia;
- Primorsky Krai;
- areas: Amur, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kirov, Orenburg, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Samara, etc .;
- Autonomous okrugs: Nenets, Chukchi.
Among the subjects that increased the minimum size, the places were distributed as follows:
1) minimum wage Moscow - 17 300 rubles;
2) Magadan region - 17,100 rubles;
3) Sakhalin Oblast - 16,834 rubles.
It is worth noting that in the Siberian Federal District the minimum wage in regions is almost everywhere higher than the level set by the state. In the Evensky municipal district, which belongs to the Far North in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the highest minimum wage is fixed - 19,009 rubles.The minimum wage in Moscow is also traditionally high.
Statistics of the increase in the minimum wage in recent years
The growth of the minimum wage over the years does take place, but its increase is several times lower than the inflation rate. Compare the increase in the minimum wage since 2011. Since June 1, 2011, by decision of the Federal Law of June 1, 2011, it amounted to 4611 rubles. In this form, existed until January 2013. According to the law of December 3, 2012, the minimum wage has grown and began to equal 5205 rubles, which is 594 rubles more than the previous one.
Every year in the first half of December at the federal level, decisions were made to increase the minimum wage. From January 1, 2014, it began to amount to 5554 rubles (increased by 349 rubles), from January 1, 2015 - 5965 rubles (increased by 411 rubles).
From January 1, 2016, the minimum wage reached 6204 rubles, which amounted to an increase of 239 rubles compared to the previous year. Since the beginning of 2013, the minimum wage has increased by a thousand. Inflation over the same period jumped in 2 times, so there is no need to talk about improving the well-being of the people.
