The minimum wage in our country is a fixed amount and is established by the article of the Federal Law. For 2015, this amount is 5 965 rubles.
Why do I need a minimum wage?
In our country, the minimum wage is not only determines the minimum amount that the employer is obliged to pay to the employee, provided that he has fully worked the paid period, but actually serves as the main regulator of wages. The minimum wage regulates many more economic components. So, for example, it serves to determine the amount of benefits in case of temporary disability, maternity, and other social benefits. The minimum wage in Russia is also used to determine the amount of tax fees, fines, duties and other payments.
Federal minimum wage
According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Article 133), the basis for approval of the federal minimum wage is the Federal Law. The minimum wage established in this way is of equal value on the territory of our state. Moreover, the labor code states that its value cannot be lower than such a thing as living wage. Federal minimum wage has several means of support. They are:
- organizations whose source of financing is the federal budget (both from federal and extrabudgetary funds, and from funds from entrepreneurial income);
- organizations whose funding comes from the budget of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
- organizations financed by local budgets, including extrabudgetary funds and entrepreneurial activity.
Regional minimum wage
This value, in accordance with article 133 (paragraph 1) of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, is established in a separate subject of the state in the form of a regional agreement. It determines the minimum wage for all workers in this region, with the exception of those enterprises that are financed from the federal budget. Collateral in this case comes from the following sources:
- organizations whose funding comes from funds regional budgets as well as extrabudgetary funds and funds received from entrepreneurial activity;
- organizations funded by local budgets, including income from entrepreneurial activities and extrabudgetary funds.
The regional minimum wage is adopted by a tripartite agreement, the parties to which are the government of the entity, trade union and employer associations. After the conclusion of the agreement, it is published in the media, and after 30 days, if the employer has not submitted a justified refusal to join the agreement to the authorized bodies, the enterprise operating in the region is considered to have automatically joined it and is obliged to make calculations based on the approved regional minimum wage.
How the minimum wage is calculated
The minimum wage (2015) in the Russian Federation, which is established by Federal Law of December 1, 2014 No. 408-FZ, is now much lower than the subsistence level. At the beginning of 2015, the cost of living in our state amounted to 9662 rubles. A number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation in their tripartite agreements established the regional minimum wage of 2015 not only higher than the federal one, but equal to the subsistence minimum in their region, and some even above this level.
Despite the fact that legislation states that the minimum wage is calculated on a monthly basis and should not be less than the subsistence level, in reality there is a certain contradiction. Economic realities dictate their own and today the minimum wage is determined on the basis of economic opportunities. According to Article 421, the Federal Law establishes a phased increase in the minimum wage, until it reaches the required size. To date, such a law has not been adopted, which means that 1 minimum wage can be set at a rate lower than the cost of living indicator.
How the minimum wage affects salary
The Labor Code (Article 129) determines that the salary charged to an employee consists of the following components:
- official salary (fixed amount);
- compensation payments (for example, for work in the Far North, as well as in areas equated to them or in hazardous industries);
- bonuses and other promotions.
An employer may appoint an employee salary according to the staffing schedule in an amount less than the minimum wage, however, taking into account additional payments and bonuses, the salary must exceed this amount or be equal to it. If an employee under a labor contract is accrued only a salary without additional payments, it cannot be lower than the minimum wage.
Salary paid is the amount the employee receives on hand, and it represents the income from which taxes were paid by the employer as a tax agent. Therefore, the amount that the employee actually receives after paying taxes may be less than the minimum wage (depending on the nature of the financing of the enterprise) federal or regional.
For those who work part-time, wages are paid in accordance with the terms of the employment contract and may be less than the minimum wage, if this condition is provided for in the employment contract. As a rule, this is due to underemployment of the employee. In this case, the employer has the right not to pay the employee up to the minimum wage.
District coefficients and "northern" premiums
When calculating wages for citizens who work in the Far North, as well as in areas that are equated with them, district coefficients and “northern” allowances are used (as stipulated by the Labor Code in Article 315). Consequently, the minimum wage should be increased by the amount of the "northern" premium. In 2011, the Supreme Court issued its rulings, according to which both coefficients and allowances are not included in the federal or regional minimum wage.
The Ministry of Social Development of the Russian Federation expressed its disagreement with such determinations of the Supreme Court and considers that the regulatory act designed to regulate labor relations in the Russian Federation is, first of all, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, and it is precisely its requirements that must be prioritized. And he dictates (v. 129) that as district coefficient so the “northern” allowance can and should be part of the minimum wage or regional minimum wage of the subject of the Russian Federation.
Regions that set the maximum minimum wage
The first three constituent entities of the Russian Federation, on whose territory the minimum wage (2015) occupies the highest positions, includes the Magadan Region, Kamchatka Territory, the Republic of Sakha - 15,900, 15,800 and 15,390 rubles, respectively.
The next three included the Sakhalin, Kemerovo and Murmansk regions - 15,000, 14,466 and 12,013 rubles.
And the following three: Tula, Moscow and Volgograd regions - 12,000, 12,000 and 11,712.8 rubles, respectively.
Moscow is not included in this list as a metropolis with a standard of living incomparable with the standard of living of the population in the regions of Russia. The minimum wage in Moscow established by the regional agreement in June 2015 is 16,500 rubles, and from November 1 it will be increased to 17,300.
However, if we compare the indicator of the regional minimum wage with average wage corresponding regions, the picture is completely different.
The ratio of the minimum wage and the average monthly salary
The regional minimum wage established by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation allows low-paying categories of workers in certain regions of Russia to approach the average wage prevailing in the region. And if you compare the regional minimum wage established in subjects of the Federation since 2015, with the average monthly accrued wages in the region in the I quarter of 2015, the indicators closest to the average wage are:
- Kemerovo (0.54% of the average monthly salary in the region),
- Volgograd (0.52%),
- Kostroma (0.49%) and Tula (0.46%) regions,
- Krasnodar Territory (0.42%),
- Novgorod region (0.41%).
Whereas the regions with the maximum regional minimum wage indicator in this comparison lose:
- Magadan region was on the 15th place (0.28%),
- Kamchatka Territory - by 13 (0.30%),
- Republic of Sakha - by 12 (0.31%).
