The TC of our state tells us about the time period for bringing to disciplinary liability applicable for any violation of order. The most relevant aspects of legislation related to this issue were established back in 2006, and since then no significant changes have been made. At the same time, practice shows that the calculation of the term for disciplinary liability under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation causes many doubts and difficulties. The situation in some cases is so complicated that the conflict goes into the walls of the court, where they decide the applicability of a particular disciplinary sanction.
Question Features
Most often, difficulties arise for the employer whose employee committed the offense. It is not always clear how long it takes to bring to disciplinary liability under the Labor Code, how much time an entrepreneur has to punish an employee, and how to do it. Not everyone knows if it is necessary to demand an explanatory note from an employee if it was decided to apply exacting measures.
The law stipulates some specific requirements that are imposed on the workflow accompanying the imposition of punishment and compliance with the term for disciplining an employee. If you turn to the judge in a situation where the case was not completed correctly, it is hardly possible to count on the outcome of the consideration in your favor, therefore it is important to treat all points responsibly and arrange everything according to the rules.
Fundamental rules
At present, the specifics, terms of disciplinary action are determined by the articles of the Labor Code under the numbers 192, 193. It is here that it is indicated that failure to fulfill the obligations incumbent on the employee or performance of inadequate quality may be grounds for the application of the penalty. An important caveat is the need to prove that the fault lies with the employee. In order to punish a person, it is necessary not only to observe the time limit for disciplining, but also to resort only to measures permitted by law. These include reprimand, remark, dismissal, if there are grounds for this, consistent with the standards of existing laws.
A special case
What to do if the employer is interested in the term for disciplining military personnel? For certain special categories of citizens specific laws have been introduced that regulate the features of interaction with them. In addition to the military, this also applies to police officers, people holding positions in government agencies, as well as employees of legal organizations. The specifics of the penalty and the setting of time limits for bringing to disciplinary liability were assigned to specialized federal laws. The charters of organizations, disciplinary provisions adopted in a particular place and extending to strictly specified categories of workers also play their role.
At present, it is unacceptable to choose such a term for disciplining a police officer, which is not stipulated in the Labor Code, other legal normative acts, but only introduced at the initiative of, for example, the immediate superior. In the first place should be compliance with legal norms and policies.
Features and limitations
It is important not only to comply with the deadline for disciplinary proceedings, but also a number of specific points stipulated in the laws. In particular, if one deviation from the rules is revealed, one can punish the guilty person for this once. Repeated penalties for the same misconduct are unacceptable. When choosing a punishment, the head of the enterprise should pay particular attention to how serious the offense was committed, as well as the circumstances that compelled the employee to do so. In practice, there are many cases when, in a detailed trial in the particulars of the case, it was decided to completely abandon prosecution.
Observing the timelines for bringing a lawyer to disciplinary liability, it must be remembered that the employee (however, this is true for any area wherever the employee worked) can send a request for appeal. The application is written to the state authority responsible for labor protection. You can turn to those bodies that individually deal with labor conflicts.
Complying with regulations
Current legislation establishes that the statute of limitations for disciplinary proceedings is one month. The countdown starts from the day when the fact of committing an offense was revealed. If the employee was sick or was on vacation, this time period is not taken into account. It is also necessary to subtract the time that the representative body of workers needs to make an informed decision on the conflict situation.
Certain restrictions are imposed on the situation when the commission of an act contrary to the rules was discovered too late. According to the law, the statute of limitations for disciplinary proceedings is six months from the moment the event occurred. At the same time, special requirements apply to a situation where a violation of the rules was revealed during a large-scale audit, inventory, or in the course of a study of economic activity by auditors. In this case, the period of disciplinary action against state employees is two years from the moment the event occurred. The period required for criminal proceedings, if necessary, is not taken into account when calculating the final day when the statutory period expires.
Features of calculation of terms
As established in the decision of the Supreme Court, issued in 2004, the term for disciplining civil servants and employees of private companies begins on the day when the fact of misconduct was revealed. From this moment begin to count the month. At the same time, information on the commission of an act contrary to the established rules should officially reach the immediate supervisor to whom the guilty employee is subordinate. Even if such an official, by the peculiarities of his employment, does not have the ability to impose disciplinary sanctions, the countdown of the time period starts at that moment.
At the same time, the resolution clarifies the impossibility of taking into account the periods that the employee spent on sick leave this month. But the absence for other reasons (for example, time off) is not required. There is no need for a special approach to calculating deadlines in a situation where an employee works on a rotational basis.
What about vacation?
As indicated in the documentation issued by the Armed Forces, if the employee is on paid leave provided to him by the employer on the grounds that fully complies with the current law, such a time period shall be interrupted by the one-month period provided for the collection of a disciplinary offense upon discovery.Also, the gap is interrupted if the employee is on another vacation due to him according to our laws. This includes holidays associated with studying at a specialized institution, as well as the time intervals that the employer provides the employee without saving him the wages for this time. If the employee received additional leave, the one-month period is extended by this time period.
Features of the issue
If a fact of disciplinary misconduct has been identified, you must immediately record it in official form in writing. Typically, an established standard act is formed within an organization, under which several company employees sign at once. Sometimes, in addition, you need to prepare a memorandum, a service note and send it to the head of the enterprise in order to notify him of the fact.
All documentation, as soon as ready, is sent to the resolution to the person managing the company. The month begins to count from the moment when the head got access to the documentation. He has the right to select and apply a penalty within the agreed time, taking into account the peculiarities of the situation.
Checks and Penalties
Quite often, the fact of discipline violation reveals a large-scale audit conducted at the enterprise. In some cases, this is an internal audit, but practice shows that more often it is initiated by external structures. These may be state bodies with appropriate powers that are responsible for supervision and control. If the check reveals the fact of a violation by some employee of the company, then the period begins to be counted from the moment when the company received an act registering all the results of the event.
But if a violation of the rules was revealed during the internal audit, then they act in a slightly different way. It is customary to start the month period from the moment when the act was drawn up based on the results of the audit, which officially documented the results. It does not matter on what day the documentation was submitted to the head of the organization, since the key date is the date of familiarization of the direct supervisor of the misconduct of the employee. This point often causes some controversy, but numerous court cases in which the object of the proceedings was just that fully confirm the correctness of the interpretation of the decision of the Supreme Council in the manner described.
Important points
Often, the audit is organized in such a way that in order to record each individual violation of discipline within the enterprise, an internal document is issued, an act signed by the organization’s employees. You can also make a statement of action. The date on which the monthly countdown begins is the day that the documentation arrived directly to the head of the employee who committed the violation of the rules.
Numerous examples of this approach to calculating deadlines are known from the judicial practice of our country, and in various regions of the state.
Yes, I'm not guilty!
The legislation established that before imposing a punishment upon the discovery of a crime of discipline, you must first require the employee to write an explanatory note, and only after that apply any penalties. The employee writes such a document in writing, it is registered according to the rules of internal document circulation. If the employee refuses to provide an explanation, this cannot be an obstacle to the application of the penalty. The employee has two days to formulate a written explanation. If during this period no documentation has been sent to the head, the employees of the enterprise sign an act confirming this fact.
If an employee refuses to write an explanatory note, the fact of waiting two days still remains mandatory by law - the requirement is indicated in the regulations of our country. If the employer refuses to withstand this time period and tries to recover the employee before the deadline, the fact of imposing a punishment becomes illegal, and the employee has good reason to appeal to a special authority to protect the interests of workers.
Dates are on fire!
Two days, which are prescribed in the law, is the period for which the employee can formulate an explanation for the offense and convey the circumstances that can to some extent improve his situation. Everyone has the right to refuse to provide explanations, at the same time, for these two days, you can change your mind. The result of the recovery in some cases may even be the dismissal of the employee. If the employee submitted in writing an explanation of the reasons for the committed violation of the rules, this does not preclude the possibility of applying the most severe form of punishment, that is, dismissal. At the same time, refusal to provide does not become a reason for tougher punishment. It is important to remember that the violation of discipline and penalties imposed for this should be reasonably related to each other.
Execute everything according to the rules
When the employer requested an employee to explain the violation of discipline on the discovered fact, it is necessary to prepare a draft order. After two days are given for reflection to the employee, you can sign the official paper. The signature is put by the person who is currently vested with the authority of the head of the organization. The order without fail spells out in detail all the grounds that provoked the corresponding decision.
An order is issued only if the fact of a violation of discipline can be confirmed. The basis for the document may be links to documentation, the study of which revealed errors that caused the imposition of a penalty.