There may be disagreement between hired professionals and employers for various reasons. This often leads to compulsion to dismissal by the head of the company. The mentioned process can be expressed in different measures of influence, leading to the fact that the employee is forced to write a letter of resignation of his own free will. Such actions on the part of the employer are in violation of the law, so they may be held liable.
Grounds for dismissal
Termination of employment is possible only with good reason. Art. 81 TC contains the main reasons why the employer may initiate the termination of the contract. Dismissal is possible with the reduction, closure of the company or the presence of gross violations of the work schedule by the employee.
Most often, the employer uses the following reasons for termination of employment:
- there is evidence that the different abilities and skills of the employee do not correspond to their position;
- the citizen does not cope with labor duties;
- a gross violation is recorded, about which a corresponding act is drawn up;
- a citizen appears at work while intoxicated, which is confirmed by witness testimony and a breathalyzer.
Often, the employer simply does not have any good reason for terminating the employment contract, so it uses coercion to dismiss at will. A variety of interventions can be used for this.
The nuances of recognizing an employee as inappropriate to his position
If an employee refuses to independently draw up a letter of resignation, the employer often uses the basis indicating that the person’s knowledge and experience does not correspond to the position. But for this, the following nuances are taken into account:
- the lack of the necessary knowledge and skills should be confirmed by the results of certification;
- certification is carried out only on the basis of an order previously issued by the leader;
- the order indicates when the certification should be carried out, as well as which rules and regulations must be observed;
- if a citizen is really not suitable for the position according to the results of certification, then the decision is made within two months by the employer, and after this period of time the employee cannot be dismissed.
Other grounds for dismissal must necessarily be confirmed by official documents. Since often the employer cannot find the necessary grounds, he applies coercion to dismiss, as a result of which the specialist is forced to write a letter of resignation on his own.
What measures are coercion?
Forcing the employer to dismiss may be represented by various illegal actions on the part of the head of the company.
For coercion, requests, threats, blackmail, or even physical influence may be used.
Using a compelling request
Initially, the head of the enterprise begins to simply insist on the words that the citizen write a statement, on the basis of which he expresses a desire to quit on his own initiative.
At the same time, the director convinces that he does not want to use any article of the Labor Code for the forced termination of the employment contract, although in fact he has no reason to use this method of dismissal.
Threat application
The manager indicates that if the employee refuses to write a statement on his own, this will lead to a situation that will allow him to take advantage of the disciplinary sanction in the form of dismissal.
This will not only lead to the termination of the employment relationship, but information that is not very pleasant for the citizen will be entered into the work book.
Pressure use
If threats do not bring the desired result, then often management begins to create truly unbearable conditions for further work. For this, various disciplinary sanctions for fictitious misconduct are applied, workings are assigned, or a specialist is publicly condemned before other employees of the company.
Often, really fake documents are prepared at all, according to which serious violations of labor discipline by a particular employee are allegedly recorded, for which fines or other types of punishments are imposed for a citizen.
Physical impact
This measure is extreme and is rarely used by employers, but it is not excluded. In this case, a threat to the life or health of a citizen is created, since he is directly harmed. Such exposure is a crime for which the employer may be prosecuted.
The employer uses coercion to dismiss at his own request, as he does not want to pay the employee severance pay, and also wants to quickly terminate the employment relationship.
All of the above measures are illegal, so if an employee can prove that the employer forced him to quit in various ways, this will become the basis for holding the company management accountable, and it can be not only administrative, but also criminal.
How to protect yourself?
According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, coercion to dismiss is an illegal activity on the part of the head of the company, but still many employees have to deal with this situation. Some experts try to avoid conflict, so they really draw up a letter of resignation at will. But some people want to assert their labor rights.
Therefore, when the first signs of coercion to dismissal by the leadership of the company, it is advisable to consider some tips:
- Initially, it should be determined whether the work in this organization is really valuable and necessary, since citizens often prefer to part with the employer in a peaceful way rather than wage a dull and difficult struggle;
- if an employee of a company prefers to independently assert his rights, then in case of the slightest violations by the company’s management, it must be indicated that such actions are illegal, therefore a citizen can appeal to the labor inspectorate, prosecutor’s office or the court at all;
- different mistakes are not allowed for which the employer can take advantage of different disciplinary sanctions, therefore it is important to strictly follow the requirements of the work schedule in the company;
- the specialist should prepare for possible provocations on the part of the management team of the company, therefore it is recommended to immediately take care of the presence of witnesses to illegal actions by the employer.
Even if you take into account the above recommendations, still the employee will have to face many difficulties in the process of fulfilling work duties. Therefore, coercion to dismissal in most cases leads to the fact that the employer actually receives a letter of resignation from the employee at will. In addition, the specialist can transfer to another unit or go to court to assert his rights.
Employer Penalties
All the rules for dismissing hired specialists are contained in article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.Coercion to dismiss acts as a serious misconduct on the part of the head of the company. Therefore, if an employee complains to the prosecutor’s office or labor inspectorate, different penalties may apply to the director.
Such illegal activity of an official is punished on the basis of the provisions of Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and Art. 145 of the Criminal Code. The main measures of exposure include:
- officials pay a fine of 1 to 5 thousand rubles;
- the company pays a fine of 30 to 50 thousand rubles;
- the fine for non-payment of salaries can reach 120 thousand rubles;
- if the employee can prove that physical measures were applied to him or the director used fake documents, then the punishment can be represented by administrative arrest, forced labor, dismissal, and imprisonment.
For coercion to dismiss, liability depends on the consequences of such illegal activities on the part of the head of the company. If at all the citizen will use the help of the court, then he may demand the award of compensation for the moral damage received.
Where to file a complaint?
Forced dismissal is considered illegal. Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses contains basic penalties that can be applied to the employer, but for this a citizen must have evidence. Additionally, he must forward complaints to various state authorities.
It is advisable to submit applications for coercion to dismissal to the following organizations:
- the labor inspectorate protects the rights of citizens, therefore, if there is evidence of unlawful exposure to a person by the employer, the organization can hold the director accountable;
- the prosecutor's office, on the basis of the received application, conducts an unscheduled inspection of the company, and may also punish violators in various ways;
- often, employees prefer to immediately file a lawsuit, and evidence of the plaintiff’s rightness is necessarily attached to the application, which allows not only punishing the employer, but also recovering compensation for moral damage.
Any complaint will be valid only if the applicant has evidence of his innocence.
How to prove?
Coercion to dismiss will have to prove directly to the employee. Different methods can be used for this:
- copies of documents proving that the application for dismissal was compelled to be compelled, for example, an order to withdraw the bonus or demotion, refusal to appoint annual leave or other papers;
- testimonies of witnesses who are co-workers of a citizen, but they must be directly present during conversations or hear threats from the director;
- audio recordings of the conversation with the leader, in which threats and coercion are heard;
- videos confirming inappropriate and illegal behavior of an official.
The declared witnesses will be additionally summoned to the court, and the director will also be present directly. The plaintiff must behave calmly and correctly, since such behavior he will necessarily infuriate the head. The judge will be able to make sure that the director of the company really has an explosive character, and also negatively refers to the former employee.
By decision of the court, a citizen can reinstate in office and receive moral compensation.
Conclusion
Often, citizens who quarrel with the employer and prefer to assert their rights have to face the fact that the head of the company forces them to quit the company. For this, different measures of influence can be used.
Employees often prefer to assert their rights, therefore, for various illegal actions on the part of management, they can write a complaint to the labor inspectorate, court or prosecutor's office.This will become the basis for holding management accountable and receiving compensation for non-pecuniary damage. But for this, the employee must have evidence of his innocence.