Each employer must responsibly approach their obligations to employees. He is obliged to pay wages on time, as a violation of the interests and rights of employees leads to negative consequences for the owner of the company. You will have to not only pay a significant fine for delaying salaries, but also face other measures of influence. They are represented by suspension of activities or disciplinary action.
Features of violation
Failure to pay salaries on time is considered a serious violation by the employer. Its features include:
- different types of liability apply with a delay of more than 15 days;
- for each day of delay the material compensation paid to the employee is calculated;
- Punishment under administrative responsibility is assigned to both the direct director of the company and the entire company as a whole.
The size of the sanction is determined by representatives of the labor inspectorate or court. The maximum penalty for a delay in salary is 150 thousand rubles, and it is assigned only when the violation is re-identified. When determining the type of liability and the severity of punishment, the duration of the delay and the amount of money that must be paid to employees are taken into account.
Concept of delay
Lack of salary within the time period specified in the employment contract is represented by a delay, which can be short or long. In Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation contains information that the responsibilities of each employer include the need to pay earnings on time. In this case, the nuances are taken into account:
- salary should be paid at least twice a month;
- the date of payment of funds is recorded in the internal accounting documentation of the company;
- There may be various reasons for delaying payments, but anyway, the employer will have to be punished for such a violation.
Punishment is imposed either by employees of the labor inspectorate or by a court.
Reasons for the delay
Untimely payment of salaries is usually associated with the following reasons:
- lack of profit from the activities of the organization, so there simply is not enough funds on the account to transfer salaries to employees;
- salary transfer only once a month;
- intentional violation of labor rights of employees;
- an indication in the constituent documentation and the employment contract of an indefinite period during which salaries are paid to employees;
- the refusal of employees to perform their duties, for example, a specialist in the personnel department prepares various documents with numerous violations or simply forgets about their duties;
- violations related to the work of the accountant of the enterprise;
- malfunctions identified in accounting programs used by the company for payroll;
- Errors in the work of the bank, through which salaries are transferred to the cards of employees.
Regardless of the reason, the employer is responsible for violation of labor rights and interests of their hired specialists. Therefore, even if he is not guilty of a significant delay, it is still under Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, he is prosecuted.
Types of Responsibility
An employer who violates the terms for transferring salaries to his employees is held liable for various types of liability:
- disciplinary;
- material;
- criminal;
- administrative.
The specific type of punishment is selected depending on the reason and duration of such a delay.
Criminal liability
If the delay is repeatedly detected or is significant, then the director of the enterprise or other officials may be prosecuted. For this, the provisions of Art. 145.1 of the Criminal Code. A penalty is imposed if it is revealed that the delay is due to the selfish goals of the company’s management. The main types of punishment under the Criminal Code include:
- if funds have not been partially paid, then the penalty for delaying wages for three months or a longer period of time is 120 thousand rubles, and it can also be replaced by the income of the offender for a year of work;
- another type of punishment is the prohibition for the director to occupy leadership positions or engage in a certain type of activity for one year;
- forced labor for up to two years;
- Imprisonment of the employer for up to one year.
If salaries are not paid to employees at all, then the fine may be increased to 500 thousand rubles.
Administrative responsibility
A penalty for delayed salaries may be imposed under the Code of Administrative Offenses if there were no signs of a criminal offense when committing an offense. In this case, the punishment may be presented in the following forms:
- officials pay a fine of 10 to 20 thousand rubles;
- if a repeated violation is detected, then the fine increases to 30 thousand rubles;
- company executives are disqualified for a period of 1 to 3 years;
- for individual entrepreneurs, the fine varies from 1 to 5 thousand rubles, and for repeated violations 10 to 30 thousand rubles are paid;
- legal entities pay a fine of 30 to 50 thousand rubles, and if such misconduct is detected a second time, the sanction may increase to 100 thousand rubles.
Due to such severe penalties, each employer must responsibly approach his obligations to employees.
Material liability
According to Art. 236 of the Labor Code, employers who have violated the terms of payment of salaries are required to pay employees appropriate compensation. It is calculated quite easily, for which 1/150 of the Central Bank rate is taken into account. Now compensation for delayed salaries is 7.25% of the unpaid amount.
Such compensation is calculated for each day of delay. The first day is the day of actual settlement with the employees of the enterprise. If funds were only partially paid that day, compensation for delayed pay is calculated from the amount actually transferred.
Additionally, the amount of such compensation may be established by an individual or collective labor contract. Workers should independently control the timeliness of receiving their earnings, so that, if necessary, they bring to responsibility negligent employers. The employer's liability for delayed payment of wages is the most significant for each employee.
How to recover compensation?
First, employees must contact the employer with a statement. It indicates that there was a delay in the payment of salaries, so citizens can demand not only the required funds, but also compensation.
The application is considered by the director within a week, after which all violations must be eliminated and the due funds paid to employees. Immediate perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action. If the employer refuses to voluntarily pay compensation, then employees can apply for help to various state authorities.
Appeal to the labor inspectorate
If the employer voluntarily refuses to transfer the due compensation, then the employees can file a complaint with the labor inspectorate.The appeal cannot be anonymous, but it must be considered within 30 days. At this time, a company check is carried out to identify all violations committed by the employer.
If there is evidence of delay, the firm is held accountable and forced to pay compensation.
Drawing up a lawsuit
If under the employment contract the salary was not paid on time, then to defend their rights the employees of the enterprise can file a lawsuit. The trial process is considered lengthy and complex, so you should prepare for it in advance.
Before filing a lawsuit, you should determine the following points:
- how long the delay is;
- Are there any salary deductions;
- for what reason the employer refuses to transfer funds;
- Are there any signs of a felony?
- what documents can be collected by employees of the enterprise.
The statement of claim indicates exactly when the funds should have been transferred, as well as what the delay period is. You can demand from the employer in court not only the payment of the laid down money in the form of basic earnings, but also the calculation of compensation for each day of delay. Its size can be determined on the basis of the requirements of the law or on those conditions that are prescribed in the collective labor contract.
If the court takes the side of the plaintiff, then the set amount of funds will be forcibly recovered from the director of the company.
When can employees suspend their work?
By law, employees who do not receive funds on time can suspend their work in the company. This is only possible if there is a delay of 15 or more days. It is possible to return to the performance of labor duties only after the repayment of the debt by the employer.
Preliminarily, citizens must send the director a notice of termination of their activities in connection with a delay in salary. The document is personally presented on receipt, and if the manager does not want to sign, then a notification is sent by letter, for which a notification of delivery is paid.
Government employees, as well as people working in enterprises that ensure the safety of other citizens, cannot use the right to suspend work. The same applies to employees of hazardous industrial enterprises.
Conclusion
If an employer, for various reasons, delays the salary of its employees, then it may be held liable for various types of responsibilities. Employees in case of non-payment of salaries may require the calculation of compensation, which is calculated on the basis of legal requirements or depending on the conditions existing in the collective agreement.
You can claim a penalty by filing a claim or a statement of claim. If a complaint is made to the labor inspectorate, then the head of the company is held liable, therefore, he will be forced to pay a significant amount of the fine.