For employment between the head of the company and a new employee, an employment contract is required. This document, among other things, contains information on how much salary is paid, when it is paid and what bonuses are assigned. Often, citizens are forced to face the fact that company leaders violate the basic terms of the agreement. In this case, the employer is held liable for the delay in payment of wages.
Responsibility can take several forms, and workers themselves must ensure that penalties are applied to employers.
Types of Responsibility
The Labor Code clearly states that each person officially working in a company can count on the payment of their labor. This is prescribed in article 37 of the Constitution and article 21 of the Labor Code. The employer's liability for delayed payment of wages is indicated in article 362 of the Labor Code. It says that company management and other officials who are required to pay employee benefits are liable for violations within the framework of the information contained in federal law.
Article 419 of the Labor Code states that citizens may be held liable for various types of liability. It can be material, disciplinary, administrative or criminal.
Material
Each company that does not pay funds to employees should be held liable. This information is contained in Article 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The manager is obliged to compensate the damage caused to specialists officially employed in the company.
The employer's liability for delayed payment of wages and other payments due to the employee is that the management of the company must pay these funds in the form of monetary compensation with interest. To calculate this compensation, 1/300 of the refinancing rate set by the Central Bank on the day of payroll is taken into account. During the calculation, all days of delay are taken into account.
Additionally, employees may demand compensation for moral damages. When calculating the penalty for delayed payment of wages, a larger indicator is taken into account, therefore, a significant amount is calculated. This allows employers to take more responsibility for their obligations under an employment contract.
Disciplinary
Article 192 of the Labor Code contains information that if an employee of the company, who must monitor the timely payment of salaries and other payments to other employees, makes any mistakes in the performance of labor duties, then he is brought to disciplinary liability.
Usually, the absence of a salary payment due to the fact that the head of the company or other authorized persons cannot cope with their duties. It is to them that this type of responsibility applies.
Administrative
In case of violation of the requirements of the Labor Code, the employer bears administrative responsibility. She is fined. Their size depends on who exactly violated the requirements of the law, so the administrative responsibility of the employer for the delay in payment of wages will be different:
- company management and officials pay 10 to 20 thousand rubles;
- if the employer is an individual entrepreneur, then the fine varies from 1 to 5 thousand rubles;
- a company may be fined from 30 to 50 thousand rubles.
Often the rights of an employee with a delay in payment of wages are violated not once, but repeatedly. In this case, the amount of fines increases:
- leaders and officials pay 20 to 30 thousand rubles. and dismissed from the position of managerial employee for 3 years;
- Individual entrepreneurs pay a fine of 10 to 30 thousand rubles;
- the organization must transfer from 50 to 100 thousand rubles. in the form of a fine.
Any director must be responsible for the requirement and promptly transfer to the employees all the funds put by him.
Criminal
In some situations, the head of the company may be prosecuted. Such measures are used when there is evidence that the owner of the company intentionally does not pay funds to employees in order to use this money for personal purposes.
The employer's criminal liability for delayed payment of wages implies the imposition of truly serious penalties. It is important to consider the provisions of the Criminal Code in order not to lose your firm or freedom.
If the head of the enterprise does not partially pay employees their salary within three months, or the employees receive less money than is required by an individual or collective agreement, then different measures can be applied to the head:
- a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles, - when calculating it, the employer's income received within one year may be taken into account;
- the leader is deprived of the opportunity for one year to occupy any senior positions and work in a similar field of activity;
- punishment in the form of forced labor for up to two years may be imposed in court;
- imprisonment for up to 1 year.
If there is a delay exceeding two months in duration, then more severe penalties are used. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a delay in the payment of wages can lead to serious consequences for the manager, such as:
- Fine from 100 thousand rubles. up to 500 thousand rubles. To determine the amount of payment, the manager's income for three years of work can be taken into account.
- Management is involved in forced labor, and their term can reach three years.
- The employer is deprived of the right to work in a particular field for a period of three years or completely indefinitely.
- The director of the organization may be deprived of liberty for a period of up to three years, and at the same time the opportunity to work in senior positions or in certain areas for an indefinite period or for a period of three years.
Therefore, each head of the organization must be responsible in paying salaries. If labor laws are violated, then not only the recovery of compensation for delayed payment of wages will be applied - employers can be prosecuted.
Compensation for non-pecuniary damage
Workers who did not receive their money in a timely manner may demand compensation from the employer for non-pecuniary damage. Article 237 of the Labor Code states that if a citizen is harmed by unlawful actions or inaction of the management of the company where he works, then he receives compensation for moral damage. To do this, the conditions for determining this fee are usually prescribed in a collective agreement or in an individual labor agreement.
If the employer does not agree to voluntarily pay compensation, then wage earners can go to court for help. To do this, they must have strong evidence of violation of the rights of employees of the enterprise.
Under article 151 of the Civil Code, non-pecuniary damage is represented by the moral or physical suffering of a person that arose as a result of illegal actions by the employer.Usually they are connected with the fact that the rights of a citizen are violated or an encroachment on his property is revealed.
Compensation for moral damage may be required not only in case of untimely transfer of salary, but also in case of unlawful dismissal or illegal transfer to another position.
Non-pecuniary damage can only be compensated in the form of a certain monetary compensation. Its size is determined by the provisions of the existing employment contract.
The nuances of liability
Most often, with a delay in salaries, employers are brought to liability. Regardless of the reason for the delay in payroll, employers must pay fines and compensation to employees. The payout features include the following:
- all employees may demand not only payment for their work, but also accrual of interest represented by compensation for moral damage;
- based on Art. 136 TC, the employer has only 15 days to delay, so if this period is exceeded, then the business owner is held liable;
- the exact date when funds should be transferred is defined in the internal documentation of each company and is supported by an agreement signed between the employee and the employer;
- compensation paid for delayed salary under Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, are not subject to taxation and are not taken into account when determining the corporate income tax, but at the same time funds are collected from them for the transfer of insurance premiums;
- the employer, if desired, can increase the amount of compensation, and often this moment is prescribed in the employment contract or in regional regulations;
- the provision of compensation is the direct responsibility of the employer, therefore, employees should not for this purpose submit any application to the head;
- a penalty is paid together with a delayed salary.
If the employer does not follow the requirements of the law and does not transfer the required funds, then the workers must apply for help to the housing inspectorate or to the court.
Can an employee suspend their work?
Under the law, officially employed employees may not come to their workplace if they do not receive a salary in a timely manner. This is allowed if the delay exceeds 15 days. This fact is enshrined in Art. 142 shopping mall. The employee of the company must notify the employer in writing of the decision.
As soon as a salary is transferred under an employment contract, the head of the enterprise sends the employee a written notice. After this, the specialist must go to work, otherwise the pass will be recorded as absenteeism. For the period that the employee did not go to work due to non-payments, full wages are accrued.
What should employees do when they are delayed?
If there are still no transfers within the established period, this cannot be the basis for filing a lawsuit, absenteeism or writing a complaint to the labor inspectorate. According to Art. 142 of the Labor Code, the delay should be more than 15 days in order to be able to apply legal measures to the careless employer.
Under such conditions, employees may not go to the workplace. It is not allowed to use this right to civil servants, employees of the Ministry of Emergencies or law enforcement agencies, as well as some other specialized companies and industries.
If there is no accrued compensation when paying wages with a delay, then you must first contact the employer to find out why these funds were not paid. If the head of the company refuses to charge a penalty, then you will have to file complaints with the competent state authorities (prosecutor's office, labor inspectorate, court, etc.).
Where to go
There are several government agencies that can help employees get compensation from the employer. Initially, it is recommended that you apply to the labor inspectorate. For this, a special complaint is formed, including information:
- location and name of the organization that is the debtor;
- information about the applicant, namely: place of work, position, date when funds and other information should have been transferred, allowing to understand the nuances of the violation on the part of the employer;
- delay period;
- the amount to be paid to the applicant at work.
On the basis of this application, employees of the labor inspectorate will conduct an unscheduled audit to verify the accuracy of the facts indicated in the application. If violations are detected, then an order is issued to eliminate them. At the same time, significant fines are imposed.
If the delay period exceeds 15 days, then the labor inspectorate can independently file a lawsuit against the company.
Appeal to the prosecutor
This organization also protects the rights of workers. If there are signs of a crime on the part of the employer, you must write a statement and register it with the duty investigator.
The document spells out all the features of the problem and indicates the request to understand the situation. Based on this application, a company check is carried out. The company is brought to administrative responsibility, but the director may be punished on the basis of the provisions of the Criminal Code.
At the end of the inspection, an order is issued to eliminate all violations. If there are signs of a crime, the case is referred to the investigative committee to initiate a criminal case.
Submission of claim
The protection of the rights of workers is further addressed by the judiciary. For this, officially working citizens submit a statement of claim for delayed payment of wages. Claims may be declared within a year from the day the salary of the citizen was to be transferred. In addition, through the court it is possible to demand the charging of a penalty and compensation for the moral suffering inflicted.
A claim must be accompanied by a copy of the labor agreement and work book, a 2-personal income tax certificate for the year of work, and a pay sheet. The plaintiff himself must correctly calculate the debt and compensation, and the calculation must be attached to the claim. The citizen must have evidence that the lack of salary caused him moral harm.
Thus, each employer has the obligation to timely transfer salaries to all officially employed workers. If a delay of payments exceeding 15 days is recorded, then this is the basis for employees to demand the calculation of a forfeit or even compensation for moral damage. Workers can apply to different organizations, for example, to the labor inspectorate, prosecutor's office or court. The punishment for employers is severe, and in some situations, business owners may be prosecuted.