Dismissal due to staff reduction
The basis for such dismissal is clause 2, part 1, art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Employees are notified of upcoming dismissal due to reduction 2 months before the expected date of termination of the employment contract (Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). For seasonal workers, this period is reduced to 7 calendar days (Article 296 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
From the moment of notification and until the day of termination of the employment relationship, the employer is obliged to offer available vacancies to laid-off employees:
- relevant qualifications of workers;
- lower positions;
- lower paid job.
Dismissed employees have repeatedly gone to court, believing that they were laid off in violation of the established procedure. Some of the cases were considered by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which made conclusions (clauses 3, 4 of the Review of Practice):
| Solution | Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated September 14, 2020 No. 53-KG20-4-K8 | Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated January 20, 2020 No. 5-KG19-217 |
| The crux of the matter | The employee does not recognize his layoff as legal, because vacant positions were offered to other laid-off employees, but not to him | The employee does not recognize his layoff as legal because he was not offered a vacancy in a branch of the organization in the same area |
| Employer's position | The employer did not offer vacant positions because other laid-off employees who filled them were first notified about them | The employer had no vacancies in the branch where the employee was registered, so layoffs followed |
| Position of the RF Armed Forces | Art. 2 and art. 3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes equality of rights and opportunities for workers and prohibits discrimination in the world of work. According to Art. 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer is obliged to offer the laid-off employee vacancies available from the moment of notification of the upcoming layoff until the day of dismissal. Therefore, dismissal due to reduction is allowed only if the employee refuses the offered vacancies | According to paragraph 2 of Art. 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a branch is a separate division of a legal entity located outside its location. Part 3 art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation obliges the employer to offer vacancies to laid-off employees in a given locality, and, if there are appropriate conditions in a collective or labor contract, agreements, in other localities (outside the administrative-territorial boundaries of the relevant locality). The employer was obliged to offer the employee vacant positions in all departments of the city |
| Conclusion | Management does not have the right to decide who is offered vacancies and who is not. Vacant positions must be offered to every redundant employee. It is necessary to select an employee for a position if there are several applicants, taking into account the advantage in leaving the job, as well as the chronology of obtaining consent to fill vacant positions | Management is obliged to offer the redundant employee available positions in all branches and separate divisions in the area in which the employee worked |
