A business trip is a trip by an employee by order of the employer for a certain period of time to fulfill an official assignment outside the place of permanent work (Part 1 of Article 166 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Traveling on a business trip is the employee's responsibility. The employer issues an order to send the employee on a business trip. The order is issued unilaterally; consent from the employee is not required.
But the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes a number of restrictions for sending certain categories of workers on business trips.
Is the employee's consent to travel always necessary?
A business trip assumes that the employee will be away from home for some time.
Therefore, you can often encounter the fact that employees do not want to go on such trips, and for various reasons they try to refuse them. The law establishes specific situations in the event of which an employee may actually refuse to travel. But this list is closed.
In particular, this includes cases when the employee has not yet turned 18 years old, if a pregnant employee is sent on a business trip, if the employee has responsibilities due to which he cannot leave the city (for example, he is caring for and supervising a disabled person, he is a single parent, etc.), if the employee has a disability, etc.
All of the above categories of employees must provide written consent to a business trip. Without it, the administration has no right to send them on a business trip.
An ordinary employee can also give compelling reasons for not going on a work trip. But the final decision is still made by the head of the company.
Attention! Based on this, can they send an employee on a business trip without the consent of the employee - yes, but if he is not included in the preferential categories established by law.
Who can be sent on a service trip?
An employee who has entered into an employment contract must comply with its provisions, observe discipline and obey the orders of the manager. A business trip does not change the terms of the contract, despite the fact that the place of work changes, and therefore there is no need to obtain the employee’s consent when sending him on a business trip (except for certain categories). The extent to which the trip is advisable is determined by the employer, and Article 166 of the Labor Code gives him the right to send his employees, if necessary, on business trips both within the country and abroad. However, this does not apply to everyone - there are categories of employees to whom different rules apply.
Thus, any employee can be sent on a business trip without any mention to the contrary in the contract with him and if he does not belong to one of the following categories:
- pregnant women;
- working under an apprenticeship contract;
- minors;
- disabled people.
Everyone listed above cannot be sent on business trips. In addition, such a trip may be prohibited to a citizen by doctors.
All other employees may be ordered to travel on business. However, they are also divided into two groups: those who will be obliged to fulfill it, and those who can fulfill it if they wish. The latter include, for example, single parents, parents of young children and some other categories.
Restrictions on sending certain categories of workers on business trips
Labor legislation for certain categories of employees establishes the opportunity to refuse a business trip.
Who should not be sent on business trips without their consent:
- Pregnant woman;
- An employee who has not yet reached the age of majority. However, this rule does not apply if the employee is engaged in creative professions, works in the media, etc.;
- An employee with a disability who is currently undergoing rehabilitation and has been determined that deployment will be detrimental to health;
- The employee performs duties on the basis of a student agreement, and the trip is in no way connected with it;
- A company employee is a candidate (this prohibition is established only for the period of elections).
Attention! For foreign citizens who reside temporarily on Russian territory, the period of business travel may be limited by law.
FAQ
Question No. 1 Can I be fired for refusing a business trip?
Answer: Yes. Since, by not agreeing to a business trip without a good reason, the employee violates the work contract, thereby providing the employer with a reason for dismissal.
Question No. 2 A woman is sent on a business trip. She is writing a refusal because she is pregnant, but has not provided a certificate and has not yet been to the doctor, since it is an early stage of pregnancy. The manager reprimanded her. Is this legal?
Answer: No, it is not legal, since the employee is pregnant, but at the moment cannot confirm this with a medical certificate, she has the right to the guarantees provided for in Art.
259 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which means that such an employee is prohibited from being sent on a business trip. Rate the quality of the article. Your opinion is important to us:
In what cases is a business trip possible with the written consent of the employee?
The following categories of workers can go on business trips, but only if they give written consent to this step.
This includes the following groups:
- Mothers who have small children under 3 years of age;
- Single parents (regardless of mother or father), if he is raising a child under 5 years of age;
- If the employee is the parent of a child with a disability;
- Workers who care for a sick relative.
If the employer provides such an employee with a ready-made business trip consent form, it must include information that he has the right to refuse the trip. If an employee does not give his consent to a business trip, then sending him on the trip is strictly prohibited.
Attention! These rules are also established in the case when it is necessary to extend the trip at the initiative of the employer.
Another case when consent must be obtained from an employee is the need to work on a business trip on a weekend or holiday.
What happens if you don't go?
Unreasonable refusal to go on a business trip is an employee’s evasion from fulfilling his official duties. Therefore, the employer has the right to bring him to disciplinary liability (Articles 192, 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):
- Comment.
- Rebuke.
- Dismissal.
Before bringing an employee to disciplinary liability, you need to check that the following conditions are met:
- the employee is not one of the persons for whom a ban or restrictions on business trips have been established;
- there are no provisions on business trips in the employment contract;
- the work to be performed by the employee on a business trip corresponds to the job responsibilities specified in the employment contract.
In this case, the refusal to go on a business trip can be formalized in the form of a request for an explanation of the reasons for refusing to go on a business trip, or the refusal to go on a business trip can be recorded in a request for consent to a business trip.
Can an employee refuse a business trip?
In normal situations, an employee is not given the right to refuse a business trip.
Labor legislation establishes that it is part of his official duties. If an employee refuses to go on a business trip, the administration has the right to regard this step as a refusal to perform duties and hold the employee accountable, up to and including dismissal under the article.
Therefore, can an employee refuse a business trip? No. If it is not included in the number of preferential categories for which a ban is established or consent is required, then you cannot refuse the trip.
Refusal to send a serviceman under a contract
The procedure for military service, including under contract, is regulated by Federal Law No. 53 of March 28, 1998.
Attention
A serviceman does not have the right to refuse a business trip; he can appeal to management with a request to review and shorten the length of stay on the trip.
The grounds for the application may be:
- illness of an employee requiring inpatient treatment in a medical institution;
- deterioration of the dependent's health;
- early completion of the assigned task;
- disciplinary violations during a business trip;
- business necessity;
- emergency circumstances in the family requiring the personal presence of a citizen;
- other circumstances requiring the direct participation and presence of a citizen.
Any unreasonable refusal to travel, as well as inappropriate behavior of a person during a business trip, will lead to the opening of an investigation into the reasons for evasion of duties and the imposition of appropriate punishment.
Additional Information
An application to reduce the duration of the trip is drawn up in the name of senior management. The position and name of the fighter must be indicated in the header of the document. The following outlines the appeal and provides detailed information about the need to shorten the travel period.
The application is sent for review and approval. Until approval is received, it is unacceptable to leave the place of business or interrupt your service.
Valid reasons for refusal
An employee may have valid reasons with which he can appeal to his management. Let's consider whether it is possible to refuse a business trip because of them.
For family reasons
The reason why an employee cannot go on a trip may be due to family circumstances.
For example, this could be the birth of a child, the death of a relative, marriage, etc. He has the right to take leave without pay for this period, and the employer will have to provide it.
You can ask your employer to cancel a trip if the employee’s anniversary falls during the trip.
Important! However, this reason is not specified in the regulations, and therefore this step is entirely at the discretion of the employer.
There are minor children
The presence of a small child in a family is not a valid reason for refusing a trip, even if the family has many children.
However, at the same time, an employee may fall into one of the preferential categories:
- He is a single parent and the child is no more than 5 years old;
- He is caring for a disabled child;
- He is the guardian of a minor child;
- He takes care of a sick relative (in this case, a child).
Attention! If these factors exist, the employee must be notified of the work trip in advance and consent must be obtained.
If the employee's wife is pregnant
If an employee's spouse is pregnant, this may be a reason to refuse the trip, but it is not officially provided for by law. Therefore, the decision remains at the discretion of the boss.
However, you can get a certificate from a medical institution that she requires constant care, and this is provided by her husband. Then you can refuse the trip for legal reasons.
Who can't be sent?
Can an employee refuse a business trip for more than a month without good reason? There are some employees who may refuse to travel due to their status. These include the following persons:
- minor employees;
- pregnant employees;
- women raising children under three years of age;
- citizens who have disabled children as their dependents;
- employees caring for close family members with serious illnesses;
- people raising children under 5 years of age alone;
- persons with serious diseases requiring constant monitoring by medical personnel.
Can an employee refuse a business trip if he is included in the above categories? Under such conditions, he only needs to submit documents confirming his status to the employer. The employer cannot hold the hired specialist liable for such a refusal.
Other reasons
The following events in the life of an employee can also be considered valid reasons:
- An emergency situation that affected the employee or his family;
- The need to urgently obtain some document;
- An important event for the family.
However, in order to win over the manager, in each situation it is advisable to provide a supporting document.
For health
An employee may refuse to go on a business trip when he needs to undergo treatment, or a long trip is contraindicated for medical reasons.
In such a situation, the employee needs to prepare an application and attach a supporting document to it - a doctor’s certificate, sick leave, etc.
Insufficient funds allocated for the trip
Before leaving on a business trip, the employer must provide the employee with funds from which he will pay for travel, accommodation, food, etc.
An approximate calculation of the required amount is carried out by an accountant. If the employee is given insufficient funds to cover all expenses, and he can prove this fact, then he has the right to refuse the business trip, since he is not obliged to finance it from his own funds.
Attention! However, the lack of funds must be carefully justified and proven.
Travel allowances were not paid
The employer is obliged to pay the employee money to finance business trip expenses.
If this is not done, then the employee has the right not to go on a work trip, since he is not obliged to finance it from his own funds. The employer does not have the right to impose disciplinary punishment on him in such a situation.
Arbitrage practice
For the plaintiff, citizen I.P. M., a disciplinary sanction was imposed in the form of a reprimand for failure to go on a business trip, and two reprimands were also announced. He filed a lawsuit in which he demanded that these measures be declared illegal and compensation for moral damages.
As the representative of the plaintiff noted, the failure to comply with the employer’s order was caused by a good reason - he had no one to leave the child with. In addition, the defendant did not follow the dispatch procedure and did not communicate the order to the unit before the start date of the trip. Regarding the first reprimand, the defense attorney denied truancy, and also noted that the deadline for issuing the order had long passed; regarding the second, that the loss of documents occurred while the plaintiff was on sick leave.
Representatives of the defendant did not agree with the claim. On the issue of the business trip, it was noted that the plaintiff was notified one day in advance via internal email. It was also found out that he had no one to leave his daughter with, who was a minor, but already independent (17 years old) and worked in the summer. Since the business trip was supposed to last 1.5-2 days, the employer considers this an unjustifiable reason.
According to the defendant’s defenders, the squad leader did not immediately become aware of the absenteeism, and the deadline for disciplinary action was not missed. As for the second absence, according to them, the security plans disappeared after he returned from sick leave, and besides, he did not fulfill his duties.
Documents and witnesses confirmed the plaintiff’s absenteeism, as well as his negligent attitude towards his duties. In particular, his duties for briefing and combat crew of the guard were performed by his deputy, despite the fact that he himself was at work. It was also confirmed by witness testimony that the missing documents were still in place when the plaintiff returned from sick leave. The plaintiff did not present any valid reasons for refusing the business trip, and the court refused to recognize the sending procedure as inconsistent with the law and violating his rights.
Regarding the plaintiff’s representative’s reference to missing the deadline for bringing to justice, it was found that the head of the department became aware of the violation only after employee B. filed a report, that is, on August 4, when the plaintiff was on sick leave, where he remained until September 16 - this means that the expiration date of liability expired only on October 16, and the order was issued on October 14.
As a result, the court decided to refuse the plaintiff’s request to declare the orders illegal, as well as to refuse compensation for moral damage. The decision was later appealed, but was upheld. You can read more about the circumstances of the case below.
Decision of February 27, 2021 in case No. 2-163/2017
- Look
Consequences of an unreasonable refusal for an employee
If an employee refuses a trip unreasonably, this will be a disciplinary offense, which may result in punishment - a reprimand, reprimand, or in extreme cases, dismissal.
The choice of punishment will depend on how severe the damage was caused to the enterprise due to the employee’s refusal.
conclusions
On the presented topic, we will draw several main conclusions:
- The law provides for the possibility of refusing a business trip. However, this can be done if there are compelling reasons provided by law. There is a list of citizens who, by law, cannot be sent on a business trip without their consent.
- To formally refuse, the employee is recommended to submit a written refusal to the employer indicating the reasons.
- A written refusal does not have a special form approved at the legislative level, but the document must comply with the basic rules of office work.
- If an employee has a small child, she has every right to refuse the trip. To do this, it is recommended to issue a written refusal.
How to properly refuse
How to submit an application?
To refuse a trip, the employee must fill out an application addressed to the manager according to the provided sample.
The text of the document describes the reason why the employee cannot take part in the business trip. If he is one of the persons from whom it is necessary to obtain consent for the trip, this is directly indicated in the application and supporting documents are attached.
If the employee does not have the right to refuse according to the law, then it is necessary to talk with the manager and convince him to cancel the trip.
What documents are needed?
The documents that need to be provided depend on the reason for refusal, this may include:
- Sick leave;
- Certificate of illness of a close relative of the employee;
- Adoption document;
- Certificate of disability of a relative;
- Subpoena;
- Other documents that can be used to confirm the refusal.
Unofficial methods
An employee has the opportunity to refuse a business trip if the company’s management made a mistake when arranging the business trip.
Such circumstances may include:
- Not all documents have been completed for the upcoming business trip.
- The employee has not received all compensation for travel expenses provided for by law.
- The task assigned to the employee for the upcoming trip does not correspond to the job functions he performs.
There are other unofficial ways that allow an employee to refuse a trip. For example, marriage (fictitious). But then the employee will have to deal with the divorce.
Important! It is still recommended to find legal ways to avoid the upcoming trip.
Step-by-step instructions for filing a business trip cancellation
If an employee intends to refuse to go on a business trip, then he must notify the employer in writing, providing weighty arguments that influenced the decision.
Cancellation of a business trip for family reasons.
If an employee sent on a business trip has family circumstances that prevent him from making the appointed trip, he must notify the employer in writing.
Mandatory refusal details:
- addressee of the application (name and position of the superior manager);
- information about the applicant (position, full name);
- document's name;
- grounds for refusal;
- proposal to resolve the situation;
- date and signature.
Sample application:
Cancellation of a business trip due to health reasons
The basis for refusing a business trip is the employee’s illness or medical contraindications to travel.
The recommended details for contacting the manager correspond to the previous reason for refusal.
Here is an example of a document:
Can you be fired for refusing a business trip?
It is important to remember that an employee must have well-founded, valid reasons for refusing an upcoming business trip, unless, of course, the employee belongs to the category of individuals whom the administration cannot send on a business trip without consent.
An employee may be subject to disciplinary liability in accordance with Articles 192 and 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, when assigning a punishment to an employee, the company administration must take into account what consequences for the company arose as a result of the employee’s refusal to go on a trip.
Important! At the same time, the organization cannot immediately dismiss for this offense. This measure can only be applied if the employee has an outstanding debt.
Consequences
The Labor Code (Articles 192-193) provides for disciplinary measures for an employee’s unjustified refusal to go on a business trip:
- comment;
- rebuke;
- dismissal.
Additional information
When imposing a punishment on an employee, the manager examines the weight of the arguments and assesses the resulting damage to the company.
Action plan for determining disciplinary action against an employee who has violated the work procedure:
- a written definition of the offense;
- punishment is imposed within one month from the date of violation, excluding days of sick leave and vacation;
- the period for bringing to justice cannot exceed six months;
- providing a written justification for the employee’s refusal;
- for each offense only one penalty is provided;
- a two-day period for the worker to familiarize himself with the order regarding the penalty taken.
A reprimand is a light punishment. Can be used both in written and oral form. A reprimand may be entered into the employee’s work book, which will negatively affect his work activity in the future.
For your information
It is permissible to reduce the size of the bonus incentive payment to an employee who has violated discipline, but only on condition that the bonus regulations clearly stipulate the criteria for assigning payments depending on the performance of duties. You will definitely need to attach an internal document from the head of the department (official, memo) describing the reason for deprivation of the bonus.
Disciplinary liability can be applied to military personnel only if there are factual and legal grounds. When serving under a contract, a disciplinary act may become grounds for termination of the contract due to non-fulfillment or partial non-fulfillment of the conditions.
Regulatory regulation of the issue
You won’t be able to simply refuse a business trip without compelling reasons. And the employer can not only refuse to reschedule the employee, but also punish him for refusing to comply with the order. However, there are cases when going on a business trip is prohibited.
Legally, the conditions and rules for sending an employee on a business trip are specified in two sources:
- Article 24 of the Labor Code, which contains general definitions and a description of the procedure for sending employees on work trips;
- Regulations on the specifics of sending employees on business trips, approved by the Government in 2008.
Since the employee is officially employed by the organization and has signed an employment contract with the employer, he is obliged to fulfill his duties even if sent to another workplace to perform the employer’s tasks during a specific time period.
Prohibitions for the employer
There are several restrictions on the employer's ability to send employees on trips to perform work assignments. They concern:
- a ban on sending specific categories of employees;
- the need to formulate a request for consent to go on a business trip for employees of individual groups.
The head of the organization does not have the right to second:
- pregnant women;
- employees working under an apprenticeship contract;
- workers who have not reached the age of majority;
- employees with disabilities.
The employer is required to obtain the consent of a company specialist if he plans to send on a business trip:
- an employee who has children under 3 years of age;
- an employee raising children under 5 years of age as a single parent;
- specialists caring for incapacitated or incapacitated sick relatives or disabled family members;
- parents of disabled children;
- employees who are guardians of minor children;
- employees participating in elections.
In this case, the employee’s signature in the order is not considered consent, since it is only confirmation that the employee is familiar with its contents. In order for the employer to agree with the employee on the terms of the business trip and receive confirmation of his readiness to perform such a task, it is necessary to send the employee a referral notice and obtain written consent from the employee.
Despite the fact that labor legislation does not require a written form of consent, it is better to obtain it in such a way that this fact is documented.
And finally, for all employees without exception, their consent or refusal is required if the business trip period includes weekends.
Notification
When drawing up a notification, the following information must be included in the text:
- Justification of the need for an employee to travel to perform duties.
- Duration of business trip.
- Conditions for payment of all expenses and guarantees of provision of the necessary funds (daily allowance), including expenses for food and accommodation, and preservation of wages.
- Availability of additional incentives for departure, for example, in the form of payment of a bonus.
- Clarification on the terms of payment for weekends in the amount of double rate.
- Clarification of an employee’s rights allowing him to refuse to comply with an order to be sent on a business trip.
- Date of document creation.
A field can be created on the same form to confirm receipt of the notification and confirm consent to leave. After consent is received, an order and assignment for the period of the business trip can be issued.
If an employee refuses to sign an order, this does not mean that he has the right not to comply with the manager’s order. This rule does not apply to employees whose consent must be obtained.
