Conditions for providing preferential leave in the Far North.
Reduced travel for northerners is provided to those employees and family members who live and work in the Far North and equivalent areas. The regions of the Far North and equivalent areas include the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO) and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).
If you live and work in these regions, then you and your family members have the right to pay for travel to and from your vacation destination.
An employee who does not live in the far north is not provided with the benefit.
Basic and additional northern holiday
The vacation period for specialists who work in northern climates lasts longer than in continental regions. This is due to the negative impact of weather factors on the well-being and health of workers. Annual and paid leave in the Far North consists of the following parts:
- basic. The minimum duration of rest is 28 calendar days;
- additional. For work in difficult climatic conditions - 8 days in addition to the main rest;
depending on the specifics of the work. According to Art. For 199 employees with irregular work schedules, 3 days are added to their compensatory leave.
The duration of pre-vacation determines the favorable climatic conditions of the workplace. Based on Art. 14 Federal Law No. 4520-1 distinguishes 3 types of northern regions with different durations of additional rest:
- Far North – 24 days;
- areas comparable to the Far North - 16 days;
- other areas – 8 days.
If a specialist works in the north several times during a calendar year, additional time off is calculated based on the time worked in these areas. A citizen registered in the Far North, who is employed remotely, under a service agreement, also receives the right to additional leave.
Law regulating preferential leave
The right to payment for travel to and from the place of vacation is stated in Article 325 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Before 2014, the first paragraph of the article looked like this:
Thus, until 2014, “state employees” (teachers, doctors, etc.) had the right to reduced fares. In addition, the right to preferential fares for northerners was extended to many oil companies, such as Rosneft PJSC, Lukoil OJSC, Slavneft OJSC, Gazpromneft OJSC, Surgutneftegaz OJSC and others.
On April 2, 2014, Federal Law No. 50 (FZ No. 50) was issued and signed, amending Article 325 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and increasing the categories of workers who are entitled to pay for preferential travel.
In the new edition, Article 325 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation reads as follows:
Based on this article, it follows that all employees living in the regions of the Far North and equivalent areas and working in organizations located in the Far North and equivalent areas have the right to pay for travel to the place of use of vacation and back on the territory of the Russian Federation. Members of the employee's family have the same right.
Registration of the vacation period
To receive additional preferential leave, employees employed in the relevant areas must do the following:
- Submit an application to your employer requesting additional time off. The manager himself does not have the right to forcibly send his employees on such leave, because the initiative must come from them. The application must contain an address to the boss indicating his full name. and positions, as well as the essence, amount of compensation for travel and the place of rest. At the bottom is the employee’s signature and the date the document was written.
- Attach documents confirming expenses to the application: copies of tickets, receipts for baggage transportation, etc. There is no need to provide originals, because... Such certificates are subsequently stored by the employer.
- Wait until the manager issues the Leave Order, then read it and sign it.
- After the Order is issued, vacation pay, compensation and wages are calculated for the time worked.
It is worth noting that all possible allowances and compensations are usually included in the employment contract, so in order to learn about them in detail, you first need to familiarize yourself with this document.
When does the legal right to preferential travel for northerners arise?
Let's look at some popular questions regarding preferential fares for northerners.
When can I exercise my right to preferential leave?
To deal with this issue, let us again turn to Article 325 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the first paragraph of which states that
If you got a job in an organization in January 2021, then you will have the right to annual paid leave after six months, that is, in July 2021. At the same time as this right, you will have the right to preferential leave in 2021. That is, you can use preferential leave in the first year after employment.
How often can I take advantage of preferential holidays in the north?
You have the right to use preferential leave once every two years. If you used the right to preferential leave for northerners in 2021, then the next time you will be able to use this right is in 2021. If you do not take advantage of the right to preferential leave in 2021, this right will be transferred to the next calendar year, i.e. 2021.
An employee, once every two calendar years, has the right to pay the cost of travel and baggage transportation to the place of use of vacation and back within the territory of the Russian Federation and back by any type of transport (air, railway, sea, river, bus), including personal with the exception of taxis.
How is vacation paid followed by dismissal?
And now the nuances Nuance No. 1. If an employee wants to take only part of the unused vacation and receive monetary compensation for the rest of the period, then the employer can meet him halfway, since these actions do not worsen the employee’s situation. Nuance No. 2. If an employee has worked for less than a year and, upon dismissal, wants to take full annual paid leave, that is, 28 calendar days, the employer must grant his request, since according to the current labor legislation, the employee has the right to use leave for the first year of work after 6 months of continuous work with this employer. We are talking about a full vacation of a set duration, and not about the number of vacation days calculated in proportion to the time worked. But you will only need to pay for the time that the employee worked; the remaining days are not subject to payment. Point number 3.
What kind of transport pays for discounted travel in the north?
The following types of transport are suitable for discounted holidays for northerners:
by air (plane)
by rail (train)
by road (bus or personal car), with the exception of taxis
Personal transport is usually understood as a car owned by the employee, spouse, children, parents of the employee, parents of the employee’s spouse.
river or sea mode of transport (boat, ship)
If you are flying on vacation by plane, then in addition to the plane ticket (it can be electronic), you will need to keep your boarding passes (they will be given to you after checking in for the flight).
When using a discounted holiday by train, bus or water transport, do not forget to keep the tickets confirming your purchase and travel.
If your preferential vacation is on personal transport, then do not forget to keep receipts (stamped) from all gas stations where you refueled. In addition, you need to take an itinerary receipt from work and, upon arrival at your vacation destination, make a note at the local police department or administration stating that you actually arrived in this locality and killed from the locality at the end of your vacation.
The procedure for paying travel on vacation by the employer
Payment for vacation travel by the employer is made in the following order:
- An employee submits an application for travel payment
- The employer makes payment no later than 3 working days before the employee goes on vacation, taking into account the approximate cost of travel
- After arriving from vacation, the employee provides tickets and other documents regarding travel expenses
- The employer makes the final payment
Military personnel receive compensation for travel expenses on vacation based on travel tickets and a submitted compensation report.
Police officers, like military personnel, receive compensation, i.e. first they purchase tickets and submit a compensation report, and then receive compensation, usually after their vacation. When an employee arrives at the destination, he must put a mark on his travel documents within 3 days at the nearest police station
How to take a discounted holiday abroad
According to Article 325 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is stated that payment for preferential travel is carried out within the territory of the Russian Federation
Then, according to this article, the employer is obliged to pay you a preferential leave abroad to the point of crossing the Russian border inspection point, unless otherwise specified in the Local regulatory documentation of your organization.
Let's say you are traveling from Surgut to Helsinki by train, you will go through customs in the city of St. Petersburg and you will be paid for train tickets from Surgut to St. Petersburg.
Or another example: you are flying by plane from Surgut to Turkey, but with a transfer in Moscow. You will undergo customs control in Moscow, so the employer is obliged to pay for your travel only to Moscow.
But in many oil companies (such as Rosneft, Slavneft, Lukoil, Gazpromneft, Surgutneftegaz and others) and in some budgetary organizations there are certain Local regulatory documents, for example a Collective Agreement, which states that when using preferential leave abroad by plane, without landing to the nearest border crossing point at the airport of the Russian Federation, travel is paid to the nearest actual border crossing point at the airport of the Russian Federation.
For example, you are flying from Surgut airport to Thailand by direct flight. The nearest airport to the actual point of crossing the Russian border will be the airport in Irkutsk, so you will be paid for air travel from Surgut to Irkutsk and back using a certificate from the air ticket office.
The procedure for calculating payments for additional leave
Salaries of persons working in the Far North, according to Art. 315 of the Labor Code, provides for percentage increases and the presence of a regional coefficient. Part-time workers are not given a bonus. When paying additional leave at an enterprise, it is necessary to calculate the average salary per day, according to:
- provisions of Part 4 of Art. 139 TK;
- information from the Ordinance on Average Earnings.
Additional payments with an allowance for the area of employment are part of the wages of northerners. According to Art. 129 Labor Code take them into account when calculating payment for vacation.
Family members in the law on preferential leave for northerners
Family members include a dependent spouse, minor children who actually live with the employee.
In some oil companies such as Rosneft, Slavneft, Lukoil, Gazpromneft, Surgutneftegaz and budgetary organizations, the Collective Agreement expands this concept and family members also include adult children studying full-time, under 23 years of age.
Also, in the Collective Agreement, it may be stated that the spouse will also be paid for travel, even if she is not a dependent, but she should NOT use preferential leave in the north in the same year as you.
Members of the employee's family must live in the Far North and equivalent areas.
- The right arises for family members who are dependent on the employee;
- When an employee is hired, the right to payment of travel costs for family members accrues simultaneously with the emergence of the employee’s right.
- Payment for travel to family members is made regardless of the time and place of their use of vacation and regardless of the time of use of vacation by the employee himself, but within one calendar year in which the benefit was provided to the employee.
- Members of the employee's family who do not live in the far north are not provided with the benefit.
Benefits provided
All employees of enterprises, organizations and institutions located in the listed regions are entitled to the following basic benefits:
- Calculation of bonuses to official salary. Their size directly depends on work experience. As it increases, the size of the allowance gradually increases.
- Obtaining rights to additional vacation periods. As stated above, this is an additional twenty-four or sixteen days, depending on the region.
- The ability to combine vacation periods over three working years (the total duration of vacation cannot exceed six months). In this case, the time required to move to the holiday destination and back is not counted towards the vacation period.
- Receiving additional compensation for temporary loss of ability to work. The difference between social charges and the actual salary, including territorial allowances, is reimbursed.
- The right to retire earlier than the norms established in the country. Such workers can receive a pension from the age of fifty (women) or fifty-five years (men).
The only condition is that you have relevant experience.
In the North, you are required to work continuously for fifteen years, and in regions equal to it in terms of conditions, twenty calendar years.
List of documents for preferential leave in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in 2021
1. The plane, train or bus ticket itself
2. For employees traveling by plane, in addition to this, a boarding pass.
3. For employees traveling by personal transport, gas station receipts and a route map with a note on arrival in and departure from the holiday city.
4. Certificate for you and your family members that you actually live in the regions of the Far North or equivalent areas (KhMAO AND Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug)
A document confirming the fact of residence in the RKS (copy of a passport with registration at the place of residence, a certificate of family composition indicating the registration mark / rental agreement for residential premises, which must include family members living with the employee / other documents confirming the fact of residence in the RKS );
5. If you flew abroad by plane, then you need a certificate from the air ticket office about the cost of the flight to the nearest actual border crossing point at the Russian airport.
Copies of foreign passports with a border crossing stamp from the border service are also required.
6.If you flew abroad from a tour operator, then you will also need your travel voucher with a receipt and a certificate from the tour operator about the cost of the charter flight. This cost must be higher than the cost of the certificate from the air ticket office, otherwise you will be paid the lesser amount of these certificates.
6.Copies of documents of your family members for whom the discounted travel will be paid (Russian passport and birth certificate with a mark of registration in the regions of the far north.
7. If your child is an adult under the age of 23 and is studying full-time, then you also need a certificate from the educational institution stating that he is actually studying with them full-time.
8. For a dependent spouse, a certificate from the employment center is required stating that she is indeed not working at the time of the 2021 preferential leave, or a copy of her work record book.
If the local regulatory documentation of your organization provides for payment of travel for your spouse, regardless of whether she is dependent or not, then you need a certificate from the spouse’s place of work stating that he/she did not use the right to travel this year preferential leave. In addition, a certificate from the Tax Inspectorate is required stating that the spouse is not an individual entrepreneur.
8.Marriage registration certificate
