Order to reduce staff: sample 2021

If, as the number of staff decreases, workers are laid off, this is one procedure for preparing regulatory documents; if there are no layoffs, this is a different situation. Let's take a closer look.

Sample order to reduce personnel and staff

Order to reduce the number of employees, sample 2021 (word)

A local regulatory act on reducing the number of employees is prepared by employees of the HR department on the basis of primary documents, which are:

decision of the company's owners to optimize the size of the enterprise and reduce personnel costs;
decision of the company's owners to liquidate a branch, representative office, separate division or legal entity as a whole;
court decisions on the grounds specified in paragraph 3 of Article 61 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The preamble of the regulatory document is virtually identical to the content of the primary document; the operative part of the order contains:

timing;
list of persons responsible for the event;
name and number of units subject to liquidation;
the draft of the new staffing table and the period from which it begins to operate.

Basic Concepts

A reduction in the number of employees of an organization is one of the grounds on which the employer has the right to terminate the contract on his own initiative (Clause 2 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). It is necessary to distinguish that in the first case, the number of employees for one position is reduced (for example, instead of 8 lawyers, only 4 will remain), and in the second, certain categories of positions are excluded from the staffing table.

The employer has the right to make a decision at any time without any explanation to employees, the trade union or third parties, which is confirmed by Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated March 17, 2004 No. 2. In order to formalize everything correctly, you will need to draw up an order.

conclusions

Let's highlight a few key points on this topic:

The difference in staff and headcount reduction is the cancellation of staffing units.
The order for the enterprise is drawn up in any form. There are no special unified forms. The document must comply with the basic rules of office work established by the company.
Employee positions in the staffing table are being reduced, mainly due to production needs and the company's recovery from a crisis situation.
To issue an order, you need an order from the manager or a decision of the general meeting of shareholders.
Without the manager's signature, the document is considered invalid.
Dismissed employees are warned about upcoming events by additional written notices prepared by the human resources department.

Requirements for the order

This is the very first and most important step in the whole process. Since the legislator seeks to protect the interests of workers as much as possible, the procedure is quite strictly regulated. Despite the fact that a unified form has not been established, the employer must take a responsible approach to its design. A sample order to reduce the staff of an organization contains:

Name of the organization.
The name of the document and its details (date, place, number).
A preamble that reflects the purpose of the document.
Information about which positions are subject to reduction, or about who should be reduced (number).
Date of introduction of the new staffing table.
Order on delivery of notices to employees. Such a warning and a form and sample order to reduce the number of employees 2 months before the start of the activities are given to each employee (Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If this requirement is not met or the notice is sent at the wrong time, the dismissal will be declared illegal and will be appealed in court. If an employee avoids receiving notice, it is necessary to draw up a report in the presence of witnesses. In relation to seasonal workers and those who have entered into a fixed-term contract of up to two months, the notice period is reduced: for the first category it is 7 calendar days (Part 2 of Article 296 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and for the second - 3 days (Article 292 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation ).
Appointment of the person responsible for the execution of the order.
Manager's signature.

When is it formed?

The procedure for laying off employees begins with the drawing up of an appropriate order. This document is formed first and in the future it is used as a basis when dismissing employees associated with a change in the number or staff.

Reducing the number of employees at an enterprise and changing staff are two different concepts. Downsizing refers to a reduction in the number of employees in an organization for all or certain positions. If the employer decides to change the staffing table by excluding specific positions from it, then we are talking about staff reduction.

Important! A layoff order is created at the initial stage of the procedure, and an order to dismiss each specific employee is the final stage.

If the number is reduced due to optimization

Optimization should be understood as changes (including personnel changes) that should increase the economic performance of the company. The goals that management pursues during optimization include:

reducing the number of personnel and, as a result, saving money on their maintenance;
restructuring of departments and reorganization of structural units to improve the efficiency of their work;
changing job titles;
creation of new jobs and dismissal of old ones.

Such an order is drawn up in accordance with standard rules in free form. Its peculiarity is that it is necessary to indicate the reason that occurs in this particular company, and the remaining points are of a general nature.

The employer will have to complete this procedure in full:

Notify workers, trade unions and employment authorities about the upcoming procedure two months in advance.
Issue a regulatory act on the exclusion of staff positions.
Notify the employment service.
Determine a list of who should be fired and who should not be fired.
Offer those being laid off other vacant positions.
Take into account the opinion of the trade union and, if necessary, consult with it.
Correctly draw up the work book and relevant documents.
Make a full settlement with the person being dismissed.

Local regulations on termination of employment relations are drawn up on standardized T-8 forms, which indicate:

employee personal data;
date and basis for termination of the employment relationship.

Procedure

The process of staff reduction is multi-stage and consists of several stages.

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First of all, the management of the organization makes an appropriate decision and creates a written basis.

Important clarification: dismissal of employees due to staff reduction is possible only in cases where their positions are abolished in the company, and transfer to another vacancy within the company is impossible (i.e., the employer must initially consider the possibility of transferring employees to vacant positions that correspond to their qualifications and specialization and, if available, offer them to those being dismissed).

Then, in the manner prescribed by law, the trade union body (if there is one at the enterprise) is notified and an order is issued, which every employee who has been laid off must familiarize himself with. If any employee does not want to sign a document, this must be recorded in a special act.
The final stage: final settlement with those dismissed (which is made on the last working day), as well as making appropriate entries in the workers’ work books, their personal cards and other personnel documents.

Algorithm of actions

The dismissal procedure due to staff reduction requires careful execution. To prevent dismissal by court from being considered fictitious, follow a certain algorithm. Let's look at it step by step.

Step 1. An order is issued to reduce and change the staffing table. We have provided the requirements for the order and a sample order of dismissal due to staff reduction above.

Step 2. The manager notifies the employment authorities and the trade union (if any) about the upcoming layoffs. Written notice of staff reduction is sent to these authorities at least two months before the planned date. If only positions in the staffing table are being reduced and no one is being fired, the employment service does not need to be notified.

Step 3. Employees are identified for dismissal. If you need to choose which employees to keep, then preference is given to those employees who have a preemptive right to remain at work.

As a general rule, this privilege belongs to employees with high qualifications and labor productivity. If these indicators are equal, then they remain working (Article 179 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 7 of Article 14 of the Federal Law of May 15, 1991 No. 1244-1, paragraph 10 of Article 2 of the Federal Law of January 10, 2002 No. 2-FZ):

employees who care for two or more disabled family members;
employees in whose family there are no other working persons;
disabled people of the Second World War and combat operations;
Chernobyl victims;
employees who received occupational diseases or injuries while working in the organization.

The employer has the right to expand this list by including other categories of employees in the labor or collective agreement.

Violation of this rule may result in the reduction being declared invalid and the employees will have to be reinstated. They will have to pay the average salary for forced absence. You must also remember to notify the employment service about upcoming layoffs; for more details, see paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the Law of the Russian Federation of April 19, 1991 No. 1032-1 “On employment in the Russian Federation.”

Step 4. Retrenched employees are notified of dismissal due to layoff with a signature two months in advance. Familiarization with the notice is recorded with the signature of the employee. If a person is not at work at this time for various reasons (sick leave, business trip), then the notification is sent to him by registered mail.

If the employer does not manage to warn all employees on time, he will have to reschedule the layoff and issue another order. It is possible to terminate an employment relationship ahead of schedule if the employee writes a letter of resignation of his own free will or by agreement of the parties.

Step 5. Those being dismissed are offered another position. Those who are subject to layoffs have the right to move to another position in the same organization if it meets their qualifications and health conditions. You cannot skip this stage with such a dismissal. Otherwise, the dismissal will be considered illegal. If the employee refuses the offer, this must be done in writing.

Step 6. If there is a trade union, ask for its opinion on the upcoming dismissal. The union must approve the dismissal. Otherwise, a meeting is held, at which the head of the organization must be present, and trade union members give recommendations on how to overcome the crisis and preserve jobs. These recommendations are recorded in a protocol, which is then stored in the organization’s archives.

Step 7. Termination of the employment contract is formalized by order in the T-8 form with a record of dismissal being entered in the work book on the basis of clause 2 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Step 8. Payment is made to the employee and all relevant documents are issued.

Who does the compilation?

Changing the number of employees at an enterprise occurs in several stages. Initially, the employer decides to make personnel changes, which is confirmed by drawing up a written basis. Employees are removed from regular positions and subject to dismissal if it is not possible to transfer them to another position according to the staffing table (Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF)).

If there is a trade union at the enterprise, then the employer must warn the body about the upcoming dismissal (Article 82 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, the organization must issue an order to change the number of employees or staff.

Responsibility for drawing up the document, as a rule, lies with the HR specialist. In some cases, it may be compiled by the secretary or the head of the organization himself.

Important! After the manager puts his personal signature, the order acquires legal force.

Reduction without dismissal

This happens when it is necessary to make changes to the staffing table, which does not entail the dismissal of employees. In this case, there is no need to warn anyone two months in advance, since no one is fired.

If you are making redundancies without dismissal, prepare the following documents:

normative act (order) on the exclusion of a staff unit;
draft new staffing table;
determine the timing of termination of the old and entry into force of the new staffing table.

We have provided a sample order for layoffs without dismissal above.

When is the number and staff of an organization reduced?

Many citizens mistakenly think that downsizing and downsizing are the same thing. However, when downsizing occurs, there is solely a reduction in the number of personnel in the company.

By reducing staff, the employer eliminates the staffing units themselves.

It is important that a reduction in numbers leads to a reduction in staff.

However, there is no feedback here. After all, if a staff position is reduced, a person can be transferred to another position.

The procedure for terminating an employment contract in both cases is identical. When carrying out events, Articles 179 – 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation must be observed.

In this case, the employee is paid all required payments, including severance pay based on the order.

Upon expiration of the notice period for layoffs, an order to dismiss the employee is issued.

Order to cancel staff reduction

There are cases when, within two months after the notice of layoff, the situation changes and there is no longer any need to fire someone.

In this case, the employer needs:

prepare an order to cancel organizational and staffing activities;
familiarize all employees with the contents of the new order against signature;
send everyone notices in writing that the previous notice of dismissal has been cancelled;
notify the trade union and the employment service.

Preparation of an organization order

When abolishing staff units, two orders are issued:

Order on the reduction of certain positions.
An order for the dismissal of specific individuals whose jobs have been eliminated.

Let us focus our attention on the first administrative document. This order is prepared at the very beginning of the procedure. It serves as the basis for initiating organizational and staffing measures. Currently, there is no single form of such an order approved at the official level. As a rule, each organization develops its own template.

There are several generally accepted rules that should be taken into account when drawing up an order:

Prepared on A4 paper;
Typed in block letters on a computer;
Mandatory presence of all signatures (general director and the person entrusted with responsibility for the execution of the order).

Sample document

A standard staff reduction order should include the following sections.

The preamble is an introductory part containing generally accepted information:

Full name of the employing organization.
Date and registration number of the paper.
Title of the document.
Subject of the order.

“Body” of the order - this section provides specific instructions regarding changes in the staffing structure:

An official layoff date is set;
A list of positions subject to abolition is provided.

Appointment of a responsible person - the head of the organization must appoint an employee (full name and position) who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the order, and give him the following instructions:

Notify employees who have been laid off and offer them other available positions;
Notify the trade union and the employment service.

At the end of the document, the manager who issued this order, as well as the specialist responsible for execution, puts his signature.

Administrative responsibility

If an employer violates the rules of dismissal due to staff reduction, he will be held administratively liable under Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and fined up to 50,000 rubles for each illegally dismissed employee.

In case of repeated violation, the amount of the fine will increase and amount to up to 70,000 for each employee.

In this case, the employer is obliged to reinstate the illegally dismissed person at work and pay him the earnings he did not receive during his forced absence. Additionally, the employer will bear all costs of the lawsuit.