Concept
According to labor law, the official salary is a permanent and fixed part of the salary. The employer cannot pay the employee less than this amount for the time actually worked. The salary does not change if the employee was always at the workplace during working hours. It may decrease if the employee does not go to work (sick leave, vacation, etc.).
Various additional payments cannot be included in the official salary. All allowances, compensations and additional payments are not included in it. Thus, the official salary is the employee’s rate without additional payments.
Application algorithm
Staff salaries are calculated in accordance with regulations at the federal and regional levels, in particular Art. 143-145 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The employee’s rank is determined using a unified tariff and qualification directory. It contains a list of various professions and their evaluation characteristics. The requirements for the employee’s professional skills and level of responsibility are also indicated.
The legislation does not prohibit the development of your own directories, which take into account the specifics of the enterprise’s activities. The process of employee certification begins with an order from the manager. In this case, all the nuances are discussed in the collective agreement of the enterprise. These local acts should not infringe on the rights of employees, and the level of wages should not be lower than the minimum wage.
Budgetary organizations use only state directories; they do not have the right to use others.
Official salary and tariff rate
Both of these concepts are used to determine the minimum wage. When calculating an employee's salary, the actual results of his activities are not taken into account. He will receive it even in their absence. The use of a salary scheme is necessary in cases where it is impossible to establish evaluation criteria and objectively determine the amount of work done. An employee is paid for his overall contribution, and his performance depends on the work of the entire team.
Other criteria are used to determine the salary amount. This includes the qualifications of the employee, the complexity and scope of assigned responsibilities, and the requirements for the final result. The employer must evaluate the amount of mental and physical effort, the conditions of multitasking, and the need for initiative on the part of the employee. The more serious the requirements, the higher the salary.
When using the tariff rate, objective indicators of the employee’s performance are taken into account. There are two forms:
- time-based;
- piecework.
The first takes into account the time spent on performing a certain amount of work and the qualifications of the employee. The second form is used when there is a clear evaluation criterion. For example, manufactured parts. This form is usually used in industries where there are clear production standards. There, employees' salary directly depends on their personal performance.
What is the tariff schedule
The system has been used since Soviet times. The mesh is used both in budgetary institutions and in commercial ones. The tariff schedule is a fixed pattern in the form of a table between the employee’s rank and the tariff rate. Using these indicators, the employee's salary is calculated.
One of the components of the system is the discharge. It means the professional classification of an employee, which is determined using different categories (level of education, job responsibilities, length of service, etc.). The category shows the real possibilities of using personnel in production, and also allows you to optimize labor productivity in the enterprise.
The tariff schedule demonstrates the dependence of an employee’s salary on his rank. This system has a flexible structure, allowing management to adjust salaries. Tariff coefficients are used to motivate staff to increase their rank, clearly demonstrating the difference in salary between the first qualification and subsequent ones. The system will bring a lot of negativity to working relationships if the tariff schedule is drawn up incorrectly.
Installation
In order to set the official salary, the employer must proceed from the total size of the wage fund. This must be done for each individual month. Please note that if there are holidays, salary costs may increase.
Next, you need to determine the gradation according to which salaries will change. All positions from cleaner to manager must correspond to a certain rank. This is followed by determining the amount of funds for each of them. Official salary rates are determined by dividing the amounts received by the number of employees of each rank.
It is also necessary to set some gaps in larger and smaller directions. This way the company gets the opportunity to influence the employee’s activities. These can be either incentive payments or deductions for negative indicators.
All calculations are carried out without taking into account the payment of necessary taxes. They will be calculated from the actual accrued salary.
It should be noted that salary schemes are used only in organizations with budgetary funding. They are used by state and municipal institutions. Companies that are self-financing use a staffing scheme. It contains a list of positions and the corresponding salary.
1.1. Regulations on remuneration
The employer develops this document independently. In it, he records the systems and forms of remuneration used at the enterprise, determines the wage structure, the minimum official salary (tariff rate), the timing and procedure for paying wages, and the procedure for resolving labor disputes on wage issues. The appendices to the Regulations on Remuneration may contain salary schedules, wage scales for grades and coefficients for remuneration of employees, tariff grade charts, and piece rates.
Now let's talk in more detail about what the listed documents are and how to draw them up correctly.
Salary Scheme
This is a list of positions (from highest to lowest) and their corresponding official salaries in absolute (hryvnia) or relative (job coefficients) amounts.
If we talk about the salary scheme, which shows their absolute sizes, then it will look like a table consisting of two columns. In the first, professions (positions) are given, in the second - salaries*.
* According to this principle, salaries are established for positions, for example, in the order of the Ministry of Labor “On the conditions of remuneration for workers engaged in servicing executive authorities, local self-government and their executive bodies, prosecutorial bodies, courts and other bodies” dated October 2, 1996 No. 77
.
Please note: in the salary chart for individual positions, salaries can be given in a certain range (the so-called “salary range”). In this case, the specific monthly salaries for employees with the same positions are established depending on their qualifications, the complexity of the work performed, and working conditions.
Let's show in Fig. 1.1 is a fragment of the official salary chart, which shows their absolute amounts for each position.
At the same time, an enterprise, when setting salaries for employees, can use the same approach as when determining tariff rates for workers, i.e., assigning tariff grades to positions and approving inter-position coefficients**. Let's talk about this option in more detail next.
** According to this principle, issues of remuneration are settled, for example, in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On remuneration of workers on the basis of the Unified tariff schedule of categories and coefficients for remuneration of employees of institutions, establishments and organizations of certain sectors of the public sector” dated August 30, 2002 No. 1298
.
Tariff schedules and tariff categories schemes
Tariff scales of categories and coefficients for remuneration of workers, as well as schemes of tariff categories are elements of differentiation of wages. They make it possible to establish the correct relationship between wages and the qualification level of workers.
The tariff schedule is a set of qualification tariff categories and the corresponding tariff (job) coefficients, which determine the size of tariff rates (salaries) for remuneration of workers depending on the complexity of the work performed and the qualifications of the workers.
The tariff schedule is a table in which each tariff category is assigned its own tariff coefficient .
The tariff coefficient of the 1st category is usually taken equal to one
The tariff coefficient of each subsequent category shows the level of increase in wages for a worker of this category compared to the wages of a worker of the 1st category.
Let's show in Fig. 1.2 fragments of the tariff schedule and schemes of tariff (job) grades.
In this case, the tariff rate (salary) is calculated as follows:
1) determine which tariff category is assigned to a specific position;
2) find the tariff coefficient corresponding to this tariff category;
3) multiply the tariff coefficient by the minimum tariff rate (salary) of an employee of the 1st tariff category.
In this case, the minimum tariff rate (salary) is fixed in the Regulations on remuneration.
Important!
Labor legislation (see Article 96 of the Labor Code
and
art.
6 of the Law on Remuneration ) is determined: the minimum monthly tariff rate (salary) cannot be less than the subsistence minimum established for able-bodied persons
on January 1 of the calendar year ( in 2021 - 2102 UAH ).
Using the information shown in Fig. 1.2, let us assume that at an enterprise the minimum tariff rate for an employee of the 1st tariff category is 2200 UAH.
Then we find the salary of the general director by multiplying the tariff rate of an employee of the 1st tariff category (2200 UAH) by the tariff coefficient established for the tariff category corresponding to the position of “general director” (5.82). We receive a salary of 12804 UAH (2200 UAH x 5.82).
Keep in mind! If the employer uses hourly wages, then the minimum hourly wage rate, below which the employee cannot be paid, he calculates independently .
It's done like this. The amount of the subsistence minimum established for able-bodied persons on January 1 of the reporting year is divided by the average monthly working hours.
In turn, the average monthly working hours are found by dividing the annual working hours established for the employee (full-time) by 12.
So, in 2021, with an annual working time of 2002 hours (a 40-hour five-day work week with two days off on Saturday and Sunday with the same length of work per day during the work week), the minimum hourly wage rate will be equal to:
2102 : (2002 : 12) = 12,60 (UAH/h).
Note:
The legislator does not oblige the employer to increase salaries (tariff rates) in connection with the increase in the minimum cost of living during the calendar year
At the same time, such an increase may be provided for by a collective agreement (Regulations on remuneration, another regulatory act of the employer regulating issues of remuneration of employees) in force at the enterprise.
Also keep in mind: an enterprise can set a different minimum tariff rate (salary) for a 1st category employee, for example, by tying it to the minimum wage (hereinafter referred to as the minimum wage). The main thing is that it should not be lower than the subsistence level for able-bodied persons as of January 1 of the calendar year.
Differentiation of salaries (tariff rates)
The minimum tariff rate (salary) established by Art. 96 Labor Code
and
art.
6 of the Law on Remuneration is a kind of limit (border) below which one cannot fall.
simple unskilled labor can be calculated in this amount *.
* But remember: the total amount of salary for the month, if the work norm is met, cannot be lower than the minimum wage ( Article 31 of the Law on Remuneration ).
If the performance of work requires certain qualifications (skills), the salary (tariff rate) should be determined taking into account inter-qualification (inter-position) ratios of tariff rates (official salaries). This is required by Art. 96 Labor Code
.
Taking into account the above, a salary (tariff rate) in the minimum amount determined by law can be established only for the simplest professions . Let us recall that the list of these professions is given in section. 9 Classifier of professions
. For a position that requires qualifications, we strongly advise against setting the salary (tariff rate) at the minimum subsistence level, even if this is the only position on the staff list (for example, director).
We also do not recommend getting carried away with “equalization” in salaries (tariff rates). It “results” in violation of the requirements of Art. 94, 96 Labor Code and Art. 6 of the Law on Remuneration . And it doesn’t matter what amount of salaries (tariff rates) are set for all employees: 2102 UAH or 20,000 UAH.
That's why
salaries (tariff rates) should be differentiated by position depending on the qualifications of the employee and the complexity of the work
Important!
Attribute positions to certain tariff categories in agreement with the elected body of the primary trade union organization (trade union representative). This is a requirement of Art. 96 Labor Code
.
Moreover, if such information is reflected in the Regulations on remuneration (collective agreement of the enterprise), then approval will occur automatically when the Regulations (collective agreement) itself are agreed upon.
Let’s assume that the enterprise has provided the minimum tariff rate (salary) and the official salary scheme in absolute amounts (in hryvnias) in the Regulations on Remuneration. How then to deal with the situation with increasing salaries (increasing the minimum tariff rate)? Do I need to make changes to the Remuneration Regulations every time?
Our recommendation for this case:
provide in the Regulations the rules governing the procedure for recalculating wages
Let's say that at your enterprise, salaries (tariff rates) are increased once a year in January due to an increase in the minimum cost of living and, accordingly, the minimum tariff rate (salary). In this case, it can be stated in the Regulations on Remuneration, for example, that the size of tariff rates (salaries) changes in proportion to the increase in the tariff rate (salary) of an employee of the 1st tariff category, which is calculated in accordance with the corresponding paragraph of the Regulations on Remuneration.
It works like this.
Let’s assume that the official salary scheme approved at the enterprise in 2021 establishes the official salary of the enterprise’s cashier in the amount of UAH 3,240.00.
The Regulations on Remuneration stipulate that the tariff rate of a 1st category worker (minimum salary) is equal to the minimum subsistence level established by law for able-bodied persons on January 1 of the calendar year.
The official salary (tariff rate) of an employee of the 1st tariff category in 2021 was 1600 UAH, in 2021 - 2102 UAH.
This means that the coefficient by which the cashier’s salary had to be increased from January 1, 2021 is equal to:
2102 UAH: 1600 UAH = 1.31375.
As a result, the cashier’s salary as of January 1, 2021 will be:
3240 UAH x 1.31375 = 4256.55 UAH.
In order to get away from salaries with kopecks, you can write down rules for rounding up to 1 or 10 hryvnia in the “salary-forming” document (in the Regulations on Remuneration).
If you increase your salary more often (for example, every two months to avoid indexation), then this is also not a problem. In the Regulations on Remuneration, for example, it can be stated that the salary amounts (tariff rates) given therein are the basic sizes.
At the same time, the revision of salaries (tariff rates) is carried out at the enterprise as follows: salaries (tariff rates) are increased in January by 20%, in March, May, July, September and November - by 0.5% in comparison with those previously approved in the staffing table salaries (tariff rates).
As a result, having a Regulation on remuneration, which properly spells out the mechanism for revising salaries (tariff rates), the enterprise can easily draw up a staffing table. And you no longer have to coordinate it with the trade union committee or a representative of the workforce. After all, all the indicators that were used in calculating salaries (tariff rates) have already been agreed “in bulk” in the Regulations on Remuneration.
Below is a sample of the Labor Remuneration Regulations.
*Annexes are not provided.
Salary and wages
The official salary is part of the salary. It also consists of compensation, incentive payments and deductions. Compensation payments include additional payments for hazardous working conditions, overtime, and shift schedules. This also includes the regional coefficient. For each region, the Russian government sets a certain increasing index for labor compensation in difficult climatic or geographical conditions.
Incentive payments are everything an employer does to encourage the activities of its employees. This includes various bonuses, bonuses for fulfilling and exceeding the plan, and other rewards.
Typically, the employer strives to increase the gap between wages and official salary. Through bonuses, he stimulates the employee and intensifies his activities. In some industries, the salary is only 20% of the wages paid.
Calculation of allowances
An increase to the official salary recognizes the employee’s past achievements and motivates him for further successful work. There are mandatory and optional surcharges. Mandatory allowances include allowances for difficult working conditions, business trips, and shift work.
Optional payments include payments when the employer wants to recognize or reward an employee. Such allowances are set individually. These include payments for length of service, professional excellence, work results, academic degrees, etc.
All allowances must be reflected in the employment agreement. Sometimes reference to regulations is allowed.
Salary is used to calculate the amount of additional payments. Since they are most often set in the form of a coefficient, a basis for their calculation is necessary. Thus, the official salary is the basis for determining the amount of the entire salary. The amount of bonuses is determined by multiplying the coefficient by the salary.
Monthly additional payments
According to section 3 of the Order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of March 21, 2013 No. 195, monthly additional payments include:
Monthly bonus for length of service (length of service)
- from 2 to 5 years – 10%;
- from 5 to 10 years – 15%;
- from 10 to 15 years – 20%;
- from 15 to 20 years – 25%;
- from 20 to 25 years – 30%;
- 25 years or more – 40%.
Attention!!! Percentage of salary. The length of service for the payment of this bonus is calculated in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 23, 2003 No. 43.
Let us note only the main points - the length of service for calculating the length of service bonus includes service in the Armed Forces, service in the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as work in the Federal Border Guard Service in a civilian position, before direct appointment to a certified position.
The order to charge a percentage increase to a specific employee is issued once, then it is calculated automatically, so there is no need to independently inform the accounting department that you have crossed the threshold of 5, 10, 15 years and you need to increase the increase - all the data is in the accounting department, the increase will be must be accrued.
Change in official salary
Sometimes there are reasons for a salary increase. These may include length of service, passed certification, regularly exceeding the plan, and changes in job responsibilities. Another reason may be that the employee has improved his or her qualifications.
To increase the salary, the immediate supervisor writes a memo to his superiors justifying the increase. After that:
- There is an agreement with the head or authorized person of the organization.
- The HR department is preparing a separate order to change the employee’s salary and make changes to the staffing table.
- All changes are reflected in an additional agreement to the employment contract and signed by both parties.
All changes and additions come into force immediately after signing. Drawing up an order and agreement is mandatory. Without them, all changes in the amount of official salary are invalid.
