Sample notice of reduction in the number of employees in 2021

The Labor Code and other regulatory legal acts do not contain a unified form of the document. The employer’s right to unilaterally terminate an employment contract due to a reduction in the company’s staff is regulated by the Labor legislation of Russia.

The law does not impose any special requirements for the execution of notification. It is advisable to use the company's letterhead, but this is not a requirement . You can issue a notice of layoff of an employee on a regular blank sheet of paper, printed on a computer, or you can write it by hand.

The only obligatory condition is the signature of the manager or the official who has the right to sign such documents.

The signature of the employee who received this document is also required, and it is also necessary for him to indicate the date of familiarization with the notice of dismissal due to reduction. It is from this date that the report of those 2 months that can be worked will begin (at the employee’s request).

The notice is drawn up in 2 copies: 1 remains with the employee, and 2 is stored in the personnel department in the employee’s personal file for the time established by law for documentation of this type. After this, the case is transferred to the archives.

The legislation establishes the following notice periods for layoffs:

Employees with whom labor contracts were concluded on a general basis - at least 2 months in advance;
Workers hired for seasonal work - at least 7 days in advance;
Workers with fixed-term contracts of less than 2 months - no less than 3 days in advance.

There are two concepts: staff reduction and reduction in the number of employees.

Staff reduction is the exclusion of certain positions from the staffing table.
Headcount reduction – reduction in the number of employees in similar positions.

The procedure for reducing staff or its number, payments due to an employee and the conditions under which the employer has the right to reduce him are regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The process is described in detail in Art. 180 of Chapter 27 “Guarantees and compensation to employees related to termination of an employment contract.”

Reduction procedure

The employer's algorithm for reducing the number of personnel will look like this:

Issuance of an order and approval of a new staffing table in connection with a reduction in the number of employees.
Determination of the contingent of persons who cannot be laid off, as well as classification of employees according to the preferential right to retain their jobs.
Notification of selected employees.
Providing them with information on possible vacancies.
Notification of the trade union committee and the central control center.
Dismissal procedure (order, payments, notes in the work book).

Who needs to be notified?

Within two months (in some cases three, when it comes to massive staff reductions), the employer is obliged to notify the following parties to the process:

the employees themselves;
employment center;
trade union committee (if available).

Worker

An employee who has been laid off is notified two months before the date of dismissal (before the date the new staffing table comes into force).

The legislation does not establish a unified form for such notification, but it must indicate the date of the proposed dismissal and indicate a list of proposed vacancies, noting their monthly salaries.

As a rule, the employee receives a copy of the original notice, and the employer signs and dates the copy.

After this, the employee has several options for further actions:

continue to work for the remaining two months and consider other offers for vacant positions, about which the employer is obliged to notify him;
accept one of the offered vacancies;
resign early, without waiting for the end of the second month, while receiving all due compensation;
Take the opportunity to take all your past unused vacations off.

Procedure for job reduction and employee notification

The procedure for dismissal in case of job reduction under clause 2 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is as follows:

The employer decides to reduce positions, issues an order about this and approves a new version of the staffing table.
A notice of staff reduction is given to all workers who are planned to be dismissed under paragraph 2 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
People are offered available vacancies throughout the notice period.
At the end of the warning period, dismissal is carried out: a corresponding order is drawn up and an entry is made in the work book.
Final settlements are made with the dismissed person (including payment of severance pay for the first month).
If a “redundant” employee does not find a job, he is paid for the second, and, by decision of the employment authorities, for the third month after dismissal.

Notice of job reduction should be given to the employee no later than two months before the date of termination of the contract.

Procedure for drawing up the document

The notification is issued in any form, since the Labor Code does not provide for a standard form for drawing up an official document. The following rules should be followed:

The document is drawn up on the organization’s letterhead with the obligatory indication of the company name.
Since each employee who has been laid off is given his own notice, it must fully indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of the person in whose name the paper is issued, as well as his residential address.
The notification must have its number and date of preparation.
Good reasons for reducing the position must be indicated; these could be an order to reduce staff or change the staffing table.
The notification includes the number and date of the basis order. It is very important to compose an information letter correctly and take into account all the nuances, otherwise it may be challenged in court or declared invalid.
It is mandatory that the document must fully indicate the position being reduced, and an important element is the presence of the relevant article of the Labor Code on the basis of which the dismissal occurs. In the situation under consideration, this is Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation with reference to the corresponding subparagraph.
Among other things, the document must contain a list of vacant positions that the employee is invited to occupy, preferably indicating the salary. It is best to also provide information about the employer’s right to terminate the employment contract after a two-month period.
The notification is signed by its originator, the head of the personnel service or the director of the enterprise. At the end of the document, the employee’s signature is required stating that he received the official sheet and the date of receipt of the document. It is advisable to include a line indicating the employee’s agreement or disagreement to take the proposed vacant positions.

Notice of employee layoff: sample 2021

As mentioned above, one of the main stages of downsizing is notification of job reduction. The sample is not approved by law, so employers can make it in free form. The following information is required to be included in the notification:

Full name and position of the employee to whom the notification of the upcoming layoff is addressed.
The date of dismissal must be specified accurately.

Otherwise, when drawing up a notice, the rules for drawing up official documents are followed. A standard notice of employee layoff will contain the following details:

Name of the organization that compiled the document. As a rule, the notification is printed on the company’s letterhead, where all the details are indicated in the corner stamp.
Addressing the addressee. The document must begin with the words: we notify, notify, inform you, etc.
Signature of the manager or other authorized person.
Date and document number.
In a special journal, or on a copy of the notice remaining with the employer, the employee indicates the date of receipt and puts his signature.

Order

If a reduction is planned, an order is created. It may concern not only a reduction in the number of employees, but also the renaming of a department, the opening of a new department, the appointment and renaming of positions. A sample of an order to reduce staff includes the following points:

Name of the institution.
Then the name of the document is indicated - ORDER. The word is usually highlighted or placed in the center of the line.
Below is the city where the document is valid. The date and number are also included.
Then a preamble is drawn up reflecting the essence of the order.
The main part states the motives and reason why the reduction will be carried out.
When they record which employees are being laid off, they always indicate the number - how many employees remain in this position and how many leave.
The head of the department where candidates for dismissal are registered is given an order. It determines who will be cut and who will be retained.
The boss must make changes to the schedule and process everything properly.
The director controls the execution of the order.
At the end of the document the signature of the manager and full name are placed. and position.

This is also important to know:
The dismissal procedure under the Labor Code

The drafting sample and form for an order to reduce staffing levels in each organization may differ slightly. But in general it is compiled according to the above rules. In internal regulations related to the internal activities of the enterprise, a wet company seal is not affixed. But in documents on external activities it is necessary.

Notification of vacant positions during layoffs: sample

When laying off, the employee must be offered all available vacancies at the employer (Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). You can do this in two ways:

Enter the relevant information into the layoff notice.
Prepare a separate document.

If a separate vacancy document is drawn up, then for the first time it is handed to the employee along with a notice that dismissal will be made due to a reduction in position. Then the employer must offer the employee available vacancies several more times (during the notice period). The last time this is done is on the day of dismissal. The frequency of this procedure is not regulated, but it is recommended to perform it at least once a month.

Notification of an employee about job reduction, sample

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Job reduction: payments and compensations

A reduction in position presupposes that the employer must give the employee the following amounts of money (Article 178 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

Severance pay on the day of dismissal in the amount of average monthly earnings.
The same severance pay at the end of the second month, provided that the person’s work book does not contain a record of new employment.
Severance pay is also possible at the end of the third month, also in the amount of average earnings, but only by decision of the employment authorities and provided that the person, having contacted the Employment Service within 2 weeks after the layoff, still has not found a job.

Also, the employee is paid all amounts of money due to him upon termination of the employment contract (salary, compensation for “not taken” vacation, etc.).

Reduction of positions in the staffing table must be carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements of legislative acts. If all the requirements are not met, then there is a high risk for the employer that reinstatement will take place after a layoff (read more about reinstatement by court decision in our article).

One of the first and main steps in the reduction procedure is a notice of reduction, the sample of which is not approved by law and therefore can be drawn up in free form.

What happens if you don't sign the notice?

In case of refusal to sign a notice of staff reduction, it is necessary to draw up a corresponding act and attach it to the employee’s personal file. A refusal issued in this manner will indicate that the employer has completed the entire procedure for dismissing the employee in full.

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Likewise, if an employee refuses to receive a redundancy letter from a postal worker and it is returned to the sender, it must be attached to the file.

This is also important to know:
Vacation followed by dismissal: how to formalize it correctly

Even an unreceived message will also serve as evidence of compliance with the law by the employer.

But if the employer did not bother to obtain the employee’s signature on the notice or did not draw up an act of refusal to sign it, in the future the subordinate can easily challenge his actions by contacting the labor inspectorate or court.

Reason for staff reduction

As a rule, staff reduction occurs due to:

optimization of financial costs at the enterprise. The management does not want to support workers, without whom it is quite possible to do, and sends them a corresponding notice.
liquidation of the company - in this case, all members of the workforce without exception are subject to dismissal.
reorganization of the company - here the reduction may affect only part of the staff.

This is important to know: Objection to the court order of the magistrate: how to write and sample

Proper delivery

Ideally, the layoff notice must be delivered personally to the employee and his personal signature must be obtained.

There is an option to send by registered mail (), in this case you must take a document with the personal signature of the employee . It is prohibited to send such a document by email; in this case, it is not possible to obtain the employee’s personal signature.

If an employee refuses to put a personal signature, an act is drawn up and signed by two witnesses working at the enterprise.

If the employee is on sick leave

According to Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employer does not have a preemptive right to dismiss an employee if he is at home on sick leave. However, the law does not prohibit sending a layoff notice to an employee on sick leave.

In this case, you can send a notification using mail . The difficulty is that the employee may have to sign the notification of receipt, but it is impossible to draw up an act at home.

You cannot send a notification to an employee who is on sick leave in one case: if she is a pregnant woman. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, pregnant women and those on maternity leave to care for a child under three years old cannot be fired.

During this entire time, it is impossible to fire an employee.

Consequences of violation of legal norms

Any action of the employer must fully comply with the requirements of labor law. Ignoring certain rules, including untimely notification of staff about the upcoming dismissal, can lead to the following unpleasant consequences.

Expert opinion

Davydov Alexander Yurievich

Civil law consultant with 20 years of practice. Author of numerous articles on legal topics

Bringing to responsibility - for violation of the Labor Code the following types of administrative penalties are provided (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation):

Warning;
Fine (from 1 to 50 thousand rubles).

In addition, a criminal case may even be opened against the employer (in case of violation of the legal rights of a pregnant employee, a person near retirement age, etc.).

The employee can sue - if the dismissal is considered illegal, he will be reinstated to his previous job.