We analyze a sample notice of staff reduction (2 months in advance)

Procedure for reducing a position

A layoff due to job reduction occurs when a company eliminates a position from its staffing schedule. The reasons for such an action can be very different, including financial difficulties of the enterprise, ineffectiveness of employees, reorganization of the company, etc.

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There is a specific, legal and time-tested algorithm for reducing staff.

1. The launch of the process should always begin with a written order from the director to exclude a particular position from the staffing table and approval of a new staffing table.
2. Then you should decide on those employees who cannot be laid off by law.
3. Next, there is a notice of dismissal due to a reduction in the staff of those employees whose jobs are abolished.

However, before dismissing them, the company is obliged to offer them available vacancies that match their qualifications and level of education. If there are no such vacancies or the employee refuses the options offered to him in writing, then the dismissal procedure occurs .
The trade union committee (if there is one at the enterprise) and the employment center must be notified about it in advance.

Dismissal procedure due to upcoming layoffs

The procedure for terminating an employment contract associated with a reduction in staffing levels is as follows:

1. The first step is to issue an order reflecting the list of positions subject to reduction, and also indicating the exact date of entry into force of the changes.
2. Then management must notify the union and the employment service. This must be done 2 months before the upcoming dismissal. This rule is enshrined in Part 2 of Art. 82 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and in paragraph 2 of Art. 25 of the Law “On Employment in the Russian Federation”. If the reduction is massive, then notification must be sent 3 months before the event.
3. Next, the employer needs to identify personnel who, by law, have the right to remain in their current place. Selection is made based on skill level and labor productivity. Employees with the highest values ​​of these indicators must be kept at work (Part 1 of Article 179 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
4. Persons who have been decided to be dismissed are sent a notice of layoff.
5. The employer is also obliged to contact the employee in writing with an offer of other available places that are available at the enterprise. The list of such positions can be additionally included in the written warning.
6. If a person refuses to move to another vacant position, then the next step is to prepare a dismissal order.
7. A note is made in the employee’s personal card, a calculation note is drawn up, and a list of documents is prepared that, by law, must be issued to the dismissed person.
8. On the last working day: a work book is presented containing a record of the reason for leaving work; all compensation is paid; a certificate of the employee’s salary for the last 2 years is issued, a document containing information that was sent to the Pension Fund and other papers (at the request of the former employee).

Making an order

As a rule, such a document is drawn up based on one of the following templates:

• Form T-8 - used if one person resigns;
• Form T-8a - used to reduce several frames at once.

It is worth noting that the use of these forms is not mandatory. The organization has the right to approve its template. The order must be prepared taking into account the following requirements :

1. Before registration, you should make sure that all preliminary procedures have been completed (notifying the employee, offering free places, etc.).
2. Strict adherence to dismissal deadlines (the order should not be issued earlier than 2 months from the date of warning to the employee).
3. The employee must be familiarized with the document against signature.

Special material has been prepared on the topic of drawing up a dismissal order due to staff reduction (sample) - we recommend reading it.

Entitled payments

Personnel who have been laid off are legally entitled to the following amounts:

• Salary for the time that a person managed to work;
• Cash compensation for unused vacation;
• Severance pay;
• Maintaining your average monthly salary for the period of searching for a new job (no more than 2 months after dismissal).

If the employment contract is terminated early, the employer is obliged to pay the dismissed person additional compensation in the amount of the average salary, calculated taking into account the time remaining before the official date of staff reduction (Part 3 of Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Deadlines for sending notifications

By law, notice of dismissal due to a reduction in position must be given to the employee at least two months before the date of reduction. In this case, the employee must sign that the notification has been received.

If the deadline for sending the notice is violated, then in the future the employee may challenge his dismissal, and the court will most likely take his side.

It should be noted that if a large number of personnel are dismissed at once, which is determined depending on the sector or locality in which the company operates, the employer is obliged to notify employees three months before the date of dismissal (equivalent to the entry into force of the new staffing table).

How many months in advance must an employee be notified that his position is being made redundant?

Clause 2 of Part 1 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, as one of the grounds for dismissal at the initiative of the employer, provides for the termination of employment relations in connection with a reduction in the number or staff of the company's employees.
Read here what is the difference between staff reduction and employee reduction.

Below we consider what rules an employer must follow when reducing staff, and how many months in advance employees must be notified. When carrying out the procedure, you must remember certain requirements:

1. employees must be personally warned by the employer about the upcoming dismissal no later than 2 months before the date of termination of the employment contract (Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
2. the employee does not belong to the category of persons whose dismissal is not permitted by law;
3. he does not have a preferential right to remain at work (which employees are given a preferential right when reducing numbers and staff?);
4. It is possible to dismiss an employee due to a reduction only if the employer’s company has no vacant positions for which the employee could apply (Part 3 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Having decided to carry out organizational and staffing measures, the employer issues a corresponding order. This order, as well as the new staffing table, from which it follows that a number of positions are subject to reduction, and the employees occupying them are subject to dismissal, is the basis for notifying employees of the termination of employment relations with them.

Retrenched employees must be notified of their upcoming dismissal at least 2 months before actual changes in the organization’s staffing table. The notice must be delivered to the employee personally, and receipt of the document will be evidenced by his signature.

Labor legislation does not prohibit sending notice by mail , but the employer will need confirmation of the fact that the letter was received by the person being warned. You can also inform about upcoming organizational and staffing events by sending a courier to an employee, for example, on sick leave.

A notice of job reduction may be sent to the employee by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

The notice must indicate a specific date - the period from which the amended staffing schedule begins, and the position held by the employee will be abolished, and the employment relationship with him will be terminated.

The legislator requires the employer to notify those being laid off about upcoming organizational and staffing events no later than 2 months in advance. However, it should be borne in mind that if after the date specified in the warning the position is not eliminated, then dismissal on this basis will be unlawful. In this case, the employer will have to repeat the procedure from the beginning:

1. issue an order to carry out routine activities;
2. approve the validity of the new staffing table (you can find out what the management of the enterprise needs to know about the procedure for reducing positions in the staffing table here);
3. provide employees with notices of dismissal;
4. offer them all available vacant positions (we described the procedure for offering vacancies to an employee before layoffs here);
5. terminate the employment relationship within the period specified in the notice.

Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows the parties to terminate their labor relations before the expiration of a two-month warning period about the reduction of positions, but only with mutual consent of the parties.

Read more about what an employer is obliged to do when laying off an employee and what rights management has.

Who is prohibited from being affected during redundancy?

There are categories of workers who cannot be laid off due to layoffs. These include:

• pregnant women,
• single mothers in whose care there are children under 14 years of age and under 18, if these are children with disabilities,
• persons who have dependent children under three years of age.

They can only be fired if the company is completely liquidated.

It is possible to dismiss minor employees due to staff reduction, but this will require separate permission from a special commission for the protection of the rights of employees under 18 years of age.

Illegal termination of an employment contract

According to the same article 261 of the Labor Code, termination of a contract with the following category of citizens is illegal:

• with pregnant women}
• with women with children under three years old}
• with single mothers who are raising children or one child under 16 years old}
• with persons raising children of these categories without a mother.

The employer can withdraw the notice of layoff

You should also comply with the law on the preferential right to occupy a position, which the following categories of citizens have:

• employees whose family includes two or more disabled people who are dependent on the employee}
• employees in whose family no one works except themselves}
• employees who received an industrial injury or mutilation at this enterprise}
• disabled WWII}
• workers who improve their skills on the job.

Rules for writing a notice of job reduction

There is no standard unified notification template, so companies can choose one of two options: either write it in free form or develop their own document template based on their needs. In the second case, the notification form must be registered in the company's accounting policies.

The notification must include a number of required information:

• Name of the organization,
• date of compilation,
• the date when the reduction is expected,
• reason for the reduction
• link to order
• free vacancies available at the enterprise and suitable for the employee.

Correct renewal procedure

If the person being laid off is sick or is on vacation, the layoff period is automatically extended until the employee returns to work. In this case, there is no need to send new notifications.

Important! If the notice was received by the employee later than the appointed period, then the reduction period is extended for the period necessary to comply with the regulations of the law, that is, the reduction will be made 2 or 3 months after receipt of the notice.

In these two cases, the extension is considered automatic and does not oblige the employer to issue new orders, except for the last one, which regulates reductions and settlements with the employee.

Unlike previous options, the employer cannot independently extend the overall period of the procedure, that is, if it is necessary to leave a number of positions for a certain period, then he cannot send a notification with new deadlines that are less than those established by law. If the person was not laid off within the specified period, then the layoff order and notification will have to be issued again.

The correct procedure for a general extension of the reduction period:

• the previous notification is revoked on the basis of a new order to cancel the procedure;
• the reduction order is re-issued and notifications are sent;
• After a certain period of time, employees are laid off.

This procedure allows not to violate legislative regulations and fully respect all workers’ rights. If you do not follow this version of the process, then in judicial practice most often an incorrect extension ends in holding the employer liable. It is worth considering that this is due to the regulations on notice periods, which do not have a maximum notification time, but the minimum should not be violated depending on the category of the employee and the type of reduction.

Read on topic: New staffing table with staff reductions

Read on the topic: Justification for reducing positions and staff numbers

Rules for document preparation

The document can be written by an employee of the organization either by hand or printed on a computer (convenient when a large number of copies are required). It can be issued either on the organization’s letterhead (in this case there is no need to enter company details manually) or on a regular A4 sheet.

The notification is left in two copies , each of which must be signed by the head of the organization. Then one of them is sent to the employee, and the second is registered in the journal of internal documents and is subsequently transferred to the archive of the enterprise.

Labor Code: reduction in the number or staff of employees

First, let's look at what the Labor Code says about reducing the number or staff of employees. There are two concepts:

• staff reduction, that is, the reduction of individual units from the staffing table (for example, if structural units or individual positions (both vacant and occupied by employees) are excluded from the staffing table);
• staff reduction - a reduction in the number of employees in similar positions (for example, if the advertising department had four advertising managers, but there are three, then layoffs are expected to reduce the number of employees).

The procedure for staff reduction, as well as the conditions for its implementation, is regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (the process is discussed in detail in Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

It is important to follow the procedure for reducing the number and staff of employees and carry out all actions required by the employer to avoid violations. Any deviation from the rules established by law may lead to such negative consequences for the employer as reinstatement of the laid-off employee at his place of work, payment of the employee’s forced absence, a fine, etc. Therefore, when formalizing a reduction in the number or staff of employees, you should be very vigilant.

Example of writing a notice of job reduction

1. At the top of the document on the left or right (this does not matter) you need to write the name of the organization, as well as the position, surname, first name, patronymic of the employee to whom the notification is sent.
2. Then the name of the document is written in the middle of the line.
3. In the main part, the reason for which the decision was made to reduce the position (staff of employees) is first indicated, then the date of the decision is entered and a link to the order (date, month, year of issue and its number).
4. After this, the date on which the dismissal is expected to take place is entered into the document, and the available vacancies that were offered to the employee for transfer are also recorded (indicating the salary amount).
5. Then the notice must remind you that in case of refusal from available jobs, the employee will be dismissed in accordance with current legislation and the payment of compensation due to him.
6. Finally, the form must be signed by the head of the company.
7. Under the director's autograph, you need to leave a line for the employee to sign about familiarization with the document.

Grounds for dismissal and employee guarantees

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides an extensive list of reasons why an employment contract may be terminated. The grounds for dismissal at the request of the employer include (Article 81):

• Termination of activities of a business entity or individual entrepreneur;
• Reduction of personnel (numbers or staff);
• If the employee “failed” the certification (the basis will be a discrepancy with the position he occupies);
• Systematic evasion from performing one's job functions;
• Gross violation of labor discipline (even if committed once). This includes absenteeism, drunkenness at work, drug use, etc.;
• If the employee made a decision that led to damage to the employer (applies to management positions), etc.

General information about laying off an employee is described in this article.

An employee whose employment contract was terminated due to layoffs has the right to receive the following guarantees (Chapter 27 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

• Payment of severance pay;
• Preferential right to remain at work (if such personnel have high qualifications and performance indicators);
• Choose another vacant position proposed by the organization’s management;
• Receive notice of dismissal in advance (how long before an employee is notified of layoffs will be indicated below);
• Leave a position that has been laid off early.

Do you have a question about the notice period for layoffs?

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How to send a notification

There are several ways to bring the notice to the attention of the employee.

1. The first and simplest: by handing it over personally from hand to hand.
2. The second, more time-consuming: send a notification to the employee’s home address by mail (for example, if the employee is on vacation or sick).

In this case, it must be sent by registered mail with return receipt requested - this form of sending guarantees that the addressee received the message.

3. The third option is to read the layoff document out loud to the employee, but in this case, the presence of witnesses or a specially created commission that is authorized to certify that the notice was brought to the attention of the dismissed person is necessary.

Differences between reductions and notifications between reductions in headcount and staffing

A reduction in headcount is mainly a reduction in the number of staff units, that is, a reduction in the number of employees occupying one specific position, and a reduction in staff is the complete elimination of a position as such, implying the dismissal of all employees who occupy a given position.

In both the first and second cases, the employer is obliged to provide a notice of layoff against signature personally to each employee in accordance with the established rules. The drafting of notifications in these two cases is not fundamentally different.

Making an order

The meaning of this administrative act is to cancel the previous order on the dismissal of employees due to reduction. There is no strict template for this document. It is drawn up in any form, but according to established rules, that is, on the official letterhead of the enterprise and with the signature of the manager.

Such an order can be issued only within two months following the date of notification of employees about the upcoming dismissal. It must contain information such as:

• The reason for the decision to cancel the dismissal.
• Details of all orders that should be cancelled.
• Instructions to personnel service employees that it is necessary to notify the Employment Center, as well as other government bodies, about a change in the decision of the organization’s management.
• If some employees who were subject to staff reduction quit during the notice period of their own free will, then their job functions should be distributed among the remaining employees, indicating the necessary information in this document.
• Responsible persons who are obliged to monitor compliance with all terms of the order. Most often, this function is assigned to the manager himself.

In the text of the order, it should be noted in a separate paragraph that the chief accountant and the senior employee of the enterprise’s personnel department must be familiar with it. The canceled document is stored in the archive, since it cannot be destroyed, since the document is registered.

Nuances of carrying out

When staff reduction is carried out, the employer is obliged to notify the local Employment Center about this.
This measure allows a laid-off employee to quickly register with the Employment Center, as well as find a new job in a short time. But when there is a possibility that staff reductions can still be avoided or it will be possible to restore workers to their positions, then there is no point in reporting this to the Employment Center. The main thing is to notify employees both about the reduction in personnel and about the cancellation of this procedure. In both cases, this should only be done in writing. If employees are notified by telephone or orally, then it is not impossible to verify these facts, which means that the reduction can be challenged, that is, declared invalid on the grounds that the person did not know about it.

It is necessary to take into account the possibility that the candidate for dismissal will find a new job before the reduction is canceled. In such a situation, the employee can terminate the employment relationship either at his own request or by agreement of the parties. He has no right not to demand that he be dismissed due to layoff, or not to claim special payments, since according to Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, only the employer himself can initiate a layoff.

But nevertheless, this situation is quite complicated, since a former employee can apply to the Trade Union and the judiciary to protect his rights. To avoid this, some employers retain all compensation benefits for such employees.

Reasons for canceling the reduction

The head of any enterprise can carry out a staff reduction procedure. At the same time, all laid-off employees receive the payments due to them according to the legislation of Russia or, for example, Ukraine, and begin to look for a new job.

If the situation has changed, then the manager has every right to cancel the previously made decision to lay off workers. To do this, he creates a new order that cancels the previous document. There may be several reasons for such actions:

• Unexpected increase in staff. Due to the fact that the employee continues to work in his place, the employer does not need to pay him compensation. The employee will continue to receive a salary.
• Transfer of an employee to another position. In this case, he usually retains his previous earnings.
• The organization does not have money for mandatory payments to employees subject to dismissal. Sometimes the compensation can be quite high. In addition, there may be many laid off workers. In both cases, the company may not be able to cover the costs of cash payments. A solution may be to postpone the layoff, which will allow the organization to find the necessary amount to make payments to those laid off.
• Errors were made when preparing documents. The entire layoff procedure is carried out again, while employees continue to perform job duties until the deadline established by the new management order.
• The order to reduce staff was drawn up by a person who does not have the rights to carry out such actions. This situation occurs quite rarely, but if it does occur, then all documents are drawn up again by an authorized employee.

It should be noted that these are only the most common grounds for canceling employee reductions. The management of the organization can carry out this procedure for any valid reason.

Features of delivery of notice

An employee of an organization who has received notice of a reduction in his staff position is not considered dismissed.
His dismissal is carried out only if there is an order signed and certified by the seal of the personnel service of the enterprise. Only in this case can a corresponding entry be made in the employee’s work book. The employer has every right to demand the return of a previously issued notice of layoff if it becomes possible not to carry out this procedure or if there are no grounds to dismiss a certain employee. To avoid misunderstandings and ambiguous situations when delivering notices, a certain procedure should be followed. It includes the following steps:

1. An employee who is subject to dismissal due to a reduction is given a notice of cancellation against signature.
2. The employee signs two copies of the document, one of which is kept in the person’s personal file.

If for some reason the employee refuses to sign the notice, then a corresponding act of refusal is drawn up in front of two witnesses. It is also entered into your personal file. It should be noted that in such a situation, the employee loses the right to demand payment and special compensation payments due to the redundant employee. If this person still wants to sever his employment relationship with the organization, then he will have to either write a statement of his own free will, or ask the employer to draw up a dismissal order by agreement of the parties.

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How to write a notification about the absence of vacancies during layoffs

A notice of the absence of vacancies during layoffs may have the following structure:

• At the top of the document you must indicate the full name of the employer for whom the employee works.
• In the header of the notification, the position and full name are indicated. the employee being laid off, as well as the structural unit in which he worked. If the notification is sent by mail, the recipient's postal address is written in the “header”.
• After this, indicate the full name of the document and the outgoing number assigned to it, and the date of the notification.
• This is followed by a polite address to the employee. For example, “Dear Sergei Petrovich!”
• Then the employee is notified of the upcoming layoff, indicating the details of the order in accordance with which this decision was approved, or the details of the previous notification by which the employee was already notified of his layoff. Here they also make a reference to Part 1 of Art. 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which, when laid off, an employee must be offered an existing other job, including a temporary one, and he can be transferred to another position if a suitable vacancy is available. After this, the employee should be informed that, as of today, there are no jobs (vacant positions) in the organization’s staff that correspond to his qualifications.
• The notice is signed by the manager.
• After delivering the notice to the employee in person, he signs it and puts the date of familiarization with the text of the document.

If notification of the absence of vacancies is sent to the employee by mail, it is imperative to use a registered letter with an inventory and a postal notification form. A sample notice of vacancies in case of layoffs will be given below.