Article 178 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Severance pay. Payment of average monthly earnings for the period of employment or one-time compensation (current version)

In times of economic crisis, many companies cannot cope with the market situation and begin to optimize their costs. Often in such cases, employers lay off their workers. To protect employees, labor laws guarantee severance pay upon dismissal due to redundancy. But still, this does not happen so often, so questions remain for both the accountant and the employees. In this article we will tell you how severance pay is paid when an employee is laid off, who is entitled to it, and how the amount of severance pay is calculated when a layoff is made. We will also consider the timing of payment of severance pay during layoffs in 2021.

What is an abbreviation

There are 2 types of layoffs in which employees are fired. This is downsizing and downsizing .

When downsizing, the number of employees in a particular department is reduced. For example, out of three legal advisers they decide to retain only one. This means that two will be laid off.

But when staffing should be eliminated:

• specific department;
• or all the same staff units.

For example, reduction of the logistics department or reduction of all secretaries.

In any case, reduction is a rather lengthy , requiring documentation and payment of benefits when staffing or numbers are reduced. And to do this, you need to know how severance pay is calculated when staffing is reduced.

Types of compensation for dismissed employees

What is paid upon dismissal?

1. Compensation for dismissal of an employee due to poor health.
2. Payments upon dismissal at the initiative of the employee.
3. Payments upon dismissal by agreement of the parties.
4. Payments upon dismissal of an employee due to staff reduction.

For any reason for staff leaving the enterprise, the employer must make payments for annual leave that the workers did not have time to take. When leaving work occurred on the initiative of the authorities, those dismissed are also entitled to severance pay (in addition to payment for the time actually spent at the workplace while performing official duties).

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Compensation for early termination of an employment contract

Dismissal in case of early termination of an employment contract must be preceded by notification by the employer to the employee 2 months before the date of his actual departure from work. The employer does not have the right to force an employee to write a letter of resignation of his own free will, since this is beneficial exclusively to the employer, who will not have to pay his employee severance pay.

When reducing staff, the law generally prohibits specifying the reason for dismissal as “personal desire of the employee,” since two grounds for leaving work cannot arise simultaneously. In addition, an entry in the work book upon dismissal due to staff reduction is more beneficial for the worker both in terms of finding a new job and in terms of obtaining various benefits.

This is also important to know:
Dismissal of an employee of pre-retirement age

The procedure for such dismissal is as follows:

1. The employee receives a notification and agrees to it.
2. The employer instructs the accounting department to pay the employee for the amount of compensation for unprovided vacation and severance pay.
3. The employee receives a compensation payment for early termination of his employment contract.

Additionally, compensation is assigned for the period remaining until the end of the notice period. In total, the fired person will receive his due salary with all allowances, compensation for rest that was not given, severance pay and compensation salary for the time that he could still work before the dismissal, but agreed not to work.

The purpose of imposing an obligation by law on an employer to pay severance pay is to provide a means of livelihood for an employee who, through no fault or unwillingness, has lost a source of income while he is looking for a new employer.

It is worth keeping in mind that any misconduct in the workplace that would not have been taken into account before, before dismissal, can serve as a reason for manipulation on the part of the employer in order to force the employee to resign of his own free will. At such a time, you should not allow lateness or other, even minor, disciplinary violations.

Compensation for vacation that the employee did not have time to take

For whatever reason, an employee leaves work, among the obligatory payments for him will be compensation for annual leave not provided before the date of dismissal. Moreover, if he had the right to vacation twice, but did not go on vacation for two years in a row, he will receive double compensation.

However, working for 2 years in a row without rest is illegal, and therefore the employer must give an explanation about this, except in cases where the employee has done something wrong. The procedure is this because compensation for unused vacation is not paid if the employee is fired for serious violations. The day of actual departure from the enterprise will be the last day of rest, and before that the employee will already be given all the compensation due to him for unused vacations.

Employee compensation for staff reductions

The dismissal of employees when reducing the company's staff is recognized by law as independent of the wishes of management and subordinates. Extra-budgetary funds are involved in the implementation of social programs aimed at providing for citizens who have lost their jobs through no fault or initiative.

Dismissed employees receive wages with the allowances and bonuses they are entitled to for the time actually spent at work, compensation for annual rest not provided (if any), severance pay, which is certainly paid in two cases:

• upon closure of the enterprise,
• when staffing is reduced.

The average salary is retained by a dismissed employee only until (but not more than 3 months, and only after such a decision is made by the Employment Service) he signs a contract with a new employer. And if we are talking about a part-time worker who still has a second job, then he is not entitled to severance pay at all.

If there is no part-time job, the dismissed employee contacts the Employment Service within 14 days and leaves an application to find a new job. And in the event that the Employment Center does not find a suitable position at another enterprise, it will receive from the former employer the amount of its average earnings for 3 months instead of the standard two.

Compensation for police officers upon dismissal

Police officers are entitled to full compensation for each vacation not used on time until January 1 of the year in which the dismissal took place (the reason does not matter). Compensation amounts for rest that the police officer did not take during the year of dismissal will be paid:

• upon length of service at which the right to pension payments arises, upon reaching the age limit, upon dismissal due to staff reduction or deterioration of health (for annual leave in full, and for other types of rest - in proportion to the length of service in the year of departure from service in the amount of 1/12 of the vacation for 1 full month of work);
• for all other reasons (for each entitled type of rest in the amount of 1/12 of the duration of leave for 1 full month of service based on the average salary).

This is also important to know:
Compensation for unused vacation without dismissal: when provided, procedure for registration

When a police officer leaves service, he is entitled to:

1. Salary for the entire period of service.
2. Quarterly bonus calculated based on actual time served.
3. Compensation equal in value to at least two salaries for the year (if it was not paid in the relevant year).
4. A one-time financial incentive based on the results of 12 months is proportional to the time actually spent in service.
5. Compensation for vacation not provided before dismissal.
6. One-time benefit in the amount of:

• 5 average monthly salaries (dismissal due to age, health reasons, staff reduction, illness, after 10 years of service),
• 10 average monthly salaries (with 10-14 years of service),
• 15 average monthly salaries (with 15-20 years of service),
• 20 average monthly wages (with more than 20 years of service),
• 40% of the transferred amounts (if dismissed for other reasons),
• the transferred amounts + 2 salaries (if the policeman was awarded an order during his service or was awarded an honorary title).

The salary is the one that was assigned at the time of dismissal. Years of service are not rounded to full years. If dismissal occurs upon re-employment, payments are calculated with the offset of previously paid amounts for length of service. If the total length of service was less than 15 years, and the policeman was dismissed without the right to a pension, his salary is retained for 12 months after leaving service (annual indexation is taken into account).

When retiring

When retiring, an employee can receive not only compensation for vacations and wages.

He may also be entitled to additional payments. But only if the collective agreement specifies special conditions under which accruals are made to employees leaving due to retirement age. Sick leave after dismissal in 2021, according to the Labor Code, must be paid by the employer within a month.

Sick leave pay after dismissal

A former employee has the right to claim sick leave payment through the company from which he was dismissed, provided that no more than a month has passed from the date of registration of the event. Only those citizens who have not been employed since the termination of their employment contract should contact the head of a business entity. The certificate of incapacity for work must be presented no later than 6 months from the date of termination of the employment relationship. When calculating the amount of payment, length of service is not taken into account, and when determining its size, the salary is adjusted to 60 percent. If the sick leave was issued to a close relative, then it is not payable.

Dismissal during illness

In case of serious illness, the employee may be on sick leave for a long time. During this period, he has the right to resign for his own reasons or by agreement of the parties, due to the initiative of the employer due to the need to perform duties by a constantly absent person and assign them to a new employee.

The procedure for dismissing a person on sick leave is no different from terminating a contract with a working employee. He must notify the employer of his desire, and after two weeks receive a payment. For a dismissed employee with an open sick leave certificate, the payment amount can be calculated only after receiving a closed sick leave certificate issued by a medical institution. Payments are made on the nearest payday.

What payments are due upon redundancy?

If staff are being reduced, the dismissed employees are entitled to the following payments:

• severance pay in case of layoff;
• average monthly earnings for the period of employment (if there are grounds);
• the balance of due wages and other payments;
• compensation for unused vacation.

The topic of severance pay upon dismissal is described in detail in our article “Severance pay upon dismissal”.

An order for the payment of severance pay in case of layoff is not needed . This payment is required by law. However, we still advise you to issue such an order, since it regulates the procedure for paying severance pay in case of staff reduction:

• firstly, laid-off employees will know about upcoming payments;
• secondly, a person responsible for these transfers will be appointed;
• thirdly, if a controversial situation arises, this order will be additional confirmation that the employer has fulfilled its obligations to pay benefits in the event of a reduction in the number of employees.

Next, we’ll look at how to calculate severance pay during layoffs.

Payment calculation example

The amount of benefit payments is calculated using the formula: Benefit = SDZ * RDP

where, SDZ – average daily earnings;

RDP – working days of the period for which benefits will be paid.

Let's look at an example:

Cook Ivanov I.A. quits his job due to conscription into the army. October 9 is his last day of work.

Salary of Ivanov I.A. is 15,000 rubles per month. He has been working at the company since June 12 of this year on a five-day work week. The entire period has been fully worked out.

On the day of dismissal, Ivanov must be paid wages for October, compensation for unused vacation and two-week severance pay.

We will not consider compensation calculations in this example.

In October there are 22 working days, Ivanov I.A. worked 4 of them. We calculate wages for October:

15000: 22 * ​​4= 2727 rubles

To calculate severance pay, you need to calculate your average daily earnings.

Formula: SDZ = ZP / OD

Salary – earnings for the billing period (5 months)

OD – number of days worked

The billing period is 12 calendar months from the 1st to the 30th (31st). But in our case, the worker has only 4 of them (from June 12 to September 31), which corresponds to 109 working days according to the production calendar, which are fully worked out.

We take these four months into account, since severance pay is paid for working days, and not for calendar days, only 10 days (minus weekends) are taken into account for the calculation of a two-week (13-day benefit).

And if there are also holidays in the next 2 weeks after the day of dismissal, then they are also deducted.

Severance pay = 483.87* 10 = 4838.70 rubles.

Compensation for unused vacation

Compensation for unused vacation is a cash payment that is due to all employees, without exception, who had unused vacation days .

To calculate compensation, you need to multiply the number of days of remaining vacation by average daily earnings .

Such compensation must be paid to all employees who work more than 5.5 months in the year before the date of reduction.

Now let’s look at how to calculate severance pay during a layoff.

Dismissal of an employee who has worked for 2 weeks, 1 month, 5 months, 6 months, 11 months

There are situations when an employee has to be fired at his own request or on the initiative of the employer, when he has worked very little, or has worked for less than a full month, or has not stayed at the enterprise until the end of the working year.
In such cases, the employer must competently carry out the dismissal procedure, otherwise the employee’s rights will not be respected. Most often, the dismissal of an employee who has worked only 2 weeks occurs:

• on their own initiative,
• based on the results of the probationary period (option for those dismissed after 2 weeks and 1 month of work).

This is also important to know:
How is dismissal under an article for drunkenness carried out: the procedure

If it was decided to formalize the dismissal of an employee as having failed the test, you need to remember that for this a probationary period had to be assigned, and it could last no more than a month. Labor legislation does not establish an employer’s obligation to prescribe tests, and therefore, if the company’s policy does not provide for any testing of a candidate’s abilities for a job, then it will be possible to fire him only for absenteeism and violations, or at will.

If a decision is made to formalize the dismissal as a resignation of one’s own free will, the employee is obliged to notify about this 2 weeks in advance, which will subsequently have to be worked out if the employer requires it (if desired, the parties can agree on dismissal on any day without working out the required period). It happens that work is not possible due to the employee moving to another region, pregnancy, etc.

Payments upon dismissal at one's own request:

• issue wages for the time actually spent at work;
• make calculations and accrue compensation for vacation that could have been used, but which never came to pass (on average, for a month of work, the right to 2 days of rest arises, therefore, for 2 weeks of work and for 1 month of work, 1-2 days should be compensated non-vacation).

Dismissal after 5, 6 and 11 months of work can be motivated as follows:

1. The employee himself wished to leave the workplace.
2. The duration of the urgent contact has expired.
3. An employee is transferred to a new position in another company.
4. Staff reduction.
5. Liquidation of the enterprise.
6. Allowing employees to regularly violate labor discipline.

Even when an employee has not worked for a full six months or a year, he will be entitled to compensation for unused rest days. And if there has been a reduction in staff, or the employee’s departure from work was initiated by the employer for another reason, the employee is entitled to other types of compensation for early termination of employment.

Salary for less than a month of performance of official duties is calculated:

1. By the nominal number of days in a month (the average number of days in a month is determined by regulatory documents, in 2021 it is 29.4 days):

Salary = full salary: 29.4 x ChOD, where

• Salary - salary calculated based on the nominal number of days,
• FZP - actually assigned salary,
• CHOD - number of days worked.

1. Based on the actual number of days in a month:

ZP = FZP: KDM x CHOD, where

• Salary - salary calculated based on the actual number of days in the month,
• FZP - actual salary of the employee,
• KDM - number of days in a month,
• CHOD - number of days worked.

Additionally, holidays, weekends, days of absence are taken into account with the same salary.

Calculation of severance pay in case of layoff

To calculate redundancy benefits, average earnings . The procedure for calculating benefits upon dismissal due to staff reduction depends on what kind of schedule the employee has: regular or with summarized working hours.

Regardless of the schedule, we recommend paying the employee for non-working holidays that are included in the pay period. Otherwise, he can go to court. For example, in the appeal ruling of the St. Petersburg City Court dated November 29, 2016 No. 33-23589/2016 in case No. 2-5694/2016, the court sided with the employee when calculating severance pay in case of staff reduction.

We also advise you to study in detail the employment contract with the employee or the collective agreement and local regulations. This is done in order to take into account the possible increased amount of redundancy benefits when calculating.

Who is not paid severance pay?

1. Dismissal at one's own request (clause 3, part 1, article 77);
2. Dismissal on the initiative of the manager when the employee has committed an offense incompatible with the continuation of work (on the grounds of Article 81 of the Labor Code, which provides for the employee’s guilt);
3. Failure to complete the probationary period (Part 1 of Article 71);
4. Dismissal by agreement of the parties (clause 1, part 1, article 77);
5. Termination of an employment contract with a validity period of less than two months (fixed-term employment contract) (clause 2, part 1, article 77).

Calculation of average earnings

The calculation of the average salary in the event of a layoff under any work regime is made on the basis of the actual accrued income to the employee for the previous 12 months of work for a given employer. The actual time worked during this period is also taken That is, we take all income and divide it by the number of days of work.

Let us remind you that are not taken into account :

• for the time when the employee was already receiving a calculation based on average earnings (with the exception of breaks for feeding a child);
• time on sick leave and maternity leave;
• downtime and/or strike time;
• other periods when the employee was released from work, but received average earnings.

So that you know how to calculate redundancy benefits, we provide the following formulas.

Necessary documents for registration

List of documents that are the basis for launching the dismissal procedure:

• An employee's statement of desire to resign.
• Agreement between employee and employer on termination of employment relationship.
• Notice of termination of a fixed-term employment contract.

This is also important to know:
Dismissal of an employee due to loss of trust, article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation

List of documents for the dismissal procedure:

1. Order from the authorities according to f. N T-8, T-8a with designation:

• reasons for employee leaving work,
• articles of the Labor Code.

1. Work record book with a note about the reasons for leaving the enterprise.
2. Note-calculation according to f. No. T-61 with a list of amounts paid.
3. Personal card of the employee by f. N T-2 with a note of dismissal.

Formulas for calculating severance pay

If the question arises of how to calculate severance pay during a layoff, it means that you do not have any formulas or tips. Let's turn to them.

The formula for calculating severance pay in the event of a layoff for an employee working on a regular schedule is as follows:

If such an employee has a summarized recording of working time , then the formula for calculation is as follows:

The formula for calculating redundancy benefits for a seasonal worker is different:

If a seasonal worker has a summarized accounting of working time , the formula for calculating benefits when it is reduced is as follows:

In the next section, we will look at examples of how to calculate severance pay during a layoff.

Payment amount

The size of payments, or rather the compensation included in them, mainly depends on several factors.

These can include:

• date of dismissal of the employee;
• salary amount;
• time elapsed since the last salary;
• time elapsed since last vacation.

All compensation is calculated using special formulas indicated below. In addition, severance pay is included in the amount of payments, if necessary.

How to calculate

If you can still sort out the calculation of wages, then compensation for unused vacation should be given more attention.

The basic formula for calculating compensation upon dismissal is the employee’s average daily salary multiplied by the number of vacation days.

To calculate, you first need to find the average daily salary (hereinafter M) and the number of days of unused vacation.

To calculate “M” you will need to find out the employee’s total income that he received during the calendar year before his dismissal. Once found, it must be divided by 12 (the number of months in a year) and 29.3 (the average number of days in a month). As a result, the average daily salary can be determined.

Now you need to calculate how many days the proposed vacation should last:

1. To do this, it is worth calculating the number of months that have been worked since the end of the last vacation.
2. The resulting number is multiplied by a factor of 2.33 and rounded to the nearest whole number.

It is worth clarifying that this formula is only effective for those organizations that provide employees with 28 days of vacation. The rest need to turn to the labor inspectorate for help.

To calculate it, you need to know the refinancing rate from the Central Bank (C), as well as the amount of debt (S) and the number of days that have passed since the end of the day of dismissal (D).

After all the circumstances have been clarified, it is enough to substitute the values ​​into the formula: “C/100% × 1/300 × S × D.”

An example of calculating severance pay and compensation for unused vacation upon dismissal

Petrova resigned on July 20, 2014 due to changes in working conditions. Severance pay should be calculated in a single amount (05.2014 and 06.2014 are taken into account). Petrova received a salary of 10 thousand rubles. She also received about 4 thousand rubles in hospital benefits (not taken into account when assigning severance pay).

Petrova did not have time to rest during her 28-day vacation.

• Let's calculate the average daily income (for the above 2 months, 33 days were worked):

10,000: 33 = 303 rubles.

• Salary calculation based on average monthly number of days (20):

303 x 20 = 6060 rubles - this will be the amount of severance pay.

• Amount of compensation for unprovided leave:

303 rubles x 28 days = 8484 rubles.

Is it subject to personal income tax?

For working employees, income and compensation for unused vacations are taxed, as well as severance pay amounts, the amount of which exceeds the established ones several times. Those who quit are exempt from taxes.

Taxation does not provide for personal income tax deductions from income that relate to payments to employees in the event of their dismissal.

This is also important to know:
Dismissal with 2 weeks of work: how to count days

The same applies to payments for unused vacations, as well as severance pay. But if the latter was not transferred and was included in the company’s income, then the employer is obliged to pay NNP. Vacation compensation upon dismissal in 2021 is mandatory.

Examples of calculating severance pay

Let's look at an example of calculating severance pay in the event of a layoff for an ordinary employee. For this we will use formula 1.

Example

Let's simplify the problem and assume that the employee is laid off on January 29, 2021. That is, January 31 is his last day of work in this company. This means that the period for calculating redundancy benefits is the first month after dismissal, i.e. from February 1 to February 28, 2021. This period for a 5-day working week includes 19 working days and 1 holiday on February 23 (non-working) . The average daily salary of an employee is 3,000 rubles.

This means that the amount of severance pay in case of reduction will be 60,000 rubles (3,000 rubles × 20 days).

Let's consider an example for seasonal worker.

Example

Let's say an employee is fired on February 25, 2021 and his average daily earnings are 2000.00 rubles. The period for calculating benefits upon dismissal due to staff reduction will be 2 weeks from the date of dismissal - i.e. from February 26 to March 11, 2021 inclusive. This is 9 working days and 1 holiday on March 8 (non-working). Severance pay for staff reduction is calculated using formula 3:

• 2000 rubles × 11 days = 22,000 rubles.

Using the remaining formulas, you can calculate severance pay upon layoffs for other categories of employees yourself.

How to calculate two weeks' earnings

Calculate severance pay in the amount of two weeks' average earnings using the formula:

An example of calculating severance pay in the amount of two weeks' average earnings for an employee dismissed due to conscription for military service

P.A. Bespalov has been working in the organization since October 2, 2014. On January 12, 2015, he was fired due to conscription for military service.

When an employee is dismissed due to conscription for military service, the organization pays him severance pay in the amount of two weeks' average earnings.

Bespalov's average daily earnings is 1,313 rubles/day.

Severance pay was calculated for the first two weeks after dismissal from January 13 to January 26. In this period, according to Bespalov’s work schedule (five-day working week), there are 10 working days. The severance pay amounted to 13,130 rubles. (1313 RUR/day × 10 days). Bespalov received it on the day of his dismissal, January 12, 2015.

.

Situation: how to calculate average earnings for calculating severance pay if an employee worked on a rotational basis and was assigned a summarized recording of working hours?

Calculate your average earnings, taking into account the actual time worked according to a 40-hour workweek schedule.

First, determine your average hourly earnings. To do this, divide the salary for the hours actually worked in the billing period by their number.

Calculate the amount of severance pay using the formula:

In this case, the shift work schedule does not matter. In any case, even for the period falling on inter-shift rest, severance pay must be calculated based on the 40-hour workweek schedule.

This follows from Articles 104, 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and paragraph 13 of the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 No. 922.

An example of calculating severance pay on a rotational basis

P.A. Bespalov worked in the organization on a rotational basis from June 1 to June 15, 2015. He was given a summary record of working time.

The number of hours worked was 78. The salary accrued for the hours worked was 14,500 rubles.

On June 15, 2015, Bespalov was dismissed in accordance with clause 1 of part 1 of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (conscription of an employee for military service or sending him to an alternative service replacing it).

The first two weeks after Bespalov’s dismissal fall on inter-shift rest.

The accountant calculated Bespalov's severance pay in the amount of two weeks' average earnings.

To calculate severance pay, the average hourly earnings was 185.9 rubles. (RUB 14,500: 78 hours).

When calculating severance pay, the accountant used the production calendar, according to which the number of hours per week is 40.

The amount of severance pay was 14,872 rubles. (RUB 185.9 × 80 hours).

Payment of redundancy benefits: term

Severance pay upon dismissal due to staff reduction or headcount reduction for the first month after dismissal must be paid to the employee on the last day of work - along with part of the lost wages (and other payments), as well as compensation for unused vacation.

If the employer’s internal regulations provide for the payment of additional monetary guarantees, then they are also paid along with wages . This is provided for in Part 4 of Art. 84.1, part 1 art. 140 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Who is entitled to benefits upon voluntary dismissal in 2021?

The right to vacation (and payment of compensation for it), as well as to other types of benefits (sick leave pay, additional payments upon dismissal), is available only to those employees who have an employment contract with the employer.
Performers working under civil contracts (contracts, leases, provision of services, etc.) do not have the right to claim additional compensation at the end of the contract and payments upon dismissal, except for payment for the work done.

For other information about the peculiarities of concluding civil contracts, see the article “Contractor agreement and insurance premiums: nuances of taxation” .

Employees who have entered into employment contracts have the right to take leave:

• after 6 months of work;
• or earlier - in agreement with the authorities or in the presence of certain conditions (minors, pregnant women) in accordance with Art. 122 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Upon dismissal, the employer is obliged to calculate and pay compensation for all periods of unused vacation, regardless of their duration and reasons for dismissal (Article 127 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If the vacation was taken in advance, the excess amount paid may be withheld from the final payment.

Payments to the dismissed employee must be made on the last working day, and if he is absent from work, no later than the next day after applying for payment (Article 140 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

If you have access to ConsultantPlus, check whether you made the final payment to the employee correctly. If you don’t have access, get a trial online access to the legal system for free and switch to the Ready Solution.

Payment of average earnings for the period of employment

In addition to the payment of severance pay, when staffing is reduced, employees are paid the average monthly salary for the period of employment. This is stated in Part 2, Art. 178, part 3 art. 292, part 2 and art. 318 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Payment of benefits upon dismissal due to staff reduction is due to all employees, except those hired for a period of up to 2 months. True, there may be an exception for them if the employer has prescribed this condition in its local regulations.

What benefits are paid in case of staff reduction to employees hired for seasonal work? By law, they are required to pay only two weeks’ average earnings - in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 296 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Let's look at how to pay severance pay during a layoff for the second month after dismissal. As we already know, benefits for the first month after dismissal are paid “in advance” - on the day of layoff in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 178, part 1 art. 318 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

For the second and third months (and in the Far North regions - the fourth, fifth and sixth), benefits are paid if the employee applies for it. Let's take a closer look at this point.

How is severance pay paid?

Often the grounds for payment of severance pay are the reasons for dismissal for which it is paid. But this is not true. The relevant reasons are the grounds for the dismissal itself. The basis for calculating benefits is the dismissal order, the text of which indicates the reason giving the right to it, in strict accordance with the wording of Art. 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which lists all the grounds for dismissal. In turn, to issue an order, an employee’s statement or other document is used, which states the reason for dismissal, which is then reflected in the order.

After issuing the order, the accounting department calculates the amount of the benefit and, on the day of dismissal, hands it over to the employee or transfers it to an account/card.

By the day of dismissal, severance pay must be calculated and ready to be issued to the employee

As for the grounds for dismissal, the minimum requirements for the amount of benefits depend on them.

Grounds for dismissal and benefits due for each of them (table)

Features of payment of severance pay during liquidation of an organization and reduction of staff

If an employee is laid off or fired due to the liquidation of an organization, he is additionally entitled to compensation for average earnings for the period of searching for work - a total of up to two months for ordinary workers and up to five months for workers in the Far North or an equivalent area. Thus, together with severance pay, the total amount of payments that an employee who has been laid off or dismissed due to the liquidation of a company is entitled to claim is up to three monthly salaries for residents of most territories and up to six for northerners.

The following categories of employees are exceptions:

• part-time workers - they are not entitled to benefits;
• seasonal workers - their rights are limited to severance pay in the amount of two weeks' earnings;
• employees hired for a period of up to two months - by law they are not even entitled to severance pay, the only exception being when it is specified in an individual or collective employment contract.

This benefit is paid by the employer under a number of conditions:

• the employee must register with the employment center within 14 days after dismissal;
• as of the beginning of the next month, starting from the second after dismissal (for the first it is not due, since it is already covered by severance pay) continue to remain unemployed.

In the second month after dismissal, to receive this benefit, you need a passport, an application for the issuance of money in the name of the employer and a work book, the last entry in which was made by the previous employer. For the third, and for northerners up to the sixth, the list of documents is supplemented with permission from the employment center.

Compensation for the period of job search for the third month after dismissal is paid by the employer with the permission of the employment center

In this regard, the situation with former employees of liquidated companies is interesting. While the company is still listed as active in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, they must apply for the money owed to them to the liquidation commission. As soon as a liquidation entry appears in the register, there is no one to claim what is due to them.

During the crisis of 2008–2009, the author of these lines was registered with the employment center for some time. Since I myself was fired by agreement of the parties, I was entitled to state unemployment benefits from the first month of my unemployed status. But we have seen enough of those laid off due to staff reduction and the confusion associated with a lack of understanding of all the nuances of receiving the payments due to them for the second and third months of their job search. However, the payments they were entitled to were definitely more than the benefits from the state, the maximum amount of which in Moscow at that time was about six thousand rubles, and the minimum today is around 800.

To the question of benefits for the period of employment, we can add that under normal economic conditions, the search for a job rarely lasts more than two months, although this also varies. During the crisis of 2008–2009, it took me four months to find a new application of energy. And this was a self-employment option, not a hired job.

However, if we think strictly according to the letter of the law, this payment is no longer severance pay. Although in the minds of the average person this is one and the same thing, the situation is different. Severance pay is equal to one average monthly salary. Allowance for the period of employment is a different type of compensation. The only thing they have in common is that they are calculated on the same basis and are calculated using similar algorithms.

The different types of compensation upon dismissal are sometimes difficult to understand and easy to get confused

The situation is similar with the compensation that employers are obliged to pay to employees who are being laid off or dismissed in connection with the liquidation of the company, when they want to part with them immediately, without waiting for the required two months. After all, it is during this time that they must warn staff about the upcoming dismissal on these grounds. However, this is already the third type of compensation.

Based on this state of affairs, there is a widespread misconception that the amount of severance pay during reduction and liquidation is equal to three or even five monthly salaries. No, just one. Three is already a combination of two payments, and five is three. Of course, there are situations when the employer himself immediately pays all payments due to the maximum on the day of dismissal or determines the same severance pay in a larger amount than prescribed by law. But to come across such generosity is a great success.

A company with foreign participation, where the author of these lines had been known for some time, once carried out a massive layoff. All employees covered by it were paid six times the average monthly salary, that is, for six months. And those who were left behind, including my friends, were perplexed as to who should be jealous of whom: “These people got a lot of money and can rest, but now we plow in their place for the same salary.”

Compensation in the amount of three monthly salaries is legally due only to the first person of the company, his first deputies and the chief accountant, and not in all cases, but when they are parted with on the following grounds:

• change of owner;
• dismissal without explanation, when there are no guilty actions for which they can be fired.

But in this situation they are not entitled to severance pay.

Video: severance pay in case of staff reduction

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sx33r1A4Noc

Payment of average earnings for the second month after the date of layoff

If a dismissed employee contacts the employer with a written application for payment of benefits within 15 working days after the end of the second month from the date of dismissal, he is required to make a payment. The employee must also present documents that confirm that he did not work for that month. If everything is in order, he is paid according to the average for the entire month that he did not work. There should be no question of how to calculate severance pay for a layoff for the second month, since the calculation is similar to the above.

If the redundant person did not work for only part of the second month, the calculation of redundancy benefits should be done only for those days that he did not work . are given for payment of this benefit .

Important

Instead of paying average earnings for the second and third months of employment, compensation can be provided in the amount of two times the average monthly earnings immediately upon dismissal. This is provided for in Part 5 of Art. 178 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

A similar procedure applies to the payment of benefits for the third month of non-employment of an employee. But to obtain it, you will need written approval from the employment service where the employee is registered.

Other payments upon dismissal

Upon dismissal, employees may be paid compensation in different amounts depending on the reason for termination of the employment contract.

You can count on dismissal payments in the amount of 2 weeks’ average earnings in the following cases (Article 178 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

• refusal to move to another place of work or the absence of a corresponding vacancy if the employee can no longer remain in the same place for medical reasons;
• conscription for military service;
• refusal to move to another location due to the needs of the employer;
• reinstatement to the previous position of an employee who previously performed the duties of the dismissed employee;
• changes in the terms of the contract, which resulted in the employee’s refusal to continue performing labor functions.

Severance pay in the amount of 3 months' salary is paid to persons holding senior positions (directors, chief accountants) if the reason for termination of the employment contract was a change in the owner of the organization.