Relations regarding the financial liability of employers and employees in the labor sphere

The concept of liability under the Labor Code

The financial liability of a subordinate to the management of the enterprise under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation arises if damage is caused as a result of intentional unlawful behavior, actions or inaction of the culprit.

IMPORTANT! Unlawful behavior is considered a violation of discipline, an offense associated with dishonest performance of labor duties.

Based on Article No. 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the obligation to compensate for harm occurs if the injured party demands that the perpetrator compensate for losses. The time during which damage can be compensated is limited by law.

There are the following conditions for the emergence of an obligation to compensate for harm:

intentional violation of one of the parties to the employment contract;
damage to property, shortage;
the employer's legal requirement to compensate for damage.

The condition for the emergence of property-related obligations to the employer under the Labor Code is documentary execution: a signed employment contract or agreement between the subjects of labor relations, a receipt of financial responsibility, a report of the financially responsible person, etc.

Damage concept

You always have to answer for causing damage to someone. Work in this case is no exception. Article 238 of the Labor Code directly states that the financial liability of any employee consists of his obligation to compensate for direct actual (real) damage caused to the employer. Therefore, determining the extent of liability begins with identifying this very damage. It can be varied:

destruction or damage to the organization's property;
costs for the acquisition, restoration of property or compensation for damage caused by the employee to third parties;
lack of assets in the organization (property or monetary);
damage or destruction of tools, office equipment, vehicles, materials;
payment of fines;
payments for forced absence or downtime of other employees.

The law prohibits employers from recovering from employees only profits lost as a result of their actions. Everything else can be collected. True, some are completely, and some are limited, because the Labor Code of the Russian Federation stipulates limited and full financial liability of the employee.

Types of financial liability

They emphasize full and collective responsibility.

If absolute liability arises, the employee undertakes to fully compensate the employer for the damage. This principle is established by an employment contract concluded with the head of the enterprise or the chief accountant.

Financial liability of a minor employee is possible for intentional damage or harm caused under the influence of alcohol, drugs, if this is recorded during an inspection, as well as due to a crime or misdemeanor of an administrative nature.

An employee must be fully compensated for damages in the following cases:

deliberate damage to valuables;
shortage of property for which he is responsible on the basis of the contract;
being drunk at work;
an offense, if recorded by a government agency;
a crime for which a court verdict has entered into force;
disclosure of information related to state, official or commercial secrets.

Collective obligations are associated with the joint performance of work and arise during the storage, processing, sale, transportation, and use of material assets.

In terms of volume, compensation can be full or limited. The legal entity's obligations for compensation can only be full, and in some cases the employee has the right to partially compensate for the damage.

According to the compensation method, payment is made on a voluntary basis and on the basis of a compensation act, in extreme situations - by court decision.

List of financially responsible positions

The legislation defines a list of professions that are subject to full property liability:

cash register workers, controllers;
managers, their deputies;
specialists who carry out examination, authentication and destruction of banknotes, securities, transactions for the purchase and sale of banknotes, precious metals, servicing ATMs;
categories of workers with collection functions and those working in the reporting sector;
leadership positions in the field of trade, food, consumer services, and the hotel sector;
managers in the field of construction and installation;
managers of warehouses, pawnshops, storage points;
material supply specialists, storekeepers;
senior nurses in healthcare institutions;
forwarders;
heads of pharmacy points, pharmacists;
junior employees of departments, heads of library departments.

ATTENTION! According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if the cause of damage was the actions or inaction of an employee, a statement of liability is drawn up, on the basis of which the damage is compensated without taking into account the position held by him.

Documents of responsible persons in the organization

The performance of official duties related to the storage of valuables requires the availability of the necessary documentation. An appropriate agreement must be drawn up between the employee and the employer.

The organization issues an order containing information about the appointment of an employee or a group of persons responsible for property.

Conditions of attack

The parties who signed the agreement bear obligations when the following circumstances arise:

Direct damage was caused to one of the parties to the labor relationship. Lost profits of the company are not subject to recovery. The extent of the harm caused must be proven.
Wrongful acts (or failure to act properly) constitute a breach of contract.
The damage occurred as a result of certain actions or inaction of one of the participants in the process.

Circumstances excluding financial liability

The legislation identifies the reasons that provide for the release of an employee from financial liability:

Insurmountable circumstances. This includes natural disasters, natural disasters that are beyond human control.
Economic risk presupposes a situation where an employee took all measures to prevent damage to valuables, acted in accordance with his job description and has no proven guilt.
Damage to property occurred during the elimination of circumstances that threatened the employee himself. For example, a minibus driver is not required to compensate for damage caused to the vehicle if it occurred as a result of preventing an accident.
Damage to property occurred in the process of eliminating threatening circumstances.

Even if the employer and the subordinate have signed an agreement that specifies the procedure for the occurrence of liability, in the absence of the employee’s fault, the employer does not have the right to recover from the employee the damage caused.

ADVICE! If an employee of an organization has previously written a statement about improper storage conditions for property assets entrusted to him, in the event of a controversial situation, this document will become a decisive advantage for the employee.

The employer is obliged to respond to a written request regarding violation of the storage of property, equipment, and other material assets. If there is no response, the worker’s fault is completely excluded, and he is not involved in compensation for damage or loss.

Compensation amount

The employee bears limited financial liability within the limits strictly defined by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately determine according to the norms of Art. 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is the average monthly earnings that constitute this limit. Salary is calculated from the date of damage for the last 12 calendar months of work.

If an employer wants to recover more than the amount of average earnings, he has the right to go to court. If the parties have reached an understanding, compensation for damage is possible with the provision of installments, but it is necessary to sign an agreement defining the terms for making payments. It is important to arrange everything so that the rights of both parties are respected.

Any employee, both an ordinary employee and a manager, can bear financial liability for damage caused to an employer (organization, enterprise, institution and individual entrepreneur). The fundamental legislative act defining the employee’s obligation to compensate for damage caused to the employer is the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which in Chapter. 39 “Financial liability of the employee” establishes what kind of damage is subject to compensation and under what conditions the employee is obliged to compensate for this damage. In addition, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines the limits and procedure for collecting damages, provides guarantees when imposing financial liability on an employee, as well as the employer’s right to refuse to collect damages. Knowledge of the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation will allow heads of organizations and individual entrepreneurs to correctly determine cases of application of one or another type of financial liability, its limits, as well as the guilt of the specific employee (workers) on whom it is assigned.

According to Part 1 of Art. 238 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee is obliged to compensate for direct actual damage that he caused to the employer.

Financial liability for damage caused to the employer is assigned to the employee only if the damage was caused by his

guilt. Only those employees with whom a written agreement has been concluded will receive full compensation for damages. Responsibility for damage caused is not removed from the employee even after the termination of the employment relationship, if the damage was caused during the validity of the employment contract. Financial liability implies the withholding of funds from the employee to compensate for the material damage caused by him in the manner and amount established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. When determining the amount of damage, only direct actual damage is taken into account and lost income that the employer could have received, but did not receive as a result of the employee’s unlawful actions, is not taken into account, i.e. lost profit. Direct actual damage is understood as a real reduction (deterioration) of the employer’s available property (including property of third parties located by the employer, if the employer is responsible for the safety of this property), as well as the need for the employer to incur costs for the restoration or acquisition of property.

The amount of damage is calculated based on market prices prevailing in the area on the day the damage occurred. But it cannot be lower than the residual value of the lost or damaged property according to accounting data. When determining damage, actual losses within the established norms of natural loss are not taken into account.

Material damage is not recovered from the employee if it arose as a result of force majeure - an emergency and unpreventable event, the elimination of a danger threatening the person, as a result of necessary defense. Financial liability also does not arise if the employer himself fails to fulfill his obligations to ensure proper conditions for storing property entrusted to the employee (Article 239 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, labor legislation directly provides that an employee may be considered guilty of causing damage if his actions were committed intentionally or through negligence, i.e. illegal. Particular attention should be paid to the provisions of Art. 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the right of the employer, at its own discretion, to decide the issue of holding an employee financially liable: to recover from him the cost of damage or to completely or partially refuse to recover from the guilty employee the damage caused by him. If the employer decides to recover damages caused by him from the employee, then compensation is made in the amount of two types of liability provided for by labor legislation - limited and full (Articles 241, 242 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

With limited liability

damage is compensated in an amount not exceeding the employee’s average monthly earnings.
That is, the smaller of the two amounts is chosen: if the damage is less than the salary, it will be compensated in full. If the salary is less than the damage, an amount equal to the salary is recovered, i.e. Some of the damage will not be reimbursed. And this is a general rule. Full financial liability is an exception and is possible only for those employees who directly service or use
cash, commodity values or other property.
With full financial liability,
damage is compensated without any restrictions, but this type of liability can
only
in cases provided for in Art. 243 Labor Code of the Russian Federation:

1) when, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation or other federal laws, the employee is financially responsible in full for damage caused to the employer during the performance of the employee’s job duties;

2) shortage of valuables entrusted to the employee on the basis of a special written agreement or received by him under a one-time document;

3) intentional infliction of damage;

4) causing damage while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or toxic substances;

5) damage caused as a result of the employee’s criminal actions established by a court verdict;

6) damage caused as a result of an administrative violation, if established by the relevant government body;

7) disclosure of information constituting a secret protected by law (official, commercial or other), in cases provided for by federal laws;

causing damage not while the employee was performing his job duties.

Persons under 18 years of age may bear full financial liability only for intentionally causing damage while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or toxic substances, as well as for damage caused as a result of a crime or administrative offense (for example, in the case of criminal prosecution for theft).

When hiring employees for certain positions or work related to the servicing of monetary and commodity assets, heads of organizations (individual entrepreneurs) must conclude agreements with them on full individual or collective (team) financial responsibility (Part 1 of Article 244 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If financial liability is established by federal law, then in this case it is not necessary to conclude an agreement on full financial liability.

Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated December 31, 2002 No. 85 approved the Lists of positions and work filled or performed by employees with whom the employer can enter into written agreements on full individual or collective (team) financial responsibility (hereinafter referred to as the Lists), as well as Standard forms of agreements on full liability1. Employers should be guided by the Lists when concluding agreements on full financial responsibility, both individual and collective. Collective (team) full financial liability for causing damage to the employer is provided for in Art. 245 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Agreements can be concluded in organizations of any legal form and form of ownership. Agreements on full financial liability can be concluded with employees specified in the Lists, subject to the following conditions:

– the employee reaches 18 years of age;

– direct transfer of monetary, commodity valuables or other property for storage, processing, sale (release), transportation or use in the production process, i.e. for maintenance or use.

The lists of positions and work replaced or performed by employees with whom the employer can enter into written agreements on full financial responsibility for shortages of entrusted property are not subject to broad interpretation. When combining professions (positions), an agreement can be concluded with the employee if the main or combined profession (position) is provided for in the Lists. An agreement on full financial liability concluded with an employee whose position (job) is not in the Lists has no legal force.

An employee who has entered into an agreement on full financial liability with a private entrepreneur bears full responsibility for ensuring the safety of those valuables that he personally received according to an invoice or other accounting document, despite the fact that in some cases other persons have access to these values (for example , auxiliary workers).

An agreement on full financial liability is concluded with an employee on the basis of an employment contract and an order in a standard form2, approved by Decree of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of the Russian Federation of December 31, 2002 No. 85. It specifies the responsibilities of the employee and the employer to ensure the safety of valuables. Failure by the employer to fulfill obligations to provide adequate conditions for storing property entrusted to the employee is the basis for releasing the employee from financial liability, and in appropriate cases, for imposing the obligation to compensate for damage on the guilty manager, his deputy or chief accountant.

The agreement between the manager and the employee is drawn up and signed by the parties in two copies, one of which is kept by the administration, the second by the employee. A prerequisite for the validity of the contract is the date of its conclusion, since from that moment the contract comes into force, and the employee becomes responsible for the failure to preserve the valuables entrusted to him. The employee is not responsible for any shortages that occur before the transfer of valuables. If there is no date for concluding the contract, the latter is considered invalid.

The validity of the concluded agreement on full financial liability extends to the entire time of work with the material assets entrusted to the employee. A financially responsible employee, in accordance with the contract, must promptly report all circumstances that threaten the safety of the property entrusted to him, keep records, draw up and submit to the accounting department commodity-monetary and other reports on the balances and movement of the property entrusted to him (commodity reports). At enterprises where commodity reports are not maintained, transactions of the movement of valuables are recorded in the accounting registers according to primary documents submitted by financially responsible persons.

The financially responsible person must participate in the inventory of the valuables entrusted to him, and the administration of the employer company is obliged to create conditions for the employee to work normally and ensure the complete safety of the valuables entrusted to him, to acquaint him with the current legislation on financial liability, as well as other regulations on the procedure for storage, reception , processing, sale, release, transportation and other transactions with valuables.

The employee does not bear financial liability if damage from shortage or damage to valuables was not his fault. This condition must be specified in the contract. In addition, this agreement provides for full financial liability only for shortages and damage to valuables. In all other cases, damage is compensated in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on limited liability.

When hired, the employee undertakes to preserve property

, entrusted to him by the employer and third parties. Financial liability will arise if things are damaged or lost.

The employer will calculate the amount of the loss and then claim the amount from the employee

. The limited financial liability of the employee must be previously agreed upon when applying for a job. Direct actual damage is recovered, i.e. one that can be calculated.

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