Is it necessary to move to a lower-paid position when staffing is reduced?

Types of employee reductions in an organization

Downsizing is always an unpleasant moment for employees of an organization. However, sometimes this is the only way for the owner to save his business.

There are two types of abbreviations:

• Reduction in numbers
• Staff reduction

In the first case, there is a decrease in the number of employees in the organization. Let's give a simple example.

The sales organization employs 5 sales managers. Due to the decline in volumes, the company is going through hard times, and therefore a fundamental decision was made to make cuts. At the same time, out of 5 managers, only 2 will remain working. Such dismissal is a reduction in the number of employees.

In the second case, a decision is made to remove certain positions from the staffing table. For example, the director decided that the position of secretary in the company is unnecessary; he will deal with all organizational issues personally. In this case we are talking about staff reduction.

Clause 2 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows the employer to sever the employment relationship with the employee on his own initiative. In return, the employee can count on certain compensation when being laid off. This is stated in Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Labor legislation

Before getting interested in the subtleties and nuances of the process, let’s find out what labor legislation generally says about layoffs. Is it even possible for an employer to carry out such actions?

Code articles

A reduction in the number or staff of an enterprise may well be carried out. This is considered termination of the employment contract at the initiative of the employer, and if the latter has no other choice but to reduce the number of his subordinates, then paragraph 2 of Article 81 gives him such a right.

At the same time, the employer’s actions must not violate other articles of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

So, for example, the boss does not have the right to lay off a pregnant woman, since this would contradict Article 261 of the Labor Code.

Difference between abbreviations

Of course, if you are in the position of an employee that the company wants to get rid of, you may not care how you are fired: by reduction in headcount or staffing levels, but understanding what the difference is can be useful. A downsizing is simply a reduction of people in an organization, regardless of their positions. That is, when out of five accountants, three are retained, and two are fired, two security guards are retained, and eight more are fired - this is a reduction in numbers.

Staff reduction is the removal of a position completely from the list of positions in an organization. For example, three watchmen and two security guards were listed on the staff list, but the positions of the guards were completely removed - this will be a reduction in staff.

Most often, experts recommend that employers take the second route of reduction, since in this case they may not adhere so strongly to the preemptive right. We will talk about what this is below.

The procedure for carrying out layoffs at an enterprise

In order to begin and implement the reduction procedure, it is necessary to carry out the following activities:

1. First, a decision is made that a reduction is necessary. The pros and cons are weighed and all options for overcoming the crisis are considered.
2. A list of preferential categories of workers is identified who cannot be laid off or in respect of whom layoffs can be carried out last. After this, a list of employees who have been laid off is compiled.
3. An order to carry out the reduction is drawn up. After its publication, you need to notify all employees about the upcoming unpleasant event. This must be done within 2 months. It should be borne in mind that a regular dismissal order and a dismissal order to reduce the number of employees are two different documents.
4. Each employee is given notice of imminent layoffs. In addition, the employee is informed about available vacancies for which they can apply. Such vacancies can be offered until the last working day
5. If an employee is interested in any of the vacancies, he must submit an application for transfer to the position of interest
6. If the employee is not satisfied with any of the proposed vacancies, he must write a written refusal. Upon arrival of the period specified in the notice, the employee is subject to layoff. He is paid all the funds required by law and established by the company’s internal documents. It is advisable to indicate specifically in the work book whether the employee is leaving due to a reduction in staff or numbers

Vacant positions for laid-off employees are provided as a matter of priority. This means that a highly qualified employee will be offered a position first.

You need to know that if there is a trade union at the enterprise, then its opinion is taken into account without fail. If there are disagreements, they are discussed. However, in the event that an agreement with the trade union has not been reached, the employer can independently decide to make a reduction .

In addition, the employment center must be notified in advance about the upcoming mass layoff.

Reduction and position offer

Before laying off workers and issuing an order, it will be necessary to first determine, with the help of the commission, the availability of benefits and preferential rights for employees. This is necessary to ensure that there are no violations regarding the layoff procedure, taking into account all labor rights.

Important! Vacancies are provided only in the same area in which the organization is located. Moreover, a position can only be offered in the event of a numerical or staff reduction. When an organization is liquidated, the entire list of positions is subject to reduction, so vacancies are not provided.

Reduction order:

• making a decision on a reduction of a certain type based on established factors;
• development of a reduction plan by the commission or responsible person. Here it is required, based on all the benefits and privileges of employees, to compile a list of those being laid off;
• After the order is issued, all organizations and employees who are being laid off are notified. The trade union, based on the data provided, must agree to the reduction of its members;
• Along with the notification, the employee must receive a list of vacancies provided to him by priority right. Also, vacancies can be provided during the entire period before the reduction, including on the last working day, if one of the positions in the new staffing table has become vacant;

Sample order to reduce the number of employees

• if he agrees, the employee must write an application for transfer to the provided position, after which he is transferred and does not receive redundancy payments, since he does not lose his job;
• if you refuse a position, you will need to issue a written refusal, which allows you to dismiss the employee, including early;
• within the prescribed period, an employee who has refused all available vacancies is laid off with full payment of all funds established by law and other factors, for example, additional agreements or a collective agreement.

Important! A number of categories of citizens cannot be reduced, including women on maternity leave and minors. Their positions also cannot be excluded from the schedule. Non-reducible categories include persons who are on vacation or sick leave, as well as their temporary deputies who occupy this position under a contract during the absence of the main employee.

When laying off, it will be necessary to provide a vacant position according to the established priority right, that is, if an employee has higher qualifications than the rest of those being laid off, then he will first need to be provided with a position. It can be offered to other persons only after the written refusal of the first employee.

Nuances when offering positions

When offering positions to employees, a certain procedure must be followed:

• Vacancies are offered in accordance with the qualifications of the employee. First of all, those who have high qualifications and extensive experience (Article 179 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)
• A job that is planned to be eliminated cannot be offered as a vacancy.
• All proposed vacancies must be listed. Initially, it makes sense to issue such a list along with a notice of reduction
• You cannot offer vacancies in another region
• All refusals of vacancies must be made in writing.
• The employee must be offered vacancies, even if they involve part-time work
• If violations are discovered during the layoff, the court will order the employee to be reinstated in his previous position, even if it was laid off.

Registration of transfer to another position at the initiative of the employer

All changes must be completed correctly and in accordance with current legislation. When transferring an employee, registration takes place in several stages:

1. The employee is given written notice.
2. He gives his consent to the change of position in the form of a statement.
3. A corresponding note is made in the HR documentation log.
4. Without fail, regardless of the reasons and conditions preceding the transfer, an order is drawn up. If the rearrangement is temporary, the period of its duration must be indicated.
5. The employee is given regulatory acts for review related to the new position, under each of which he affixes his signature.
6. He also signs a new job description.
7. A new employment contract or an additional agreement to the current one is drawn up and signed.
8. The HR specialist makes an entry in the work book and a note in the employee’s personal card.

If an employee refuses a transfer and threatens to write a statement to the judicial authorities, the employer is obliged to offer him another position that will not infringe on the interests of the specialist. If there is no such vacancy, the employee is offered a lower position. If in this case he does not agree, then on the basis of Article 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer has the right to propose terminating the employment contract.

The same applies to the transfer of an employee to another location. However, if the employer does not change its location together with the transferred employee, then the employee’s refusal to transfer is not grounds for termination of the employment contract.

After the employment contract is terminated, the dismissed person is paid severance pay in the amount of two weeks' wages.

If an employee refuses the offered vacancies

All aspects that accompany the downsizing process are documented in writing. If an employee is not satisfied with the proposed vacancies for some reason, he refuses them. Such refusal must be made in writing. It is drawn up in the form of an application .

Such a refusal cannot entail negative consequences for the employee. In the event that none of the vacancies satisfy the employee, he will be dismissed due to reduction within the period established by the notice. In this case, the employee will receive all payments due to him.

It should also be taken into account that the employer can set a deadline for obtaining a refusal from the employee. If a written response is not received within this period, then the employer has the right to hire another employee for the vacant position.

Reduction is it possible to refuse a position?

When being laid off, the employee has the right to receive from the employer information about all vacancies that exist in the given locality or, if provided for by the collective agreement, outside it.

And only if the employer cannot fulfill its obligations to the employee to provide him with a vacancy or the employee refused to provide written consent to the proposed job, can a reduction be made.

If the parties have reached an agreement, there is no need to wait until the end of the two-month period to terminate the employment contract.

Preferential right to remain at work in the event of a reduction in staff The guarantees established by law for laid-off employees also include a pre-emptive right to remain at work in the event of a reduction.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other acts also require that the following employees have priority when remaining at work:

• Having disabled children.
• Single mothers and fathers.
• The only breadwinners.
• Suffering from injury or occupational disease received at this enterprise.
• Disabled war veterans.
• Heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation, holders of the Order of Glory.
• Victims of the Chernobyl disaster and the Semipalatinsk tests.
• Improving qualifications in the direction of the organization, combining training with work.
• Employee inventors (oddly enough, the USSR Law “On Inventions in the USSR” in this part is still in force).

In addition, some employees cannot be dismissed by the employer at all except at their own request, by agreement, or for committing an offense.

Dismissal due to staff reduction. nuances. how to behave correctly

Important

Among other methods of terminating an employment contract, dismissal due to reduction stands out. The fact is that among other types of dismissal provided for by the Labor Code (Labor Code of the Russian Federation), this is the most labor-intensive, but at the same time, perhaps, the most guaranteeing compliance with the rights of the employee.

I dedicated this article to what an employee and employer need to know when reducing staff. articles ○ Dismissal due to staff reduction. ✔ Labor Code on dismissal due to staff reduction.✔ Who can and cannot be laid off?✔ The main reasons for layoffs.✔ Necessary conditions.✔ Procedure, procedure and rules for dismissal due to redundancy.✔ What entry will be made in the labor record upon reduction?✔ Deadlines. ○ How to behave correctly when being made redundant?○ Nuances of dismissal due to reduction: ✔ On sick leave.✔ During vacation.✔ Pensioner.✔ A woman with many children or a single mother.✔ Part-time worker.✔ A woman on maternity leave or a pregnant woman.✔ Early.

Preferential rights of an employee to remain at work during layoffs

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer has every right to initiate the termination of an employment contract with employees before the expiration date of the concluded agreement or at any time when an employee is hired for a permanent job indefinitely.

But at the same time, in order to protect the rights of dismissed employees, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the legislator guarantees certain benefits and compensation to persons who have been laid off.

First of all, in order for an employee dismissed due to redundancy not to be able to appeal the actions of management, it is important to follow the established procedure provided for by the redundancy procedure.

In this case, the employer pays him, in addition to severance pay, also a salary for the time not worked between the day he actually quit and the day he was supposed to quit according to the employer’s plan.

In addition, the employment contract or collective agreement may provide for other payments in case of staff reduction.

[Return] ✔ What entry will be included in the labor report when a layoff is made? When an employee is dismissed, an entry will be made in the work book, which should indicate that he was fired precisely due to a reduction in the number or staff of the organization, with reference to clause.

2 hours 1 tbsp. 82 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. [Return] ✔ Deadlines.

Most often, experts recommend that employers take the second route of reduction, since in this case they may not adhere so strongly to the preemptive right. We will talk about what this is below.

Retrenchment procedure To understand how an employee is transferred to another position when staffing is reduced, you need to understand how the procedure for terminating an employment contract should generally occur.

As in the general case, when reducing the number of employees, the following sequence is followed:

• agreement on the period of dismissal;
• issuance of an order for the enterprise;
• settlement on the last working day.

In this case, the employee usually writes a letter of resignation, but in case of layoffs, no statement is required from him - after all, the initiator is the employer.

Return ] ○ How to behave correctly when making redundancies? For an employee who is on the redundancy list, you need to remember your rights:

1. The first thing you need to check is whether you are on the list of people who cannot be dismissed due to staff reduction and whether you are taking advantage of being retained at work. If so, then you need to inform the employer about this in writing.
   The best way would be to draw up a letter in two copies, give one to the head of the enterprise, and on the second ask for a mark on receipt of the first copy. If the employer does not listen to your opinion, this will be excellent evidence for the Federal Labor Inspectorate, the prosecutor's office or the court.
2. Demand that you be offered another job at the company. Whether to agree or not is up to the employee, but the refusal must also be recorded in writing.

What are the risks for an employee of being transferred to a lower-paid position when staffing is reduced? Does he have the right to refuse such an offer, and what are the consequences of refusing? If you do not know the answers to these questions, but such information will not be superfluous for you, then in this article you can find all the information you are interested in. Labor legislation Before getting interested in the subtleties and nuances of the process, let's find out what labor legislation generally says about layoffs.

Is it even possible for an employer to carry out such actions? Articles of the Code A reduction in the number or staff of an enterprise's employees may well be carried out. This is considered termination of the employment contract at the initiative of the employer, and if the latter has no other choice but to reduce the number of his subordinates, then paragraph 2 of Article 81 gives him such a right.

Refusal to transfer to another job if the number or staff of employees is reduced. Hello! Due to the reduction of my position, I was offered another position, but with a lower salary. Should I keep the same salary in the new position and what rights and benefits do I have if I refuse the offered position? Thank you.

The dismissal of an employee due to staff reduction is included in Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which considers all cases when an employment contract is terminated by the employer. ○ Dismissal due to staff reduction. ✔ Labor Code on dismissal due to staff reduction.

Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation combines both cases of dismissal for absenteeism, violation of discipline or labor protection measures, and cases when an employee quits, although he is not guilty of anything (these include, in addition to layoffs, liquidation of an organization, for managers and their deputies and chief accountants - change of owner of the organization).

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not decipher the difference between staff reduction and staff reduction. In practice, the difference is also insignificant and consists only in the fact that when the number of employees is reduced, the position in the staffing table is retained, but there will be fewer workers in it (for example, instead of three managers, there will be only one left in the department).

Otherwise, you can always refer to a violation of the law, in which case the employer will be fined and the order to dismiss you will be cancelled.

• After dismissal, you must register with the employment service within two weeks. In this case, you will be able to receive the average salary for your previous job for another two months if the service is unable to employ you during this time.
• If we are talking about staff reductions, in no case should you write a letter of resignation of your own free will or agree to dismissal by agreement of the parties. In this case, you lose the right to all benefits and payments provided by law.
• [Return] ○ Nuances of dismissal due to reduction: Reduction of staff has its own characteristics for certain categories of employees. Let's look at how the reduction is made: ✔ On sick leave.

When staffing is reduced, a specific position is completely excluded from the schedule (for example, the position of a personnel officer is abolished at an enterprise, and his duties are transferred to an accountant).

[Return] ✔ Who can and cannot be laid off? Despite the fact that the reduction in the number or staff of employees depends entirely on the initiative of the enterprise management, the law provides for certain benefits for a number of categories of employees. I'll tell you more about them below.

For now, I will say that during layoffs, there is a rule about preferential retention in the workplace.

Art. 179 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides that during layoffs, workers with less qualifications and lower labor productivity should be dismissed first. In practice, this usually means that workers with less seniority are laid off first, since seniority usually implies experience.

Source: https://dtpstory.ru/sokrashhenie-mozhno-li-otkazatsya-ot-dolzhnosti/

Payments due to an employee upon redundancy

Employees who are laid off due to layoffs have a number of advantages over other layoffs. For those who have been laid off, in accordance with Article 178 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the following payments are provided:

1. Earnings for hours worked
2. Compensation for vacation days not taken off, if any
3. Severance pay equal to one average monthly salary
4. Average monthly salary paid within 2 months after dismissal. Such amounts are paid provided that the citizen was unable to find a job during this time. In rare cases, payment can be received for the third month
5. Compensation paid for early termination of employment in the event of staff reduction. Such amounts are paid if the parties have agreed to terminate the employment relationship earlier than specified in the notice of layoff. The amount of compensation is calculated for the period from the date of dismissal until the end of the period of 2 months before the reduction. In case of early dismissal, the employee is entitled to all payments as in case of layoff within the approved period.

Job offer in case of layoffs

Labor standards of the Russian Federation establish a number of mandatory rules regarding the competent conduct of the reduction procedure. In the event of a reduction in the current number of staff, the employer’s responsibilities will include issuing offers with free places to its employees.

At the same time, additional and important requirements are also established for the proposed positions. The main one is that the position must correspond to the current skills and qualifications of the particular employee. If there are no such vacancies, he may be offered a position with lower qualifications and lower wages.

The need to offer another position disappears only if such a position really does not exist in the organization.

Massive layoffs of company employees

Reductions can be carried out at enterprises of any size. You need to be especially careful about downsizing in large companies.

A nuance of mass layoffs is the limitation on the number of dismissed employees. If the number of company employees exceeds 50 people, then within 2 months you can terminate the contract with no more than 200 employees .

Employees of large companies must receive notice of layoffs 3 months before the event occurs.

In addition, all payments due under normal layoffs are available in this situation. An important point is that such amounts are not subject to personal income tax. From the moment of layoff, the employee will receive payments from the employer for another 2 months.

Reducing staff: typical mistakes of employers

Reducing the number of employees is one of the effective ways to reduce costs or slow down the pace of production activities if the organization's product has ceased to generate sufficient profit. In this article we will tell you how to avoid mistakes when reducing staff.

If an employer decides to reduce the number of employees, he needs to take into account all the nuances of this complex process. Mistakes made do not reduce, but, on the contrary, significantly increase personnel costs.

For example, a court may reinstate an employee at work and oblige the employer to pay him the average salary for the entire period of forced absence (Article 394 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), as well as to compensate for moral damages (Article 237 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the employer is obliged to pay all legal costs (Article 88 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, if an employee applies for protection of his rights to the labor inspectorate, if the reduction is incorrectly executed, the employer faces administrative liability under Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Let's look at the typical mistakes that employers make when filing staff reductions.

THE NOTICE OF REDUCTION IS INCORRECTLY COMPLETED

When warning employees about layoffs, it is necessary to take into account all legal requirements, as well as established practice, in order to reduce the risk of disputes in the future. We recommend issuing a notice of reduction in the number of employees. The more detailed the document is, the fewer questions, misunderstandings and irritation it will cause among employees (Example 1).

WORKERS ARE NOT NOTIFIED ABOUT REDUCTION OR ARE NOTIFIED WITH VIOLATIONS

An important nuance is that absolutely all laid-off employees must be notified of the layoff and on time.

According to part two of Art. 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer is obliged to warn employees in writing, against signature, about their layoff at least two months before dismissal.

If the employee refuses to read the notice or sign for familiarization with it, then the employer will have to read the notice to the employee out loud and draw up a report in which two or three employees who were present during the familiarization must sign (Example 2).

However, there are exceptions to the employee notice period.

Several days' notice.

For example, if a fixed-term employment contract is concluded with an employee for a period of up to two months, then he must be notified in writing of the layoff at least three calendar days in advance (part two of Art.

292 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). An employee who is employed in seasonal work should be notified in writing of the layoff at least seven calendar days in advance (part two of Article 296 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Notification in case of illness and vacation. If an employee needs to be notified of a layoff and he is on vacation or sick leave, it is better to wait until he returns to work and hand in the notification in person. But what if this is a remote worker or management demands that the employee be notified despite being on vacation?

In this case, you need to send a notice of layoff to all known addresses of the employee in a valuable letter with a list of attachments and a receipt receipt (Example 3). The date of notification is the date the employee receives the valuable letter.

If the employee is available by phone, it is worth calling him and telling him about the need to receive a notification. Moreover, this must be done over a loudspeaker and in front of witnesses. The conversation must be recorded in an act (Example 4). Such an act speaks of the employer’s good faith and confirms that he did everything possible to notify the employee of the layoff.

DO NOT OFFER ALL SUITABLE VACANCIES

If there are vacancies in the organization, they should be offered to the laid-off employee (if they suit him in terms of qualifications and health) as they appear within two months, while the notice period for dismissal due to layoff is valid (part three of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) .

Often, courts reinstate employees precisely because they were not offered all the vacancies. The courts carefully check whether the positions in the staffing table and in job offers coincide (see, for example, the Appeal ruling of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court dated 02.02.2015 in case No. 33-949/2015, A-9).

It is necessary to offer not only positions that correspond to the employee’s qualifications, but also lower ones.

QUESTION ON THE TOPIC

Do I need to offer a vacant senior position?

Source: https://www.profiz.ru/sr/10_2017/sokrashchenie_shtata/

Is it possible for an employee to refuse another position when being laid off?

In order to improve the performance of an organization or to survive during a crisis and not go bankrupt, many managers are forced to make a decision to reduce the number or staff of employees.

Such actions are legal, as they are described in detail in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

In this case, upon layoff, the employee is offered another position, and whether to refuse it or not is a personal matter for each working citizen.

Reduction in number or staff of employees

Downsizing in an organization is a rather complicated procedure. It must be carried out in accordance with all the standards prescribed in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The manager of an enterprise can reduce both the number of workers and the staff. In the first case, there is a decrease in the number of employees in different specializations. When staffing is reduced, several positions or an entire structural unit are eliminated at once. The procedure for reducing the number of employees is as follows:

• an economist submits a memo on the need for reductions;
• changes are made to the existing staffing table at the enterprise;
• an order is issued to approve the new staffing table;
• the manager creates a special commission, which must include the chairman of the trade union committee, a lawyer and the head of the personnel department;
• an order to reduce staff is issued.

After signing the order, personnel officers must familiarize each employee who has been laid off with it. This should be done two months before the start of the procedure.

To this end, employees are given a notice. They must read the document and sign it.

If the decision to make redundancies was made not by the manager, but by the commission, then the employee is given the minutes of the meeting and an extract from it for review.

At the same time, the boss must notify the employment service and the trade union committee about the upcoming procedure.

In writing, the manager is obliged to inform the employee about all available positions that suit his qualifications.

If there are no such vacancies in the organization, then the employee is offered positions with lower qualifications and, therefore, with lower wages.

Transfer to another position

If, when reducing staff, an employee agreed to move to another position, then he should provide an application. It is compiled in any form. In the document, the employee must confirm that he agrees to take the new vacancy.

The application must be written to the director of the organization. It should indicate the name of the company, personal data, both vacancies, as well as date and signature. In addition, other documents are prepared:

1. Agreement between the parties. It describes in detail working conditions, wages, and also indicates information about the position provided.
2. Order for transfer to a new vacancy. This document is drawn up in a single copy, but if desired, the employee can ask his superiors for a certified copy.

After this, a new employment contract is concluded with the employee. But until the release date arrives, the employee will have to work in his previous position.

He will begin new duties after the end of the specified period. His salary will be calculated in accordance with his position.