Can wages be below the subsistence level?

Minimum wage - guaranteed minimum

First of all, let's look at what the minimum wage is and where it is used. In fact, this is the minimum amount of remuneration for work. Enshrined in Art. 133 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Provides a minimum threshold of payments for fully worked hours. An employer, regardless of its form of ownership, has no right to pay less than this threshold.

The guarantee of payment of a full salary is provided by:

1. Budgetary organizations - at the expense of the state or local budget. Financing from funds received from business activities is allowed.
2. State enterprises – with their own funds received from economic activities. They can receive partial subsidies from budgets.
3. For private companies - through the use of their own funds.

It is important to note that the guarantees established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation are basic. In practice, individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation may change the amount of such payments upward. If such a right is exercised, it takes precedence over general legislation. In case of disputes, the increased amount of the guaranteed payment will be taken as the basis.

Remember, the essence of the “minimum wage” is that a person who has fully worked the norm of working hours or output established for the month does not receive an income less than the state guaranteed one. If this happens, the employer is obliged to pay the worker the remaining difference from his own funds.

What is a living wage

The cost of living is a fundamental concept for several economic indicators. On its basis, state benefits, the minimum wage level are calculated, and the state budget is drawn up. For these reasons, it is believed that PM is a one-time indicator for calculations that needs correction.

This value is a financial analogue of the minimum consumer level. In other words, PM is the minimum one person needs to resolve urgent issues. It consists of several main indicators:

• maintenance of a residential building;
• food products;
• wardrobe items;
• travel costs;
• sanitary and hygienic attributes.

Each point is calculated taking into account the minimum human needs spread over a month. The PM is recalculated every quarter, according to the real cost of goods and services included in the specified indicator.

What are the consequences of paying wages below the minimum wage?

The practical effectiveness of each legislative norm directly depends on the level and size of the punishment that will follow for violation of such a guarantee. The punishment is regulated by Art. 5.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. For certain violations liability is established under Art. 145.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The following sanctions are provided:

• up to 5 thousand rubles if the violation was committed by an individual entrepreneur for the first time;
• up to 30 thousand rubles for repeated violation by an individual entrepreneur;
• up to 50 thousand rubles when the law was ignored by a legal entity;
• up to 100 thousand rubles, if the company committed a similar violation again;
• criminal liability for systematic gross disregard of the law. The sanctions include fines, long forced labor, and even imprisonment.

The initiator of opening such an administrative (criminal) case may be:

1. Employee . Can file a complaint with the body authorized to consider such cases personally or through other organizations.
2. Trade union . Usually initiates an investigation based on an oral or written complaint from one of its members. Can act on his own initiative, having received documents from the employer confirming the fact of the violation.
3. Prosecutor's office . Here, preference is given to complaints about violations in budgetary or state-owned enterprises. But the violations of private owners do not go unnoticed.
4. Labour Inspectorate . In fact, this is an organization authorized to consider such cases, which has this direct responsibility. All applications and requests (except anonymous ones) are subject to verification.
5. Court . No one forbids a worker to draw up and file a claim in court. In this case, responsible government agencies will be involved and a decision will be made on the merits. In fact, by a court decision, you can receive compensation not only for a specific case, but also for the entire period of such violations. But all this will need to be documented.

Remember, paying a fine for a violation does not relieve the employer of the obligation to eliminate the violation and compensate the employee for losses. And if the case is considered by the court, the company may also receive an obligation to pay moral damages and legal costs.

Administrative responsibility

Punishments are imposed in accordance with the articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, if they mean fines imposed specifically for reducing labor payments. Their size is specified in Article 5.27 of the Administrative Code.

Sanctions may be as follows:

• 1000-5000 rub. for individual entrepreneurs;
• 30000-50000 rub. for legal entities.

The following sanctions are possible for repeated offenses:

• 10,000-20,000 rubles for individual entrepreneurs;
• 50,000-70,000 rubles for organizations.

The maximum possible fine allowed by law is 500,000 rubles. It applies when the employer not only reduced the salary, but did not transfer it at all. For partial withholding of money, the employer may pay 120,000 rubles.

Sometimes, in order to reduce the cost of paying specialists, company managers can formalize them under civil contracts, assigning labor compensation less than the minimum limit. This is an action unacceptable by law, leading to a fine of 100,000 rubles, which doubles if repeated.

Salary may be less than minimum wage

The concepts of “official salary” and “minimum wage” should not be combined. The legislator clearly indicated that the total amount of payments cannot be lower than the minimum. In other words, the employee has no right to receive less than what is indicated by law. What this amount will consist of depends solely on the employer. Based on this, it is advisable to highlight the following nuances:

• the official salary (tariff rate) of a worker may be less than the minimum;
• the amount is taken into account from the amount of the total payment, and not from its individual components;
• if a situation arises that for a fully worked standard of time it is necessary to pay less than the minimum acceptable threshold, the employer will have to pay such an employee up to the guaranteed amount;
• payments due to the employee are calculated based on the standard time worked for the calendar month.

How is salary and minimum wage related?

Article 33 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation clearly states that the 2 named quantities are inseparable. Among other things, it states that wages are related to the consumer basket and PM. This does not mean that the values ​​are the same, just that the minimum wage should be either the same or greater than the minimum wage.

But this requirement is not always fulfilled by government agencies. For several years now, salaries in the regions have not differed significantly from the PM.

According to the Russian Government, there will be no such imbalance in 2021. The adjustment of the “minimum wage” should simplify the lives of low-income citizens and increase overall income.

But the director of an enterprise does not always have to pay his subordinate the minimum. There are a number of situations provided for by law when he can legally transfer an amount for a month that is less than the minimum wage:

1. A person works part-time or, according to a special schedule, where he does not carry out professional activities in the full, fundamentally established volume.
2. The specialist is employed full-time, but for personal reasons did not work all the hours provided for in the specified month. For example, he had sick leave or vacation at his own expense.
3. Taxes were deducted from the legal minimum, which is why the amount was reduced.

There is an opinion among some workers that the minimum wage should be equal to the salary or tariff rate. But such rules are not specified anywhere, so bonuses and additional payments may be included in the minimum wage.

Where to go if your salary is below the minimum wage

To understand how the sanctions mechanism works in practice, it is necessary to understand who has the right to consider such violations and make binding decisions. Three organizations are currently vested with such powers:

Remember, the main thing is not to remain silent. It is optimal to contact the State Labor Inspectorate. They will definitely thoroughly check your complaint and make a decision on it. The main thing is to initially provide evidence that you did not receive proper wages.

When can you pay less than the minimum wage?

And yet, in practice, there are cases when an employer can legally pay an employee a reduced remuneration based on the results of a month worked. This is allowed in the following cases:

1. When taxes are deducted from salary . It is important to understand this point. The main thing is that the remuneration accrued to the worker exceeds the minimum. Further tax deductions that reduce the guaranteed minimum will not be taken into account.
2. Part of the salary is withheld for reasons specified by law . This may be financial responsibility, alimony, compliance with the orders of the writ of execution, and other similar cases. The amount of the initial charge also plays a major role here.
3. The employer refused to join regional agreements that increase the minimum income . Here you will not have to pay more than the minimum established by federal law only after refusal. But such a refusal must be properly formalized.
4. Payments to part-time workers . An important nuance that must be taken into account in this case is that the employee cannot work part-time for more than 50% of the total hours. Therefore, the employer is obliged to pay him wages at a level not lower than the guaranteed minimum in proportion to the time worked.
5. Employees performing their functions on reduced working hours . Here the rule is that wages must be paid in proportion to the time worked. It is necessary to ensure that when recalculating the income received for a full work schedule, it is not less than that specified by law.
6. With a cumulative accounting of labor time . In this case, it all comes down to meeting the production quota, or working out the hours of actual work. If this standard is not met, the employer has every right to pay for the amount actually completed.
7. After leaving sick leave . The time that the employee actually worked is paid. Compensation for sick days is carried out according to a different procedure and is calculated separately.
8. When I was on vacation at my own expense . Equivalent to the absence of working the standard hours (workout) established for everyone. They will pay for the actual amount of work performed in a particular month.
9. Simple . In such cases, the employer has the right to pay only 2/3 of their income. And if the salary was at the minimum level, then it can be proportionally reduced.
10. Truancy . It is simply not paid legally. As a result, the total amount of time worked (output) is proportionally reduced. Pay for these hours is also reduced.
11. Payment under civil contracts . The nature of such relationships requires payment for the end result, not the process. Therefore, all conditions here are regulated by contract.

Remember, if an employee does not work the required hours, the employer has the right to reduce his level of pay. Even if this amount is below the minimum wage.

Establishing a minimum wage

The minimum wage is established for employees whose work meets the following criteria:

• five-day work week throughout the month,
• eight hour work day.

If the above conditions are met, the employer has the right to set a salary equal to the minimum wage. As a rule, this applies to low-skilled jobs (janitor, cleaner, loader, etc.). Not in all cases the employer must pay the minimum wage to the employee.

Please note! We list some legal cases in which it is permissible to pay a monthly salary below the minimum wage:

• part-time work or a special schedule, performance of job duties below the basic volumes established by law,
• full-time employment, but due to various circumstances the work is not for a full month (vacation, sick leave, etc.),
• income tax was withheld from the minimum wage.

There is an opinion that the minimum wage should be equal to the salary, and not the full salary. If you carefully study the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then there are no such instructions in it. For this reason, the employer legally includes bonuses, additional payments, etc.

Watch the video. Minimum salary from January 1, 2019:

If the employee has not worked for a full month

The minimum wage calculation is always based on a fully worked month. It is in this case that the employer has an obligation to pay the guaranteed amount of remuneration. In other situations, payment is made in proportion to the result obtained.

For less than a month of work, the worker will be paid proportionally. The proportion will apply to all elements, salary, allowances, additional payments, compensation, unless other standards are provided for by the company’s Remuneration Regulations. In this case, the guaranteed minimum payment threshold will be calculated proportionally. It is prohibited to fall below this proportion.

Is it possible to earn a salary below the regional minimum wage?

The legislator granted the right to regions to increase the minimum wage on their territory. For such a norm to come into force, it is necessary to sign a definition agreement. After the entry into force of such a document, the employer has no right to pay below the regional minimum. Even if at the federal level there is a different minimum amount.

At the same time, if the employer refuses in writing to apply the regional minimum, he is exempt from complying with this norm and takes advantage of federal legislation. Typically, this question is relevant for large transport or energy corporations that have centralized management and branches in various regions of the country.

What is the cost of living in the Russian Federation?

PM at the beginning of 2021 was the result of calculations for the third quarter of 2021. PM is closely related to the needs of people, so it is divided into 3 main groups - for children under 18 years of age, able-bodied persons and pensioners. Each category has its own consumer basket, so the final figures are different.

The living wage for the working population in 2021 is equal to the minimum wage and is equal to 12,130 rubles.

The government of the country established these figures as general ones, which the leaders of the federal subjects should be guided by. But at the national level they are recalculated according to individual needs and standards.

For example, living conditions in the Primorsky Territory and in the North are not identical, so there cannot be one indicator for all Russian territories.