In the midst of the holiday season, HR employees usually try to make payments in advance. Today, we are going to tell you about the fines that may result from the violation of the labour legislation in case of late payment of vacation pay or inaccurate execution of documents. What should you pay attention to during the calculation of vacation pay in order to avoid heavy fines as a result of an error?
Threat 1. Late Payment of Vacation Pay
Late payment of vacation pay may result in a fine being imposed on the company. The company may be charged 30,000 to 50,000 roubles, while the director of the company may be issued a warning or charged 1,000 to 5,000 roubles. Said penalties are provided for by Part 1 and 4 of Article 5.27 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.
In case of repeat violation, the company will be charged 50,000 to 100,000 roubles, while the director of the company will be either charged 20,000 to 30,000 roubles or disqualified for up to 3 years (Part 7 of Article 5.27 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses). That’s not all. You will have to reimburse the employee for each day of the delay in the amount of 1/150 of the key rate of the Central Bank of Russia of the amount of vacation pay not paid in time (Article 236 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation).
Remember that you must pay vacation pay at least three days before the start of the employee’s vacation, i.e. you are allowed to pay it earlier. Please note that there are no exceptions to this provision related to the wishes of the employee in the Labour Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, Article 136 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation doesn’t specify the type of days (business days or calendar days). The Federal Service for Labour and Employment (Rostrud) and employment experts clarify that the provision means calendar days, which is confirmed by the legal precedents. If you can’t meet the deadline, you will have to postpone the employee’s vacation.
Threat 2. Inaccurate Execution of Documents.
In this regard, the company may be fined by the labour inspection. The employer must execute an order on the employee’s vacation specifying the total duration of the vacation in a single figure, but with a breakdown by periods. If the unused portion of the vacation for the previous year is added to the vacation in the current year, additional lines should be added to section A of the order to specify the previous and the current work year. Don’t forget to enter the vacation details into the time sheet, employee data card, and the vacation schedule.
