Is deprivation of bonuses considered a disciplinary sanction, and what is the procedure for deboning?

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Published: 05/15/2016

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Along with disciplinary sanctions that can be applied to employees in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, some companies practice the use of material forms of punishment.

One of these forms is depreciation, which, subject to certain rules, can be used quite legally. It is worth considering the basic rules for using bonus reduction in an enterprise, as well as the conditions for the legality of this procedure.

• Deprivation of bonuses: essence and legislative regulation
• Legality of the procedure: conditions and possible violations
• Advantages and disadvantages

Bonus as part of salary

Art. 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that the bonus is an incentive payment that is included in the salary. Thus, if the bonus is prescribed in the internal regulations of the organization, then the employer must pay it without fail. But if you look from the other side, a bonus is an incentive, and incentives are a voluntary right, and not at all an obligation, as Art. 22 and 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

If bonus payment is the responsibility of the employer, then certain conditions must be met to deprive the bonus. If this is a free right, then at the will of the authorities the bonus can be canceled at any time.

In what cases can an employee be deprived of a bonus ?

This issue is resolved by the wording in the Regulations on bonuses adopted in a particular organization.

IMPORTANT! Deprivation of bonuses as a disciplinary action cannot be used, since the Labor Code does not contain this type of penalties, as well as federal legislation, charters, administrative code, etc. The employer does not have the right to establish this type of punishment in local legal acts.

Disciplinary action

Disciplinary action is understood as a punishment that is applied to an employee if he fails to comply with internal labor rules and other requirements. In case of disciplinary action, the following measures may be applied to an employee: reprimand, reprimand or dismissal (Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Such a list of measures cannot be supplemented or expanded at the request of the employer. There are no fines or financial penalties for employees for disciplinary actions. However, this does not mean that the employer does not apply a bonus reduction system to such employees.

The employer independently determines the accrual and cancellation of bonuses; this is his right, not his obligation. The employer can dispose of his right at his own discretion, but only in accordance with the regulatory documents approved by the organization.

A bonus can be deprived or its size reduced only if this is provided for by the organization’s internal regulatory documents.

Disciplinary action may also be referred to as dismissal of an employee in one of these documents (

What is written in the documents?

The wording of the Bonus Regulations and the employment contract is key to considering the reverse procedure. Let's look at the possible options and their consequences for employees.

1. Composition of wages. If the employee’s contract states that the salary consists of salary, allowances and bonuses, this means that the latter is part of the basic income, and not an incentive additional payment to it. The employer is obliged to pay wages in full. Therefore, it has no right to reduce the size of the bonus and deprive the employee of part of his earnings.
2. The premium is variable. The documents highlight a constant element of salary (salary and, possibly, allowances) and a variable element - actually, a bonus. Here the conditions on which the variable part of the salary depends must be indicated - a reference to the bonus regulations or other local act is acceptable. In this case, under negative circumstances for the employee, we are not talking about deprivation of the bonus, but simply about non-accrual.

NOTE! Since non-payment of a bonus is not a punishment, of which there cannot be several for one offense, disciplinary action may well be applied simultaneously with the deprivation of a bonus - for example, a reprimand or warning.

Base

What can you deprive for:

1. Absenteeism or long absence from work without good reason.
2. Appearing at the workplace in a state of alcoholic or toxic intoxication.
3. Debauchery, theft and other criminal acts.
4. Intentional damage to the organization's property.
5. Failure to comply with safety regulations and labor protection standards.
6. Disclosure of trade secrets.
7. Transferring false data to the manager, which leads to material losses.
8. Other offenses that contradict the regulations of the organization and the law in general.

For some of the above offenses, an employee may be fired. The decision on the reduction of bonuses is made by the manager himself. It is important that he has an act of violation.

Pros and cons of bonus stimulation

The bonus reduction system is imperfect, however, the relative success of its functioning proves the effectiveness of such enforcement measures. Naturally, subject to compliance with labor laws.

Contradictions in depreciation:

• Having made mistakes, the employee cannot correct them in order to avoid deprivation of bonuses;
• in the case of non-specific wording in the documentation, the manager’s hands are too free (for example, the award of a bonus “for high performance” can easily be revised);
• indicators must correspond to the current level of development of the enterprise and are periodically reviewed and updated.

Positive aspects of depreciation:

• the responsibility of both parties increases: both employees and management;
• labor discipline receives an additional incentive to comply;
• the possibility of a differentiated approach to financial motivation.

Negative aspects of depreciation:

• possible mistrust of management;
• the pain of financial deprivation;
• work for results at the expense of the personal factor;
• additional ground for conflict situations.

Question: Does the employer have the right not to charge (reduce) a bonus depending on the type of disciplinary sanction applied to the employee (remark, reprimand)? How can this be done? View answer

How to organize a bonus reduction system

Developing a bonus system for employees is not an easy task. Employers often make mistakes that ultimately have the opposite effect. Here are the most common of them (see table):

Advantages of using a bonus reduction system :

• increase in the efficiency of the economic activity of the company, individual entrepreneur;
• increasing responsibility on the part of employers and employees;
• improvement of labor discipline;
• the factor of collective responsibility has a positive effect (due to the fault of one person another may suffer);
• the opportunity for a manager to control deviations, analyze the situation and make the right decisions.

The disadvantages include:

• worsening psychological climate (possible conflicts with colleagues or decreased loyalty on the part of management);
• in the future, deprivation of bonuses may become an obstacle to the full development of the employee’s potential;
• the system is focused on achieving the overall goals of the enterprise, so the interests of individual employees may not be taken into account.

Every employer strives to grow their business and increase profits. Is it worth depriving workers of bonuses for this? Depends on the result he is interested in achieving (see table).

as an example of a system for depriving employees .
EXAMPLE The Antares factory has defined goals for the product production department:

1. Volume: 2500 pcs/month.
2. Each product meets quality standards.
3. Reducing costs without losing quality.
4. Timely delivery of products.

Based on these goals, indicators were developed, the deviation of which will not result in additional payments. These included:

• the quantity of products that must be present in the warehouse at a certain time;
• percentage of plan completion;
• the quality of products meets established standards;
• compliance with raw material consumption standards.

An additional condition has been established: for the return of products, the workshop manager is subject to a deduction as a percentage of the calculated amount of remuneration.

Correct employer behavior

If management plans to use bonuses as a motivational factor, legal regulations should be followed.

Is it legal to deprive an employee of his bonus when reprimanding him for a disciplinary offense ?

What is the penalty for illegal deprivation?

Illegal deprivation of a bonus or reduction in its size may well become a reason for legal proceedings and the imposition of a serious fine on an overly zealous employer:

• for a boss, individual entrepreneur – 1-5 thousand rubles;
• per company – 30-50 thousand rubles; (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

If this is not the first time this has happened, then you can receive not only a monetary penalty, but also disqualification:

• director, chief - from 10 to 20 thousand rubles. or disqualification for 1-3 years;
• individual entrepreneur – 10-20 thousand rubles;
• legal entity – 50-70 thousand rubles.

In this case, the employee’s fault is not taken into account. The legality of the deduction of bonuses is established by documents: if the bonus is issued as part of the salary, it is illegal to deprive it.

Conditions and procedure for legal depreciation

1. The wording in the text of employment contracts states that the bonus is a variable part of the salary.
2. The Regulations on Bonuses adopted by the enterprise, which clearly define the conditions for accrual, reduction and deprivation of bonuses.
3. The bonus is accrued by order of management, as well as reducing its size or not accruing.
4. If the text of the Bonus Regulations states that bonuses are not awarded for disciplinary offenses, then a reduction or withdrawal of the bonus can be made only after a violation has been recorded or a disciplinary sanction has been imposed, which will prove the employee’s guilt.
5. If the penalty that became the basis for depreciation is lifted, there is no basis for subsequent payment of the bonus. A penalty is a punishment for an offense, deprivation of a bonus is its consequence, and the removal of a penalty is the result of the employee’s subsequent merits.
6. If disciplinary action, which resulted in a deprivation of bonuses, was applied illegally and was subsequently appealed and withdrawn, then the employee has the right to demand the cancellation of the decision on depreciation.

Question: An employee-driver caused an accident during working hours and left the scene of the accident, for which he was subjected to administrative arrest. Can the employer also impose a disciplinary sanction on him for this, as well as deprive him of his bonus? View answer

Bonuses and deductions for employees

Many organizations reward their staff for good achievements at work (exceeding standards, high quality work) with bonus money. This encourages subordinates to constantly strive for the best results and improves the efficiency of the business as a whole. The accrual conditions, types and amounts of such bonuses are prescribed in internal regulatory documents.

Of course, deprivation of bonuses to an employee is possible if a disciplinary offense is committed. It implies deprivation of the full or partial amount of the bonus that comes with the salary.

Deductions can be made, for example, in the following cases:

• failure to maintain order in the workplace;
• violation of safety rules;
• presence of complaints from clients;
• making errors in reporting documentation;
• failure to ensure the safety of inventory items, etc.

Also see: Reprimanding Foul Language at Work: Keeping Civility Safe.

Order on dismissal of an employee

It is better not to name this order in this way, because legally “de-bonus” is the cancellation of the accrual of bonuses, and with the legal application of this motivational influence we can only talk about non-accrual or a reduction in its size. To avoid ambiguity, the order should not use words that can be interpreted as punishment: “withdrawal”, “deprivation”, “about, etc. Instead, it is worth using neutral terms “reduction in size”, “non-accrual”, “failure to achieve indicators”, etc.

Other important nuances of depreciation

If the enterprise has a bonus system, this fact must be documented. As a rule, for this purpose a separate internal regulation is drawn up, the contents of which are familiarized to each employee.

If the employer still wants to use the cancellation of the bonus as a punishment, it is necessary to establish exactly what the bonus payment was awarded for. To do this, in a local act you can indicate, for example, the following: “The employee receives a bonus for the high-quality and conscientious performance of his professional duties, which are assigned to him by the provisions of the job description.” In this case, if this rule exists, the employer will have the legal right to cancel the bonus if the employee, for example, shows inattention to the performance of his job functions or commits another violation.

As for canceling a bonus for a certain employee, this measure must be formalized properly. To do this, the employer creates a written order. The order must indicate the factual grounds, for example: “Failure to achieve previously set targets”, “Inattention to work”, etc.

As soon as this order is drawn up, the employee must be familiarized with the information. If the subordinate agrees with the data presented in the order, he will need to put his personal signature in the appropriate place. If the employee completely refuses to admit his own guilt and does not agree with the decision of the company management, this fact must also be recorded in writing. To do this, the manager draws up an internal act on the refusal to sign the document, in the presence of independent witnesses.

Modern judicial practice in the field of bonus reduction

Let's look at an example from modern practice:

Ivanov A.V. employed as an engineer at the company Energoseti CJSC. At the beginning of June 2021, all his colleagues were paid a bonus, while he received only the stipulated salary. Ivanov A.V. considered these actions of the employer to be a direct violation of his legal rights and appealed to the court, filing a statement of claim addressed to his boss.

Having carefully considered all the information presented, the court refused to satisfy the plaintiff’s claims. The fact is that the current internal labor regulations in this organization establish that bonuses are paid to employees if they fulfill three basic conditions:

1. Absence of proven violations of labor discipline during the reporting period.
2. Competent performance of professional duties and achievement of desired results.
3. Implementation of an individual work plan that was previously established for the employee.

As it turned out during the consideration of the case, the employee fulfilled the first two conditions. However, he did not achieve the individual work plan. The employer was able to support this fact with appropriate documentary grounds. Consequently, the cancellation of the employee’s bonus became a legal action on the part of the manager.