Statement of claim against an employer in court

In the event of a delay in wages, the offended employee or the team as a whole has the right to file an individual/collective complaint with the State Labor Inspectorate. Although applying to the State Tax Inspectorate is not a mandatory procedure by law, for most employers decisive actions by staff can become a reason to pay off the monetary obligation as quickly as possible. However, employees have the right to file a claim for recovery of wages in the district court, bypassing the State Labor Inspectorate, or contact both authorities, as well as the prosecutor’s office.

Responsibility of the employer under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation

Based on Part 6 of Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, LLCs and individual entrepreneurs operating on the territory of the Russian Federation are required to pay wages to hired employees at least once every 15 days. The exact date of payment is fixed:

PVTR organizations;
contract (labor or collective agreement).

As a general rule, funds are transferred before the 15th day of the month for the previous billing period (1 calendar month). For certain categories of personnel, the Federal Law may establish other accrual periods. So, according to Part 1 of Art. 140 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer’s representative is obliged to make settlements with the person on the day of his dismissal.

According to Part 2 of Art. 22 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to pay salaries to staff on time and in full. For violation of the deadlines approved by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for the accrual of funds under the salary project, LLCs and individual entrepreneurs with hired personnel incur administrative and obscene penalties. responsibility (see Part 1 of Article 142 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

According to Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the guilty employer will have to compensate the employee for payments with additional payment. percent. Compensation is calculated in the amount of no less than 1/150 of the current rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in force at the time of downtime, of the salary for each day of non-payment. The calculation of compensation begins with the following. days after the planned payment date and keep track of the actual day. calculation.

When payments are transferred to the employee's account on time, but not in full, % is calculated based on the unpaid amounts. To accurately calculate the debt by % under Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, you can use a special calculator available on the Internet. Compensation may be increased based on the provisions of the collective agreement, corporate regulations or agreement with the employee. It is characteristic that the obligation to pay compensation to personnel does not depend on the fault of the organization’s management (this follows from Part 2 of Article 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition to monetary liability, the perpetrators may be charged under Part 6 of Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and in some cases under Art. 145.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, when dissatisfied personnel file claims in labor disputes.

Why you can sue an employer: TOP 5 causes of labor disputes

The relationship between employer and employees is regulated by the Labor Code. It sets out the rights and obligations of the parties. But not all employers comply with the law.

The most common reasons for going to court are:

Non-payment, incomplete payment or delay of wages, vacation pay, compensation. It was the cause of 86% of lawsuits in 2021. Almost all requirements (97%) were satisfied. We are talking not only about official payment, but also about “salary in envelopes.”
Unlawful dismissal or transfer to another job without the employee’s consent. The most common cases are the dismissal of pregnant women, dismissal for far-fetched reasons, or unilateral changes in working conditions.

It happens that employers abuse their position and, instead of dismissal due to redundancy, terminate employment contracts “by agreement of the parties” - without paying compensation.

To receive all compensation due, you will need to challenge the reason for your termination. In case of illegal dismissal, it is necessary to demand reinstatement and payment of wages for the period of forced absence.

Refusal of the employer to register a work-related injury. If the enterprise does not comply with safety regulations or the employees are not officially employed, managers are often not eager to voluntarily compensate for harm to the health of employees.
Illegal imposition of disciplinary sanctions on an employee. Several violations of labor discipline can become grounds for dismissal “under article” and complicate subsequent employment.

Employee rights

Employees whose wages are delayed for more than 15 days can (there are certain restrictions under Part 2 of Article 142 of the Labor Code for specific categories of workers or during an emergency):

suspend your work until the debt is repaid, having previously notified the company administration in writing;
do not go to work place before salary enrollment.

For employees by virtue of Part 4 of Art. 142 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, during downtime, the average earnings are maintained regardless of whether a person is present in the office or not. Average earnings are calculated according to the rules of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation using a special formula. If an employee receives a notification from his boss about his readiness to repay the salary debt, he is obliged to return to work after receiving the corresponding notification or to the next job. day.

Claim for recovery of wages

The most common labor disputes leading to the filing of claims are related to:

unjustified reduction in salary, imposition of fines and deprivation of bonuses;
delay in payments, accrual of part of the salary or lack of transfer for more than 15 calendar days;
oral violation the procedure for settlements with employees upon staff reduction (dismissal).

There are certain procedural time limits for labor dispute claims. By virtue of Part 2 of Article 392 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee can apply to a government agency for a resolution of a labor dispute regarding non-payment of wages and other amounts due within a year from the date of the established payment deadline.

By virtue of paragraphs. 1) - 7.1) clause 2 art. 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the statement of claim shall indicate the circumstances on which the plaintiff bases his claims, as well as evidence confirming these circumstances, in particular:

The name of the court to which the statement of claim is filed (by virtue of clause 10 of Article 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the right to choose a court belongs to the plaintiff).
Information about the plaintiff, his place of residence or the registration address of the legal entity, information about the plaintiff’s representative (if an authorized person acts on behalf of the applicant);
Information about the defendant (if the plaintiff has such information): full name, place of residence, data from the birth certificate, place of work, any of the identifiers (SNILS. INN, passport data, driver’s license, etc.) , for LLC - name and legal entity. address of the organization, INN and OGRN
A detailed description of the subject of the dispute (delay of wages and other payments due to the employee, including compensation for moral damage).
The circumstances on which the employee bases his claims to the employer, including the evidence base. It is necessary to record the fact of the origin/completion of the relationship under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (for example, provide a link to the current employment contract).
Calculation of the cost of the claim - the debt of an LLC or individual entrepreneur for salary (price of the claim), indicating the timing of the delay in payment. Request for payment of debt and additional compensation to the legislator with references to labor law norms (Articles 236, 237, 391 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Articles 131, 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
Information about the actions taken to reconcile the parties (optional).
List of attached documents.

Part 6) Art. 132 Part 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation provides for the need to send a statement of claim and other copies of documents that are not available to the parties to the dispute by mail, even if a claim is filed through an electronic form that is posted on the website of the relevant court.

A sample claim can be downloaded below this article.

Submission deadlines

The statute of limitations for appeals regarding reinstatement is 1 month.

The countdown of time begins from the moment of familiarization with the dismissal order or the issuance of a work book.

For other labor disputes, the filing period is set at 3 months.

The presence of valid reasons for missing the deadline for filing a claim may be considered by the court if there are documentary grounds. There are no valid reasons for absence - the claim will not be satisfied.

There is no point in delaying filing a claim in court. Litigation often takes a very long time, and if the labor dispute is related to money, then delaying the deadlines can seriously undermine the financial situation.

Documents for court

In accordance with Article 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the statement of claim will need to be accompanied by:

labor or collective agreement;
agreement on the procedure for paying salary;
The order of acceptance to work;
evidence of non-payment of funds (based on accounting statements, written testimony of witnesses, notifications, etc.);
other documents provided for by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

To obtain all the necessary documents for the court, you need to contact your employer with a written application. Copies of documents must be certified by an authorized representative of the defendant. The employer, by virtue of Article 62 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, is obliged to provide documentation within 3 working days from the date of filing the application (registration, i.e. assigning it a number and date).

By virtue of Art. 28 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and clauses 6.3, 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the claim is filed in the district court:

at the place of the defendant - employer;
at the employee's address;
at the place where the employee’s work function is performed.

There is no state duty.

Court expenses

Art. 393 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation reports that employees are exempt from paying state fees when applying to labor courts.

That is, any applications to the labor court are free for an employee if he has an employment contract or a general civil contract on labor relations with his employer.

Also, exemption from paying state duty in labor disputes is described in Art. 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and is enshrined in the resolution of the Constitutional Court No. 1637-О-О (exemption from fees when filing a claim in courts of general jurisdiction and courts of appeal).

However, when filing a claim in the courts of the supervisory or cassation instance, you will still have to pay a fee (Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), no matter whether you lost the case in the general court or won. If the court makes a decision in favor of the employee, then he has the right to demand that the employer reimburse all other legal costs (for example, legal costs). Therefore, the more confident you are that you are right, the more it makes sense to hire a good lawyer. After all, if you win the case, all expenses for it will be paid by the defendant himself.

Download samples of statements of claim to the court in .doc format: Claim for reinstatement at work34 Kb Claim for recovery of a work book and other documents not issued upon dismissal36 Kb Claim for recovery of wages and monetary compensation for dismissal34 Kb Claim for recovery of wages31 Kb

Collective lawsuit of workers against the employer

To recover wages through the court, the labor collective can act together. To do this, it is necessary to appoint a coordinator for the claim filing process, i.e. proactive employee. Features of consideration of collective claims against an employer are:

consideration at the location of the defendant;
by virtue of clause 5 of Art. 244.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation in the case of labor disputes regarding the protection of the rights of a group of persons (collective dispute), at least 20 plaintiffs must participate in the claim (the more, the greater the chances of a successful outcome of the case);
The period for consideration of a collective claim is 4 times longer than that of an individual labor dispute, i.e. about 8 months

When drawing up a class action, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. In addition, the statement of claim must be accompanied by a justification for the involvement of all parties to the dispute in the case under consideration. Otherwise, the process of collecting and submitting documents is similar to an individual dispute.

For a successful outcome of the case, it is better to trust trusted lawyers. International experts with many years of experience will represent the interests of the applicant in an individual or class action against the employer at any stage. To contact a labor law lawyer, call 8 (800) 222-24-50 or fill out an application at rosco.su.

How to prove the fact of an employment relationship?

When trying to find a job, a person does not always think about whether he will be officially employed or not; it is important for him to get a job. Companies take advantage of this by hiring workers informally and reducing the tax burden on business. Agreement to work without a contract often turns against the employee - a dispute ensues with your employer over working conditions, and most importantly, the amount of wages.

During the course of his work, controversial situations may arise between him and the employer, which can only be resolved in court. The reasons for disputes can be very different:

the employer’s reluctance to make an entry in the work book;
illegal dismissal and arrears of wages (this process is aimed at appealing a disciplinary sanction, as well as additional accrual of all illegally withheld accrual, see the link for material about how to challenge an unfair reprimand in court);
requirement to pay social benefits, insurance contributions, etc.

An employee must protect his interests if he understands that the truth is on his side. Therefore, if he was not officially employed in a company where he honestly worked, he can go to court and demand that the fact of an employment relationship be established. Proving this is not easy, so you need to enlist the help of a professional lawyer who understands labor law.

What evidence can be presented to the court?

staffing table with the company seal;
pay slip (with information on salary calculation);
a pass to the enterprise and the plaintiff’s signature in the shift log;
testimony of employees of this organization, as well as contractors;
certificate of issued wages and other written evidence directly or indirectly indicating the relationship between the employee and the employer.

Witnesses are often brought in to testify that they saw the plaintiff at the workplace. The more witness testimony, the more convincing your position will be at trial. The claim must indicate all the basic information regarding employment at the enterprise: date of employment, work schedule, nature of job responsibilities, salary payment schedule, reason for dismissal, etc.

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