A complaint to the state labor inspectorate is the best way out for an employee who believes that the employer has violated his legal rights. This tool for resolving such disputes is becoming increasingly common today, since it avoids numerous violations that until recently were considered “standard.” At the same time, from a cost point of view, everything happens quite economically; for example, we always agree with the Principals on filing a complaint with the labor inspectorate at an affordable price.
How to write a complaint to the labor inspectorate?
There are no specific rules on how to write a complaint to the labor inspectorate; let’s look at some advice from a labor dispute lawyer on the main points of the complaint:
- First of all, you need to submit an application indicating the required details . Anonymous applications are not accepted for consideration at all, as well as complaints without indicating the applicant’s return address. Since the labor inspectorate will have no one to answer, the case will not be considered.
- Do not expect a government agency to resolve any dispute between an employee and an employer. An inspection by the labor inspectorate based on an employee’s complaint will not be effective if there is no official employment contract or civil agreement on temporary employment. With such claims, you should apply to the court with a statement of claim to establish the fact of labor relations and payment of arrears of wages or other requirements (see the link for more details on how to do everything correctly).
- The application should be accompanied by evidence , indications of witnesses, and available employment documents.
- Do not try to compose a text through tears and emotions , it will be very difficult to find facts of violations of the employer by the inspector; it is better to adhere to a business style of writing with a clear and consistent presentation of events and actions
- A regulatory justification for violations of an employee’s rights is not mandatory, but you will agree that a selection of legal norms for each employer’s offense will greatly simplify the verification and give maximum effect in punishing the culprit, read the example of a complaint below, compiled by our lawyer.
USEFUL : watch a video with advice from a lawyer on filing a complaint and write your question in the comments of the video to receive an answer to the problem
Learning from mistakes
The manager should not be arrogant, relying on many years of experience or the fact that everything was recently put in order.
The fact is that with the advent of computer technology, the amount of paperwork in enterprises has only increased. Probably because now they are not written by hand, but copied and printed and reprinted.
It is better to sort everything out in advance and, if a similar inspection has recently been carried out in a nearby organization, contact and clarify the details.
After all, documents tend to be updated and modified, and it is better to learn from the experience of others.
The verification can take quite a long time, but no more than 3 working weeks.
Sometimes inspectors may find it necessary to extend this period.
As a matter of fact, 20 days will be plenty for experienced inspectors to identify such common violations as:
- absence of signatures of employees in instructions, regulations, employment contracts, indicating that familiarization either was not carried out, or the employee did not receive his copy of the employment contract;
- absence of a work book or timely record of career movements;
- or, on the contrary, the discovery of extra work books of employees who left long ago, which is a violation of the deadlines for issuing a work book after dismissal, and possibly untimely payment of the final payment, etc.
Particular attention should be paid to employment contracts, since it is impossible to formalize them retroactively and everything that was concluded before 2002 must contain the old conditions regulated by Art. 57 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
You can confirm that the employee has received the second copy of the contract either by his signature and date marked “second copy received,” or by a separate journal in which all issuance of contracts is recorded.
Local acts should not represent a dogma that is created once and for all. All provisions are modified in accordance with changes made to Russian legislation.
Based on the results of the inspection, a report is certainly drawn up, one copy of which remains with the employer. In accordance with the act, an order is issued to eliminate violations or a decision is made to impose a fine.
How to file a complaint with the labor inspectorate?
- documents are submitted to the territorial inspection to the responsible employee with a mark on the second copy. After this, all you have to do is wait for the answer, which will come within 30 days
- you can use the website of the government body and file a complaint through the services of the official website
- Post office or courier service will also help you deliver your request, and you can order feedback by receiving notification of delivery of the letter to the regulatory authority
If it is not possible to resolve the dispute in this way, the next instance is the court at the location of the employer or the employee’s workplace.
What can bring the inspection “to visit”?
Scheduled inspections are carried out, as a rule, no more than once every 3 years.
For this purpose, a schedule is drawn up, which goes through the approval procedure with the prosecutor's office and is published on the website of the relevant authority.
Therefore, the employer can find out in a timely manner whether the organization entrusted to him is scheduled for inspections for the next calendar year.
An inspection can suddenly appear only when numerous complaints or one specific complaint of a large-scale nature are received.
Then a representative of the state labor inspectorate is obliged to respond to the received signal within 10 days and come freely to the organization at any time for the purpose of inspection.
It is not at all necessary that the inspector, having appeared on the threshold of the relevant establishment, will immediately state whose complaint he has arrived on.
This may be kept strictly confidential at the complainant's request.
An unscheduled inspection may also occur due to failure to comply with a previously issued order to eliminate violations.
A repeat visit may result in a financial fine.
When can you complain to the labor inspectorate?
The standard period for filing a complaint with the labor inspectorate lasts 3 months for any offense, but in case of dismissal it is reduced to one calendar month. Please note that a complaint does not suspend the deadline for going to court, so do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible so as not to be left without the possibility of judicial protection of violated labor rights.
A complaint to the labor inspectorate about non-payment of wages is the most common, but this is far from the only reason to contact the relevant authorities. An inspection can help in the following cases:
- violation of the work schedule and failure to provide breaks and vacations;
- unjustified administrative measures;
- wrongful dismissal;
- Incorrect calculation of sick leave or vacation.
- other violation of employee rights
What is the deadline to appeal?
The period for appeal depends both on the order of appeal and on what document is being appealed. Based on the results of the inspection, the inspector can draw up: an inspection report, an order to eliminate violations, a protocol on an administrative violation, a resolution on the imposition of an administrative penalty. In practice, only orders and decisions are appealed. There are two ways to appeal the decisions of labor inspectors: administratively and judicially (Table 1).
Table 1. Deadlines for appealing orders and decisions of the state labor inspectorate
| What is being appealed | Deadline for appealing in court | Administrative appeal period |
| Prescription | 3 months from the day the organization became aware of a violation of its rights and legitimate interests (Part 1 of Article 219 of the Code of Arbitration Code of the Russian Federation) | 15 days from the date of receipt of the order (clause 12 of article 16 of the Federal Law of December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ) |
| Resolution | 10 days from the date of receipt of a copy of the resolution (Part 1 of Article 30.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) | 10 days from the date of receipt of a copy of the resolution (Part 1 of Article 30.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) |
Please note that the court will not consider documents if you submit them after the procedural period has expired (Part 2 of Article 94 of the Code of Administrative Proceedings of the Russian Federation). If you do not make it on time, file a petition to restore the missed deadline.
Help from a labor lawyer
Our lawyer for labor disputes between an employee and an employer will help in the following areas:
- Consulting to clarify the essence of the problem and ways to solve it, because it is possible not to file a complaint with the labor inspectorate, but to file a complaint against the employer with other authorities or a statement of claim in court
- Also, assistance from our lawyer is possible when filing a collective complaint, which will be considered even more closely
- Drawing up a complaint with the help of a lawyer: professionally, on favorable terms and on time
- In addition to drawing up an appeal, we will have representation in the inspection body - the labor inspectorate, where it is possible to familiarize yourself with the inspection materials, submit additional petitions and request documents from the employer
- Appeal the results of the labor inspection to a higher supervisory authority or court
VIDEO : advice from a lawyer on labor disputes
Will paper endure everything?
It is possible that the regulatory authority will not arrive on site immediately, but will require some of the documents to be delivered to a specific address.
As a rule, these are certified copies of documents specified by the inspection.
If they do not provide a complete picture of what is happening (safe conditions can only be verified with your own eyes), then verification work will continue on site.
The employer should pay attention to the proper execution of all types of documents according to standard templates, since paperwork in its own right is unlikely to delight the inspector.
First of all, the constituent and personnel documents will be checked:
- charter;
- staffing schedule;
- internal labor regulations;
- collective agreement;
- labor protection instructions;
- job responsibilities with employee signatures and dates indicating timely review of the documents;
- employment contracts and amendments to them, if changes in working conditions have taken place;
- regulations on bonuses;
- vacation schedule;
- order books;
- work books.
You may be interested in the “Concluding an Employment Contract” mental map, which explains how hiring takes place
Or find out HERE how to competently conclude a contract
Check result
The results of the inspection must be drawn up accordingly: an act must be drawn up and signed in two copies and an entry must be made in the inspection log (you fill out this log according to the standard form approved by order of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation dated April 30, 2009 No. 141). The report may be accompanied by protocols of analyzes of the goods you produce, examination protocols, explanations from workers, instructions that you have to fulfill, as well as other documents as part of the inspection carried out.
If violations were identified during the inspection, you will receive an order to eliminate them. If you do not correct everything within the required time frame, you will have to pay fines or your activity may be suspended altogether. The fine may be imposed on you as an individual entrepreneur, on your director or on the chief accountant. The fine varies from 1 to 100 thousand rubles, it all depends on the severity of the violations.
The decision made based on the results of the inspection can be appealed by you. This can be done from the head of the inspector who inspected you, as well as from the chief state labor inspector or in court.
When will a complaint against an employer help?
Sometimes many people have such serious disagreements with management that it is no longer possible to resolve them among themselves. And problems most often arise with the rights of the employee, who sometimes does not know how to protect them and resolve the conflict that has arisen. Unfortunately, collective complaints against the employer from employees of organizations often arise.
There are many reasons for an employee to complain to an employer. The main ones include:
- the employer's reluctance to enter into a formal employment contract;
- delay in payment of salary and other accruals;
- no overtime pay;
- an employee’s complaint against the employer can be filed if wages were paid unofficially;
- incorrect calculation of payment;
- delay in issuing a work book if necessary;
- any other possible violations.
Now, in order to file a complaint against an employer, you need to go to the labor inspectorate or another body, submitting a document in writing. This organization has all the powers to monitor compliance with the law. Our labor dispute lawyer Yekaterinburg will help you decide on the authorities who will receive the employee’s complaint.
Documents of interest to the labor inspectorate
The composition of the requested GIT documents is as follows:
- labor and collective agreements;
- accounting documents for wages (pay slips, pay slips);
- personnel documents (personnel orders, vacation schedules, work books, staffing schedule);
- local regulations related to labor relations (on wages, on business trips, on labor protection);
- safety training logs, etc.
All documents are submitted to the State Tax Inspectorate in the form of simple copies, certified by the signature of the head of the enterprise or another person by proxy. In the case of documentary verification, it is also possible to send electronic documents using an enhanced qualified electronic signature. Confiscation of original documents is not permitted.
The period for which documents may be requested is not limited. If the retention period for any documents has expired and they have been destroyed, the employer should provide appropriate explanations. Lawful destruction will not entail liability.
Some employers are ready to provide inspectors with access to all documents. It's not worth doing this. It is recommended to provide the requested documents, and only those that relate to the subject of the inspection.
