How to calculate unemployment benefits in 2020: calculator, examples

Conditions of payment and benefit amounts

Unemployment benefits are a monetary payment provided at the expense of the state or its municipality in order to support citizens who do not have or have lost their jobs at a given time. The amount of the benefit is insignificant and is aimed at stimulating the search for work and methods of self-support.

Unemployment benefits are regulated by Law No. 1032-1 of April 19, 1991 (with the latest amendments on October 11, 2016). Based on the law, material allowance is determined as a percentage of the applicant’s average earnings for the last 3 months of his work activity. In this case, the duration of continuous activity must be at least six months on a full-time basis.

Procedure for calculating unemployment benefits

According to Art. 30 of RF Law No. 1032-1 establishes the following procedure for calculating the amount of financial assistance to the unemployed:

It is provided to applicants who have lost their job and will be calculated as a percentage, which is derived from the average salary.
The main condition of appointment is to have been employed for at least 26 weeks.
The benefit will be paid in cases where citizens try to look for work. In a passive position, the benefit will be paid for several months, then it will stop.

This procedure is carried out on the basis of the requirements and rules of the Social Insurance Fund and the personal financial data of the unemployed. The most important parameter for calculation is the average salary from the previous place of work, since financial assistance is assigned as a percentage of it.

In this case, the size of the payment depends on the number of past weeks for which financial assistance will be provided:

first three months – 75% of salary;
next 4 months – 60% of salary;
over 5 months – 45%.

Locally, the regional coefficient is also taken into account. If, during calculations, the amount is higher than the specified funds in the standards, then the unemployed will receive a maximum amount of 12,130 rubles, if lower, then 1,500 rubles.

Regulatory acts regulating the issue

The main document regulating the issue of financial support for the population is Law of the Russian Federation No. 1032-1. It sets out the positions according to which the payment will be made, the grounds for its appointment, the timing of the implementation of monetary assistance and the rules for registration. Circumstances that prevent the accrual of funds have also been established.

Payments that are included in the calculation

The main calculation includes payments:

average salary;
allowances and bonuses during the billing period;
payments in connection with sick leave or vacation;
other payments that are elements of remuneration.

In this case, accrued amounts will be excluded from the calculation period during which the employee:

went on vacation at his own expense or was on sick leave;
received subsidies in connection with pregnancy and subsequent births;
was unemployed due to plant downtime or due to a strike.

Example of calculating unemployment benefits

You can calculate the amount of assistance due at the employment center or independently, using the form indicated above. Moreover, the obtained values may differ for those with and without work experience.

With work experience

For the payment formula we use the following indicators:

work experience 3 years;
fired in February 2020 without pay;
billing period - November, December 2020 and January 2020 (accordingly, the salary received according to data for 4 weeks is 10,000, 12,000, 11,000 rubles);
no additional payments were assigned, no bonuses were paid, there were no vacations or sick leave for this period;
the regional coefficient is 0.75.

Based on this, a calculation is made using the formula Unemployment Allowance = SrDnZ * Coefficient:

The average salary is equal to - (10,000+12,500+11,000)/3, which turns out to be 11,000 rubles.
We multiply SrDnZ by the regional coefficient of 0.75, we get an amount equal to 8,250.

The citizen will receive the resulting value in the first billing period (about three months) if, immediately after dismissal, he registers with a government agency as unemployed. If he submits documents in six months, he will only be able to rely on the minimum wage of 1,500 rubles.

Help to the employment center: basic details

The current legislative acts do not establish a single form for a certificate of average earnings for three months. It is necessary to apply for benefits for the unemployed.

The certificate is endorsed by the manager and chief accountant, and sealed for financial documents.

Filling out the document is allowed in the same handwriting and ink of the same color; corrections in the certificate are certified in the prescribed manner and sealed.

Some employment centers offer their own certificate forms to fill out.

Employment center forms are issued to applicants to provide their former employers with information on average earnings to fill out.

Below is a sample free form certificate.

How long can you receive benefits?

Typically, payments are made for a period of 3 to 6 months. But payments can be interrupted at any time, for example, if you get a job. You need to understand that the job of the labor exchange is not to pay you benefits while you are unemployed, but to help you find a job. Financial assistance is support during downtime; it is not profitable for the employment center to produce an army of slackers, so payments are limited in time. Let's figure out who will be paid benefits and for how long.

The payment begins from the moment the citizen is declared unemployed. But then there are different options for how to become this very unemployed.

For those who are dismissed due to the liquidation of a company, cessation of its activities or reduction of staff, payment of benefits is assigned after the period of payment of average earnings at the last place of work is completed. Two benefits are not accrued at the same time, but assistance in finding a place of work is carried out as standard. In this case, it is necessary that the registered person has at least 26 weeks of work experience during the 12 months preceding the onset of unemployment. The benefit payment period does not exceed 6 months in total over the next 12 calendar months. For example, Svetlana Krasnova was fired due to staff reduction. She has worked for the company for 3 years (which is more than 26 weeks), so she can register and receive benefits for 6 months. If during this time a vacancy was not found on the exchange or, for example, Svetlana started working on the proposed vacancy, and then quit after a month or two, then she can re-register with the employment center only after 6 months.
For citizens who were called up for military service and served, the benefit payment period cannot exceed 6 months in total within 12 months. In this case, it is necessary that the person was employed during the last 12 months before conscription and that the work experience in this place was equal to or greater than 26 weeks. That is, for example, Petrov worked as a salesman in a store for 2 years, after which he received a summons to the army. Petrov served, and then registered with the Employment Center as unemployed; his work record book had more than 26 weeks of work experience and he was employed for 24 months before conscription, therefore, he will be paid unemployment benefits.
For those who have not previously worked or lost their job more than 12 months ago, who worked less than 26 weeks in the previous year, who were dismissed for violations and for other reasons, who were expelled from training in the direction of the employment center, the payment is assigned for a period of three months and at the same time it is minimal.
For those who quit at their own request, benefits will be accrued based on length of service. If a person worked 26 weeks in the 12 months preceding dismissal, he will receive benefits for a total of 6 months in the subsequent year. If a person has worked for less than 26 weeks, then the benefit is assigned for 3 months.

What you should know about the billing period

There is a general rule taken as the basis for calculating the average salary. This is three months. That is, if an employee is fired on 05/12/2016, then his period for calculations is 02/01/2016 – 04/31/2016.

If a staff member is released in the middle of the month, the end of the billing period falls at the end of the previous month. If an employee resigns on the last day of a month, that month may also be included in the period. The main thing when deciding which month to count from, in this case, should be the benefit of the employee. You need to take as a basis the option where the average earnings will be higher. For example, in the first month of calculation the person being dismissed had a good bonus. If this period of time is taken into account, the amount indicated in the certificate will be greater.

Not all days can be included in the period taken for making calculations; it will not include:

Days for receiving benefits: pregnancy, temporary disability, child care, childbirth, etc.
When no work was carried out, but the average salary was retained by the employee (paid leave, business trip, etc.).
When a person did not work, but the unit was retained for him with or without maintaining his salary.
If there are days in the period that are subject to exclusion, three other months are taken that are close to those that should have been calculated.

In rare cases, it happens that an employee only had days worked in the month of his dismissal. Then you need to calculate only for these days before the date of dismissal.

The pay period is traditionally three months, which are selected depending on the benefits of the person being dismissed and the days worked.

Sample certificate of average earnings

A certificate of average earnings is a special document that is often required by an employee. The main purpose of this document is to confirm the following important facts:

The fact that the employee works in a certain organization and was employed there officially, in accordance with the scheme established by law.
That the employee receives a fixed income for a certain period of time.

A certificate of average earnings of an individual may be required in a variety of situations. For example, very often a document is necessary for its subsequent submission to the following authorities:

to the employment center. It is a special organization whose main task is to provide citizens with maximum assistance in finding suitable jobs. In this case, a certificate may be required to register an individual with official registration with this authority. Based on the information specified in the document, a specialist from the employment center will make all the necessary calculations and assign the client a special unemployment benefit. The calculation of this payment is carried out precisely on the basis of the average earnings of a person at his last place of employment before immediate dismissal;
to the center for social protection of the population. Very often, a certificate of average earnings is provided to this authority. The fact is that the powers of this organization include providing citizens with various benefits and privileges provided for by law. For example, the employment center very often issues subsidies and discounts on utility bills. Registration of these bonuses will be possible only if the employee’s average earnings fall within the established standards;
to a new place of work of an individual. In some cases, a citizen may need such a document even though he has already found a new place of work and has officially settled in it. The need to obtain this document may arise, for example, when calculating sick leave pay due to an employee;
to a banking organization. In most cases, when applying for a consumer loan, specialists will request a certificate of the client’s average earnings.

If we talk about a sample certificate of average earnings, it should immediately be noted that no official form has been established for this document. This means that in fact it can be compiled freely. The main thing is that the finished document includes the following basic information:

Information about the individual in whose name the certificate is issued - full name of the citizen, name of the position he holds, etc.
The full name of the organization where this certificate is issued, as well as the contact information of the institution.
Information regarding the exact duration of the employee’s work in this company from the moment of his official employment.
Basic data on average earnings for the last three-month period. Very often this information is presented in the form of a table. It is very convenient and visual.

After including all important information in the document, it must be signed by the director of the organization or other authorized person. Moreover, the company seal of the institution should be affixed just below. Only after the document has been correctly completed can it be handed over to the subordinate. It should be noted that if the certificate does not contain important information or mandatory details, such a document will not be accepted for consideration by the authorized authority.

Average earnings for an employment center calculation in Excel

SZ – average earnings;
ВВ – all payments included in the calculation;
CHOD – number of days worked;
NWD – number of working days (according to the enterprise’s work schedule);
3 is the number of calendar months preceding the dismissal.

Billing period

If the salary increased in the analyzed months, the payments involved in the calculation of average earnings in those months that preceded the salary increase are indexed. For example, a person quit in mid-February. And from January 1, salaries were increased. Payments for November and December are indexed.
If the administration increased the salary after the billing period, the average salary is indexed. The employee quit in mid-January. The salary increase is from January 1. Average earnings for three months of the billing period are indexed.

Calculation of average earnings for an employment center

How to calculate the average earnings for an employment center if there are no wage accruals in the period taken as the base? The basis is the previous time range in which days were worked and wages were accrued. If an employee has worked for the company for less than 3 months, then the days from the date of hiring to the date of dismissal, actually recorded by the workers, are taken into account.

Calculation of average earnings for an employment center

The calculation base is formed from the employee’s income accruals for three full calendar months preceding the month of termination of the employment contract. The calculation of average monthly earnings for an employment center cannot contain in the database days and payments for the following periods:

The billing period was fully worked out by him. The employee has a 40-hour work week (five working days). In addition, he was paid a monthly bonus of 6,000 rubles. Let's calculate the average salary of an employee to prepare a certificate for the employment service.

the employee retained his average earnings in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
the employee received temporary disability benefits or maternity benefits;
the employee did not work due to downtime due to the fault of the employer or for reasons beyond the control of the employer and employee;
the employee did not participate in the strike, but due to this strike he was unable to perform his work;
the employee was provided with additional paid days off to care for disabled children and people with disabilities since childhood;
in other cases, the employee was released from work with full or partial retention of wages or without payment in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
the employee was provided with days of rest (time off) in connection with work beyond the normal working hours under the rotation method of organizing work and in other cases in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

How to determine the billing period if it consists entirely of days excluded from it in accordance with clause 4 of Procedure No. 62? In this case, the average earnings are determined based on the amount of wages actually accrued for the previous period of time equal to the calculated one (clause 5 of Procedure No. 62).

We recommend reading: How to account for goods and materials worth up to 100,000 rubles

Formula for calculating average earnings

3) remuneration based on the results of work for the year, a one-time remuneration for length of service (work experience), other remuneration based on the results of work for the year, accrued for the previous calendar year - in the amount of 1/12 for each month of the billing period, regardless of the time the remuneration was accrued.

Monthly – in full, one for each indicator. If, for example, two premiums are awarded for the maximum number of concluded contracts, then only the one with the largest amount is included in the calculation.
Quarterly and semi-annual – in the amount of a monthly part. One for each indicator.
Annual (for the calendar year preceding dismissal) – in the amount of ? for each indicator (even if the employee received the money not in the billing period).

To obtain unemployed status and apply for benefits, you will need a number of documents, of which the main one, which determines the amount of monthly payments, is a certificate calculating the average earnings for the employment center.

Average earnings for an employment center calculation in Excel

Situation 2. If the entire billing period consists of excluded days, then to calculate average earnings, the 3 calendar months closest to the billing period in which the employee had days worked are taken (clause 5 of the Procedure for calculating average earnings for the employment service).

In the case where payments did not take place and during the period of occurrence of the case giving the right to maintain the average monthly earnings, the calculation will be carried out based on the salary assigned to the employee.

The calculator is not used to calculate payments and benefits for vacations, sick leave and periods of maternity leave. These payments, although made on the basis of average earnings, are actually calculated using a different methodology, which includes the calculation of payments that are not included in wages.

No salary

Thus, one bonus is taken into account for any one indicator for each month that is calculated. That is, if we assume that the employee received two additional remunerations in one month, but according to different indicators, for example, one for exceeding the plan, the other for an improvement proposal, then only one of them will be taken into account.

The average salary for the employment center is taken 3 months before dismissal from the first to the last day.

Recommendations of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation

Despite the lack of an approved certificate form for calculating average earnings for an employment center, the Letter of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation numbered 16-5b 421 dated August 15, 2016 proposed a certificate form for use to determine the amount of unemployment benefits.

Below is a salary certificate based on the sample recommended by the Ministry of Labor.

When calculating the average earnings for an employment center, the employer must be guided by the rules of the Procedure for calculating the average monthly salary, determined by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation No. 62 of 08/12/03.