Fight at work or what to do about assault in the workplace according to the labor code

What is considered a fight at work?

When a fight occurs at work, the Labor Code does not require the manager to perform any actions or apply certain measures, even if this is an administrative violation or crime. If the fact of the fight was not reported, then this is also not a violation.

On the other hand, the legislation provides for a number of possible measures that can be used to influence troublemakers. It is important to understand that liability within the framework of the implementation of labor legislation differs from that which arises as a result of the application of administrative or criminal law.

These types of liability occur independently. For example, if during a fight that occurred at work, a person was injured, then this entails criminal liability for the perpetrator, regardless of whether it happened at the workplace or not.

A completely different situation arises if the fight did not entail consequences that fall under a criminal article: for example, there were no serious injuries, theft or the like. In this case, the main type of punishment becomes that associated with violation of labor laws.

It is this type of violation that is discussed in this article.

Main conclusions

A fight in the workplace creates a lot of problems not only for its participants (punishment), but also for the employer - then they have to compile a bunch of papers, investigate, and maybe even take out loans to restore damaged property.

Therefore, it is better to avoid such a situation in advance; if there is a suspicion that clouds are gathering, it is better to prevent events (you can fire the violent ones in advance; the labor market is full of normal workers).

I wish you safe and efficient work!

If there are not enough samples in the article or there are points that remain unsaid, write in the comments, we’ll figure it out ☺

The nature of such offenses

In order for the manager to take action, it must be about the fact of violation of the provisions of labor legislation. At the same time, the question arises about what kind of violations took place, if there was a fight at work, what exactly was violated in this case.

To better understand the situation, here are some examples of this type of situation:

1. One employee constantly picks on another, driving him crazy. Finally, he can’t stand it and rushes at him with his fists.
2. The head of the department instructs the employee to complete the work. He is not in the mood and responds with rudeness. The boss finds this outrageous and hits him, wanting to punish him for insubordination.

Even if no one is particularly harmed, the enterprise will actually be damaged.

What is the penalty for beating a person and what article is provided?

But the attempt is not torture, and so far there is no legal punishment for demand. 5. The most fun. About how a warrior of light can attract help from the dark side of the force. Neither more nor less, but the medical insurance organization itself. Yes Yes. If the identity of the villain is known, then he can be handed over to the insurance experts. They have the right to recover from the criminal the money spent on providing medical care to the doctor who suffered from his criminal hands (Article 31 of the Federal Law of November 29, 2010 No. 326-FZ). It's a small thing, but nice. And one last thing. The issue of the protection of medical workers should be resolved not by the introduction of new articles in the Criminal Code, but by several other conditions (there are enough articles in the Criminal Code), for example, the normal work of law enforcement agencies (after all, we also pay taxes) and the desire of victims to achieve protection of their rights.

Employer's actions

As soon as the fight becomes known, the need arises:

• understand what really happened;
• determine what damage has been caused to the health of employees;
• find out the amount of material damage to the enterprise;
• determine the degree of guilt and responsibility of everyone who participated in the fight.

In the event of a fight, the manager has the right to request an explanation in writing.

After the incident, it is necessary to request explanations in writing from those directly involved in the conflict. Testimonies from participants will help to understand the situation in detail.

Unfortunately, we cannot exclude the possibility that all or some participants will refuse to submit written explanations. At the same time, you need to understand that the boss is in any case obliged to understand the facts that took place and make his decision.

Let us note that the law does not require a mandatory response, however, if the causes of the conflict are not eliminated, this may lead to serious consequences in the future. The manager has the right to take measures in connection with violation of labor discipline by employees. These include actions or inactions that resulted in complete or partial failure to fulfill labor duties by the perpetrator.

“My boss beat me up at work”

— The conflict between Ivan Stepanovich and me flared up unexpectedly: first we discussed plans for the next year, and then I took an interest in what we would do with the employee who wrote a letter of resignation. The boss started shouting at me: they say, this is his enterprise, he is the owner and makes the decisions himself, and I shouldn’t tell him. And then he says: “Write your resignation letter!” Of course, I refused and was indignant, after which he flew up to me and hit his head on the table,” Anna Andreevna, the chief accountant of a private Minsk enterprise, tells Komsomolskaya Pravda, worriedly. “I slid under the table, and he continued to finish me off with his feet, his fists, and even hit me on the head with an empty glass bottle. When the bottle fell out of his hands, I grabbed it and began to defend myself from the blows. I may have hit it a couple of times, but I don’t remember exactly. At that moment I was in a state of shock.

A fight between a boss and his subordinate occurred in the office on New Year's Eve. Each hero has his own version of what happened, but there is no doubt that the woman was hit hard. We met with Anna Andreevna at her home; she was recently discharged from the hospital, where she was given many diagnoses: an open traumatic brain injury of moderate severity, a fracture of the base of the skull on the right, a fracture of the ear canal, a fracture of the arm...

“But look at my photographs taken the day after the fight,” the woman holds out the photographs. There are simply no words: a beaten, swollen face, a black eye, bruises.

- Already when he ran out of the office, I asked: “Ivan Stepanovich, maybe you will apologize after all?” But he refused,” Anna continues to say. “You know, I would forgive him, we’ve been working together for so many years.” It’s not news to me that his character is not sweet, but the boss himself provoked me and said that he was ready to answer before the law. So I called the police.

"I JUST PUNCHED HER IN THE FACE A FEW TIMES"

A few minutes later a police squad arrived at the company. When they began to understand the situation, both the boss and the subordinate unanimously declared that they wanted to write a statement against each other. That same night Anna Andreevna became ill and was taken away by ambulance. The beaten woman celebrated the New Year in a hospital ward, and 10 days later she was discharged. But even after the course of treatment, she continued to feel unwell, and doctors had to readmit her to the hospital. She spent forty days either in the hospital or on sick leave, and now she has taken a leave of absence from work.

“I recently found out that the police refused to open a criminal case because I still have not been able to film the beatings and therefore they cannot assess what injuries I received. How can I do this if I end up either in the hospital or visiting doctors at the clinic,” Anna Andreevna wonders. “During all this time, the boss never called and inquired about my well-being. I will go to the end, but I will ensure that he is punished.

When I invited Ivan Stepanovich to meet, he immediately agreed. But he has a different vision of the whole story.

“In December, my chief accountant came to work drunk and started a row here. After which I asked her to write a letter of resignation. I should have called the police back then, and this whole situation wouldn’t have happened, but I’m kind. She tearfully asked me to leave her, and I took pity. Anya is a good worker, she just can’t drink,” says Ivan Stepanovich very calmly. “On the evening of December 29, when everything happened, I arrived at work and found her drinking. By the way, that day I bought Anya a New Year's gift. Already in the office, she began to tell me to fire one of my subordinates. Word for word, she attacked me with a bottle. Sorry, but I hit her several times in the face, or rather, where I hit her. Do you think I'm proud of what I did? No! I have nothing to do with her fractures and head concussion. I don't know how they appeared. She didn’t go to the hospital right away, but after the police she returned to work and again caused a scandal. As soon as she returns from sick leave, I will fire her!

While each hero defends his version of what happened, only one thing is clear - that evening they had a fight in the office. What caused the conflict will now be determined by the police and the court.

OFFICIALLY

“A boss can take a subordinate to court”

— At the moment, the results of the forensic medical examination, which will determine the severity of the injuries caused, are not yet known. Therefore, it was decided not to initiate a criminal case. But as soon as we receive the results of the examination, the case will be resumed,” Aleksey Glaz, a local inspector of the city police department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the administration of the Sovetsky District of Minsk, commented to KP. “As for the man, during the incident he received minor injuries that resulted in short-term health problems, and now has every right to take his subordinate to court.

How to report an incident

The first step is to obtain explanatory notes from everyone who participated in the conflict. It is important to obtain information from all parties. After all, the causes of a conflict cannot always be determined at first glance.

For a fight, an employee may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

Perhaps one of the employees would also like to provide an explanation in connection with what happened.

Employees may refuse to provide explanations. They have the right to do so. However, they are given two working days to submit information. If they did not do this, it will be necessary to draw up a report where it will be recorded that the employee who participated in the fight refused to provide his written explanations.

Having received all available information, the director must decide to take appropriate disciplinary action. There are three types of such measures:

• comment;
• rebuke;
• dismissal.

In this case, the first or second option can be used at the discretion of the boss. In order to apply dismissal, it is necessary that there be a basis provided for by the Labor Code.

An example of the latter option could be, for example, a situation where employees perform educational functions and get into a fight in front of schoolchildren.

Is a fight considered a work injury?

First, we need to consider what the law considers to be a work-related injury.

We are talking about harm to the employee’s health. This can be done on-site during the workday or off-site during a work assignment.

It is important to note that this category includes damage received during lunch breaks, other time periods provided by the enterprise for employee rest, during preparation for the start of work, or while processing took place.

After an injury has occurred, the employer is obliged to create a commission that will investigate what happened and draw a conclusion about what it happened. If such an investigation was carried out at an enterprise in violation of established rules, the state labor inspector has the right to conduct it again.

An industrial injury cannot be considered damage that occurs as a result of alcohol or drug intoxication. This is also unacceptable in cases where the victim has committed a criminal offense.

Fighting is an ineffective way to solve problems. And to be an instigator means to bear responsibility for it. It is best to try to solve the problem in a different way.

What to do if employees get into a fight at the workplace due to excess emotions, watch this video:

Form for receiving a question, write yours

Explanatory

When a violation occurs, the employee is asked to write an explanatory note. Two working days are allotted for this. He can write this document or refuse.

The purpose of obtaining explanations is that it is necessary:

• understand what happened;
• find out who is responsible for the fight;
• find out the degree of guilt of a particular employee.

If the employee does not give an explanation, then the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides that an act must be drawn up, which will set out all the circumstances of the incident.

Groups

What is the penalty for beating a person by a group of people? Or when serious harm was caused to several people by the same citizen? Here you also need to refer to Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Why? Its third part provides for punishment precisely for these actions. The perpetrators will be imprisoned for 12 years and restricted for 2 years. You can do without the last point, and this practice occurs often. It is enough to simply “imprison” the culprit.

As you can see, everything is very serious. But the articles and punishments don’t end there. What if a fight happened at work? Or if violence is used against minor children? All this also needs to be taken into account. After all, it is often children who become victims of harsh treatment by adults and suffer some kind of beatings. Let's consider both options.

What does a fight mean to an employee?

Liability for a fight can be determined by several different circumstances:

1. A person who does not respect his company and colleagues can hardly count on a successful career. A fight at work also shows what the person who is responsible for it is like.
2. In any case, the culprit violates labor discipline at his company. Firstly, he wastes his working time on it, and secondly, he creates a certain atmosphere in the team that is not conducive to effective work.
3. This may cause damage to your health and that of your company's employees.
4. There may be property damage that will most likely have to be fully compensated.
5. Punishment under labor legislation does not exclude administrative or criminal liability if there are legal grounds for this.

Disciplinary punishment does not exclude criminal liability for a fight

In general, it can be stated that it is better to avoid fights even in situations where this is difficult to do. As a result, there may be many more problems than we would like.

Single beatings

After the beating, it is mandatory to conduct a medical examination and assess the extent of the damage caused. When it is almost absent or is of a mild nature (abrasions, scratches, bruises, etc.), not causing harm to health in general, such an event can be interpreted as a beating. But not a beating.

Here Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation comes into force. And the culprit of the event receives a fine. Its size varies, but the maximum is 40,000 rubles. Or the citizen is charged a payment in the form of any income for 3 months.

Mandatory correctional labor, as a rule, also takes place. What is the penalty for beating a person in the case we are considering (beating)? Work of any nature lasting no more than six months. Sometimes an arrest of up to 3 months is possible. But practice shows that beatings rarely lead to arrests for such a long period. What is the penalty for beating a person? Usually they get by with 15 days for educational purposes.

Disciplinary action

Article 193 of the Labor Code provides for the following procedure when imposing such a penalty:

1. The boss is obliged to demand from the offending employee an explanation of what happened in writing.
2. The employee has the opportunity to ignore this instruction. However, the waiting time is no more than two days. When the period expires, a report is drawn up regarding the fact of the violation.
3. There is a time limit that limits the time at which disciplinary measures can be taken. It cannot exceed one month. This time does not include absence due to illness or time spent on vacation.
4. If the enterprise has a representative body that protects the rights of employees (for example, a trade union organization), then in further actions it is necessary to take into account the opinion expressed by it. The time he waits is not included in the monthly period limiting the boss’s right to take disciplinary measures.
5. For each offense, only one penalty is possible. It is announced in an order signed by the head. The employee is introduced to it within three days. If the employee refuses to sign for familiarization, a corresponding report is drawn up.

Question

My warehouse manager (in-house) got into a fight with a supplier representative (outside employee) on our company premises. In explanatory notes they write opposite explanations and refer to each other’s guilt. Is it possible to fire him for fighting? He has a certificate of visual disability. In addition, he constantly violates labor discipline, leaving the workplace 30-60 minutes before the end of the working day. He explains this by saying that he arrives 30-60 minutes earlier, although the working hours are clearly stated in the employment contract.

Dismissal under article

In some cases, the result of a fight may be termination of the employment contract. Usually, paragraph 5 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is used for this. But this can be done if the company applies internal rules.

If the employment contract is terminated in accordance with the specified grounds, then this is one of the types of disciplinary action. In this case, the manager is obliged to comply with the provisions of Article 193 of the Code.

One of the requirements is that dismissal can only occur on the grounds provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It is necessary that this disciplinary violation is not the first.

For information on the types and rules for applying disciplinary sanctions, watch this video:

Serious harm

What is the penalty for seriously beating a person? Here, perhaps, any circumstances in the form of racism, drunkenness, and so on will be considered aggravating. In this case, it is worth turning to Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This is where all the punishments that apply in such a situation are spelled out.

As a rule, for particularly severe damage you can be jailed for 15 years. Only this measure is rarely used. Usually when beating a person is followed by death. Or a dying state. But most often such acts are punishable by imprisonment for 8 years.

If there were any motives (the same hooliganism, racial differences, and so on), you can count on a similar punishment, the period of which will increase by 2 years. In addition, they may also add restriction of freedom. For a maximum of 24 months. As you can see, everything is quite serious. It doesn’t matter when exactly the fight happened - during working hours or not. The fact remains that when grievous harm is caused to a health condition, any type of restriction of the freedom of the culprit is mandatory.

What is the threat to the organization?

The damage caused can be of the following types:

• material damage;
• violation of labor discipline in the team.

In the first case, the amount of damage incurred is determined separately. Damage may be recovered in accordance with the law.

In a normal situation, we can talk about an amount that does not exceed the average monthly salary. If the employee is found to be at fault, the damages can be recovered in full.

To recover damages, the manager must do the following:

1. Prove that there are no circumstances that eliminate or limit the employee’s financial liability.
2. It is necessary to prove that the employee’s action or inaction is unlawful.
3. It is necessary to provide evidence of the employee’s guilt in the damage caused.
4. It is necessary to convincingly prove the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the actions taken and the damage caused to the enterprise.
5. It is necessary to confirm the fact that direct and actual damage has been caused.
6. It is important to assess the amount of damage caused as accurately and objectively as possible.

The presence of these conditions may become the basis for full recovery of damages incurred. Article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for the duty of an employee to take care of the property of the enterprise where he works.

Answer

The application of disciplinary action and subsequent dismissal for fighting is possible when, firstly, the employee violated official or labor duties, and secondly, the procedure established by labor legislation was followed.

So let's understand the fight situation. Could this be interpreted as a violation of work duties? Purely theoretically, it can, if the local regulations of the organization specify requirements for compliance with business ethics of communication in the company, polite treatment of colleagues, etc. Then, if the employee was familiarized with this act against signature and during the internal investigation, you understand that in the situation is his fault (that is, he was not attacked, but he took an active part in the fight), a disciplinary sanction can be imposed on him.

But, of course, the situation is ambiguous, since a fight does not fall within the scope of labor relations, but is an administrative offense or a criminal offense (depending on the consequences of the fight), so this issue could be resolved with the involvement of the police.

If the employer's property is damaged or destroyed

Before making a decision on compensation for damage, the employer is obliged to conduct an inspection, establish the amount of damage caused, as well as the reasons for its occurrence.

To conduct such an audit, a commission is created from among full-time employees. Next, a written explanation is required from the employees to establish the cause of the damage; if the employee refuses or evades providing such an explanation, a report on his absence is again drawn up.

We invite you to read: How much is income tax in Belarus?

You can obtain the employee's written consent to reimburse the amount of damage. An order is issued to recover from the guilty employee the amount of damage caused by him, if it does not exceed the average monthly earnings and the employee familiarizes himself with the order against signature. The order is sent to the accounting department, and the amount of damage is deducted from wages.

The amount of damage can be withheld from the salary of the guilty employee in accordance with the established procedure, and the employee can voluntarily compensate it in full or in part.

With the consent of the employer, the employee can transfer to him an equivalent property to compensate for the damage caused or repair the damaged property, that is, repair it himself or buy a similar thing.

Disputes with employees: 7 ridiculous mistakes that caused companies to lose

Employers are increasingly winning over employees in dismissal disputes. However, it happens that the company incorrectly applied the law or did not properly prepare for dismissal. Then you will have to reinstate the employee, pay wages for the period of forced absence and, possibly, pay a fine.

The editors of the Commercial Director magazine reviewed 7 common mistakes made by managers to protect you from court decisions in favor of employees.