May holidays: how to go on vacation and not lose money?

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Published: 05/27/2020

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If a person did not have enough official long weekends in May and January, he has the right (if a vacation schedule has not been drawn up) to take leave to continue resting during this period. And some employees write statements for these months even at the stage of drawing up schedules. Is it profitable, from a financial point of view, to take vacations in these months, when there are already significantly fewer working days?

• Vacation in May and January: why it may not be profitable
• What to do to reduce financial losses from vacation in a month with long weekends

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What about vacation pay?

The main thing to remember is that vacation pay cannot be lower than the average monthly salary. The calculation is based on average earnings for the 12 months preceding the month in which the vacation is expected.

This takes into account not only the salary itself, but also:

• fees,
• all kinds of additional payments for experience, length of service, some other merits,
• awards,
• allowances for special working conditions,
• other official surcharges.

You must pay vacation pay no later than three days before going on vacation. True, you must write an application at least two weeks before the start of the proposed vacation. If you did everything as expected, but your vacation pay was not paid on time, you have the right to postpone your vacation (although try to find someone willing to use this right).

Let's count

When is the best time to take a vacation? Salary and vacation pay are calculated differently. This is why there are months when, by going on vacation, you will get more money in your hands than if you worked all the time. And there is - when it’s the other way around.

In 2020, the most profitable months for vacation are July and December. And the most unfavorable months are January and May (this is almost always the case). How does this happen?

If you are planning a beach holiday in Russia in 2020, we recommend taking a vacation in July. Photo: pixabay.com

Firstly, you only receive your salary for working days. And vacation pay is for calendar days (minus holidays). That is, over the weekend too.

Secondly, the cost of your vacation day will be the same in both January and July (unless, of course, your salary remains the same and you were not on sick leave in between). But the cost of one working day varies depending on the month. In January it will be higher because there are fewer working days. In January 2020 there were only 17 of them. The same thing happened in May. But in July and December there are 23 working days in 2020.

Now let's count. Vacation pay is calculated based on average daily earnings. In 2020, it is calculated as follows: divide the income for the year by 12 months and divide by another 29.3 (the average number of days per month for 2020). Let’s say a person with a salary of 35 thousand goes on vacation for two weeks. If he had done this in January, he would have received 16,730 rubles for these days (1,195 rubles - the cost of a vacation day is multiplied by 14 calendar days). And if he worked the same days, then 20588.20 rubles (the cost of a working day in January is 2058.82 rubles - multiply by 10 working days, this is exactly how much it turns out minus two Saturdays and Sundays).

Now we're looking at July. Our employee will receive the same vacation pay for two weeks - 16,730 rubles. And if he worked hard, then in the same two weeks he earned 15,217.40 rubles. (the cost of a working day in July is 1,521.74 rubles). Well, of course, it's better to go on vacation!

Quite unfavorable months for vacation in 2020, except for January and May, are February (19 working days) and November (20 working days). In other months you can go for a walk - the difference in money will not be significant.

Why is it unprofitable to take a vacation in May 2020?

In 2020, May has 11 days off and holidays and 20 working days. Due to the postponement of one of the January weekends to May 8, two “long” weekend blocks were formed: a three-day block from April 29 to May 1, and a four-day block from May 6 to May 9. The number of holidays and working days is not constant and may change annually.

It must be remembered that non-working holidays are not taken into account when calculating vacation pay, but the duration of vacation will be increased by the number of days of holidays that coincide with it. In May, such days are the 1st and 9th.

To understand why it is unprofitable to take a vacation in May, we will have to look at several examples.

Example 1. Vacation in May coincides with public holidays.

The employee decided to take a 14-day vacation from May 1, 2020. His monthly salary is 50,000 rubles, the pay period has been fully worked out, which means his earnings from 05/01/2016 to 04/30/2017 amounted to 600,000 rubles.

Average daily earnings = 600,000 rubles. : 12 months : 29.3 = 1706.48 rub.

The vacation period includes 2 holiday non-working days - May 1 and 9 (Article 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), so the employee will be paid not 14, but only 12 days of vacation:

Vacation pay = 1,706.48 rubles. x 12 days = 20,477.76 rub.

Due to holidays, the employee’s vacation will be extended by 2 days, and he will return to work on May 17.

Let's calculate the salary for the remaining 11 working days of the month:

Salary in May = 50,000 rubles. : 20 working days in May x 11 days = RUB 27,500.00

Total for May the employee will receive: RUB 20,477.76. + 27,500 rub. = 47,977.76 rub.

Example 2. May vacation does not coincide with holidays.

Let's consider another option on how best to take a vacation in May 2017. We use the conditions of the first example, but the employee will go on vacation for 14 days from May 15.

This time the employee will be paid for all 14 days of vacation, since they do not coincide with holidays:

Vacation pay = 1,706.48 rubles. x 14 days = 23,890.72 rub.

Salary for 10 days worked in May = 50,000 rubles. : 20 working days in May x 10 days = 25,000 rubles.

Read also:  When should notice of dismissal occur?

Total employee income in May: RUB 23,890.72. + 25,000 rub. = 48890.72 rub.

It is obvious that our conditional employee, if the vacation coincides with the May holidays in the first example, will receive less than 912.96 rubles, even despite the greater number of days worked. Now we understand how profitable it is to take a vacation in May 2020 - we need to ensure that the May holidays do not fall on vacation days.

Want it on schedule

A sore point for many is when exactly an employee has the right to take his vacation. The Labor Code resolves this issue quite formally. The company must have a vacation schedule - it must be drawn up no later than two weeks before the end of the calendar year. In accordance with the dates indicated there, the employer undertakes to let its employees go on vacation. At other times, you can legally fly over if the authorities are not ready to meet you halfway.

There are exceptions to every rule. There are also categories of citizens who have the right to demand leave at any time convenient for them and regardless of what the employer thinks about this. This:

• women before maternity leave and immediately after it,
• minor employees,
• employees who adopted a child under 3 months of age,
• spouses of military personnel (have the right to simultaneous vacation with their husband/wife).

If you are going on vacation, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with your rights and responsibilities according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Photo: pixabay.com Unforeseen situations

Advantageous formulas, calculation examples

The most convenient months

Based on the wishes of the employee (whether he wants to rest for more money or longer), you can allocate two months for each of the options:

• Those who would like to relax with maximum financial benefit should choose months with a minimum number of calendar holidays. These are July and October.
• And those who plan a vacation depending on other considerations should choose one of the following months, which have the maximum number of official holidays of all months in the year: January and May.

Thus, you can extend your rest for a few more days, which are added at the end of the period.

Which month to choose for vacation is decided by the employee himself, depending on his wishes and financial capabilities. These simple rules also apply to those who want to split up their vacation.

How to make 40 out of 28 days of rest?

Here I would like to see amazing advice that will tell you how to extend your vacation for another twelve extra days. But no. No one will increase the number of vacation days. This is possible if only you calculate correctly and competently and take the maximum possible benefit for yourself.

First, you need to correctly divide the number of vacation days allotted to the employee. As the law states, an employee must take 14 days of vacation out of the 28 allowed.

In the same way, as mentioned above, you need to compare the rest days so that the start of work falls on Monday. This way you can win two more extra ones for relaxation due to the weekend. The remaining 14 days should be divided into 5, 5 and 4 and the next parts of the holiday should be organized in the same way.

Now you need to distribute the five-day days so that the start after the rest falls on Monday. This way you can gain 2 more days to the current five. And put 4 days either before the weekend or, accordingly, after it, so that in the end you get 6 days of rest.

What ended up happening:

• 16 days = 14 vacation days + 2 days off
• 9 days twice = 5 days of vacation + 4 days off (before and after the five-day period)
• 6 days = 4 vacation days + 2 days off

If suddenly you find yourself indispensable

Many people are worried about what to do if you are called back from vacation. Remember:

1. This can only happen with the consent of the employee, and his refusal cannot be considered a violation of labor discipline.

2. If you agree to go to work, the employer becomes obligated to provide the unused part of the vacation at a time convenient for the employee.

It is legally prohibited to call minors and workers engaged in hazardous and hazardous work, as well as pregnant women, from vacation.

Or maybe they won’t let go at all?

Labor laws prohibit working indefinitely without vacation. You must use your holiday entitlement no later than 12 months after the end of the year in which you should have been granted leave. That is, if the last time you were on vacation was in 2020, in 2020 your employer is simply obliged to force you to rest - so that at least you can start taking the time off for 2019. Otherwise, he may have problems with the labor inspectorate.

Working without vacation indefinitely is prohibited by the labor legislation of the Russian Federation. Photo: pixabay.com

Tricky question

How long can you walk?

Everyone who is officially employed under a contract for a period of at least six months has the right to paid leave. This also applies to those who work for individuals (of course, if these relationships are official) - nannies, housekeepers, etc.

Rest from work must last a total of at least 28 calendar days. But you can break it into parts. An important point is that one of these parts must be at least 14 days, the rest - as it turns out, in agreement with the management.

Sometimes employers try to cheat and include holidays and weekends in their vacation. This year, for example, there were long May holidays. This is a violation of labor laws - these days cannot be counted towards annual leave.

For some professions and in some situations, the number of vacation days may be increased. In particular, the following may apply for this:

What to focus on when choosing time?

For a while (so that the rest is long)

If you want to relax more at once, that is, if you take the entire vacation without splitting it into parts, you can choose one of the following methods:

1. Choose the month of the year with the most holidays. Since they are not taken into account when accounting for vacation pay, due to them, as we said earlier, you can lengthen your vacation. Let’s say there are three calendar holidays in the month chosen for vacation, therefore, three more days will be added to the indicated number of days.
2. Divide it into parts, five days each. So, if you designate a vacation from Monday to Friday, you can rest for seven full days, taking into account legal weekends. This option will be chosen by people who, regardless of money, want to spend more time on vacation. This means that there is a more profitable option for planning a vacation from a financial point of view.

For money (so that the vacation is financially profitable)

It is advisable not to take vacations in months where there are few working days.
Otherwise, you can lose part of the maximum possible amount of money. It is better to focus on those months where there are the fewest holidays, since money will not be paid for them.

If the vacation is taken in parts, it is better to make sure that the end falls on the weekend. This way you can start a new week and earn more money.