One of the most serious offenses in labor relations is absenteeism without a good reason. Such disregard for labor discipline can lead to not just a reprimand or a severe reprimand, but even dismissal.
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What consequences will absenteeism have for the employee? What happens after just one day of absence from work? What orders are used to formalize disciplinary sanctions? How to challenge dismissal in case of absenteeism? We'll talk about this and more further.
general information
The law provides a clear definition of truancy. Even if the work shift lasts less than 4 hours, and the worker was not on site during that time, this is absenteeism.
When a person is more than 4 hours late for work, this is absenteeism. Even if an employee is not assigned a specific place, he still does not show up to the enterprise and does not fulfill his duties without good reason - this is absenteeism.
Absenteeism from work even for one day without early notice and without a good reason is considered a gross violation of labor discipline and leads to unpleasant consequences.
Count everything
The personnel service must know how to fire correctly for absenteeism, which means it must be able to calculate the period of a citizen’s absence from the workplace. During this period it is prohibited to include the lunch break. This restriction is declared by Article No. 108 of the Labor Code. This document states: a break does not apply to working time. Using examples: in many enterprises, lunch breaks are stipulated from one to two o'clock in the afternoon. If an employee was supposed to arrive at his place at ten in the morning, but showed up only at 14:30, the duration of his absence is three and a half hours. Therefore, a person’s behavior cannot be regarded as absenteeism.
Laws regulating how to fire an employee for absenteeism allow summing up the time periods missed by a person in one day or for the current shift. It is necessary to take into account a shift or day, focusing on the features of the individual schedule established for the person. Over several shifts or for several days in a row, days missed in order to “make up” time up to four hours cannot be added up. The law expressly prohibits such calculations. But if a person was absent for an hour in the morning, was late for an hour and a half in the afternoon, and left work two hours earlier in the evening, you can safely draw up internal documents recording the fact of absenteeism, since a total of four and a half hours accumulates. In order to be able to fire a person, you will have to comply not only with the calculation rules, but also with the procedure specified by law.
Consequences
In Art. 192 of the Labor Code provides a list of all types of consequences awaiting a truant:
- comment;
- rebuke;
- dismissal under article.
Separate federal laws also establish the consequences of violation of discipline in the form of absenteeism for government officials and military personnel.
Here are some of them:
- warning;
- severe reprimand;
- deprivation of bonuses;
- outfit out of order;
- reduction in rank or rank;
- deprivation of insignia;
- early termination of the contract.
Based on this, we can conclude that the maximum penalty is dismissal; any other types of punishment are considered unlawful.
Types of liability
Administrative measures
The employer will decide what punishment to apply to the truant employee.
Usually, management can take a person’s position if absenteeism was committed for the first time, and the employee had not previously been observed to have any other violations of labor discipline.
Dismissal is always considered a last resort; it is not necessary to resort to it immediately.
Comment
At the discretion of the employer, a reprimand may be made to the offending employee who misses half a working day or the entire day for the first time.
This measure is the mildest, because it does not even need to be recorded in writing. Typically the remark is a conversation in the manager's office.
However, this procedure must be formalized accordingly:
- act and memo regarding the employee’s failure to appear;
- explanatory paper from the truant;
- order to issue a comment;
- familiarization of the employee with the order.
Often, careless employees are not able to appreciate the employer’s actions when he uses a reprimand instead of a strict punishment. They mistake his good nature for weakness and begin to be late and systematically absent.
Then it is advisable to apply more serious punishments to such persons.
Rebuke
Despite the fact that the difference between a reprimand and a reprimand is not that big, it still motivates employees more. This measure is especially unpleasant for those workers whose enterprises keep records of such reprimands, when several cases can lead to actual dismissal.
Of course, a reprimand is not the worst thing that threatens a truant worker, especially since they will not make a note about it in the work book. But the personnel officer will most likely write about him in his personal card, which will slightly spoil the employee’s reputation.
As for the documentation of the reprimand procedure, it is similar to the preparation of a remark; there is no fundamental difference:
- report;
- explanatory;
- reprimand order;
- familiarization.
It is not surprising that the manager has to dismiss especially malicious absentees from work, for whom neither remarks nor reprimands are no longer effective, because according to the law it is impossible to punish violators with a ruble, although many consider this measure to be the most effective.
As a rule, they manage to use it, only unofficially.
Fines and depreciation
If an enterprise applies fines to employees as a penalty for absenteeism, the actions of officials of this company are illegal.
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for such a measure. This is important to know for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.
The situation is completely different with the deprivation of bonuses for absenteeism.
Most organizations use the bonus system not only as a method of motivating employees, but also as a measure of financial punishment for various offenses, including absenteeism.
Because practice shows that remarks and reprimands do not greatly awaken the conscience of truants.
Depriving an employee of a bonus is completely legal, since the main condition for awarding bonuses to employees is the absence of disciplinary sanctions against them.
In this case, the employer can not only deprive the truant, but also additionally reprimand or reprimand him.
Dismissal
When there is nothing else left, absenteeism can be a reason for dismissal.
In this case, the employer's actions will be as follows:
- Having recorded the fact of absenteeism, making sure that the employee has no valid reasons for absence from work, the boss prepares an order for dismissal under the article.
- The employee must be familiarized within three days. If he refuses to sign, an act is drawn up.
- The personnel officer makes a note on the employment record, indicating the reason for dismissal in accordance with Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
- The employee receives his payments along with compensation for unused vacation.
After such an unpleasant incident, it will be difficult for a person to find a good job, since the entry in the work book will not go away.
Criminal
Even in modern society, many people ask: can they be prosecuted for absenteeism? Fortunately, the days of such harsh punishments are long gone.
But in the era of Stalinism from 1940 to 1956, a person could be convicted for a single truancy, as well as:
- imprisoned for a term of 2 to 4 months;
- send to correctional labor;
- deprive one-fourth of your salary.
It is good that in our time the law is not so strict regarding the misconduct of workers.
What will happen in one day?
Due to the absence of criminal liability for absenteeism in our legislation, many people believe that simply not showing up for work for one day is not that bad.
However, it should be remembered that missing even one day without a good reason is considered a serious violation of discipline, and you can be fired for this.
In this case, the employer’s actions cannot be challenged in any way; he will act according to the law.
General conditions of use
To classify a person’s absence from work as absenteeism, the following conditions must be present:
- the employee was absent the entire day or entire shift (even if it lasts less than 4 hours);
- continuous absence for more than 4 hours, excluding lunch time;
- the employee could not justify his absence.
Failure to show up to work is not considered absenteeism if at that time the person had to work in another workshop or perform part-time duties.
Also, absence of an employee for exactly 4 hours cannot be called absenteeism.
Read our article about dismissing a pregnant woman for absenteeism without a good reason. What to do if an employee loses sick leave? See here.
About facts and definitions
The procedure for dismissal for absenteeism can begin if a person is not at the place where he is required to be, following the employment agreement. Some people doubt the correct interpretation of the term “workplace”. Whether it should be a specific chair and table, an office or a building - opinions vary. To clarify, you need to trace the wording of the employment agreement and job description adopted for a specific position and individual person. If the enterprise has a collective agreement, you should refer to its provisions, which also sometimes regulate the specifics of determining the workplace. As additional documentation, local acts adopted within the enterprise and designed to clarify the understanding of the workplace for different categories of employees come to the rescue. Clarifications may be contained in internal regulations and orders. Instructions adopted within the company come to the aid of the personnel department.
Sometimes the basis for the dismissal procedure for absenteeism is an internal order or an instruction adopted for a specific position, which clearly defines the workplace - it could be, say, a machine with a certain specific number. In another case, a workshop is designated as a workplace. All the time spent by an employed person outside this workshop or away from the machine is an absence from the workplace, which, if long enough, is regarded as absenteeism. There are also difficult situations when it is not possible to determine from local regulations what exactly constitutes a workplace. Such a clear definition may not be in the employment agreement. This forces the personnel service to turn to the general provisions declared by Article No. 209 of the Labor Code. It calls for treating the workplace as an area where an employed person must arrive in order to perform his functions required by work. Simply put, with this interpretation, the entire territory on which the enterprise is located becomes a workplace.
Punishment for absenteeism at work according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation
Documenting
Missed work days must be documented in accordance with the rules of office work at the enterprise using:
- act;
- memo;
- memorandum.
Before drawing up an order for disciplinary action, an explanation must be taken from the truant himself. Otherwise, it will be impossible to justify that he really did not have a valid reason for missing.
The worker must write an explanatory note within two days after absenteeism. The employee’s refusal to describe the reason for his absence is also recorded using a special act.
In case of unclear circumstances of a person’s absence from work, that is, when the absence is already long, and the employee cannot be contacted in any way, its reasons cannot be considered obviously insignificant.
Until all the circumstances are clarified, such missing employees are usually not fired immediately.
The time sheet even provides a special mark for such cases: “NN”.
Sample orders
About the reprimand:
About Note:
When the consequence of absenteeism is dismissal, it is not necessary to issue two orders at once: the imposition of a disciplinary sanction and the dismissal itself.
You can limit yourself only to a dismissal order, which is drawn up in accordance with the unified form No. T-8:
The form of the order presupposes the existence of a basis, so a note should be made on the previously drawn up memo about the employee’s absenteeism and the explanations given by him.
You will find a bypass form upon dismissal in our article. How to write a resignation letter by transfer? Find out here.
Where to go if you are forced to resign? Information is here.
Collection of the amount
Apart from the previously discussed types of penalties for employee failure to appear, there are no other penalties. That is, it is not legal to fine those who are guilty or to deduct a certain part of the amount from their official salary. The only way to punish truants with a ruble is to deprive them of bonuses.
If an employer actively uses a system of fines at his enterprise, for example, fines for lateness, fines for absenteeism, then such actions themselves can lead to legal proceedings and monetary penalties.
The maximum amount of fines is provided:
- for officials – 5 thousand rubles;
- for business managers – 50 thousand.
Therefore, employers often withhold the unofficial part of employees’ wages, the part they receive in an envelope, which also does not comply with the law.
Deadlines for preparation and validity of documents
Each document used to document absenteeism has its own period of preparation and validity:
- Explanatory. The truant must write it within 2 days after the day of absence.
- Remark and reprimand. If truancy was not discovered immediately, these types of disciplinary sanctions can be applied within a month from the date of its discovery. After absenteeism has been recorded and more than six months have passed, reprimands and reprimands for it can no longer be made, since time has been lost. These penalties typically last for 1 year, but may be terminated sooner at the discretion of management.
- Order of dismissal. The employer must familiarize the employee with it no later than three days from the date of signing it. The last working day is the date preceding the absence.
Violation of these deadlines can be appealed by the dismissed person in court, and lead to his reinstatement.
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