The civil service establishes special conditions for interaction between the employer and the employee. Unlike ordinary employment contracts, which can be concluded for an indefinite period, here the period during which the hired employee will fulfill his obligations can be clearly established. A fixed-term contract in the civil service has a structure and content established at the legislative level.
Fixed-term contract - what is it?
What is a fixed-term contract in the civil service?
The legislator determined that civil servants can be hired in two main ways:
- For an indefinite period (usually until retirement age).
- For a specific period (in this case, the duration of work will be regulated by the terms of a specific contract).
A fixed-term contract is a written agreement between the employer (in this role are the authorized heads of government agencies) and the employee, according to which the employee undertakes to perform certain work within a clearly specified period, and the employer is to create certain conditions for this and ensure the payment of wages.
Typically, if it is a fixed-term contract, its validity period should not exceed 5 years. It is important to note that not all government employees are required to sign fixed-term employment agreements. The list of such persons at the legislative level includes:
- citizens intending to occupy the position of manager or adviser in a government structure;
- persons hired to replace an existing employee who, at a particular moment, for good reason, is not able to independently perform their duties;
- graduates of educational institutions that, in the target area, must work in the public service for a certain period;
- citizens who are sent to work at diplomatic and consular institutions located outside of Russia;
- persons entering service in a government organization created to perform specific tasks for a certain period of time;
- citizens replacing temporarily absent persons in a temporary position in the civil service for the period of such replacement;
- employees who have reached the age limit for being in public service, but continue to fully fulfill their obligations;
- employees hired with special conditions of payment for their labor;
- employees replacing other employees on a rotation basis;
- other categories of citizens, if provided for by federal laws.
Remember, an employer has the right to sign a fixed-term contract with a citizen only if this provision is provided for by current legislation. In all other cases, even in the civil service, general labor legislation applies.
General grounds for termination of a service contract
The grounds for terminating a contract or releasing an employee from his position are:
- agreement of the parties;
- expiration of the contract;
- employee initiative - at his own request;
- initiative of the employer's representative;
- transfer at the request of the employee and with his consent to another place of duty;
- refusal of the employee due to a change in the essential terms of the contract;
- refusal to transfer to another position due to health conditions or in the absence of a similar position at the new duty station;
- circumstances beyond the control of the employee;
- violation of the rules of the service contract, failure to fulfill duties;
- change of citizenship;
- failure to comply with restrictions and obligations under the contract;
- violation of prohibitions - appearing at work in a state of alcoholic, narcotic, or other toxic intoxication confirmed by a medical examination;
- disclosure of information constituting state and other secrets protected by federal law, and official information that has become known to a civil servant in connection with the performance of his official duties;
- committing theft at the place of duty;
- commission of guilty actions by a civil servant directly servicing monetary or commodity assets, if these actions give rise to a loss of confidence in him by the employer's representative;
- managers making unfounded decisions that entail serious consequences and waste;
- providing false information.
Termination of relations between an employer and an employee is formalized in writing by an act of a state body.
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Circumstances beyond the employee’s will include:
- Conscription of a civil servant to military service, assignment to an alternative civilian service to replace it.
- Reinstatement of a civil servant who previously held this position by court decision.
- Election or appointment of a civil servant to an elective position in a state body, local government, to a paid elective position in a trade union.
- The occurrence of emergency circumstances that prevent the continuation of relations related to the civil service.
- In other cases related to the performance of state duties established by federal law.
Cases leading to termination of the contract include:
- conviction to punishment by a court verdict;
- recognition of the employee as completely disabled in accordance with a medical report;
- recognition as incompetent or partially capable by a court decision;
- The employee reaches the age limit of 65 years.
If the contract is illegally terminated at the initiative of the employer, the decision can be appealed in court. After the actions are declared unlawful, the employer is obliged to reinstate the employee to his previous position.
Probation
Probationary period in a fixed-term contract in the civil service
When an order is signed and a fixed-term contract is concluded with a civil servant, the employer has the right to provide for a probationary period for such an employee. The period of such testing may last from three months, but should not exceed more than one year. The absence of such a norm in the administrative document on enrollment and in a fixed-term contract means that the employee was hired without testing.
How to make payments upon termination of a contract
The financial service of the government agency, on the basis of the order, draws up a note-calculation and accrues cash payments to the civil servant.
Payment deadline
You need to pay the civil servant on the last day of service. Exceptions are cases when a civil servant did not actually work, but his place of work (position) was retained. For example, when an employee is dismissed during the period of parental leave (Part 4 of Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), the day of dismissal will be the date indicated by the civil servant in the resignation letter. In this case, the notice period for dismissal must be observed.
If a civil servant takes leave before leaving, the payment must be issued on the last day of work before going on leave.
This is indicated in parts 3, 4 of Art. 84.1, Art. 140 Labor Code of the Russian Federation, parts 1 and 5 of Art. 36 of the Law on State Civil Service.
What payments are due to an employee?
Upon dismissal, a civil servant is entitled to:
- salary for the period worked (part 1 of article 50 of the Law on the State Civil Service);
- payments (compensations, reimbursement of expenses) within the framework of basic and additional state guarantees (Part 10, Article 50 of the Law on the State Civil Service);
- payments that are established by federal laws or laws of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation or constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Part 10, Article 50 of the Law on the State Civil Service). For example, civil servants of the city of Moscow are provided with reimbursement of the cost of travel to and from their vacation spot, as well as compensation for unused sanatorium and resort vouchers (clauses 6 and 7, part 1, article 42 of the Moscow Law of January 26, 2005 N 3) ;
- compensation in the amount of four months' salary without payment of severance pay, which is paid in certain cases;
- monetary compensation for all unused vacations (part 13 of article 46 of the Law on the State Civil Service);
- temporary disability benefit if a civil servant is fired during a period of temporary disability or he falls ill within 30 calendar days from the date of dismissal (Part 2 of Article 5 of Law No. 255-FZ).
What payments are due when a civil servant is laid off?
If positions are reduced, the employee is entitled to the payments indicated above, as well as additional compensation:
- upon dismissal of an employee with his written consent earlier than the period specified in the notice of dismissal. The amount of compensation in this case is equal to the civil servant’s salary, which is calculated in proportion to the time remaining before the expiration of the notice period for dismissal (Part 7 of Article 31 of the Law on the State Civil Service);
- upon dismissal from government agencies located in the Far North and equivalent areas, for the fifth and sixth months from the date of dismissal. Such compensation can be paid only under certain conditions (Part 3.2 of Article 37 of the Law on the State Civil Service).
Basic terms of the contract
Basic terms of a civil service contract
A contract is a two-sided document between an employer and an employee, which actually establishes the “rules” of the game for the parties for the entire period of validity of such a document. In addition to the traditional sections governing rights and obligations, the following items are also mandatory included:
- a clear name of the organization, as well as the position held by the citizen in the public service;
- the date when the employee begins to perform his job functions;
- job regulations, powers and obligations of the employee who is assigned these duties;
- all types, as well as specific conditions of insurance, due to a civil servant for this position;
- the powers and extent of responsibility of the employer regarding the employee;
- what the employee is entitled to during the performance of official duties, all available compensation, benefits for working in difficult, difficult, dangerous, harmful conditions;
- the general operating mode of the institution, as well as the specific mode for the employee (if it differs from the one established in this organization);
- social insurance conditions for a specific position;
- whether this position falls under the list of positions where rotation is provided.
Additionally, service contracts may provide for other key positions. It all depends on the conditions of service, the complexity and responsibility for the work performed. In particular, such additional conditions include:
- the need to introduce a probationary period;
- obligation not to disclose commercial, official or state secrets (if the employee will be exposed to such information in his position);
- a citizen’s obligation to work for a certain period of time after graduating from an educational institution where he is studying for budget money under a targeted program;
- personal indicators of specific achievements in the process of work, when the employee will receive additional incentive pay;
- other conditions due to which the employee’s position in the process of performing labor functions can improve.
Remember, in the future, any dispute between the administration and the employee will be considered solely based on the terms of the contract concluded by him.
Therefore, here it is necessary to take into account all the key conditions that in the future may become the basis for the employee to fully perform the functional duties assigned to him.
What documents are needed to terminate the contract?
The documents required to terminate a contract depend on the grounds for dismissal. For example, when terminating a service contract:
- by agreement of the parties - prepare an additional agreement (part 5 of article 24 of the Law on the State Civil Service, clause 22 of the Model form of a service contract, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 16, 2005 N 159);
- on the initiative of a civil servant - receive an application from him two weeks before the day of dismissal. Exceptions are made in certain cases, for example, the retirement of a civil servant (parts 1 and 2 of Article 36 of the Law on the State Civil Service);
- at the initiative of a representative of the employer, for example, when reducing positions, prepare and deliver a notice of dismissal and receive from the civil servant a written refusal of the proposed vacant positions in the same and other government agencies (if such vacancies exist) (parts 2, 5 and 6 of Art. 31 of the Law on State Civil Service).
