The Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows employers to pay cash incentives to employees. What will be the prize? Its type and size in most cases depend only on the generosity of the employer. The most common type of monetary incentive has long been and remains today a quarterly bonus. But is it so hard to get it? We learn further in the article.
Quarterly Award: Features of the Appointment
Additional incentives for employees may involve various means, but the most popular option is additional cash incentives, or bonuses.
The remuneration is issued by the employer for excellent work results for a certain period of time, upon completion of a major project or after important negotiations held successfully. If we are talking about a quarterly bonus, the period for which the employee must prove himself in order to receive additional encouragement is three months.
The decision to pay additional remuneration is made solely by the employer, that is, the company or entrepreneur is not obligated to pay bonuses to its employees. This is the right of the employer, which he can use at will.
The rules for calculating and receiving incentives are regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, article No. 191. In addition to the Labor Code, the organizationโs internal documents, such as regulations, as well as the contract with the employee, regulate the payment procedure. The employer must adhere to these documents and act in accordance with them. If this fact is violated, the employee can always file a complaint with the labor inspectorate or court.
For the employee, the incentive payment is recorded as income received and is taken into account when paying income tax. With cash incentives (as well as wages), interest must be paid to pension and other funds. When auditing a company, inspectors, as a rule, scrutinize the procedure for paying various fees and the timeliness of deductions from them.
Various disputes are connected with the payment of bonuses, which are resolved by the Labor Code and internal documentation of the enterprise. Moreover, the provisions of the acts in no case should contradict the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Bonus Payment Rules
The employer has the right to prescribe in the contract the conditions for the payment (as well as the circumstances of non-payment) of employee benefits. As indicated above, these provisions should not contradict the main document that governs labor relations between the employee and the employer, i.e., the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
It is important to observe the following rules:
- The period of time for which reports are provided is the quarter (3 months), when the accrual of remuneration occurs.
- In the terms established by the labor agreement, the funds are transferred to the employee together with a salary or an advance.
- If the agreement contains conditions that do not contradict the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then accrual may be made upon their fulfillment.
It happens that the employer indicates special conditions in the contract. The employee should carefully read all the papers where it is required to put a signature, and pay special attention to the text printed in small print. The most common clauses in contracts are:
- timely execution of a certain range of tasks;
- fulfillment (at a certain level) or overfulfillment of the plan;
- other conditions stipulated by a particular type of work.
In addition, the payment of a quarterly premium itself directly depends on the corresponding desire of the head. If the employee has not completed the tasks or the scope of work established by the contract, the employer has the right not to pay remuneration.
In each case, the employer, in accordance with applicable law, must draw up an order for a quarterly bonus or an order for its payment or non-payment.
Who is not entitled to a reward?
There are categories of citizens who, in principle, do not accrue monetary incentives. This point takes into account the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The circle of such persons includes:
1. Women who are on maternity leave for the entire quarter (if the leave partially fell on the quarter, recalculation is done).
2. Persons who have received fines, reprimands and other disciplinary sanctions in this reporting period.
The employer has the right to deprive all or one of the employees of their remuneration.
It is important for both managers representing a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur, and employees to correctly compile and be able to read the contract and related documentation. If the normative acts stipulate that the employee is entitled to a quarterly bonus, but there are no additional conditions for its deprivation, the employer undertakes to pay cash incentives regardless of the quality of the employee's work. And if the employer refuses to pay remuneration under an agreement with this wording, the employee can safely contact the inspection authorities.
Calculation of quarterly premium
A quarterly premium is the taxable income of an individual. The bonus differs from the monthly salary in several ways:
The procedure for calculating additional cash compensation (calculation of the quarterly bonus) is determined by the employer independently. Sometimes a clearly defined amount is paid in an employment contract, but if an employee occupies a certain position for a long period, after a while the indicated amount becomes too small to be considered a full bonus. That is why a different principle for calculating remuneration is more often used: quarterly salary bonus - payment of interest on a salary.
Percentage determination allows you to accrue remuneration with one order, which is much more convenient than paying the amount specified in the contract when the order is drawn up separately for each employee. Quarterly salary premium involves the payment of a percentage of the employee's salary for the last three months. With a premium, a deduction of 13% to the state budget is also required.
Encouragement of civil servants
For government employees, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation also provides an opportunity to receive cash incentives. In this case, the procedure for payments is regulated both by legislative acts and by an agreement with the enterprise. For certain categories of workers, for example, military personnel, the law provides for special conditions for calculating incentives.
Bonus upon dismissal
If an employee resigns of his own free will, then the calculation of bonuses and wages is made in accordance with the amount of time worked on the date of dismissal. Unless otherwise provided by the labor contract, the quarterly bonus is still paid, but only for the time actually worked. The full calculation of the employee is made on the day of dismissal.
There is a controversial issue in this, which even in courts is decided in favor of different parties. If an employee has fulfilled all the conditions of the contract, according to which he is entitled to remuneration, but does not leave at the end of the quarter when the order can be issued, there is a possibility that he will remain without remuneration, since the employee will no longer have an employment relationship with the organization.
It should be remembered that if the dismissal occurs for other reasons, for example due to violation of discipline by the employee, then the incentive is not paid.
Quarterly bonus calculation example
Many workers are baffled by the question of what their quarterly bonus will be. How to calculate the amount of remuneration? The formulas are different, because the employer can determine how to accrue cash incentives using various methods: a percentage of salary or a fixed amount.
In general, an example of calculation can look like this: the premium rate is divided by the required number of working days per month. Next, the resulting figure is multiplied by the actually worked time. For example, an employee has a salary of 50,000 rubles, while the contract states that the size of the quarterly premium is 65% of the salary. According to the work schedule, for the quarter the employee had to work out 50 days, of which 48 actually spent at the workplace. In this case, when applying the above formula, the remuneration is calculated as follows:
50000 * 65% = 32500;
(32500: 50) * 48 = 31,200 rubles.
Thus, it is possible to calculate the bonus of any employee, but the main thing is not to forget to deduct the tax (13%) from the amount received, as well as all the necessary amounts of payments to the pension and other funds.
To summarize
A quarterly bonus is a monetary incentive that encourages an employee to perform their duties efficiently for a certain period of time (a quarter). In addition, there are other types of cash incentives for employees, such as bonuses:
- monthly
- annual;
- for achievements in work;
- for many years of work;
- for performing a responsible task;
- for the holidays, etc.
If the employee does not agree with the accrual procedure, he can always turn to lawyers for help or immediately with a complaint to the labor inspectorate.