Economic instability in the country again forces employers to reduce their staff. This method of termination of the employment contract is one of the most difficult, both in terms of registration and on the emotional side. The reduction is not only unpleasant for employees, but also for the employer.
The main processes of the reduction procedure are spelled out in the labor legislation, the subtleties in the local industry acts. If the sectoral agreement does not classify the reduction in terms of mass and individual, then the norms of part 1 of article 82 of the Labor Code and the Regulation on the organization of work to promote employment in conditions of mass release should be guided by.
Mass reduction - how many people are to be fired? Official figures:
- 50 employees or more were laid off in 1 month;
- within 2 months 200 employees were laid off;
- for 3 months reduced from 500 people.
Also, for regions where the total population does not exceed 5 thousand people, a massive reduction is the release of 1% of those working at one enterprise in 30 days.
Why does the employer take such measures?
The legislation does not provide for the obligation of the employer to explain the reasons for the reduction, especially if everything happens within the framework of the law. Although the reasons are usually understandable: a decline in production, inefficiency of top management, automation of production processes.
So, the reason for the massive cuts in doctors in Moscow was optimization measures in the field of healthcare. It’s too early to talk about the effectiveness of such measures, but many people were left without a livelihood, while having a noble and sought-after profession.
The order of reduction. Create a reduction commission
Despite the fact that this stage is not provided for by any legislative act, judicial practice suggests that such decisions are best taken collectively, rather than individually by the director. The commission will decide how reasonable the mass reduction is, how many people it is, and from which departments and divisions.
It is at this stage that the number of persons from the category not falling under the reduction should be determined. It is also a good idea to draw up a comparative table to identify employees with higher qualifications, therefore, who have the pre-emptive right to stay at work. Defining criteria may be:
- work experience;
- lack of marriage and violations for a certain period of time;
- personal contribution of the employee to the development of the enterprise.
Evaluation can be carried out not only within a certain category of posts, but also between posts with different names, but with a similar range of responsibilities. The result of the work of the commission should be a protocol with a list of employees subject to reduction.
Reduction Order with Positions and Surnames
Such an order shall be issued at least 2 months before the date of release of employees. Although this order comes into force along with orders to dismiss employees.
If a mass reduction of workers is carried out, it is more rational to create a new staffing table than to make changes to the old one, but it can take effect only at the end of the reduction process.
Notification of upcoming release by staff
The law provides for a two-month period for notifying an employee of an impending dismissal. The best option is personal written notifications issued to everyone under their signature. The employer must keep one copy of the notice with the signature of the employee to be released.
If individual employees refuse to accept a notice or put their signature, then an appropriate act should be drawn up and members of the commission and other employees should be involved in its signing, preferably from other departments. In the absence of an employee at the workplace due to being on vacation or on sick leave, a notice can be sent by mail with a description of the documents being forwarded and a notification.
With the mass reduction of doctors in Moscow, many employees quit before the date of reduction. Indeed, you can quit earlier. In this case, the employer must make all payments guaranteed by law.
Offering another job
After the delivery of the notice or at the same time, the employer is obliged to offer employees another place of work, if it is vacant. Be it a mass reduction of doctors or other specialists - you can offer vacancies that do not even correspond to the qualifications of the staff being reduced, with a lower pay.
If vacancies were offered along with the notice of reduction, and the employee does not want to change the profession, then he must write on the notification that he refuses the offered vacancies.
In the absence of free jobs, the employer is also recommended to draw up an appropriate document about this and familiarize all the staff that is being released by signature. Naturally, the staffing should confirm the absence of vacancies.
Union notice
At the same time as the employees are notified of the upcoming release, the union must also be notified. If we are talking about mass reductions in Russia, then 3 months before the upcoming date of reduction.
Legislation does not require the employer to obtain consent from a trade union organization. Administration may be limited to just a notification.
Transfer of staff who agree to take vacancies
There are no special requirements for the transfer of personnel during the reduction period, everything is carried out according to the standard procedure. The employee may express his consent by putting a note on the notice. After that, the employer makes these changes to the employment contract.
Dismissal stage
Massive reductions are the execution of an order to terminate an employment contract with each employee. Naturally, with the enormous size of the enterprise, a large burden falls on the personnel service, but there is no other option. You will also have to make entries in the work books of those employees who are leaving, that is, to carry out the full procedure of dismissal with each reduced employee.
If an employee does not want to get a job, or is absent on the day of dismissal from work, then on the same day he needs to send a request by mail with notification that he should come to the company to receive a work book. In case of illness of the employee, the date of dismissal is postponed to the moment when the employee goes to work with a sick leave certificate in his hands.
Settlement
Both single and massive reduction in the number of employees involves the payment of additional compensation, namely:
- payments for the last month of work, including all premiums and bonuses;
- payment for each day of non-granted vacation;
- allowance in the amount of the average monthly fee.
It should be remembered that non-payment of all compensations on the day of dismissal or the next day entails the payment of interest in the amount of not less than 1/150 of the current key rate for each day of delay.
Possible payments if the reduced staff could not find a job
With a massive reduction, no matter how many people it would be, almost all are registered with the Employment Center in order to get at least any social guarantees and the opportunity to find a job.
If within 1 month from the date of reduction and registration at the Employment Center, the employee was unable to get a new job, he is entitled to present a certificate of incapacity for payment to the former employer. Unemployed personnel can also count on receiving the average monthly wage from the former enterprise for 2 months from the date of reduction. Naturally, such payments will be reduced by the amount of social unemployment benefits received.
For payment, a former employee may apply to the employer with a written statement and a work record confirming that he is not employed. In some cases, the opportunity to receive wages remains with the unemployed for 3 months from the moment of mass reduction:
- subject to contacting the employment center no later than the end of a two-week period after the date of reduction;
- The employment center was not able to employ an unemployed for 3 months;
- The unemployed must receive an appropriate decision from the employment authority, where he is registered.
An employee should be interested in his rights, for example, often in a collective agreement increased compensation is prescribed for a massive reduction in staff. Therefore, before employment, you should not formally approach the study of such a document.
Practical issues
Often, employees do not understand what a massive reduction is, how many people should be fired and for how long. The employer takes advantage of this and can simply get rid of “unnecessary” personnel. Simply put, in time to recruit the same number of people, but at a lower wage. This is confirmed by litigation where employees won. There were cases when the laid-off employees were able to prove that their position was not actually reduced, because after the dismissal the number of staff did not change, which was confirmed by a labor inspection. After the massive layoffs of doctors, perhaps more than one trial will take place, and most likely, on the basis of the fact that an incorrect assessment of labor productivity was carried out on other grounds.