Disciplinary sanctions: types and application. The procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction on an employee

In order to punish an employee for committing a disciplinary offense, the employer must follow the imposition procedure disciplinary action .
Disciplinary offense, according to Art. 189 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, called violation of labor discipline, internal regulations and regulations job description.

For such violations, according to Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer can:

• issue a formal notice to the employee
• issue a reprimand or a severe reprimand to an employee
• dismiss the culprit

To apply one of these penalties, you must follow the procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction. The procedure for imposing and removing disciplinary sanctions is specified in Art. 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 194 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
First of all, it is necessary to request written explanations from the employee. You need to demand in writing, drawing up an act on requesting explanations.
On this act, the employee must put his signature. Then he must submit a written explanation to the employer within 2 days. If this does not happen, then the employer will have to draw up an act.
All acts are signed by an authorized representative of the employer and two witnesses.
Failure to provide written explanations is not grounds for suspending an internal investigation into the guilty and unlawful acts committed.
If the employee does not provide the employer with an explanatory note, the employer does not lose the right to punish the employee.

The task of the employer is to prove the guilt of the employee. If guilt is not proven, the employer does not have the right to punish such an employee. The employee, in turn, must prove that he committed a guilty or illegal act for a good reason..
Unfortunately, in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation there is no concept of "good reason". This must be decided by the employer. But, as judicial and personnel practice shows, such reasons include:

• employee illness
• lack of materials necessary for work
• failure by the employer to provide working conditions for their employees
• summoning an employee to court or law enforcement
• execution of orders from higher authorities

If the employer considers that the reason is not justified, he has the right to punish the employee. To do this, it is necessary to issue an order imposing a disciplinary sanction.
The employee must familiarize himself with this order and put his signature on it. This is done in case the employee decides to challenge the penalty in court.
If the employee refuses to put his signature on the order, the employer must draw up an act.

An employer can only impose one disciplinary sanction for one guilty act. He can do this within one month from the moment the offense was discovered..
If the offense was discovered during the audit or audit, then the guilty person can be punished even after six months. This period does not include periods when the guilty employee is on sick leave or the representative body of the employer makes a decision.

The types and procedure for imposing disciplinary sanctions are in no way connected with each other. For all penalties in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the same procedure is given.

To maintain labor discipline, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides not only incentives for work, but also disciplinary responsibility of employees.

Disciplinary sanctions are imposed on employees who have committed a disciplinary offense, namely, failure to perform or improper performance of their job duties. A disciplinary offense is always characterized by the fault of the employee (intentional or negligent). It is very important to correctly follow the procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction, otherwise the employee will be able to appeal against his imposition in court.

Types of disciplinary sanctions

The first type of disciplinary sanction is a remark. Contrary to popular belief, today Labor Code The Russian Federation does not provide for the entry of comments in work book. Moreover, no disciplinary sanctions are entered into it. Information about all disciplinary sanctions is stored in the employee's personal file.

The second type of penalty is a reprimand. And finally, the third and most severe type of disciplinary action is dismissal.

Federal laws may also provide for other types of disciplinary sanctions against certain categories of employees (for example, in relation to civil servants). However, it is impossible to apply a disciplinary sanction that is not provided for by federal law. Therefore, the possibility of unauthorized establishment of additional disciplinary sanctions by the employer is excluded - neither in the employment contract, nor in the collective agreement, nor in the local regulatory act.

Dismissal as a type of disciplinary sanction can be made only on the relevant grounds:

Firstly, the employee repeatedly fails to fulfill his labor duties without good reason, if he already has a disciplinary sanction (clause 5, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Secondly, a single gross violation by an employee of labor duties (clause 6, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), which includes:

• absenteeism, that is, the absence of an employee at the workplace without good reason during the entire working day, or for more than four hours in a row during the working day;
• the appearance of an employee at work (at his workplace, on the territory of the employer, the facility where, on behalf of the employer, the employee must perform his work) in a state of alcoholic, narcotic or other toxic intoxication;
• disclosure of legally protected secrets (state, commercial, official and other), which became known to the employee in connection with the performance of his labor duties (this includes, among other things, the disclosure of personal data of another employee);
• committing at the place of work theft (including petty), deliberate destruction or damage to property, embezzlement ( given fact must be established by an act of the relevant state body that has entered into legal force);
• violation by the employee of labor protection requirements, if this violation entailed serious consequences (accident at work, accident, catastrophe) or at least knowingly created a real threat of such consequences (this fact must be established by the labor protection commission or the labor protection commissioner) .

Thirdly, the adoption of an unreasonable decision by the head of the organization (branch, representative office), his deputies and the chief accountant, which entailed a violation of the safety of property, its unlawful use or other damage to the property of the organization (clause 9, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

Fourthly, a single gross violation by the head of the organization (branch, representative office), his deputies of their labor duties;

Fifth, repeated within one year gross violation of the charter educational institution(Clause 1, Article 336 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

Sixth, the commission of guilty actions by an employee directly servicing monetary or commodity values, if these actions give rise to a loss of confidence in him on the part of the employer (clause 7, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

Seventh, the employee's failure to take measures to prevent or resolve a conflict of interest to which he is a party, and some other actions that are the basis for the loss of confidence in the employee (clause 7.1, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);

Eighth, the commission by an employee performing educational functions of an immoral offense incompatible with the continuation of this work (clause 8, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

The list of grounds for dismissal of an employee as a disciplinary sanction is exhaustive.

In practice, it is very common to deprive employees of bonuses as a measure of influence on them for improper performance of duties. The deprivation of the award is not a type of disciplinary sanction. This does not mean that employees should not be deprived of bonuses. You can deprive, but only it will not be a disciplinary sanction. This is very important, because there is such a basis for dismissal as the employee’s repeated failure to fulfill his labor duties, provided that he has a disciplinary sanction. It will not be possible to dismiss an employee on this basis if he has only an order to deprive him of the bonus in his personal file, but there are no documents confirming the imposition of such penalties as a remark and a reprimand.

Deadlines for imposing disciplinary sanctions

It is impossible to impose a disciplinary sanction if more than one month has passed since the date of discovery of the misconduct by the employer (namely 30 calendar days). But the following is excluded from this period:

• sickness time of the employee;
• vacation time of the employee;
• the time during which the representative body of workers forms its opinion.

It is illegal to impose a disciplinary sanction if more than six months have passed since the date of the misconduct (even if one month has not yet passed since the discovery). A longer period is set for a misconduct, which is revealed as a result of an audit, audit, audit of financial and economic activities. For such misconduct, the employee can be disciplined within two years from the date of the misconduct.

It is important to note that these terms (6 months and 2 years) do not include the time of criminal proceedings.

The procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction

After the discovery of a disciplinary offense, making sure that the deadlines for bringing to responsibility have not expired, the employer is obliged to demand a written explanation from the employee regarding the misconduct. The employee must provide such within two working days. If the employee does not do this, then an act is drawn up.

It is very important to write this document. The employee's refusal (direct or tacit) to provide explanations after the act is drawn up will not prevent the imposition of a penalty. What exactly the form of the act should be, the law does not say. But, apparently, it should be a commission document.

The Labor Code prohibits the application of several penalties for one offense. Only one penalty applies for each misdemeanor.

The imposition of a disciplinary sanction must be formalized by order. The order must be submitted for familiarization by the employee within three working days from the date of its issuance. If the employee does not want to sign the order, then an act is also drawn up about this.

Violations labor discipline or dishonest performance by employees of their duties - phenomena that the heads of organizations have to deal with quite often. About what types of disciplinary sanctions exist in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and what procedure for their application, you will read in our article.

Cases of violation of labor discipline in any organization, of course, must be suppressed, and the offenders, in turn, must bear disciplinary responsibility. As practice shows, many managers of commercial firms are quite subjective about the punishment of a delinquent employee, without taking into account the circumstances and severity of the misconduct. In addition, organizations often operate a non-transparent system of both fines and incentives, which is not documented, and punishments are imposed on employees literally “in words”, without appropriate formalization. There are also leaders who abuse the imposition of disciplinary sanctions, thereby manipulating their subordinates, thereby fundamentally violating labor laws.

Important! Any disciplinary punishment applied on illegal grounds may be challenged by the employee in court.

Types of disciplinary sanctions

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for the use of three main types of disciplinary sanctions:

• comment,
• rebuke,
• dismissal on certain grounds.

Other types of punishments (for example, penalties, deprecation and others) can be applied only if they are prescribed in the regulatory documents of the organization.

The application of disciplinary sanctions that are not provided for by legislative acts and regulations on discipline is not allowed!

In addition to the main types, disciplinary sanctions also include dismissal on the basis of a negative action (for example, absenteeism, gross or systematic violation of discipline, disclosure of secrets protected by law, theft in the workplace, and others, Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

When can disciplinary action be taken?

The main cases of application of disciplinary sanctions are defined by article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation - this is the failure or unfair performance by an employee of his official duties prescribed in with familiarization under the personal signature of the employee. However, disciplinary sanctions may be applied in the following cases:

1. commission by an employee of an action not permitted by the regulatory documents of the organization;
2. violations of the job description;
3. violation of labor discipline (absence from the workplace, repeated delays, etc.).

In addition to the above charges, federal laws provide:

• for employees of the state civil service of the Russian Federation:
  • warning about incomplete official compliance;
• for military personnel:
  • severe reprimand;
  • deprivation of the badge of an excellent student;
  • warning of incomplete service compliance;
  • early dismissal due to non-fulfilment of the terms of the contract;
  • reduction in military position;
  • decline in military rank;
  • deduction from military fees;
  • expulsion from a military educational institution of vocational education;
  • disciplinary arrest.

The procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions

The imposition of a disciplinary sanction is a procedure consisting of several stages: 1. Drawing up a document to detect the fact of a disciplinary offense (act, memorandum, decision of the disciplinary commission). 2. Requesting a written explanation from the delinquent employee indicating the reasons for his misconduct. If an explanation is not provided within 2 days, this fact is recorded by drawing up an act.

Important! An employee's refusal to give a written explanation cannot serve as an obstacle to the application of a disciplinary sanction (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

3. Adoption by the head of the decision on guilt and the imposition of a disciplinary measure against the employee who committed the misconduct. At this stage, all the materials provided are evaluated, all circumstances that can mitigate guilt, and the severity of the offense committed are taken into account. The insufficiency of evidentiary materials on the fact of a violation does not give the manager the right to apply any disciplinary sanction, since the labor rights and freedoms of an employee who does not have the opportunity are violated (Article 2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer is given the right to apply a disciplinary sanction or limit the punishment by any means of educational and preventive influence.

4. Creation of an order for the issuance and execution of a disciplinary sanction. Content administrative document full information about the employee must be present, including the place of work and position, the fact of the violation with reference to regulatory documents, a description of the violation with the establishment of the guilt of the offender, the type of penalty, the grounds for the penalty. The finished order is brought to the employee against signature within 3 working days. If the guilty employee refuses to familiarize himself with the order under his personal signature, an appropriate act is drawn up (part 6 of article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Note that information about the presence of a reprimand or remark in the employee's work book is not entered.

For the same disciplinary offense, an employee may be punished with only one disciplinary sanction.

Terms of application of disciplinary sanctions

A disciplinary sanction may be applied no later than 1 month from the date of establishing the fact of a violation. This period does not include the time the employee is on sick leave, on vacation and the time allocated to take into account the opinion of the trade union organization. A disciplinary sanction may not be applied within the time limit:

• later than 6 months from the date of the violation;
• later than 2 years from the date of commission at the time of receipt of the results of the audit or audit;
• later than 3 years for non-compliance with restrictions and prohibitions, failure to fulfill obligations established by law Russian Federation on combating corruption.

The administrative document (order) on the imposition of a disciplinary sanction is presented to the guilty employee against signature within 3 working days. An employee who has committed a misdemeanor has the right to appeal against the decision to apply a disciplinary sanction to the state labor inspectorate and the relevant bodies for individual labor disputes. Before the expiration of 12 months, starting from the moment of issuing and applying a disciplinary sanction, the employer has the right to remove it from the employee on his own initiative, at the request of the immediate supervisor of the employee or his representative body. Early removal of a disciplinary sanction is formalized by an appropriate order with familiarization of the employee against signature.

If, within 12 months from the date of application of the disciplinary sanction, the employee does not commit new misconduct with the imposition of a disciplinary sanction, then he will be considered as having no disciplinary sanction (based on Article 194 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Not only executive employees are brought to disciplinary responsibility, but also heads of organizations reporting to the main employer (Article 195, part 6 of Article 370 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The latter is obliged to consider a statement from a representative body of employees entitled to monitor compliance with labor legislation (most often these are trade union committees) about violations of legislative and labor acts by the head of the organization or his deputies, and report on decision. In case of confirmation of the facts of detection of violations, the employer is obliged to apply to the guilty persons leadership positions, disciplinary action, including dismissal.

Consequences arising from the imposition of a disciplinary sanction

In accordance with Art. 81 part 5 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, upon detection of a repeated violation during the period of validity of an early disciplinary sanction, the employer has the right to dismiss the violator. Also, in the presence of a disciplinary sanction, the employer has the right to deprive the employee of any incentive payments (provided that this is provided normative documents organization), as well as deprive the person guilty of the violation in whole or in part (deprivation of bonus payments is not a disciplinary punishment).

Responsibility of organizations for violation of the procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions

The punished employee has the right to file a complaint against the decision of his employer with the Labor Disputes Inspectorate, on the basis of which the employees of the relevant body have the right to inspect the organization in order to establish the legality of the application of a disciplinary sanction and observe the procedure for issuing it. In the event that violations are revealed on the part of the organization, the imposed penalty may be declared invalid, and the management of the organization may be brought to disciplinary responsibility. In case of dismissal of an employee, the latter has the right to apply for reinstatement through the court, receive compensation from the employer for forced absences from work and moral damage. In turn, for the illegal application of a disciplinary sanction, the employer will have to pay the costs associated with the court and inspections by the labor inspectorate, as well as penalties imposed by a court decision. In addition, the unlawful actions of the head of the organization can lead to a loss of credibility among other employees and significant damage to their business reputation.

The employee and the employer are bound by an employment contract, to fulfill the terms of which both parties are obliged in good faith. If an employee does not fulfill his obligations, the approved routine is a disciplinary offense. The employee is held accountable. Website resource consultants will tell you in detail what the procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction is. Sometimes an employee messes up so much that it comes to termination of the employment contract.

What are punishable offences?

An employee is punished if he intentionally violated the rules of conduct contained in labor agreement, collective agreement and administrative acts of the organization. Deviations from official rules can be expressed in the following:

• Absence from work or unauthorized absence without good reason (truancy).
• Groundless disregard for official duties.
• Uncoordinated exit to the next vacation.
• Being at work under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Unauthorized distribution of confidential information.

The severity of the offense depends on the punishment. If objective circumstances prevented an employee from performing work (lack of necessary building materials or equipment, traffic accidents, restrictions of the authorities, illness), his fault is excluded.

What are the types of disciplinary sanctions?

Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation contains a list of penalties:

Comment. It is considered a mild form of punishment. It expresses a censure of the employer and is imposed for minor deviations from the rules. The note is more of a warning.

Rebuke. This measure is applied in cases where the misconduct is classified as a serious violation of labor rules.

Dismissal with reference to the relevant article of the Labor Code. The most severe type of penalty is resorted to if the employee has committed gross violations of official duties and discipline: appearing in a state of intoxication, embezzlement of entrusted property, or has previously been subject to disciplinary liability.

Measures of punishment in the form of deprivation of bonuses, demotion or a fine do not apply to disciplinary sanctions and are not subject to application.

The specificity of certain categories of employees may provide for other types of punishment. For example, deprivation of a badge, demotion in rank are applicable to military personnel. Prosecutors can be severely reprimanded.

For one misconduct, the employee is brought to one type of liability. In this case, it is not necessary to follow the sequence set forth in Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The penalty depends on the severity of the particular offense and its consequences. In order to avoid conflicts with the employer, you, as an employee, must know everything about the contractual regulation of labor relations.

What are the rules for imposing disciplinary sanctions?

The procedure for bringing to disciplinary responsibility consists of the following steps:

1. Fixing a violation

At this stage, it is required to document the misconduct of the employee by drawing up an act on the identification of an illegal act and submitting a memorandum to the management.

If the misconduct is committed by absenteeism at work at the appointed time, the personnel officer or other person whose functions include monitoring the performance of official duties by employees prepares an appropriate act. It is advisable to involve two witnesses in this, who will certify with their signatures the validity of the failure to appear. In addition, personnel personnel makes an appropriate mark in the report card.

The management of the enterprise is informed about the incident, which, depending on the specific misconduct, appoints an internal investigation.

2. Requesting explanations from the guilty person

The employer offers the employee to prove the validity of the reasons for the misconduct by sending him a written request. If the employee does not mind providing an explanation, you can limit yourself to an oral demand.

An explanatory note is drawn up in any form and sent to the employer within two days. If necessary, supporting documentation is attached to it.

If the guilty person does not provide the document within the specified period, responsible person the employer draws up an act of refusal to give explanations.

3. Internal investigation

The Labor Code does not contain the term " an official investigation”, but for the purpose of a comprehensive and objective consideration of the case, organizations practice its conduct.

To do this, by order of the employer, a special commission is formed, which includes representatives of the personnel service, the security department and internal audit.

Members of the commission collect evidence, interview eyewitnesses, conduct examinations, in a word, clarify all the circumstances and reasons for the misconduct.

The results of the consideration of the special commission are drawn up in the form of a conclusion, which gives a legal assessment of what happened, recommendations on the type of disciplinary sanction for the employee.

If during the internal investigation it turns out that the employee’s actions show signs of a criminal act, the manager is asked to transfer the material to law enforcement agencies or the prosecutor’s office.

Based on the act of misconduct, an explanatory note and the conclusion of a special commission, a written order is drawn up on the application of a disciplinary measure to the offender.

The order to impose a disciplinary sanction includes a description of: the full name and position of the employee, the circumstances of the misconduct, the violated acts of the organization, the guilt of the employee and the type of punishment chosen.

The act of the employer within 3 days is handed over to the guilty person against signature. If it is not possible to familiarize him personally, the personnel officer sends the document by registered mail to the place of residence.

The order to impose a disciplinary sanction may be appealed by the employee to the state inspectorate, the commission on labor disputes and the court.

What are the time limits for disciplinary proceedings?

The terms for imposing a disciplinary sanction are regulated by Article 193 of the Labor Code. An employee can be punished if one month has not passed since the day the direct supervisor of the guilty person became aware of the misconduct. This period does not include time spent on vacation and sick leave.

It is impossible to apply a penalty after six months from the day the illegal act was committed. This period is extended to two years in case of detection of illegal actions based on the results of financial audit or audit. It does not include time spent on criminal proceedings.

What are the consequences of a disciplinary order?

The existing punishment does not entitle the employee to receive bonuses and other incentive payments for one year. It serves as an aggravating circumstance in case of repeated misconduct within this period and leads to dismissal.

When is the punishment removed?

The disciplinary sanction is valid for one year. After this period, the employee is considered not to have been punished. The penalty may be withdrawn early under certain conditions: at the request of the employer, at the request of the employee, or on the basis of the presentation of the immediate supervisor of the employee.

The employer, having made sure that the punishment has had its effect and the employee is characterized positively at the place of work, has the right to cancel the penalty by order.

An employee, having achieved excellent performance indicators, having prevented repeated misconduct, can apply in writing to the management of the enterprise to remove the punishment.

The person in whose direct subordination the offender is, having ascertained the improvement in the quality and discipline of the work of the latter, has the right to petition the head of the organization to cancel the penalty.

Summing up

The imposition of a disciplinary sanction is the right of the employer, which is granted to him by the labor law to build the normal life of the enterprise and ensure personnel discipline. But the procedure for applying punishment is subject to certain rules on the correctness and timeliness of which the legality of the recovery depends. Otherwise, the administrative act is canceled, and an administrative fine is imposed on the head.

13.09.2017, 19:37

Often, personnel specialists have to deal with disciplinary offenses of employees. What is the disciplinary procedure? Where to start to carry out the entire procedure without errors. Is this procedure regulated by the Labor Code? We offer personnel officers the procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions.

Step 1. We identify a disciplinary offense

Failure to perform or improper performance of labor duties assigned to an employee is called a disciplinary offense (Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). An employee who has committed a disciplinary offense can be held accountable by applying disciplinary measures against him. Moreover, bringing to responsibility is a right, not an obligation of the organization.

Step 2. Demand an explanation

After committing a disciplinary offense, the employee must be required to write an explanatory note. This document, containing an explanation of the reasons for what happened, will be attached to the memo on the violation of discipline (act of disciplinary offense).

It is clear that explanatory note must be written by the employee personally and addressed to the head of the enterprise. The legislation does not establish a single form for such a document, therefore an explanatory note about being late for work can be written in any form.

Step 3. In case of refusal of explanations, we draw up an act

Step 4. Writing a memo

The next step in the procedure for imposing a disciplinary sanction is writing memo. The fact is that the fact of violation of labor discipline must be confirmed. One of the design options is a memo about a violation of official duties, drawn up by the immediate supervisor of the offending employee. This document can be drawn up in any form, since the current legislation does not contain a unified form of a memo. The main thing is to describe the actions (inaction) of the employee that served as the basis for compiling the note, and indicate the type of disciplinary sanction imposed.

Step 5. Issue an order

The next step in the procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is the issuance of an order. However, before issuing an order, you need to decide on the type of punishment.
Labor legislation establishes a list of disciplinary sanctions that can be applied to a delinquent employee (""):

• comment;
• rebuke;
• dismissal.

These types of penalties are in order of increasing liability, depending on the severity of the misconduct. That is, a remark is the mildest measure of disciplinary responsibility, and dismissal is the most severe ("").