The employer has the right to reduce the wages of employees if this is due to force majeure circumstances – for example, the introduction of a lockdown due to a pandemic or the imposition of sanctions that directly affect the work process. Irina Gukova, the founder of the legal group Soyuz, told Izvestia about what rights the employees themselves have in this situation and how to properly carry out this process.
In addition, there are circumstances under which an employer may reduce the number of jobs – this may be due to technical, technological and organizational factors. At the same time, the employer will be obliged to notify the employee about the current situation at least two months before the reduction, the specialist emphasized.
Many employers, in case of need for a sharp reduction in jobs, resort to the possibility of dismissal by agreement of the parties. However, this option is possible only with the consent of the employee. Forcing an employee to dismiss by agreement of the parties is a violation of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
In the event of a reduction in wages, the employee has the right to receive all payments for the period worked, calculated taking into account the old salary. This, for example, compensation for unused vacation and sick leave. Also, if the employer cuts the employee’s wages, and the employee decides to quit because of this, the employee has the right to receive severance pay. In the event of a change in wages, the employee has the right to receive a severance pay in the amount of the average salary for two weeks upon dismissal.
Gukova added that the procedure for transferring an employee to another, less paid job is described in Article 72 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, and the procedure for reducing wages is described in Article 135 of the Labor Code.
In December 2021, Fatima Suleymanova, Associate Professor of the HSE Department of General and Interdisciplinary Legal Disciplines, Ph.D. in Law, an expert in labor law, said that even if an employee is very often sick and colleagues constantly have to fulfill his duties, this cannot be an official reason for dismissal. However, according to the expert, employers who are not satisfied with frequently ill employees may ask them to quit of their own free will and even use blackmail.
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