Law on employee liability.

The employee is liable if he causes damage to the employer, if the employer proves:

the fact of causing material damage to him;
an offense committed by the employee, i.e. a guilty action or inaction, resulting in damage;
the presence of a causal connection between the action or inaction of the employee in the labor process that caused the damage;
amount of damage;
in cases established by law, the existence of an agreement on full financial liability.

For this purpose, the employer checks the labor behavior of the employee who caused property damage. If necessary, a special commission is created. Relevant specialists are included in its composition by order of the employer.

The employee is required to provide a written explanation of the cause of the property damage he caused. The employee is obliged to give such an explanation by virtue of Part 2 of Art. 247 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. If the employee refuses or evades providing an explanation, the employer draws up a corresponding act. In Part 2 of Art. 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not specify the period required for giving explanations. Since the basis of financial liability is an offense, a disciplinary offense, in this case the period provided for in Part 1 of Art. 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation - two working days.

In contrast, an employee not only has the right to familiarize himself with all the materials of the verification of his offense, which resulted in material damage, to appeal them, to submit petitions, i.e., to contribute to the objectivity of the verification, but also to attract a representative for this purpose (Part 3 of Article 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation ). Such a representative may be a specialist who, in the employee’s opinion, provides the necessary knowledge for an objective, complete and legal analysis of the charges brought against the employee for committing an offense that caused material damage to the organization.

By current legislation the employer is compensated only for direct actual damage. The employee does not compensate for income lost as a result of the offense (lost profits). They are in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 238 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation “are not subject to recovery from the employee.”

Direct actual damage is understood as a real decrease in the employer’s available property or deterioration in its condition (including property of third parties located by the employer, if he is responsible for its safety), as well as the need for the employer to make costs or unnecessary payments for the acquisition or restoration of property or for compensation for damage caused by the employee to third parties.

According to current labor legislation, an employee’s financial liability is limited to his average monthly earnings. That is why it is called limited. The limited amount of compensation for damage is explained not only by the legislator’s concern for protecting the interests of the employee, but also by working conditions. During the working day, especially towards its end, the employee’s self-control and assessment of the dangers that are always present when handling machines, tools, materials, and semi-finished products often decrease, i.e., a situation is created that contributes to the production of defective products, tool breakage, and increased wear means of production.

If the property damage does not exceed the average monthly earnings of the employee, then the employer, with the consent of the employee, within a month may issue an order to recover the damage caused. This period is calculated from the day the inspection is completed and the employer determines the amount of damage caused by the employee.

An employer must go to court to recover damages if:

the employee does not agree to voluntarily compensate for the property damage caused;
the amount of such damage exceeds his average monthly earnings;
the employee quit and has an outstanding debt for the damage he caused to the employer’s property.

An employee may, on his own initiative, compensate the damage caused to the organization in whole or in part. The installment plan is established by agreement of the parties. The employee gives a written obligation to compensate for damages, indicating specific terms and amounts of payments.

With the consent of the employer, the employee can compensate for the damage by transferring equivalent property to the employer or repair the damaged property.

The employer may refuse to collect damages, reduce their amount, bring the employee to disciplinary liability, or send materials to law enforcement agencies if the damage was caused by an administrative offense or crime.

The legislator in certain cases establishes full financial employee liability for damage caused to the employer. It varies according to content offenses and By subject composition.

In Art. 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation stipulates cases of full financial liability of an employee:

a situation where labor legislation imposes financial liability on an employee for damage caused to the employer during the performance of labor responsibilities(full financial liability, for example, accrues to the telecom operator on the basis of the Federal Law of July 7, 2003 No. 126-FZ “On Communications”);
shortage of valuables entrusted to the employee on the basis of a special written agreement or received by him under a one-time document;
intentional causing of damage to the employer's property by an employee;
causing damage while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other toxic substances;
causing damage as a result of a crime committed by an employee and established by a court verdict;
damage caused by an employee’s administrative misconduct, if administrative measures were applied to the employee or the fact of damage to the employer’s property was established;
disclosure of information constituting a state, official, commercial or other secret protected by law, if this is provided for by federal law, for example “On Trade Secrets”;
damage was caused while the employee was not performing his job duties, i.e. the damage was caused by the employee in his free time. At the same time, he uses the means of production belonging to the employer, as a rule, in his own interests.

According to the subject composition, the legislator highlights the features of full financial liability under the employer’s agreement with the deputy head of the organization, the chief accountant (Part 2 of Article 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The head of the organization bears full financial responsibility for direct actual damage caused to the organization (Part 1 of Article 277 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In cases provided by law, he also compensates for losses caused by his guilty actions, in accordance with the norms civil law(Part 2 of Article 277 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

An employee under the age of 18 bears full financial responsibility for damage caused to the employer only:

for intentionally causing damage;
if damage is caused a minor worker in a state of alcohol, drug or other toxic intoxication;
for damage caused as a result of an administrative offense or crime (Part 3 of Article 242 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Full financial responsibility of the employee may also be based on agreement Such an agreement is concluded with an adult employee upon hiring, if material and monetary values are transferred (entrusted) to him to perform a job function. The agreement is usually concluded when the employee joins the organization simultaneously with the employment contract. Standard form agreement on full financial liability was approved by the Ministry of Labor and social development RF December 31, 2002 The individual agreement provides for the rights and obligations of the employee and the employer. In particular, it stipulates the employer’s obligation to create for the employee the conditions necessary for normal operation and ensuring the complete safety of the property entrusted to him. As a rule, failure to fulfill this obligation releases the employee from financial liability in whole or in part. The agreement is drawn up in two copies having equal legal force and is kept by each of the parties. An agreement on full financial liability is concluded only with an employee performing work or holding a position related to the storage, processing, sale (vacation), transportation or use in the labor process of material assets belonging to the employer. The list of positions and works is established on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia. Go beyond his side employment contract can not. It is prohibited to expand the list in local regulations and collective agreement.

If the list approved by the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia on December 3, 2002 changes, the agreement on full financial liability should be revised accordingly.

Along with the labor legislation, it is provided collective (team) responsibility for property damage caused to the employer. It is also negotiable. The employer enters into an agreement with a collective (team) of workers if, when they jointly perform work related to the storage, processing, sale (vacation), transportation, use or other use of the valuables transferred to them, it is impossible to differentiate the responsibility of each employee for damage and conclude an agreement with him on full individual financial liability (Part 1 of Article 245 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The standard form of such an agreement was approved by a resolution of the Russian Ministry of Labor dated December 3, 2002.

The agreement on collective (team) financial liability is concluded in in writing the employer and all members of the team (team). It is developed by the parties based on standard contract. The initiative usually comes from the employer and is formalized by his order (instruction), which is attached to the contract.

The agreement on (team) financial responsibility stipulates: 1) the subject of the agreement; 2) rights and obligations of the team (team) and the employer; 3) the procedure for maintaining records and reporting; 4) procedure for compensation of damages. The contract is signed by the employer, the head of the team (team), and all members of the team (team).

The team leader (foreman) is appointed by order (instruction) of the employer, taking into account the opinions of the members of the team (team). During the absence of the foreman (manager), the employer assigns his duties to one of the members. The contract is not renewed upon departure or admission to the team (team) individual workers. In the event that more than 50% of the original team members or the foreman leave, the contract is renegotiated. When individual employees are admitted to the team, the contract specifies the date of entry and the employee’s signature.

The contract establishes the employer’s obligation to create the necessary conditions for the team (team) for the complete safety of the property entrusted to them to perform the assigned labor function. The employer is obliged to take timely measures to identify and eliminate the reasons that impede the safety of property transferred by the employer to the team, identify specific persons responsible for causing damage, and hold them accountable.

The collective under the contract is responsible for direct actual damage caused to them, as well as for damage incurred by the employer as a result of compensation for damage to third parties. Material damage is reimbursed by the collective only if it occurred through the fault of its members.

The amount of damage caused to the employer's property is determined by actual losses, which are calculated at market prices in force in the area at the time of the damage. However, it cannot be lower than the value of the lost property according to data accounting. In this case, the degree of wear and tear of the property is taken into account.

In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 246 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the law may establish a special procedure for determining the amount of damage caused to the employer by theft, intentional damage, shortage or loss individual species property and other valuables ( precious metals, gems, narcotic substances). This rule also applies to cases where the actual damage exceeds its nominal amount. So, Federal law dated January 8, 1998 No. Z-FZ “On narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances» provides for financial liability of employees in an amount 100 times higher than the direct actual damage caused to the employer.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation stipulates the circumstances excluding financial liability parties to the employment contract: force majeure, normal economic risk, extreme necessity, necessary defense, failure of the employer to fulfill the obligation to provide adequate conditions for storing property entrusted to the employee.

A careless worker drowned a tractor in the river, a truck full of eggs overturned, or your store was robbed? Who will pay for all this? We will look at examples of when an employee must bear financial responsibility, and also tell you how to draw up a corresponding agreement. In essence, an employee’s financial liability is the employer’s right to demand money from an employee for damage caused through the fault of the employee himself.

The Labor Code says that lost profits are not the employee’s financial responsibility (Chapter 39 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and the employee is only responsible for the waste of actual material assets.

Types of financial liability

An employee's financial liability can be limited or full.

Limited financial liability is when the amount of compensation has its limits and cannot exceed the employee’s average monthly earnings (Article 241 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). For example, the cleaning lady, Baba Manya, was washing the floor and accidentally pulled a candy bar worth 50,000 rubles from the table. In this case, it will not be possible to fully compensate for the damage. The employee must pay this amount only if you have drawn up a liability agreement with her.

In case of full financial liability, the employee is obliged to compensate for the damage in full. But is it always possible to place such a responsibility on the shoulders of employees? And here Art. will help us. 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the framework of legal grounds for the recovery of damages.

Limited financial liability is when the amount of compensation cannot exceed the employee’s average monthly earnings. In case of full liability, the employee will be required to compensate for all damage caused.

When you hire an accountant, salesperson, caretaker or other employees who bear financial responsibility due to the specifics of their work, you need to conclude a special agreement with them. You can see the list of employees who must bear financial responsibility.

Examples of situations when an employee can be held financially liable:

When your employee intentionally caused harm, knowing the consequences. For example, the cleaning lady, Baba Manya, can’t stand the accountant Zinaida Petrovna, and therefore broke her computer so that she would not submit the report on time. Is it true, evil intent will have to prove it.
When the employee was drunk or on drugs. In this condition, the damage caused is subject to mandatory full compensation.
When an employee has committed criminal acts and this has been proven in court.
When manager Vladimir sold the contact list of your regular customers to competitors.

Full financial responsibility can be individual or collective. In case of collective liability, the damage must be compensated by a team of employees.

The procedure for bringing an employee to financial liability

If your employee caused harm to the company in an amount that did not exceed the average monthly salary, then the issue can be resolved in a working manner by order of the manager. If it is significantly more, then you should go to court.

The employer, according to Art. 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the following procedure must be followed:

We establish the value of the damaged property.
We find out the degree of responsibility of the employee: limited or full.
We are creating a commission and conducting an internal investigation.
We request an explanatory statement from the culprit.
We draw up a report on the results of the internal investigation.
We issue an order to bring to financial responsibility.
We sign a damage compensation agreement.

Release from financial liability

There are exceptions in which an employee may be exempt from financial liability.

Circumstances exempting from compensation for damage:

According to Art. 239 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, earthquakes, tsunamis, war or epidemic are force majeure circumstances and exempt the employee from liability.
The extreme necessity or necessary defense lies in the examples presented below and is spelled out in Art. 39 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For example, cashier Marina Ivanovna honestly fulfilled her direct duties, spent the whole day collecting food at the checkout counter and receiving from the population cash. And at the end of the working day, a man came and, threatening with a knife, demanded that all the funds from the cash register be put into his bag. In this case, the shortage will not fall on Marina Ivanovna’s shoulders, because she was defending herself.
Normal business risk is determined in each specific situation. For example, mechanic Uncle Vasya was given the task of improving a part, but during the work nothing good came of it, and the materials were wasted. According to the law, such a situation is interpreted as a normal business risk, and the employee does not have to pay for it.
Also, according to Art. 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee can receive exemption from financial liability on the personal initiative of the employer.

Results in examples

A drunk tractor driver will pay the full cost of the drowned tractor.

The truck driver who transports eggs, under a full liability agreement, is fully responsible for damaged goods. But if a truck overturns at the epicenter of an earthquake, the driver is not to blame.

A team of workers who stole a tool from a construction site pays for the damage in full.

The cashier is not responsible for waste during the robbery.

The employee’s financial liability is regulated by law, but this must be specified in the contract.

If your employee caused damage to the company, and the documents do not indicate that he is individually liable, then you will not be able to recover damages. Moreover, some cases of employee sabotage will need to be proven.

Do not forget, when hiring employees whose positions are included in the list of financially responsible employees, to enter into an agreement on full financial responsibility.

It is better to prevent a situation than to correct it later, so each of your employees should know what they are responsible for. If you do experience embezzlement, remain calm. The main thing is to carefully study the grounds and conditions of the employee’s financial liability, correctly assess the situation and complete all documents on time.

Material liability of employees- this is a statutory obligation of workers to compensate in whole or in part the direct actual damage caused by their illegal and guilty actions to the employer for whom they work. Financial liability applies regardless of whether the employee is brought to disciplinary, administrative or criminal liability. Financial liability should be distinguished from such measures of material influence as deprivation or reduction of bonuses, remuneration based on the results of work for the year, etc.

Conditions of liability

Material liability of employees occurs if there is following conditions: 1) the presence of direct actual damage, that is, loss, deterioration or decrease in the value of property, the need to incur costs for restoration, acquisition of property or other valuables, or excessive payments. At the same time, lost income, that is, those amounts by which the tenant’s property would have increased if the debtor had not committed an offense, are not taken into account; 2) the illegality of the employee’s behavior that caused the damage. It is expressed in the fact that the employee does not fulfill or improperly performs the labor duties assigned to him by regulations, internal labor regulations, instructions and other mandatory rules, orders and instructions of the employer; 3) the presence of a causal relationship between the employee’s behavior and the damage caused;

4) the presence of guilt in the employee’s behavior in the form of intent and negligence.

It is unacceptable to hold an employee responsible for harm that falls into the category of normal production risk (experimental production, introduction of new technologies, etc.)

Types of financial liability (full and limited)

Article 402 of the Labor Code establishes that employees, as a rule, bear full financial responsibility for damage caused to the employer through their fault. Legislation, collective agreements, and agreements may establish limited financial liability of employees for damage caused to the employer through their fault, with the exception of cases provided for in Article 404 of the Labor Code.

Limited financial liability means that the employee is obliged to compensate for damage in the amount of his actual damage, but the amount of compensation cannot exceed the average monthly salary. Limited financial liability is currently provided for in accordance with Article 403 of the Labor Code only in two cases:

employees - in the amount of damage caused through their fault, but not more than their average monthly earnings for damage or destruction due to negligence of materials, semi-finished products, products (products), including during their manufacture, as well as for damage or destruction due to negligence of instruments, measuring instruments, special clothing and other items issued by the employer to the employee for use; heads of organizations, their deputies, managers and their deputies - in the amount of damage caused through their fault, but not more than three times the average monthly earnings, if the damage was caused by incorrect accounting and storage of material or monetary assets, failure to take the necessary measures to prevent downtime or the release of substandard products. This responsibility is borne by the managers and their deputies of any structural divisions provided for by the charter (regulations) of the enterprise.

Average monthly earnings are determined based on the calculation of the last two calendar months of work of the employee who caused the damage. If an employee has worked for an employer for less than two months, then his average earnings are determined based on the time actually worked.

Full financial responsibility.

Full financial responsibility- this is liability in the amount of damage caused without limiting it to any limit. Full financial liability occurs if no exceptions are made from general rule about full financial responsibility. In addition, full financial liability in cases provided for in Article 404 of the Labor Code.

Most often, full financial responsibility occurs when a written agreement on full financial responsibility is concluded between the employee and the employer.

Written agreements on full financial responsibility can be concluded by the employer with employees who have reached the age of 18, occupy positions or perform work directly related to the storage, processing, sale (release), transportation or use in the production process of the valuables transferred to them. An approximate list of such positions and works, as well as an approximate agreement on full individual financial responsibility, are approved by the Government of the Republic of Belarus.

Full individual financial liability can be established if the following conditions are met: 1) commodity-money assets are transferred to the employee for reporting, that is, he is personally responsible for their safety and sale (small retail workers, storekeepers, cashiers, bartenders, forwarders, etc. .); 2) the employee has created conditions for the storage, sale and processing of material assets (isolated premises, etc. 3) the employee independently reports to the accounting department for the assets entrusted to him.

A special form of full financial liability is collective (team) financial liability, which is introduced when employees jointly perform work related to the storage, processing, sale (release), transportation of valuables transferred to them, when it is impossible to delimit the financial responsibility of each employee and conclude an agreement with him on individual financial liability

Collective liability is introduced if the following conditions are simultaneously present: 1) work is performed jointly; 2) it is impossible to delimit the financial responsibility of each employee and conclude an agreement with him on full individual financial responsibility; 3) the employer has created conditions for employees to work normally and ensure the safety of the valuables transferred to them,

4) the employee (team member) has reached the age of 18.

A written agreement on full financial responsibility provides a list of the main responsibilities of the employee and the employer. The employee undertakes to take care of the material assets transferred to him for storage or for other purposes and take measures to prevent damage, promptly inform the employer about all circumstances that threaten the safety of the valuables entrusted to him, make proposals to the employer for the reconstruction and repair of warehouse premises and sites in order to improve their suitability for storing material assets, keeping records. Compile and submit commodity-money and other reports on the movement and balances of valuables in the prescribed manner. In turn, the employer undertakes to: create for the employee the conditions necessary for normal work and ensure the safety of the property entrusted to him, familiarize the employee with the current legislation on the financial liability of employees, as well as current instructions, standards and rules for storage, acceptance, processing, sale (vacation) , transportation or use in the production process of the valuables transferred to him, carry out an inventory and write-off of material assets in the prescribed manner.

The team assumes full financial responsibility for all inventory items (goods, containers, materials) transferred to it for reporting. The written agreement is drawn up in two copies, one of which is kept by the employer, and the second by the employee. The contract applies to the entire period of work with material assets entrusted to employees.

The basis for bringing workers or team members to financial liability is material damage caused through their fault by failure to ensure the safety of property and other valuables (shortages, damage) transferred to them for storage, sale or for other purposes and confirmed by an inventory sheet.

Compensable damage caused by the team is distributed among its members in proportion to the actual time worked for the period from the last inventory to the day the damage was discovered.