On October 3, 2016, the law on the terms of payment of salaries came into force. He made important changes in the issue of bonus payments.

From that moment, a new version of Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which wages must be paid on time no later than the 15th day of the next month. It turns out that wages, for example, for March 2019 must be paid no later than April 15, 2019.

If the day of payment of the bonus falls on a weekend or holiday, then wages must be paid no later than the last working day before this weekend or holiday.

Details on the new payroll dates for 2019 can be found on this page. In this publication, we will find out what has changed in the timing of bonus payments under the new Salary Law in 2019.

Introduction to Prizes

In accordance with the current legislation, bonuses are incentive payments that can be made to employees for the proper performance of labor duties.

The issue of accruing bonuses is a voluntary decision of the head of the organization or individual entrepreneur. In some cases, bonuses are used to increase the interest of a qualified and / or conscientious employee, regardless of his labor success at the moment.

In Art. 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a generalized principle for calculating bonuses is disclosed, providing for the right of the employer to create a bonus system, which is fixed in the local acts of the individual entrepreneur or organization.

In accordance with Art. 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, bonuses can be included in the salary. In this case, this issue should be reflected in the employment contract or local regulations of the organization.

Thus, the bonus is a full-fledged element of the remuneration system. It follows from this that along with changes in the terms of payment of salaries, the terms for paying bonuses have also changed since 2016. Now bonuses must also be paid no later than 15 calendar days from the end of the period for calculating the corresponding bonus.

Types of premiums

This is a rather voluminous question: there are several reasons for dividing premiums into types.

Depending on the frequency, it is customary to distinguish the following types of awards:

1. One-time. Paid in a lump sum in the event of an event. For example, after achieving certain labor results.
2. Periodic. Paid monthly and quarterly.
3. Annual. Paid once a year.

Depending on the grounds for paying bonuses, it is customary to divide into two types:

1. Production. They are paid for the conscientious performance by the employee of his labor duties or for the achievement of certain results of labor.

2. Non-production. Not related to performance. For example, an organization may pay non-production bonuses to parents with many children. They are not included in wages. Therefore, the provisions of the amended Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not apply to them. Non-production bonuses can be paid at any time fixed by an employment contract or local regulations.

Now we propose to understand the changes in the terms of payment of bonuses of various types.

Monthly bonuses

In most cases, monthly bonuses are paid based on the results of the month worked. The publication of an order on bonuses, as a rule, is preceded by an analysis of the effectiveness of the work of employees over the past month. Based on the results of this analysis, management decides on the payment of a bonus to a particular employee.

In accordance with the updated legislation, the time for employers to analyze and think about who to pay the bonus to will be limited. New terms for the payment of bonuses from October 2016 - no later than the 15th day of the month following the worked one.

It is already clear that this will create certain difficulties. Especially for those employers who, in the process of analyzing the work activity of an employee, process a large amount of information. Some organizations and individual entrepreneurs pay bonuses to employees after 1-2 months. Often this is due to the need to collect various indicators that reflect labor efficiency. Under the new legislation, this is prohibited.

Quarterly bonuses

This type of premium is fully subject to the provisions of the updated art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This means that from October 3, 2016, quarterly bonuses must be paid no later than the 15th day of the month following the expired quarter.

Thus, quarterly bonuses already for the third quarter must be paid no later than October 15, 2016.

Annual bonuses

The annual bonus may also be included in the salary. And often its size even exceeds the monthly income. Therefore, this is perhaps the most anticipated bonus for employees.

In accordance with the amended Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the annual bonus for 2018 must be paid before January 15, 2019.

Perhaps the issue of paying an annual bonus is the most difficult. Indeed, in just a few days, employers will need to evaluate the performance of their employees for the entire year, accrue and pay bonuses to them.

Liability for violation of deadlines

The new legislation significantly increases the degree of responsibility of employers for violation of the terms of payment of wages. In particular, administrative fines for individual entrepreneurs, organizations and heads of organizations have increased. The amount of compensation for delayed wages has also doubled.

Due to the fact that bonuses are part of the salary, increased responsibility also applies to them. Moreover, administrative fines can be applied for each employee who did not receive the bonus on time.

Change of local acts

In accordance with Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a specific date for the payment of wages can be set by one of the following documents:

• employment contract;
• collective agreement;
• internal labor regulations;
• award clause.

It follows from this that from the moment the new law comes into force (October 3, 2016), any of these documents must reflect the date on which wages and bonuses (which are part of the salary) are paid.

The Ministry of Labor, in its letter b / n dated September 21, 2016, assured that if the local act on bonuses specifies a specific date for the payment of bonuses based on the results for a certain period (for example, based on the results of work for the year, the bonus is paid on March 12 of the year following the reporting one) , then this will not be a violation of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the best option would be to prescribe in the Regulations on bonuses specific terms for each type of bonus: monthly, quarterly, annual.

The timing of awards

It is necessary to include a section in the Regulations on bonuses called "Terms for accruing bonuses" and, similarly to the terms for paying bonuses, indicate the specific terms when bonuses should be accrued. For example:

• the monthly bonus is accrued no later than the 5th day of the month following the last worked month;
• the quarterly bonus is accrued no later than the 10th day of the month following the last worked quarter;
• the annual bonus must be accrued no later than 10 days after the approval of the annual financial statements;
• non-production bonuses can be accrued and paid at any time. The new procedure for paying bonuses does not apply to non-production bonuses. Let's explain this point. The fact is, according to Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, wages are remuneration for work. As mentioned above, bonuses are part of the salary. But bonuses of a non-productive nature (for example, monthly bonuses to employees with children) are not related to the labor achievements of these employees. Consequently, non-production bonuses are not an integral part of the salary. That is why the provisions of the new article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not apply to the payment of non-production bonuses. The main thing is to determine in the local act the deadline for paying the non-production bonus.

Sources of premium payments

There are several sources from which it is possible to allocate funds for bonuses to employees:

• accrual of premiums from profits;
• attribution of premiums to other expenses;
• inclusion of premiums in the standard costs of the organization's activities.

Bonuses can be included in labor costs under two conditions:

• the presence of a local act, which clearly indicates the conditions for remuneration in the form of bonuses;
• accrual of bonuses based on the results of professional activity.

The article was edited in accordance with the current legislation on 12/25/2018

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M.A. Svetlov, economist

Premiums: taxation and clearance

Unfortunately, many accountants still believe that any bonuses can be considered incentives, as long as they are enshrined in an employment or collective agreement or a local regulatory act. And since the Tax Code says that labor costs include any accruals to employees provided for by law, labor or collective agreements and Art. 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, then often bonuses for the employee’s birthday, for the anniversary of the organization or for active social work fall into tax expenses. Let's find out if this is legal and which bonuses can be taken into account in tax expenses without risk, and which ones are not. And how to issue awards so that there are no claims from inspectors.

Labor award

Salary employee including t Art. 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation:

• remuneration for work;
• compensation payments;
• incentive payments.

That is, any incentive payment, including a bonus, must be paid just for work.

Now look at the Tax Code. And from it it follows that, in order to recognize our bonus paid for work in tax expenses, it must be provided for by an employment or collective agreementArt. 255, paragraph 21 of Art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

To recognize an incentive payment as an expense for income tax purposes, it must be:

• indicate in the labor (collective) agreement with the employee;
• appoint (pay) for work.

Thus, bonuses for work include, for example, payments provided for in the labor (collective) agreement to the miner for exceeding the norms of coal production, and to the seller for the excellent quality of customer service and increased sales. They are taken into account in tax expenses and are included in the base for calculating insurance premiums and personal income tax. L Part 1 Art. 7 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ "On insurance premiums ..."; sub. 6 p. 1 art. 208, art. 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Also, without any problems, it is possible to take into account the bonuses provided for in the provision on bonuses to employees in tax expenses, if there is a reference to it in employment contracts. at Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 22, 2010 No. 03-03-06 / 1/606, dated February 26, 2010 No. 03-03-06 / 1/92. And it’s very good if in the bonus regulation you indicate the basic size of the bonus th Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 1, 2011 No. KE-4-3/5165.

A common mistake managers make is setting a minimum bonus. For example, in the regulation on bonuses they write: "... the size of the monthly bonus is from 10 to 50 percent of the established salary." By establishing this type of bonus, the organization guarantees the employee a bonus - regardless of how he worked during the month. As a result, the bonus actually becomes part of the salary - it still has to be paid. And if you suddenly decide to deprive an employee of a bonus, inspectors can file claims for violation of labor laws a Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Thus, when establishing bonuses, it is necessary to specify in detail the conditions under which they are paid. This will help to avoid questions - both employees and inspectors (tax officials, labor inspectorates). By the way, it can be stated that the bonus is not due to those who do not observe labor discipline or have reprimands for poor work at articles 189, 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

It is necessary to issue bonuses of a stimulating nature by order according to forms No. T-11 or No. T-11a approved Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated 05.01.2004 No. 1; Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated April 13, 2007 No. 20-12/034132.

However, how to be if the premium in fact, paid for labor achievements, but not covered by the labor or collective agreement? For example, a one-time bonus appointed by order of the director as an incentive for the successful completion of a special task? Can it be taken into account as a labor cost?

In the letters, the controllers say that it is unlawful to take into account such a bonus in expenses. n Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated April 5, 2005 No. 20-12 / 22796; Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 22, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/606, since its payment is not prescribed in the employment contract e paragraph 21 of Art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

Options for accounting for production bonuses that are safe for the employer are obvious. In order not to provoke conflicts with the tax authorities, all bonuses for specific production results that you plan to regularly, periodically or even one-time pay to your employees must be described:

• <или>in labor (collective) agreements;
• <или>in the provision on bonuses to employees and give a reference to this provision in the labor (collective) agreement.

The scheme of safe accounting of bonuses for labor can be represented as follows.

At the same time, in the labor (collective) agreement or in the provision on bonuses, you can indicate that "... bonuses are issued on the basis of the order of the head in the amounts provided for by this order ...".

Regulations on bonuses

It is more convenient to prescribe the conditions for bonuses in a separate document - in the provision on bonuses. If necessary, it is easier to change it than, for example, an employment or collective agreement.

There is no unified form for such a provision. Therefore, to make it easier for you to make a position “for yourself”, let's see what main sections can be distinguished in it and what to write in them.

POSITION
on employee bonuses
OOO ____________________

I. General provisions In this section, you specify the regulatory framework and the purpose of the regulation. You can also designate the circle of bonus workers (in particular, full-time employees and part-time workers).
1.1. This Regulation on bonus payments to employees of LLC ____________________ (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) was developed in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the Regulation on the Remuneration of Employees of LLC ____________________ (hereinafter referred to as the Company), the collective agreement of the Company and establishes the procedure and conditions for bonuses to employees of the Company.
This Regulation is a local regulatory act of the Company.
1.2. This Regulation applies to employees holding positions in accordance with the staff list, working in the Company both at their main place of work and part-time.
1.3. In this Regulation, bonuses should be understood as the encouragement of employees for conscientious efficient work. It consists in the payment to employees of sums of money in excess of the salary and additional payments for working conditions that deviate from normal.
1.4. Bonuses are aimed at strengthening the material interest of employees in improving the results of the Company's work.
1.5. Bonus payments to employees based on the results of their work depend on the quality of work of employees, the financial condition of the Company and other factors that may influence the very fact and amount of bonuses.

II. Types of premiums and bonus indicators In this section, you define the types of bonuses: monthly, quarterly, etc., as well as one-time bonuses for completing a specific work assignment.
To justify the legitimacy of income tax expenses, it is necessary to indicate specific bonus indicators. For example, for overfulfillment of the amount of work (production standards), for the absence of marriage, for the development and implementation of measures aimed at saving materials, etc.
If there are many indicators and they are different for different departments of your organization, you can make lists of bonus indicators for each of the departments. They can be issued as annexes to the Regulations on bonuses.
Also in this section, you can fix the conditions of deprecation. Such a condition may be, for example, the imposition of a disciplinary sanction on an employee.
2.1. This Regulation provides for current and one-time bonuses.
2.2. Current bonuses are accrued based on the results of work for _________________Month, quarter, semester. in the event that the employee achieves high performance indicators, subject to the employee's flawless performance of the labor duties assigned to him by the employment contract, job description and collective agreement. In this Regulation, high performance indicators mean:
2.2.1. For employees of the commercial department: ____________For example, an increase in sales and related income, compliance with contractual discipline, and a decrease in receivables..
2.2.2. For accountants: _____________For example, ensuring cash and financial discipline, timely submission of all types of reports and tax returns..
2.2.3. ...
2.3. One-time (one-time) bonuses may be accrued to the employees of the Company:
2.3.1. Based on the results of the successful work of the Company for the year.
2.3.2. For the performance of a specific additional task by an employee.
2.3.3. For high-quality and prompt performance of especially important tasks and especially urgent works, one-time tasks of management.
2.3.4. ...
2.4. The premiums provided for in paragraphs. 2.2, 2.3 are included by the Company in sales expenses (production expenses) and are taken into account when calculating the average earnings of employees.
2.5. The bonus is not paid to the employee:
- when appearing at work in a state of alcoholic, narcotic or toxic intoxication, confirmed by an appropriate examination;
- when making absenteeism without good reason.

III. The procedure for calculating, assigning and paying bonuses This section determines the amount of bonuses subject to the fulfillment of a specific bonus indicator. It is also important to clearly define the procedure for accruing bonuses to employees who were hired or quit in the period for which the bonus is accrued. For example, a bonus to newly hired employees is paid in proportion to the time worked in the period for which the bonus is calculated.
3.1. The size of the current bonuses of the Company's employees cannot exceed ____% of the amount of salary, as advised by the head of the structural unit.
3.2. The amount of one-time bonuses is determined for each employee by the General Director (Deputy General Director) in a fixed amount or as a percentage of the salary on the proposal of the head of the structural unit.
3.3. The total amount of financial incentives for employees is not limited to maximum amounts and depends only on the financial position of the Company.
3.4. The procedure for calculating the bonus depending on the bonus indicators is fixed:
- for employees of the commercial department - in Appendix 1;
- for accountants - in Appendix 2;
- ...
3.5. For employees hired or dismissed for good reason during the period for which the bonus is accrued, it is calculated in proportion to the hours worked.
3.6. Current bonuses (for a month, a quarter, half a year) are paid to the employees of the Company until the ______ day of the month following the bonus period.
3.7. Heads of structural divisions no later than ____________________ day of the month following after the bonus period Over the past month, quarter, half year., send to the General Director data on the fulfillment by employees of bonus indicators and on the proposed amount of the bonus.

IV. Final provisions Determine the procedure for the entry into force of the Regulations and the terms of its validity. You can also determine the procedure for making changes to the Regulation.
4.1. This Regulation comes into force from the date of its approval by the director of the organization and is valid until it is replaced by a new one.
4.2. Control over the implementation of these Regulations is entrusted to _______________For example, the chief accountant of the organization..

And do not forget that after the adoption of the Regulations on bonuses, all employees of your organization must be familiarized with it against signature b Art. 22 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. And in the collective agreement (or labor) do not forget to make a reference to this Regulation.

non-production award

And what will change if the company pays bonuses not for production achievements, but, for example, by March 8, February 23, a professional holiday or on the occasion of an employee's birthday? In the opinion of controllers, such bonuses do not relate to incentive payments and are not taken into account in tax expenses, even if they are provided for in an employment or collective agreement. e paragraph 1 Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 07/21/2010 No. 03-03-06 / 1/474; ; FAS PO dated April 24, 2007 No. A55-12432 / 06-10; FAS UO dated 30.03.2009 No. Ф09-1640 / 09-С3. Nevertheless, the FAS SZO made a decision in favor of the tax in Decree of the FAS SZO dated 07.09.2009 No. A56-20637 / 2008 Therefore, it is not worth hoping for an unconditionally positive outcome of the case in court.

But even if you do not take into account such premiums in tax expenses, then you still have to include them in the base for calculating personal income tax and insurance premiums. I Part 1 Art. 7 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ; sub. 6 p. 1 art. 208 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In order for the bonus to be unambiguously qualified as a payment for work and in order not to give the tax authorities a reason to exclude it from tax expenses, it is necessary to avoid such formulations as, for example, “bonus on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the employee and for many years of conscientious work”. After all, such a wording will immediately cause a lot of questions from the inspectors. It is better to assign an award to the hero of the day simply "for many years of conscientious work."

In order not to argue with the tax authorities, it is better to draw up all bonuses as payments for work, and the conditions for their appointment are prescribed in the labor, collective agreement or in a separate Regulation. And it’s not at all difficult to find a beautiful justification to pay a bonus for a holiday or anniversary of an employee.

Relations between employers and their employees are regulated by articles in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It is the provisions of this document that are the basis for the work of all enterprises in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Therefore, according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation:

Awards can be either general or individual. Therefore, in order to avoid various disputes, all the nuances must be recorded in the normative act of the enterprise or in the collective agreement.

Why do they give an additional payment to the base accruals?

The amount of the bonus, as well as the grounds for its payment, is established by the employer independently, or in agreement with the representative of the labor collective. The enterprise may have established its own reward system, depending on the type of activity, the profitability of the company and even the attitude of the head to the encouragement of his employees.

The actions of employees for which it is best to pay them bonuses, and the reasons for encouraging, not directly related to the success of employees:

1. The bonus is given for hours worked. This type of bonus is accrued to employees if they have worked for a whole month without sick days or without days off at their own expense;
2. can be rewarded for a job well done. This type of bonus is used not only as an encouragement, but also is a kind of incentive for work in the future;
3. bonuses accrued in connection with holidays and solemn dates.

Why might they refuse?

The accrual of bonuses most often depends on the quality of the employee's work, his contribution to the production process, or the professional achievements themselves. Each company sets its own criteria and bonus indicators. But in any case, the employer determines the need to pay a bonus based only on the results of the employee's work.

Based on this, it must be said that it is impossible to reward an employee only for the fact that he has higher education or a particular profession.

Grounds for employee remuneration

The grounds that can be indicated in the provision on bonuses can be indicators:

• for the implementation of the work plan;
• for significant achievements in work;
• for the timely submission of reports;
• for the performance of particularly responsible work;
• for the initiative shown;
• for a job well done;
• for holding certain events;
• for advanced training.

In accordance with Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the head is responsible for the timely payment of bonuses.

Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for certain liability for delayed payments.

Article 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Liability of the employer for the delay in payment of wages and other payments due to the employee

If the employer violates the established deadline, respectively, for the payment of wages, vacation pay, dismissal payments and (or) other payments due to the employee, the employer is obliged to pay them with the payment of interest (monetary compensation) in the amount of not less than one hundred and fiftieth of the key rate in force at that time the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from the amounts not paid on time for each day of delay starting from the next day after the due date of payment up to the day of actual settlement inclusive.

In case of incomplete payment of wages and (or) other payments due to the employee on time, the amount of interest (monetary compensation) is calculated from the amounts actually not paid on time.

The amount of monetary compensation paid to an employee may be increased by a collective agreement, a local regulation or an employment contract. The obligation to pay the specified monetary compensation arises regardless of the fault of the employer.

When is paper confirmation of the reasons for the promotion required?

Despite the fact that the employer himself determines the conditions and sets the amount of bonuses for his employees, he will need justification for the payment. These include:

Moreover, I would like to note the fact that justification for the payment of bonuses is necessary only in the case of a one-time bonus. In such cases, the information is recorded in a special document called provision for awards.

But the regular incentives that are paid to employees, carried out without justification.

Incorrect wording in documents

The laws of the Russian Federation do not establish a standard form of a document for the award. But, despite this, there is certain information that must be written in the document. One of the main points of this document is the text itself with the grounds for rewarding an employee.

Since the provision on bonuses must contain all the indicators that are the basis for the payment of incentives, then, accordingly, when compiling a memo or a document for submitting bonuses, it is necessary to correctly indicate the reasons for the accrual of bonuses.

The information specified in the document for the submission of bonuses does not correspond to the established indicators of the provision on bonuses, it may be recognized as an incorrect wording of the grounds.

For example, an accountant of an enterprise, unlike a driver, cannot simply be rewarded for good work. This would be considered an incorrect statement of justification. In this case, the manager can justify the payment of a bonus for the timely submission of reports.

Thus, to summarize all of the above, the grounds for accruing bonuses to employees are an integral part of the entire bonus procedure. But, in addition to the correctness of the presentation, the main point is the presence in the documents fixing labor relations at the enterprise, the conditions for paying bonuses. Indeed, only in this case, monetary incentives, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation will be related to wage costs.

Over the past couple of years, bonuses have moved from the incentive category of payments to the category of personnel. Many enterprises pay wages that cannot be less than the minimum wage and a bonus, which is often more than the salary. Such a system allows the employer to reduce personnel costs in the event of a sharp drop in turnover and does not require complex paperwork if it is necessary to reduce the payroll.

How to justify premiums

According to the Labor Code, a company can establish bonuses included in the remuneration system (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) and bonuses outside the remuneration system (Article 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

In accordance with Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, incentive payments and allowances can be established in the company, bonus systems provided for by the collective agreement, taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees. With such a bonus system, it is necessary to determine in advance the circle of persons for bonuses, indicators and conditions for bonuses.

According to Article 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a company can encourage employees for conscientious work.

Indicators for assessing the conscientious performance of duties by an employee should be provided in the internal documents of the company.

Employees can be paid bonuses:

• For increasing labor productivity; increase in the number of buyers; enhance the specific benefits of the product, expand the sales network and so on.
• For the impeccable performance of labor duties; performing duties for another employee; performance of duties not directly related to the area of ​​responsibility of the employee, and so on.
• For improving the structure, reducing department costs, optimizing business processes, and so on.
• For mentoring and teaching.

The award may include:

• personal contribution of the employee to the activities of the company;
• the result of the work of the unit in which the employee performs labor duties;
• the result of the firm.

As you can see, the creativity of the employer is practically unlimited.

Thus, there are two types of bonuses:

1. Incentive bonuses provided by the wage system.
2. Bonuses (encouragement) for distinguished employees outside of wage systems.

In the first case, it is necessary to provide for a circle of persons who will be rewarded.

In the second case, for one-time bonuses, the circle of persons to be awarded does not need to be determined in advance. This option may be more convenient for the management of the enterprise.

Why is it profitable to pay one-time bonuses instead of salary increases

1. Payments of one-time bonuses are made only at the discretion of the employer.
2. An employee cannot challenge the actions of an employer who has refused to pay him a one-time bonus.
3. The premium may be paid late. The terms for paying bonuses are not fixed in the legislation and do not fall under Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, paying employees a salary and a one-time bonus gives the director more "maneuver" to reduce the monthly regulation and reduce the payroll if necessary. Responsibility for the director and accountant for the delay in the payment of bonuses is not provided for in the legislation.

Not forget

The payment of the bonus, like any other expense of the company, must be economically justified. “Bring” the business case to the premium in advance.

To justify the payment of a premium, you can use a variety of indicators: from economic (the amount of money received from customers; the number of invoices issued and paid) to disciplinary (including compliance with the dress code).

Award registration

Any accountant and director "will not understand" if the bonus is not taken into account in taxation.

Regulations on bonuses

In order for bonuses to be taken into account for taxation, they need to be “legalized” in the internal documents of the company. In particular, bonuses must be provided for in an employment or collective agreement. At the same time, it is not necessary to provide for bonus amounts and rules for determining them. It is enough to refer in the contract to the internal documents of the company that regulate wages. It would be correct to draw up the following documents: Regulations on remuneration, Regulations on bonuses, Regulations on the bonus for long service, Regulations on bonuses for holidays, etc. Then bonuses will reduce taxable income.

To justify the bonuses, you need to draw up a Regulation on bonuses. It should reflect the actual practice of the company. In the provision on bonuses, it is necessary to indicate that the bonus is paid upon reaching certain indicators and list the evaluation criteria, conditions, amounts and scale of payments, the circle of bonus workers. In this case, the sizes can be indicated as a percentage of other amounts. For example, 50% of salary.

As mentioned above, there are a lot of indicators, plus, each company has its own specifics, so the accountant and director can easily draw up such a document.

The bonus clause may contain other conditions that take into account the specifics of your company. Such conditions can be very beneficial for management when there is not enough money to pay salaries and unpopular decisions have to be made to stay afloat. Alas, employees rarely support the director's desire to keep the company and are ready to temporarily agree to a pay cut.

The provision should emphasize the need to observe labor discipline and refer to the Internal Labor Regulations. Where you can specify in detail the requirements for the working day and schedule. This includes: no food in the workplace, no communication on personal matters on a mobile phone, no communication on social networks (if it is not part of work), no listening to music (even with headphones), no reading of electronic books and so on.

When drawing up the Regulation on bonuses, remember that on its basis the employee has the right to demand payment of the bonus, and the employer has the obligation to pay the bonus. Therefore, think over the bonus indicators so as not to "push" yourself into a corner.

Premiums must be paid

Whether the premium is included in the costs or not does not matter for the calculation of insurance premiums. Therefore, you will not be able to save on them.

In addition, bonuses can be paid out of retained earnings by decision of the general meeting of participants (founders) or shareholders of the company. The decision to spend retained earnings is made on the basis of the minutes of the general meeting of participants (founders) or shareholders. In this situation, the amount of the premium does not reduce taxable income.

13th salary

The thirteenth salary is the annual payment to the employee at the end of the year. In fact, this is a bonus at the end of the year. Often it is equal to the amount of the average monthly payment.

The legislation does not regulate such a bonus in any way. The employer has the right to pay it at his own request. The accounting department cannot spend the thirteenth salary as monthly wages. There is simply no 13th month in the year.

Therefore, if you want to use this type of payment, you need to provide for the size and procedure for paying the thirteenth salary in internal documents. For example, in the Regulations and bonuses or draw up a separate Regulation on bonuses at the end of the year. Please note that the 13th salary is a year-end bonus. This means that it cannot be calculated before the end of the year. Keep this fact in mind to avoid problems with inspectors.

If you issue the 13th salary as a one-time bonus, the director can independently decide: to whom, according to what indicators and when to pay it.

Order for the payment of the premium

The payment of the bonus, its size to each employee for a certain period is established in the order of the head of the company. An employee who is not rewarded is not included in the order. If you have to explain to an employee or inspectors, you need to refer to the Regulations on bonuses.

The current labor legislation establishes that incentive payments (bonuses) are part of wages and, accordingly, they are subject to the requirements of regulatory legal acts in the field of labor. But if the fixed part of the salary is more and less clear, then its bonus component often becomes the subject of a dispute between the employee and the employer. Recall that the main principles of remuneration of educators have become the mandatory inclusion of an incentive part in the wages and the conclusion of a so-called effective contract, which should contain the conditions for assigning incentive payments and its size.

First of all, it is worth considering that the legislation provides for the right of the employer to independently determine the grounds and procedure for paying bonuses. These issues should be reflected in the internal local acts of the organization, for example, in the regulation on remuneration or in the regulation on employee incentives. In addition, questions about the bonus can be reflected in the employment contract with a particular employee. At the same time, when formulating these rules, the employer must not discriminate against any employee.

Taking into account the norms of the legislation on the right of the employer to independently determine the procedure for bonuses to employees, it can be said that it directly depends on the employer how many justified claims he will receive from employees regarding the payment of bonuses. Properly formulated provisions of the company's internal documents regulating the issues of stimulating the work of employees will allow the employer to minimize conflict situations and take a winning position in court.

So, in what situations can an employer refuse to pay an employee a bonus, and when is he obliged to pay it? Let's consider this issue on the example of some court cases.

Paying a bonus is an employer's right, not an obligation.

When resolving the dispute over the recovery of the premium, the Moscow Regional Court indicated that, taking into account the provisions of the internal local acts of the employer, the payment of bonuses is the right of the employer, not his obligation. The decision to pay the bonus is made by the head of the company, provided that the necessary indicators are met both in the company as a whole and in the department where this employee works, as well as by the employee himself (Appeal ruling of September 24, 2014 in case N 33-21137 /2014).

The claim for the recovery of the bonus from the employer, according to the appeal ruling of the Vologda Regional Court, was rightfully dismissed by the court of first instance. The Court of Appeal pointed out that, according to the organization's current regulation on remuneration and bonuses, the payment of a bonus is a right, and not an obligation, of the employer. In this document, in particular, it was stated that bonuses to employees are assigned if the employer has financial capabilities and are issued by order of the head of the organization on a monthly basis (Appeal ruling of September 20, 2013 N 33-4262 / 2013).

The court of the Chukotka Autonomous Region refused to satisfy the employee's claims for the payment of a bonus and indicated that the provisions of the Uniform Recommendations for Establishing Remuneration Systems for Employees of State and Municipal Institutions for 2014, establishing, in particular, the dependence of employees' salaries on their qualifications, the complexity of the work performed , quantity and quality of labor expended; provision by the employer of equal pay for work of equal value when establishing the amount of incentive payments, does not exclude the possibility of cancellation of the premium or its reduction. In addition, the court noted that these recommendations also allow the employer, at its discretion, to form a remuneration system and establish criteria for appointment, payment of bonuses (Appeal ruling of December 18, 2014 in case N 33-206 / 2014, 2-66 / 2014) .

Sometimes the payment of bonuses is still the responsibility of the employer. For example, if the company's internal document establishes a guaranteed payment by Women's Day - March 8th. In this case, the employer has assumed the obligation to reward the company's employees annually on a certain date, regardless of the company's financial performance and the performance of specific employees.

The employee's claims for the payment of the bonus were satisfied by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court. At the same time, the court took into account the fact that the premium collected was not one-time, but permanent (paid monthly) and, according to the provisions of the employment contract, was part of the salary along with the official salary. Based on these provisions, the court concluded that the payment of the bonus is the responsibility of the employer and the employer must also prove that the employee does not achieve the criteria or indicators necessary for awarding the bonus (Appeal ruling of November 20, 2014 in case N 33-14971 / 2014).

The amount of the bonus is determined by the employer

The Kaliningrad Regional Court upheld the legality of the court's decision to dismiss the claim for payment of a bonus to an employee from among the civilian personnel of the military unit. In making its decision, the court was guided by the Order of the Ministry of Defense, which established the procedure for awarding civilian personnel. The court pointed out that according to the specified procedure, bonuses to employees are possible only by saving budget funds within the limits of budgetary obligations for wages. When determining the specific amount of the bonus, the amount of funds allocated for these purposes, as well as the results of the performance of their duties by the employee, are taken into account. Considering these provisions, the court concluded that employee bonuses are not a guaranteed payment, but are accrued and paid only if there are funds for this. In this case, no funds were allocated for bonuses to employees and no order was issued to accrue all employees. In addition, the court held that a particular the amount of the bonus is determined solely by the employer and depends in this situation on the results of the employee’s work (Appeal ruling of July 17, 2013 in case N 33-3184 / 2013).

The Novosibirsk Regional Court expressed a similar point of view, resolving the dispute on the recovery of the premium. The court pointed out that when assigning a bonus to employees, the application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value (that is, the size of the bonus for employees occupying the same positions should be equivalent) is erroneous. The employer himself has the right to determine the specific amount of the bonus for each employee based on the personal contribution of this employee to the fulfillment of the assigned tasks. The court in this situation does not have the right to replace the employer and determine the amount of the bonus for him(Determination of October 16, 2014 in case N 33-8818/2014).

In some cases, the specific amount of the premium may be established by local acts. For example, in the regulation on remuneration of a company, an annual bonus payment for a professional holiday of employees of an organization in the amount of 1000 rubles can be established. In this situation, the employer cannot reduce the amount of payment at its discretion.

Note! The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in 2013 pointed out that the norms of labor legislation allow the establishment of salaries, as components of the salary of employees, in the amount of less than the minimum wage, provided that their salary is not less than the minimum wage. At the same time, the district coefficient and the percentage allowance for continuous work experience should be added to the salary in excess of the established minimum wage (Determination of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of May 17, 2013 N 73-KG13-1).

Fired employees

The court of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug noted that the employer should not worsen the situation of laid-off workers in terms of paying them bonuses only on the grounds that they quit before the order on awarding the bonus was issued. The court ruling noted that if the order to pay the disputed bonus was not issued on the day the employee was dismissed, this does not mean that the employer is not obliged to pay this bonus to the employee for the worked period of time (Appeal ruling of November 10, 2014 in case N 33- 2773/2014).

In another similar situation, the court sided with the employer and refused to satisfy the claim for the recovery of the annual and quarterly bonus to the dismissed employee. At the same time, the court took into account the provisions of the local act on bonuses, according to which these bonuses are awarded only to persons who are in labor relations with the organization (Appeal ruling of the Lipetsk Regional Court dated December 17, 2014 in case N 33-3122 / 2014).

Labor discipline and bonus

It is quite understandable that the employer wants to deprive the bonus of an employee who, for one reason or another, violated labor discipline. But this is not always possible. Labor legislation does not provide for the deprivation of a bonus (bonus deprivation) as a disciplinary sanction. It is possible to deprive the bonus or reduce its size when an employee commits a disciplinary offense only if this basis is provided for in the local act of the employer.

Part-time bonuses

The Supreme Court of the Komi Republic satisfied the demands for the recovery of the bonus of an employee who acted as a part-time social teacher. At the same time, the court indicated that the payment of the bonus should depend on the results of the work, not only of the main employees, but also of part-time workers, since part-time work is independent work and the employee must receive a full salary for it, including the bonus. In addition, the court noted that an employer cannot arbitrarily exercise its right to assign bonuses to employees or not (Appeal ruling of December 8, 2014 in case N 33-5943 / 2014).