Employment contract and employment contract: what is the difference?

Registration of labor agreements

Often, inspectors recognize only an employment contract as legal. No agreements, according to tax authorities, can regulate the relationship between an employee and his employer. According to Federal Tax Service inspectors, if an employer has entered into a civil agreement with an individual, he did so in order to reduce tax payments, pay insurance premiums and reduce the tax burden on the enterprise as a whole.

Of course, an employment contract and a civil agreement are different documents, but they are similar with regard to certain work performed by an individual. However, it is worth understanding that there is a difference between these documents. An employment agreement is a document that sets out the conditions for establishing, changing and terminating civil relations between two persons. Each party has its own rights and obligations in relation to the other party and the subject of the agreement. An employment agreement is governed not by labor law, but by civil law.

Only a person who is officially employed can count on receiving sickness compensation or annual leave. Signing an agreement does not constitute employment, since employment relations are governed exclusively by an employment contract. Therefore, an employee cannot count on having 28 days off per year or being paid sick leave.

Also, the employee cannot count on the employer to pay him for downtime. The management should not constantly provide such an employee with work. This is not his responsibility, according to the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In other words, when concluding a civil agreement, an employee cannot count on receiving the guarantees that are provided to employees after concluding an employment contract.

If an employee believes that his relationship with the employer has already gone beyond civil relations and is more reminiscent of an employment relationship, he can offer to conclude an employment contract. If the employer refuses, you can file a lawsuit. If the court establishes factors that confirm the existence of an employment relationship, then the norms of labor legislation will have to be applied to the employee.

How does a contract differ from other types of documents?

From the agreement

The difference between these two documents is very minor. The employment contract specifies many more conditions than the employment agreement. The last document usually contains only information about the subject, price and timing. Whereas the contract contains information about working hours, vacation, etc.

From an effective contract

An effective contract is an agreement between an employer and a subordinate, in which all conditions are highly specified.

Particular attention is paid to incentive payments depending on performance or working conditions.

Download a sample form of an effective contract here for free.

Most often, a contract of this type is concluded with employees performing work in special climatic or difficult conditions, or work related to state secrets. This is what distinguishes an effective contract from a standard employment contract.

From a service contract

A service contract is concluded when a person performs labor activities in the civil service.

When drawing up this contract, it is understood that the person must perform his duties in accordance with special regulations and comply with official regulations. The remaining essential terms of the contract are not much different from the terms of a regular employment contract.

You can find the service contract form here.

From the contract

In practice, managers of most enterprises do not attach importance to the differences between these two documents. However, there is a difference and it is quite significant. These differences are:

• An employment contract and a work contract are regulated by different regulations.
• When drawing up a contract, the parties are the customer and the contractor, and in an employment contract, the parties are the employee and the employer.
• The object of the contract is the result of the work. And in an employment contract, the object is the labor of an employee.
• Relations between the parties and risks associated with work activities.
• Payment. When concluding an employment contract, employees systematically receive wages, while under a contract agreement, payment is made for results.

See the table for more details:

From civil law

Many able-bodied citizens do not see the difference between these agreements, which often leads to negative consequences. Most often, when drawing up a civil law contract, the employee is not included in the staff, which means he cannot count on being included in the work book or receiving seniority.

A sample civil law contract can be found here.

In addition, the documents have the following differences:

1. An employee carrying out labor activities under a civil contract is not required to obey labor regulations.
2. A civil contract has a fixed term, whereas employment contracts usually have no duration.
3. Payment is made differently and is often tied to results.

A civil law contract can be recognized as an employment contract if it meets all the necessary requirements.

Often, employers take advantage of the legal incompetence of employees and change some conditions, issuing one document after another.

From the work book

An employment contract and a work book are two important documents for any able-bodied citizen. When applying for a job, the manager is obliged to draw up an agreement with him and enter information about employment in the work book.

The difference between these two documents is that the contract contains the rights and obligations of the parties, and the work book is only a recorded fact of employment. This information serves as the basis for applying for a pension. It is on the basis of the employment contract that an entry is made in the work book. Exceptions are cases when an employee performs part-time duties or works for a person who is not an individual entrepreneur.

If an employer offers a job with a work book, but without a contract, then you should know that this is illegal. Most likely, the manager will not make any notes, but will enter into a civil contract with the subordinate.

What is the difference between a civil contract and an employment contract, see this video:

How is it different from an employment contract?

The difference between an employment agreement and an employment contract is significant. It mainly concerns the rights of the employee and the obligations of the employer in relation to such a “civilian” employee.

Unfortunately, this is taken advantage of by many unscrupulous employers who do not want to take on the responsibilities of paying sick leave, paying various benefits, and so on. By offering the applicant to enter into an employment agreement, the employer intends to save money on such an employee.

When inviting the applicant to enter into an agreement, the employer resorts to various tricks, for example:

• it is impossible to prescribe the conditions for passing the tests, so this particular employee will be hired without passing a probationary period and immediately on a full salary;
• The employer does not have a personnel department, so he has to carry out all the personnel work himself. And it's so hard! The employee must enter into the position of a future boss;
• All employees enter into just such an agreement with me, and no one has complained.

Unfortunately, not all employees know the difference between an employment contract and an agreement, so they sign the document without looking. And this is a big mistake! You need to carefully read the text of the document proposed for signature.

The difference between an agreement and an employment contract is as follows:

Important! An employer does not have the right to hire, for example, an accountant under an employment agreement. The fact is that an accountant is a specialist who performs current work. If you enter into an agreement with a company to conduct accounting through outsourcing, then you can enter into a civil contract.

The employer has the right to hire an unlimited number of people by concluding an employment agreement with them. An employer who formalizes relations with its employees through an employment contract is limited by the staffing table.

An employee who has signed an employment agreement with his employer cannot count on receiving the following payments:

• material aid;
• various types of compensation;
• payment for medical care;
• maternity benefits;
• contributions to replenish a pension account.

What is it - an employment contract and an employment contract?

According to the employment contract, the employer undertakes to provide his subordinates with the opportunity to perform professional activities for a certain salary. At the same time, for his part, he undertakes to provide additional guarantees provided for by labor legislation.

You can learn more about a standard employment contract in our article.

As for the employment contract, this term does not exist in the current legislation. But this does not mean that his imprisonment is illegal. Most often, this type of agreement is used for state or municipal employees.

The difference between these two types of documents primarily lies in the timing . By concluding an employment contract, an employee can terminate it at any time and resign. In addition, an open-ended contract does not need to be renewed.

But the employment contract has time limits. Most often, the relationship between an employee and an employer through a contract is formalized for a period of 2 to 5 years . And after this time it is necessary to conclude a new document.

The employer may refuse to renew the employment contract without giving any reasons for its decision. The same rights arise when the subordinate’s document expires. But it is impossible to terminate cooperation ahead of schedule by breaking the contract. Otherwise, termination will result in a lawsuit and penalties .

Another difference is that a contract may contain a large number of additional conditions and requirements, whereas a contract is often drawn up according to a standard template. Ignorance of this difference often leads to the fact that the employee does not check the document and thereby allows himself to be exploited.

Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the presence of the following points in the contract:

• Possibility of termination of the contract by the employer.
• The amount of compensation upon termination of the contract by one of the parties.
• Ways to motivate an employee.

Working without a work book

When an employment agreement is concluded with a performer, this is not official employment. Consequently, the employer is not responsible for filling out and registering the work book.

Depending on the scope of work planned to be performed, the parties can draw up an agreement in the following forms:

• in simple written form, including the necessary clauses, nuances and provisions in the agreement. The agreement is signed by both parties and comes into legal force. On the part of the customer, if he is not an individual entrepreneur, the document must be sealed;
• can be additionally certified by a notary, although the law does not impose such a requirement. But some people prefer to play it safe.

The agreement is prepared in two copies, one for both parties. The copies of the customer and the contractor must be identical.

Additional agreement to the contract

An additional agreement can be drawn up for any contract, including civil law. It specifies additional points related to the provisions of the contract. You can also draw up an additional agreement to the employment contract.

In Art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides conditions that must necessarily be present in the “body” of an employment contract. Other conditions that are relevant to the parties to the relationship, but are not essential, can also be reflected in the contract. If there are too many of them, then they can be included in an additional agreement.

It has the same legal force as an employment contract. All the nuances and provisions spelled out in it are binding on both parties to the labor relationship, but the contract must contain a reference to this agreement.

The additional agreement must have a serial number, according to the log of registration of such documents. If necessary, it can be concluded not on the day of signing the contract itself, but a little later. It often happens that an employee takes the initiative to create and sign an additional agreement, having worked at the enterprise for some time and delved into the nuances of his position.

The conclusion of an additional agreement, both to the employment contract and to the employment agreement, may be required in the following cases:

• it is necessary to extend the validity period of the civil agreement;
• there was a need to change the working conditions of the performer;
• the agreement must be terminated early;
• performing additional work not specified in the employment agreement.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation contains a whole list of situations when, before giving an employee an additional agreement to the contract to sign, the employer must perform a number of certain actions. Otherwise, the agreement will not have legal force.

The employer must comply with the following conditions:

• when transferring your employee to work in another area - the norms of Art. 72. 1 Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• when temporarily transferring an employee to another job - the norms of Art. 72. 2 Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• when transferring an employee to another position or to another job according to medical testimony - the norms of Art. 73 Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• when changing jurisdiction or changing employer - the provisions of Art. 75 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.