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To register as unemployed and receive state support during a period of absence from work, an employee will need a certificate of average earnings. This is due to the fact that the benefit is set as a percentage of the unemployed’s income calculated for the last three months at the last place of duty. It happens that other organizations are asked to provide such a certificate. For example, social security authorities, an employment center for the appointment of various benefits.
Therefore, an employee or former employee can come to the accounting department for a salary certificate. The form of this document is not approved at the federal level, but it will not be possible to fill it out arbitrarily: usually the employment center issues a form and asks you to provide the necessary data on the issued memo for the accountant.
In some constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the form of such a certificate has been developed and enshrined in law. For example, in the Komi Republic, the certificate form was approved by order of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow dated December 24, 2021 No. 1721.
When a former employee applies for a certificate, the employer has the right to demand a statement from him (Article 62 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), after which he is obliged to issue a correctly executed document within 3 days, even if the employee worked in the company 10 years ago, but this is his last place work.
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The procedure for calculating average earnings to determine the amount of unemployment benefits and scholarships paid to citizens during the period of professional training, retraining and advanced training in the direction of the employment service authorities was approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation of August 12, 2003 No. 62.
Reasons for dismissal and amount of benefits
A benefit in the amount of two average monthly earnings is provided in case of staff reduction or closure of a company. It is paid on the basis of Part 1 of Article 178 of the Labor Code. If an employee contacted the Employment Service within two weeks after dismissal, but was not employed, the territorial body may decide that benefits should be paid to him for the third month.
If an employment contract is terminated because the employer violated the rules when concluding it, the employee is entitled to pay severance pay in the amount of average monthly earnings. This is stated in the last paragraph of Article 84 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with Part 3 of Article 178 of the Code, an employee is paid severance pay in the amount of two weeks’ average earnings in cases where:
- due to his health condition, he should be transferred to another job, but refused this or the employer was unable to offer him such a job;
- in accordance with a medical report, the employee is declared incapable of work;
- he was called up for military or alternative civilian service;
- the employee who previously occupied this position is reinstated;
- the employer moves to another area, but the employee refuses to transfer there;
- the employee refuses to work because working conditions have changed.
The grounds and amounts of benefits listed above are mandatory. But besides them, the employer can provide other measures to support dismissed employees. This may be an increase in the amount of benefits or the assignment of it in cases where it is not required by law. In order for the payment to be justified in terms of costs, it is necessary to stipulate the relevant provisions in local regulations or an employment contract.
Severance pay is not due in the following cases:
- upon dismissal of one's own free will;
- if the employee has not completed the probationary period;
- if the contract is terminated due to the fact that it was drawn up with violations due to the fault of the employee himself;
- if the dismissal occurs due to the fault of the employee.
In the latter case, this means, for example, dismissal under paragraph 6 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is a gross violation by an employee of labor duties - absenteeism, showing up at work while drunk, disclosing secret information, theft or embezzlement in the workplace, destruction of property, as well as violation of labor protection requirements, which resulted in a dangerous situation or led to serious consequences.
Additional payments for maternity leave and for unused vacations
If the dismissal coincides with the employee’s maternity leave, and the branch is located in a different area, then the employee has the right to payments , like other categories of employees.
According to the law, the dismissed person is entitled to the following payments:
- Severance pay, the amount of which is one average monthly salary.
- Compensation that is equal to the salary of each month ending before the fact of employment (maximum two months). Sometimes payments can be made within three months - these periods are at the discretion of the labor exchange.
To do this, the employee must register within two weeks after dismissal. If the labor exchange employees cannot find a job for a given person, then payments will be made for three months.
The benefit for the last month is paid by the employer, based on the decision of the labor exchange.
If the manager and the employee agreed to terminate the employment contract ahead of schedule, that is, before the liquidation of the enterprise, the employee will have to be paid additional compensation (Part 3, Article 180 of the Code).
To reach mutual understanding with the manager, the employee needs to provide the necessary statement , and the employer needs to sign it. This amount will be equal to the monthly salary, calculated relative to the time remaining until the end of the two-month period.
The average salary is used as the basis for determining the calculation for an employee who arrives on maternity leave, including all compensation and payments.
You may be interested in an article about in what cases it is possible to fire a pregnant woman.
The calculation is made according to the methodology that is prescribed in the regulations, and approved by the government decree “On the peculiarities of the calculation procedure...” dated December 24, 2007 No. 922. This algorithm is used to calculate payments in the described situations (Part 1, Article 139 of the Labor Code).
Based on this algorithm, in order to calculate the average monthly earnings, you need to add up all payments for the last year, which are assumed by the procedure for paying the employee (clause 4 of the Regulations).
In this case, one cannot take into account the dates when maternity leave or pregnancy benefits began to be paid (clause 5 of the Regulations). If this clause covers all of the last 12 months, then the amount of payments must be calculated based on data for the previous period (clause 6).
Or there is another option, when the average salary is determined based on the official salary of the employee (clause 8 of the Regulations).
Benefit amount
To calculate benefits, the following formula is used: Average salary X Number of working days in the month following dismissal.
To calculate average earnings you need to determine:
- The calculation period is the 12 months preceding the month of dismissal. If the dismissal occurs on the last day of the month, then it is included in the billing period.
- The total amount of payments to the employee for the pay period . This means wages, as well as other payments, if any.
Average earnings are calculated using the formula: Amount of payments for the billing period / number of days of the billing period.
For example, the number of working days over the last 12 months is 252 days, wages are 30,000 rubles , no other payments were made. The amount of payments will be: 30,000 X 12 = 360,000 rubles.
This will be true if the employee has worked all the working days of the estimated period. If he went on vacation, sick leave, went on a business trip, or was released from work for some other reason, then to calculate average earnings these periods and payments for them are excluded.
In the example above, the average earnings will be: 360,000 / 252 = 1,428.57 rubles per day.
To calculate the benefit, it must be multiplied by the number of working days of the next month. For example, if there are 22 , then the benefit amount will be: 1428.57 X 22 = 31428.54 rubles.
How is the calculation made?
Payments are calculated on the basis of Article 139 of the Labor Code . During the accrual process, all amounts due to employees based on the company’s financial policy are taken into account, and sources of income are not taken into account.
During the liquidation of an enterprise, payments to pensioners and other employees are accrued for any work schedule , according to salary and hours worked for the year before dismissal.
For a calendar month, the period from the first to the thirtieth (or thirty-first) day inclusive is taken into account. If the contract is terminated on its last day, it is taken into account in the billing period.
If the date of dismissal falls on another day of the month, then exactly the year preceding it is taken into account.
Payment procedure
In all cases, except for dismissal due to staff reduction or liquidation, the benefit is paid in a lump sum no later than the last working day . It happens that on the last day an employee is on vacation, on sick leave, or absent for some other reason. In this case, you need to pay him no later than the next day after he applies for such a settlement.
If we are talking about a reduction or liquidation benefit, then it is paid separately for each of the two months. The first month's benefit is paid according to the general rules given above. Benefits for the second month are due only if the employee does not find a new job in the first month after dismissal. To confirm this, he must provide the employer with:
- application in free form;
- work book without a record of new employment;
- a certificate from the Employment Center stating that you are registered as unemployed.
The text of the statement could be something like this:
“I ask you to pay the average monthly salary for the second month after dismissal due to staff reduction. I am attaching copies of the certificate from the Employment Center and the Work Book.”
Before making a payment, the employer must issue an order . If we are talking about benefits by agreement of the parties, in addition to the order, you need to draw up an additional agreement to the employment contract.
Calculation example
When liquidation occurs, there are usually no major impediments to accruals. Difficulties may arise when calculating compensation for vacations that the employee did not have time to use. When performing calculations, it is necessary to act according to the Rules that exist in the resolution of the NKT No. 169.
When calculating accruals for vacations not spent by an employee, they are proportionally recalculated. The number of months of the current year until the end of the enterprise’s activities must be multiplied by a certain coefficient, which is 2.33 .
This indicator is represented by the number of vacation days - 28, divided by the number of months in the year - 12.
If the day of liquidation of the organization occurs at the beginning of the month, then it is necessary to round down . If it is the second half of the month, then the indicator increases. For clarity, you can consider the option of determining severance pay.
Suppose it is necessary to dismiss the head of a department of an organization that is being liquidated, I.S. Ivanov. His salary is thirty thousand rubles . The employee worked for the company for three years, and never used any of the vacations due to him.
The company must pay Ivanov severance pay , which is equal to his salary for two months, and make compensation payments . The total figure for the first task will be 60 thousand rubles. For the second problem, you need to carry out a few simple calculations.
The payment for vacations each year will amount to 90 thousand rubles. This figure means a salary of 30 thousand rubles, multiplied by three years of work without vacations . Currently, it is necessary to carry out a proportional reduction in the amount of leave.
Let's assume that the liquidation of the company occurs on September 17th. In this case, you should round up. Based on this, the calculation is made for nine months: 9 * 2.33 = 20 days .
Next, you should multiply by the average monthly salary of 30 thousand rubles, divided by 25. In this case, 25 is an indicator of the actual days in the month .
As a result, 1,200 rubles*20 = 24,000 rubles. Ultimately, the total payments will be: 2*30 thousand*3*30 thousand*24 thousand = 174 thousand rubles .
Consequently, the head of the department Ivanov I.S. upon dismissal, all accruals will be paid in full. Amounts of money are issued in the appropriate manner, in accordance with the employment contract. As a rule, accruals are sent to a specific account on a bank card.
Taxation
If the amount of the benefit does not exceed three times the average monthly earnings , then in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 217 of the Tax Code, personal income tax does not need to be withheld from this payment. If the employer assigns benefits in an increased amount, then the amount exceeding three times earnings is subject to personal income tax . It must be withheld at the time of payment (the deadline is the last day of work), and transferred no later than the next day.
The same rule applies to insurance premiums . That is, if the amount of the benefit does not exceed three times the average earnings, then there is no need to accrue contributions from it.
Attention! Child support for minor children should be withheld from the amount of severance pay (letter of the Ministry of Labor dated September 12, 2017 No. 11-1/OSCHG-1816).
Expert commentary on the taxation of benefits with contributions and personal income tax:
What is severance pay upon liquidation of an organization or enterprise?
When a company decides to end its activities and terminates the contract with an employee of the enterprise, the employer must pay him in full .
By law, the organization is obliged to pay benefits to the employee. During the accrual process, the manager must act in accordance with the Labor Code and Federal Law of June 30, 2006 No. 90.
The amount of severance pay is calculated taking into account the average monthly salary of an employee dismissed due to the liquidation of the organization.
This amount is calculated based on the salary for the last year . For those employees who have worked in the organization for less than a year, benefits are calculated based on the arithmetic average for the actual period.
In addition to this payment, the employee is entitled to a sum of money while he gets a new job . These payments should not be less than the average employee salary.
The permissible period should not exceed two months , starting from the date of dismissal. In some cases, payments are made within three months. This is possible if the labor exchange has not yet found a job for the dismissed person in his specialty within two weeks.
Employees who wish to resign before the end of the notice period can count on compensation amounts. The employee receives all payments that are due to him.
A sample payslip form can be downloaded from this link.
Pay slips are prepared for all employees . These sheets contain a list of all funds paid along with the total amount.
