According to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), this measure is intended to protect employees from losing a significant portion of their income due to disciplinary actions. However, some business representatives are skeptical about the practical implementation of this new rule, noting that bonuses often depend on market conditions and the successful completion of projects.
Beginning September 1st, employers will be prohibited from reducing bonuses by more than 20% of an employee`s salary. Companies will also be required to clearly define the types of bonuses and the conditions for their payment.
The FNPR explained that currently, many employers structure salaries with a small fixed base salary (for example, 20,000 rubles) and pay the majority of the total compensation (say, the remaining 80,000 rubles) as a bonus. In the event of a disciplinary offense, an employer can withhold the entire bonus, leaving the employee with only the base pay. Yakov Kupreev, head of the FNPR`s legal department, stated that the new amendments to the Labor Code are designed to prevent such situations.
Georgy Soldatov, General Director of the «Aditim» polymer processing holding, commented on the upcoming changes:
Georgy Soldatov, General Director of «Aditim» holding:
This is unlikely [to be effective], because there are different labor relations, different agreements, different projects. What does it mean «cannot reduce the bonus»? Well, maybe there was a project and it was paid, then the project ended. Or, for example, there`s a market downturn. How can you pay a bonus if there`s no reason or nothing to pay from? Let the trade unions finance the business then. I understand everything, but when people have nothing to do, they start acting up. Some time ago, it was structured by dividing between fixed pay and KPI, but that hasn`t mattered for a long time. If there are labor disputes and a certain amount was constantly paid considering this KPI or pseudo-bonus, it will be accepted in court during a labor dispute. So these tricks haven`t worked for a long time. You won`t be able to just pay them the base salary amount upon dismissal – they`ll go to court and easily prove they were consistently receiving this bonus. Therefore, all these structures are a thing of the past; they don`t mean anything. Now people are fighting for employees, salaries are rising from top to bottom. What are we even talking about? They just woke up. This was maybe five years ago.
The bill, intended to protect workers from unjustified bonus reductions, was passed in late May and will take effect in the autumn. Employers still have the right to apply disciplinary measures such as a reprimand, warning, or dismissal. However, these cannot be used as the sole basis for arbitrarily reducing all payments, including bonuses for services rendered.
