How should employees actually be punished for violations? Can an employer fine employees and what does the law say?
Being late for a shift, using a phone, or not following a plan – many companies introduce monetary penalties for such violations, considering them an effective method of control. But from a legal point of view, such actions by management have strict restrictions. Does an employer have the right to independently impose financial penalties and how to protect their earned money, Tatyana Ternavska, a lawyer at Prykhodko and Partners Law Firm, told RBC-Ukraine in a comment.
The main thing:
Fines are illegal. The labor legislation of Ukraine does not provide for monetary penalties for being late, talking, or not following plans.
Only two penalties. The Labor Code allows an employer to apply only a reprimand or dismissal to an employee.
Manipulation with bonuses. An employer may not pay an incentive bonus for violating the rules, but cutting an already accrued salary is illegal.
Where to complain? In the event of financial penalties, the employee has the right to contact the State Labor Service or file a lawsuit in court.
Reprimand or dismissal: what is allowed for the employer?
Ukrainian legislation completely excludes the concept of a monetary fine in labor relations, notes Tetyana Ternavska in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“The current labor legislation of Ukraine does not provide for such a type of disciplinary liability of employees as monetary fines. Accordingly, the employer does not have the right to independently establish a system of financial penalties for being late, failing to meet planned indicators, using the telephone or talking at the workplace,” she says.
The only disciplinary sanctions provided for by the Labor Code of Ukraine are reprimand and dismissal in cases specified by law. Any deductions from wages can be made only in cases and in the manner expressly provided for by law, the expert emphasizes.
Circumventing restrictions? How employers behave in practice
At the same time, in practice, companies often find legal ways to influence employees’ income by changing the structure of payments.
“In practice, employers sometimes try to circumvent these restrictions through the bonus system. If the bonus is of an incentive nature and its payment depends on the fulfillment of certain indicators, the employer may not accrue the bonus in the absence of grounds for its payment. At the same time, depriving already accrued wages or withholding part of it as a “fine” is illegal,” the expert explains.
If management openly takes money from the base salary, employees are advised not to remain silent and use legal instruments.
“In the event of such violations, the employee has the right to file a complaint with the territorial body of the State Labor Service of Ukraine or to defend his rights in court,” concludes the lawyer of the law firm “Prykhodko and Partners.”
