After the contract is signed, all the technical documents are drawn up and a team of workers begins construction or repairs, in fact, the most stressful time for you begins. You find yourself in a stormy ocean of industrial relations (or rather, struggle) between workers and employers. And here it is very important to delve into the psychology of the enemy. We advise you to read this article especially carefully to those who plan to hire a team “from the street”
The relationship between a man and a gentleman has deep, centuries-old roots. The hero of the novel "Anna Karenina" Levin, beautiful-hearted and clever man, a caring and active owner, who at first “experienced the delight” of working and communicating with men, after a few years “... clearly saw that the farm he was running,” was only a cruel and persistent struggle between him and the workers.... It was in his interests it was that each worker worked as much as possible, but did not forget, that he tried not to break winnowing machines, horse-drawn rakes, threshing machines, that he thought about what he was doing; the worker wanted to work as pleasantly as possible, with rest, and the main thing is that he was carefree and, forgetting himself, without thinking... (the following is a long list of the workers’ sloppy actions)... All this was done not because anyone wished harm to Levin or his household; on the contrary, he knew that he was loved and considered a simple gentleman; (which is the highest praise); but this was done only because they wanted to work fun and carefree, and their interests are not only alien and incomprehensible, but fatally opposed to their most just interests.”
Many novice employers try in every possible way to appease employees, to please them, to get closer to them on a human level. They treat them to sandwiches and vodka, tell them jokes, make eyes at them, or, conversely, talk about their illnesses and failures, make themselves poor, in general, press for pity, naively hoping that if they love or feel sorry for them, they will work well , “as for myself.” Workers, having extensive experience in industrial relations, initially have a huge advantage over you and will not hesitate to realize it (and materialize it!) as soon as they discover some weakness in the owner - incompetence, carelessness, gullibility, gentle character, excessive delicacy (well, inconvenient somehow seem distrustful or petty!). First, “throwbacks” are used - minor violations of discipline or technology. If you did not react to this properly (you did not notice or were embarrassed to say), processes begin to develop in a direction beneficial for the workers.
Are there really no honest, smart and conscientious workers in nature?”-you ask. Of course, there are, but when they get into the brigade, they are forced to adapt to general tasks team. And such a person will not be chosen as a foreman, because his integrity will slow down the work and interfere with the implementation of the main task - to work less and earn more. Objectively, a sociable trickster and psychologist who knows how to ingratiate himself with the owners, and bargain, and shout at the workers (in front of you, for appearance’s sake) is more suitable for this role. This is reality, it needs to be understood and taken into account. And why should workers try if the owners themselves have little idea of what they want, or have little interest in repairs, are stupid, lazy, etc., and are generally incapable of assessing the quality of the work?
A difficult but reliable way to create a positive work attitude and the desire to do something well is to gain the respect of the team. Cheap tricks like drinking or unreasonable bonuses will not help here; rather, on the contrary, they will consider you a drunkard or a fool (well, would a smart person waste money?).
You need to be well prepared morally, theoretically and financially, monitor the main processes and constantly monitor the work, behave benevolently, do not create scandals over trifles, politely but firmly insist on eliminating defects, encourage Good work both morally and financially. Keep everything under control. Experience shows that problems can arise almost out of the blue.
We will try to formulate the basic rules that may be useful to you in this situation.
Rule one.
A detailed contract is the key to success. This is especially true for those who negotiate directly with the team. Please note that before signing the contract, the team is forced to agree to any, even enslaving, in their opinion, conditions, in order not to miss out on work. Therefore, the more information you manage to include in the contract regarding the scope, timing and payment of work, the better. Any work that is not included in the text of the contract will most likely cause disputes and demands for additional (and considerable!) payment. Preliminary verbal agreements are forgotten or remembered with great irritation. This is where the brigade will make up for all the concessions it made before signing the agreement!
WHAT IS WRITTEN WITH A PEN – YOU CAN’T CUT OUT WITH AN AX!
Rule two
If possible, entrust negotiations and control over the work to a man, even if he is not very knowledgeable about construction. But at the same time, you need to create the appearance of competence - talk less, listen more with an intelligent look. In 90% of cases, there will be fewer attempts to deceive the owners.
Rule three
Try to visit the site as often as possible. Workers must feel your “watchful eye.” Learn to use a level and plumb line. Feel free to measure verticals, angles and dimensions, as well as material consumption.
This is not pettiness - this is elementary order.
WITHOUT CONSTANT CONTROL, PEOPLE START TO CAREFUL AND EVEN STEAL!
Rule four
Keep your distance! Try to communicate mainly with the foreman; a general greeting and handshake is usually enough for the worker. Be simple, cheerful, and initially friendly. Excessive arrogance, as well as ingratiation, can complicate relationships. Do not allow familiarity either in your relations with workers or with the foreman. Under no circumstances should you take part in smoke breaks or tea parties with the team that works for you, and do not accept any treats or favors. There is no need to have conversations on extraneous topics. This is very relaxing for both them and you.
Rule five
Under no circumstances should workers be allowed to drink on site, much less serve them yourself. They are not visiting. They work in your apartment, and this is only a place of work, and they should rest and relax in another place. If you want to show your kindness and generosity, throw a banquet upon completion of the work.
Rule six
If you hurry, you will make people laugh. Don't expect that the quality of the result is of concern to anyone but you! Don't be lazy! Delve into instructions and technologies, insist on their exact implementation. This is especially true for the time limits set for hardening or drying materials. Even if the concrete appears to have hardened and the soil has dried out, and the workers are in a hurry to begin the next operation (painting, for example), do not follow their lead.
IT IS OFTEN SMALL DEVIATIONS FROM TECHNOLOGY THAT LEAD TO BIG PROBLEMS.
In such a situation, three obvious circumstances need to be taken into account:
1. Instructions are not written by fools.
2. Your apartment is not a testing ground for experiments in developing high-speed technologies.
3. Workers are always in a hurry. Time is money!
Rule seven
If you don't like something, you don't need to start a scandal right away. Don't give in to provocations. Cool down, think, weigh the validity of your claims, and only after that talk to the foreman. It’s useful to “run in” from time to time, but only on business. Unnecessary conflicts will not lead to anything good. If you want to show your dissatisfaction with the work of the team, when you meet, greet them politely, and do not shake hands with them as usual. Usually makes an impression. Can be used individually.
Rule eight
Do not rush to agree to any changes in the project. First you need to think, weigh everything, consult with someone. The fact is that very often he wants to make changes, since he currently does not have specialists with the appropriate qualifications, or if he wants to reduce labor intensity and get the same money, etc. In a word, in most cases he acts in his own interests , not in yours.
There has always been a labor relationship and discipline between employee and employer.
Some people want to devote as much time as possible to relaxing, communicating with colleagues, drinking coffee and discussing the latest gossip. Others insist on working hard to achieve maximum productivity and efficiency. Labor legislation, which regulates work and rest standards, provides for all kinds of liability for non-compliance with them, allows maintaining the balance of power between these two parties.
Art. 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for the right to rest for all employees. It should be at least 30 minutes, but not exceed 2 hours in total. This time is not counted as work time.
Each company has the right to independently provide for the work time of an employee of a certain specialty, rest, and also reflect the interval for each of the breaks. The most common use of rest breaks is during lunch. At the discretion of the manager, he has the right to increase or reduce it.
An employee, applying for a job, mandatory must be familiar with the established labor regulations.
Separately, smoke breaks in work time By Labor Code are not allocated, but they have the right to spend the provided break according to at will, including smoking breaks.
When applying for a job, many companies ask you to indicate bad habits in your application form, which includes smoking, how often and how many cigarettes a day the candidate smokes.
For such employees, the company is obliged to create separate smoking areas. Large holdings began to pay more attention to this problem and are fighting in every possible way for healthy image life, motivating employees to give up bad habits.
Break for rest and food
Let us remind you that rest for meals is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Its exact beginning and end are determined by the head of the company by internal act.
Since this time is not working time, the employee can dispose of this break at his own discretion:
- go to lunch;
- go home;
- meet friends, etc.
It happens that an employee, due to the nature of his work, does not have the opportunity to have lunch at the allotted time. In this situation, the employee has lunch at any other time. free time, this vacation is credited to him and is subject to payment.
The legislator has enshrined different options in regulations, and the head of the company can approve several more options, depending on the category of employees.
The main thing to remember is that the lunch break should be at least half an hour.
Another feature is provided; it is as follows: the manager approves only the total time of the break, without indicating its beginning or end. The worker uses it at his own discretion, whether he spends it at once, divides it into several short periods, or maybe even uses this time for work activities.
Types of breaks at work
Legislative acts provide for several types of possible break intervals at work. They depend on the specifics, severity of the work performed, as well as the conditions in which the workers find themselves, when such periods are considered working and must be paid.
Breaks are divided into the following categories:
- lunch and rest;
- rest and recuperation in bad weather conditions;
- time to be able to feed the baby;
- special types.
Break for warmth and rest
It is given to those employees whose working conditions involve heavy physical labor, as well as in adverse weather conditions. Such employees should be given a special work schedule and be provided with adequate space where workers can regain their strength and warm up. It is necessary to take into account that such break time must be counted as working time, entered into the time sheet, and subject to payment.
Workers who are entitled to rest for heating and food include:
- those performing labor functions in the cold or in buildings where there is no heating (builders, janitors);
- loaders with heavy physical exertion, etc.
Baby feeding break
For female employees who decide to start working before the child reaches 1 year and 6 months of age, the manager must allocate Extra time so that she has the opportunity to feed the baby. The same opportunity should be given to single fathers or guardians.
Many employers are not very willing to agree to such breaks; the majority of them first try to find some reasons for refusal and not allocate another break; they ask questions about feeding, whether the child is fed breast milk or artificial formula.
If a woman for some reason cannot breastfeed her child and gives him artificial formula, on this basis the employer sometimes tries to refuse to allocate additional rest time; this is regarded as a direct violation of the labor legislation of the Russian Federation on the part of the employer.
The time to be able to feed the baby should be as follows:
- the family is raising a single newborn under the age of 1 year and 6 months, the opportunity to feed the child should be within 30 minutes after every three hours of labor;
- If there are two children or more under the age of 1.5 years in a family, then the opportunity to feed takes from one hour.
Such a break must be included in the time sheet and paid according to.
At the request of the worker, she can submit an application with clarifying points regarding the breaks provided:
- ask to combine an extra break and your lunch time;
- combine and assign breaks with the opportunity to feed the child to the beginning or end of the working day, shortening it.
To properly secure such a break, the employee must submit to the HR department:
- statement;
- a copy of the child's certificate.
An order must be issued for the employee to allocate time for the opportunity to feed the child, taking into account all additional nuances at the request of the employee.
Special breaks
Personal breaks
Breaks to go to the toilet, smoke, chat with a colleague over a cup of coffee or tea are not established by the legislator, but in all possible methodological recommendations, to reduce the level of employee fatigue and increase labor productivity, it is necessary to give such breaks for 10–20 minutes. Such rest time can be reflected in the company’s internal regulations. Some enterprises go further and equip office space a special room where their employees will fully rest and replenish their strength.
Necessary for workers working with all kinds of equipment. These can be either workers who perform duties at the computer for a long time, or employees who work in production, and most of the time they are behind the conveyor belt. The employer must allow a break of 10–15 minutes, and the total rest time per day should be 50–90 minutes.
A technical break is also necessary:
- dispatcher air aviation, he must interrupt his activity for 20 minutes. after two hours of labor;
- for a driver on intercity flights, he must stop for 15 minutes en route. 3 hours from the starting point and after two hours on the road;
- workers involved in the production of alcohol, juice, yeast;
- workers working with fire-resistant coatings are given the opportunity to rest for a period of ten minutes every working hour;
- whose work involves transporting goods to railway tracks and with the use of respiratory protection, rest should be at least 15 minutes at a remote distance from the place where it is possible to remove the protective equipment;
- employees of postal offices and cadastral chambers who receive citizens and provide consultations.
The above list is not exhaustive; the manager has the right to establish by internal act other positions that provide for a mandatory break to maintain health, efficiency and uninterrupted performance of work functions.
Whether such rest time will be counted as working time and whether it will be paid is up to management to decide.
Establishing the types and duration of breaks
Any periods of time are approved by certain documents:
- Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
- by-laws;
- internal acts of the company.
The structure of the working day must be approved in the developed documentation. All employees must be familiar with the approved procedures, because Failure to comply with legislation, work schedules and work hours entails negative consequences on the part of both the employee and the employer.
To summarize the above, we can say with confidence that maintaining a balance between work and rest will have a positive impact on both the physical and psychological state of employees and on labor productivity. It has been proven by many years of experience that those employees who have the opportunity to take several short breaks during their working hours are less tired and bring more benefit to the company. But at the same time, workers should not abuse the trust and goodwill of their superiors, which allows them to take such breaks, and does not force them to work tirelessly from eight in the morning to seven in the evening. There must be moderation in everything. And if it is not observed, then the labor legislation of the Russian Federation comes into play, which provides for penalties for. Ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility.
You might be interested
Lunch is one of the controversial moments of the working day. It would seem that everything is clear: the employer must provide a lunch break within the established duration, and the employee must use it for its intended purpose. However, even such a simple question poses difficulties in practice. They are due to the fact that many workers use numerous tricks to increase the time allotted for eating. Some stay late for lunch, others leave early, others, on the contrary, continue labor activity during the break. How to record, account for and control the use of lunch time by employees? Do I need to pay extra for an employee who works during lunch? When can I set floating lunch times? Should smoking breaks be included in working hours?
What can an employee do during lunch?
Lunch break- personal time of the employee, during which he rests and eats. During this period, the employee is free from performing labor duties and can use it at his own discretion (Article 106 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The list of activities depends on the employee’s imagination. He can do personal business: go to the canteen, to the doctor, to the store, walk in the park, meet with friends, read, etc. At the same time, he has the right not only to be absent from the workplace, but also to be outside the organization itself.
Exceptions are cases when an employee is forced to have lunch at work. This is permitted where production conditions make it impossible to provide a food break.
In this case, the employer must provide the employee with the opportunity to eat during working hours. The list of such works is established by the internal labor regulations (part three of article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
If during a lunch break an employee is on the employer’s premises, he must obey the requirements of local regulations of the organization and comply with labor protection rules (part two of article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). So, if an employee works on an assembly line and has lunch at the workplace, he does not have the right to jog around the equipment, because this is prohibited by safety regulations.
Advice
It is not necessary to specify the lunch break period in the employment contract. It is enough to make a reference to the text of the internal labor regulations
During lunch, an employee has the right to work for another organization. Moreover, the main employer cannot prevent this, except in cases where combination with other activities is expressly prohibited employment contract or by law. In many companies, the employee is required to coordinate such activities with management to avoid conflicts of interest and the risk of disclosing legally protected secrets.
How to regulate break time
The lunch break is established by the internal labor regulations, which all employees must be familiar with upon signature (part two of Article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). IN local act The start and end times of lunch must be precisely established.
At the same time, if the employee’s work schedule and breaks differ from those established in the organization, this condition must be stated in his employment contract (sample below). As a rule, such liberties are granted sales representatives and other employees with a traveling nature of work, whose responsibilities include frequent meetings with clients and partners.
Advice
A lunch break of at least 30 minutes must be provided to the employee regardless of his working hours (part one of Article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)
This is due to the fact that neither the employee nor the employer is able to long term determine when the next negotiations will take place, how long they will last and how long it will take to travel to the meeting place and back.
Floating lunch time
Some organizations have flexible lunch times. This assumes that each employee determines the start time of the break himself or coordinates it with his immediate supervisor. To introduce such a regime at an enterprise, the employer must fulfill following conditions:
Establish a lunch break lasting no more than two hours and no less than 30 minutes (part one of Article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- provide a break for rest and food during the working day, and not at the end (part one of Article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- fix the lunch time in the local act of the organization, as well as in the employment contract with the employee (part two of article 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
To introduce floating lunch time in an organization, it is necessary to issue an order to amend the internal labor regulations. The text of the changes must be previously agreed upon with the trade union, if there is one.
Floating lunch time can be set for an individual employee individually. To do this, he must write a statement requesting this. If the employer agrees, he must conclude with the employee additional agreement. In its text, you can indicate the following wording: “During the working day, the employee is given a break for rest and food lasting 1 hour in the period from 12.00 to 15.00. The specific time for using the break is determined in agreement with the head of the department.”
If disputes arise regarding the use of working time, a work schedule can be developed. It is important that the work schedule and break for rest and food, established in the internal labor regulations and schedule, correspond to the working time sheet. Otherwise, the court may conclude that the employee’s rights have been violated.
Is it possible not to include smoking breaks during working hours?
The employer is not obliged to include in working hours and pay for the periods that the employee spends smoking, drinking tea, talking on the phone about non-work topics, visiting entertainment sites, etc.
At the same time, breaks are established by law, which are included in working hours and are subject to payment. These include:
- break for heating;
- break for feeding the child (Article 258 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- a break to relieve fatigue when working at a computer
For example, if an employee works in winter outdoors or in closed, unheated rooms, he can use the heating break at his own discretion. If he wants to smoke during this time, he will be paid for it.
The same applies to computer users, who can do special exercises to relieve fatigue when leaving the workplace.
At the request of a woman who has a child (children) under one and a half years old, the employer is obliged to add breaks for feeding the child to lunch (part three of Article 258 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
How to control how much time employees spend on lunch
To monitor compliance with the established labor regime, each employer maintains a time sheet (part four of Article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). It reflects the number of hours worked by employees, information about attendance and absence from work, etc. Maintaining the timesheet can be entrusted to department heads or HR specialists.
In addition, you can record the time that employees spend on lunch using electronic system entry-exit (electronic keys), video surveillance or general “upper” control over computer users (using special software).
If, based on the results of the control, it turns out that the employee is using working time for other purposes, the employer has the right not to pay for it.
Attention
Employees must be notified of upcoming changes in working hours and rest time at least two months in advance (part two of Article 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)
Example The internal labor regulations of an organization establish a working day from 9.00 to 18.00, a lunch break is one hour from 12.00 to 13.00. Employees are also given two breaks of 10 minutes each from 10.00 to 10.10 and from 16.00 to 16.10. Peter V. is a heavy smoker and smokes one cigarette every hour, spending 7 minutes on it. During the day he takes nine breaks, six of which are during working hours. The total time for smoking breaks, which the employer has the right not to pay for such an employee, is: 7 minutes. × 6 times = 42 min.
Should an employer pay extra for an employee who works during lunch?
In Russian companies, it often happens that employees do not fully use their lunch break, preferring to finish the work they started in the remaining time.
The answer to the question of whether an employee needs to be paid for such time depends on whose initiative he works during lunch. If it’s your own way, then you don’t need to pay for working during your lunch break. If the employee was attracted to work by the employer and this is documented, then the overtime must be paid as overtime (Articles 99, 152 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Attention
If an employee is constantly late for lunch, he can be involved in disciplinary liability for violation of internal labor regulations (Articles 192, 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)
Involvement in such work can only be done with the written consent of the employee or in cases where it is necessary to prevent industrial accidents, catastrophes, eliminate the consequences of a natural disaster, etc. (Part three of Article 99 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Attract to overtime work Pregnant women and minor employees are not allowed to have lunch under any circumstances (part five of Article 99 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Five DON'Ts about lunch break
You CANNOT agree with an employee to exclude a lunch break from the working day or to move it to the beginning or end of the day.
You MUST NOT break your break into periods of less than half an hour. 30 minutes is the minimum time established by the legislator for rest and food.
Employees must NOT be forced to be on the employer's premises during their lunch break. At the specified time, the employee is free and can use it at his own discretion (Article 106 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
You CANNOT take a break for more than two hours at a time. In this case, it will be necessary to talk about dividing the working day into parts (Article 105 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
It is NOT possible to include break time for rest and food during the period of an employee’s unlawful absence from the workplace in cases where absenteeism is recorded.
Remember the main thing
Note the experts who took part in the preparation of the material:
Yulia SVINAREVA,
Head of the legal department of DELAN Group LLC (Balashikha):
A lunch break is a time when an employee is free from work duties and which he can use at his own discretion. An employer may oblige an employee to be at the workplace and in the organization’s building only if this is necessary under production conditions.
Alina GORELIK,
legal consultant of LLC "MORGAN AND STOUT" (Moscow):
An organization can introduce variable lunch hours, provided that its provision and duration comply with labor legislation. Such a lunch can be established for an individual employee upon his application and recorded in the employment contract with him.
Tatiana BASTRYKINA,
Head of the HR Department of Chelyabinsk Auto Service Equipment Plant LLC (Chelyabinsk):
Smoking and tea breaks are not included in working hours and are not subject to payment. You can record time spent inappropriately using video surveillance and an electronic access system.
During a period of global change, close communication with employees becomes a priority for a manager. Work meetings are certainly necessary, but informal personal communication with each team member becomes especially important.
At work, talk with your team members not only about work, but also about abstract topics. This way you will create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and camaraderie, and besides, you will better know how the tasks are progressing and what personal or professional problems require a solution.
Recognizing positive performance by team members.
Positive is very important Feedback, that is, recognition of individual and collective successes. Especially encourage team members for mutual assistance and support - the basic principles of teamwork.
Periodically discuss with your team the progress made since the start of the transition period. Sometimes The best way recognition of success - a retrospective of the team’s activities. Workers are often so engrossed daily work that they don’t even notice their achievements. When the team reaches a goal, don't forget to celebrate!
Positive reinforcement, that is, encouragement successful activities, - one of the most effective tools creating high-performance teams.
Workers can better cope with change if they are provided with the tools and skills needed to get the job done. Encourage retraining and training, acquisition of new skills and professional skills. Make sure that the team applies the acquired knowledge and skills in practice, that is, in the process of work. Include education and training in your work plans, allocate time and money for them. Periodically ask team members to share how they are using new skills and abilities in their work - this good way emphasize the importance of learning and increase personal responsibility. Since you are spending money and time on improving the skills of team members, you must try not to let it go to waste.
Evaluating progress and adjusting plans.
In times of rapid change, evaluate your team's accomplishments using questions like these.
How far have we come? What are the team's performance results?
Where did we go wrong?
What influences our activities?
Then work with your team to complete the following steps.
Make changes and additions to your transition plans. Include new items as changes progress.
What problems may appear in the future?
When people experience change, they usually need time to adapt. So be patient. Don't expect employees to overcome new challenges immediately and effectively.
Removing barriers to change.
Manage a team in the world modern business difficult. New obstacles constantly arise and prevent you from moving forward. Sometimes the obstacles are created by the team members themselves! And sometimes other parts of the organization interfere with you. In any case, you are the main defender of the team, and its members are counting on you. I will talk about three main obstacles and ways to overcome them.
New instructions from above.
I mean the instructions of your immediate or senior management. Bosses, as a rule, do not want to harm, but simply want to push you towards a “bright future”. But often they have no idea how much chaos their instructions create and how much unnecessary work is dumped on team members.
To overcome this obstacle, talk to your boss personally. But remember: this must be done one on one, behind closed doors and in an informal setting (under no circumstances challenge your boss in the presence of other employees). Here are some tips.
Make the assumption that management really wants to do what's best. This assumption will help you focus on the actions, not the intentions of management, and maintain composure. (Don’t be fooled into thinking that change instigators in senior management are always adept at managing change.)
Request information motivating directives issued from above. Ask the following questions.
What's the point of completing the task you gave my team?
Why did you choose my team?
What do you want to achieve with it?
These questions prompt leaders making key decisions, think carefully about both your intentions for the team’s activities and the expected end results. By collecting this valuable information, you can adjust your action plan before committing to it. You may be able to convince management that there is no need to follow this or that instruction.
Discuss priorities. If global changes become avalanche-like, they rarely go smoothly. Phased changes in the form of additions and amendments are not as painful as full shift course. (I repeat, don’t assume that senior management always understands this.) So when management once again bombards you with changes, talk to them about priorities. Show confidence and firmness, inform your superiors about the state of affairs in the team, but do not overload your story with unnecessary details. Don't whine! State your recommendations something like this: “With such and such resources at our disposal and given the successes achieved to date, I propose...”. Your task is to explain your position to management and involve them in developing a joint solution to the problem instead of completely shifting the solution to this issue to your team.
Document agreements and plans. When an agreement is reached between you and senior management, verbally summarize your understanding of the agreement and obtain confirmation. At the end of the meeting, say that you will write down the results and provide management with a copy of the agreement. A written agreement will be useful to you in the future: busy bosses often don’t remember what they demanded from your team just yesterday.
In accordance with part two of Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), the employee’s responsibilities include, in particular, compliance with the rules of internal labor regulations and labor discipline.
Labor discipline means obedience to the rules of conduct determined in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, obligatory for all employees, and other federal laws, collective agreement, agreements, local regulations, employment contract (part one of Article 189 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Internal labor regulations are a local regulatory act that regulates, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws, the procedure for hiring and dismissing employees, the basic rights, duties and responsibilities of the parties to an employment contract, working hours, rest periods, incentives and penalties applied to employees, and also other regulatory issues labor relations from this employer (part four of Article 189 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
For committing a disciplinary offense, that is, failure or improper performance by an employee through his fault of the labor duties assigned to him, the employer has the right to apply disciplinary sanctions as defined in Art. 192 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Thus, the employer has the right to regulate the rules of behavior of employees in the workplace by local regulations and subject them to disciplinary liability for failure to comply with them.
In some cases, the courts recognized it as legitimate to bring an employee to disciplinary liability in connection with violation of the ban on carrying goods established by the employer. mobile phone to the territory of the employer (cassation ruling of the Investigative Committee for civil cases of Kirovsky regional court dated September 29, 2011 in case No. 33-3446).
However, the following must be taken into account. Local regulations, including internal labor regulations, regulate labor relations and other relations directly related to them (part two of Article 5 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Labor relations are recognized as relationships based on an agreement between an employee and an employer on the personal performance by the employee for payment of a labor function (work according to the position in accordance with the staffing table, profession, specialty indicating qualifications; the specific type of work assigned to the employee), the employee’s subordination to internal labor regulations when the employer provides working conditions provided for by labor legislation and other regulations legal acts, containing norms labor law, collective agreement, agreements, local regulations, employment contract (Article 15 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Of course, during working hours the employee must perform labor duties that constitute the content of the labor function. This follows directly from the first part of Art. 91 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. However, from the above it also follows that the employer, by approving internal labor regulations, has the right to regulate the employee’s behavior insofar as it is directly related to the employee’s performance of his labor function.
It should also be noted that part 1 of Art. 23 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, among the inalienable rights and freedoms that belong to every person from birth, names the right to privacy, which implies, in our opinion, the inadmissibility of arbitrary interference in privacy citizen.
Let us note that the private life of a citizen also includes family life(see Article 152.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, family legislation, imposing a number of obligations on citizens (see, for example, paragraph 1 of Article 63, paragraph 1 of Article 87 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation), does not make their implementation absolutely dependent on the nature of the time during which they must be carried out (working time or rest time, which the employee has the right to use at his own discretion).
Since the rights and obligations of a citizen are inseparable from his personality, in our opinion, any restriction of a citizen’s rights to private life within the framework of labor relations should be recognized as lawful insofar as such a restriction is directly related to the employee’s performance of his labor function and is aimed at achieving the goals of the employer’s activities that determine it content.
In this regard, we believe that an unconditional ban on the use of a personal telephone during working hours, regardless of the specifics of the work function, goes beyond the regulation of labor and other directly related relations and is an unacceptable interference in the private life of a citizen. On the contrary, the introduction of such a prohibition is lawful in cases where the use of a mobile phone by an employee creates or clearly may create obstacles in the performance of work functions by this employee or other employees of this employer.
Therefore, the legality of the ban on the use of personal telephones by employees during working hours, not related to their labor responsibilities, from our point of view, should be assessed differentially, taking into account specific circumstances and the nature of the labor function.
Indirect confirmation of this conclusion can be found in judicial practice. Thus, the Investigative Committee for Civil Cases of the Volgograd Regional Court, in an appeal ruling dated March 15, 2013 in case No. 33-2643/2013, found the employer’s ban on the employee’s use of personal vehicles to arrive at and leave work unlawful, pointing out that the issues of the employee’s choice of methods and means of reporting to the employer (place of work) to perform labor functions are not included in the concept of labor relations, do not relate to internal labor regulations or working conditions and can only be settled by mutual agreement of the parties.
Prepared answer:
Service Expert Legal consulting GUARANTEE
Erin Pavel
Response quality control:
Reviewer of the Legal Consulting Service GARANT
Voronova Elena
The material is prepared on the basis of individual written consultation provided as part of the Legal Consulting service.
