How is indexing done? Practical advice for employers on wage indexation. Typical mistakes. What is debt indexation by court decision?

Even a high official salary can be significantly reduced due to inflation. To prevent this from happening, the state provides for a calculation. This mechanism should work due to the fact that goods included in the consumer basket (necessary for normal human existence) become more expensive. The law obliges the employer to carry out salary indexation on time - this mitigates the consequences of inflation for employees. Calculating salary indexation is not a mercy of the employer towards employees, it is his responsibility. In case of evasion, the head of the organization may be brought to court.

Types of indexing

There are two types of indexing wages:

Retrospective. Salaries are indexed after increases in commodity prices.
Warning. Salaries are indexed based on forecasts of future price increases.

Who has the right to recalculation

In some cases, management tries to mislead employees by assuring that all inflation indexations are due only to employees of budgetary organizations. This is not true. The law obliges all organizations and associations operating in the territory to recalculate salaries taking into account inflation Russian Federation. The only difference is that in commercial structures the procedure for indexing wages is prescribed in both the collective and employment contracts. This means that the heads of private organizations themselves choose the order and procedure for carrying out indexation; the law requires only the fact of implementation.

What are the dangers of non-indexing?

The head of an organization who ignores the legal requirement for indexing cash payments to employees will be...

The fine may vary:

A person holding a leadership position will pay a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 rubles.
A small entrepreneur (not a legal entity) will suffer losses in the amount of up to 5,000 rubles (Article 5.27 of the Administrative Code).
A manager who has the status of a legal entity will be fined 30,000 - 50,000 rubles.

There is no criminal liability for violators, but the amount of fines is quite sensitive. A company found to have committed such violations will be subject to more frequent inspections and close attention from regulatory authorities. So it is easier for the employer to monitor how wage indexation is calculated for the company’s employees and whether this happens on time.

Let's summarize

When calculating wage indexation, the amount of financial assistance to the employee is not taken into account.
When indexing the salary of one employee, the salaries of absolutely all employees must be indexed.

Indexed wages will not completely cover the increased prices for essential goods. Indexation is intended to slightly soften the gap between the received in cash and the opportunity for people to live on them.

Indexation usually refers to a planned increase in wages for all employees of an organization, caused by annual inflation and increased prices for essential goods. Timely indexation of salaries is the responsibility of the manager; for evading it, he can easily end up in court. The need to increase the level of real wages is outlined in the Russian Federation.

How to properly carry out indexing in an enterprise? What state laws and local acts regulate this process? And are private employers, along with budgetary organizations, obliged to worry about regular wage increases?

Indexing and its reasons

In accordance with Article of the Labor Code No. 134, any government bodies and other enterprises are required to regularly index the salaries of their employees in accordance with the level of consumer price growth. However, this article does not talk about how to calculate indexation, nor about the timing of its implementation and specific procedures. More clear instructions are contained in the letter of Rostrud No. 1073-6-1 dated 04/19/10. It states that the employer is obliged to establish indexation rules in the company’s local acts or in its individual provisions.

According to labor law standards wages do not always have to be equated to the inflation rate, that is, to the average increase in prices for essential goods. The organization is not even obliged to rely on Rosstat’s regular publications on price increases. But employers are almost always guided by this indicator because of its convenience.

In addition, other factors influence the calculation:

price increases in a specific subject of the Russian Federation;
the level of inflation indicated by both federal and local laws;
the level of growth in the living wage of the working population (both in Russia and in the region).

In addition to Article 134 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the procedure for indexation is regulated by the norms of the collective labor agreement, as well as various local acts and agreements. Unfortunately, a specific clause on the indexation of employee salaries can only be found in the regulations and local acts of large corporations. But even in this case, the convenient formulation “if there is financial opportunities».

The indexation of salaries of public sector workers is carried out from the state treasury, the indexation of pension payments is from, the indexation of social benefits is from the federal budget and the Social Insurance Fund.

How to index salaries at an enterprise?

The indexation procedure in accordance with the norms of labor legislation is indicated in the relevant regulatory document(local act). If it has just been developed, then all employees must familiarize themselves with it and sign for this fact. Similarly, when hiring a new employee, he is introduced to this regulatory act. Information about indexation is also specified in the employment contract, and if the salary level increases due to indexation, additional agreements are drawn up to it.

The indexing procedure is as follows:

adoption of a local act or making amendments to an existing document (normative collective agreement, regulations);
familiarization of enterprise employees with the text of the document for signature;
issuance by the manager of an order to carry out indexation (and familiarization of staff with it);
approval of the staffing table and salary regulations with appropriate changes;
signing an additional agreement with employees employment contract(with changed salary level).

There are 2 ways to index wages - retrospective And expected. In the first case, indexing is carried out backdating, taking into account the increased price level. The expected indexation is done in advance, even before Rosstat publishes the current inflation level.

Wage indexation formula

To index salaries, a simple formula is used:

I = D * I pts/100,

AND– indexation level,
D– the employee’s income level that will be indexed,
IPC– consumer price index (published by Rosstat, can be viewed on the Internet).

There are several ways to calculate the inflation rate when carrying out indexation - actual, predictive and premium. Actual inflation – this is real inflation over the past year. So, with a salary of 50,000 rubles and inflation at 4.5%, the salary will increase by 2,250 rubles (50,000 * 4.5: 100) and amount to 52,250 rubles.

Forecast inflation uses the predicted level of price increases. If the actual inflation is higher than predicted, then starting next year the salary will be recalculated, that is, the employee will be immediately given the missing amount. Otherwise, the difference is withdrawn one-time from the employee’s salary.

At premium indexation the level of increase in consumer prices is completely ignored. An employee who has not had any serious comments, reprimands, or other disciplinary sanctions, the salary increases by an arbitrary percentage or a coefficient specified in local regulations.

An example of calculating the indexation level

As an example, let’s take a quarter as a calculation period (quarterly indexation method), which is based on an already known inflation rate. Let’s assume that quarterly inflation in 2017, compared to December 2016, was:

March – 0.34%;
June – 0.59%;
September – 1.02%;
December – 0.97%.

Indexation can be calculated both by salary level and by the level of average daily salary. For example, an employee’s salary as of December 2016 was 52,300 rubles. Quarterly wage indexation based on 2017 inflation will look like this:

from April 1, 2017 – 52,300 rubles * 1.0034 = 52,448 rubles;
from July 1, 2017 – 52,448 rubles * 1.0059 = 52,757 rubles;
from October 1, 2017 – 52,757 rubles * 1.0102 = 53,295 rubles;
from January 1, 2019 – 53295 rubles * 1.0097 = 53812 rubles.

As a result, wages in 2017 increased from 52,300 to 53,812 rubles, that is, by 1,512 rubles. The calculation of the increase in wages will be similar, but taking into account daily rate, not monthly salary. Together with wages the employer is obliged to index vacation pay in a timely manner.

To calculate vacation pay and compensation for unused vacation days, the amount of accrued salary is divided by 12. The final result is divided by the average number calendar days per month, adopted at the federal level – 29.3.

Are commercial organizations required to carry out indexing?

He talks about the obligation to timely index the salaries of managers of both budgetary organizations and private businesses. But the provisions of this article cannot be interpreted entirely unambiguously, as many lawyers note. It says that the real level of wages should be in accordance with rising consumer prices. And there are no exceptions to this rule for private companies.

The difference is that budgetary organizations when indexing salaries, they are guided by the norms of other federal and local laws, and private business- local acts. The first sources are public and accessible to the public, so they must be followed strictly. Local acts, on the contrary, are valid only within the enterprise, so it is not necessary to comply with them. Nobody is watching this. The heads of these companies themselves and some lawyers think so.

Are private firms required to index wages? Definitely yes. Legally there is no difference.

Budgetary organizations carry out indexations based on the level of inflation and various laws issued by federal, local and municipal authorities. Managers of private enterprises calculate increasing coefficients on their own, and they do not necessarily have to be tied to the level of inflation or other official data related to price increases.

Responsibility for evasion of obligations

The obligation to index the wages of their employees lies with the heads of enterprises not only within the framework of the Labor Code, but also in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court No. 2618-O dated November 19, 2015. However, not all of them strictly comply with this instruction. This is especially true for private businesses.

If wages do not increase along with inflation, then employees have the right to report the violation to the district court or to State inspection labor, based on . However, to prove the correctness of your position, it is necessary that the indexation mechanism be spelled out not only in the collective agreement or other local act, but also in the employment contract. And this is precisely the difficulty, since few companies even talk about indexing in any official documents. This question should be clarified at the hiring stage.

For refusal to index wages and for violation of other job responsibilities the following punishment is imposed:

For officials– from 1000 to 5000 rubles;
For legal entities– from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles;
For individual entrepreneurs– fine up to 5,000 rubles.

The amount of fines is insignificant, but unpleasant. In addition, applications from workers to the State Labor Inspectorate may initiate a number of inspections, during which other, much more serious violations may be revealed.

The frequency of indexation is also established in local regulations or government sources of law. This is usually done when the consumer price index for the main product exceeds 101%. Recalculation is done from the 1st day of the month following the month of publication of the official inflation index.

In addition to the fact that timely indexation of wages is the responsibility of every manager, it is also necessary to remember that such a mechanism significantly increases the level of employee loyalty. Salary indexation is an excellent way to remind employees that the employer cares about their well-being and their real income. And they should not be neglected.

One of the most pressing issues for many employers, accountants and ordinary workers is wage indexation in 2019. It should be remembered that indexation of wages in government and budgetary institutions, as well as salary indexation in non-profit and commercial organizations is carried out using various methods and methods. All this should be taken into account by employers, because the law provides for liability for failure to index wages in 2019, and entrepreneurs cannot refuse to carry it out.

Wage indexation in 2019 - laws and legal regulations

In the field of labor relations Russian legislation provides practical protection and implementation of workers' rights in various ways. Among other things, the fundamental rights of every employee include the right to wage indexation in accordance with the increase in real prices and inflation to ensure that the negative consequences of these impacts are overcome. Legal regulation of these issues in general context rests primarily on the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and is disclosed in the following articles of this regulatory document:

Art.22. This article sets out the main responsibilities of the employer. Among them, there is no direct indication of the need to increase the employee’s real wages, however, the direct responsibility of the employer and the obligation to comply with the provisions of labor legislation are established.
Art.46. The provisions of this article regulate the structure of the collective agreement between employees and employers, in particular, they require mandatory indication in the current collective agreement of information on measures and methods for ensuring a real increase in workers’ salaries.
Article 130. The standards set out in it touch upon the issues of providing workers with certain social guarantees in connection with the ongoing labor activity, and also establishes direct types of guarantees in matters of wages, which include salary increases.
Art. 134. It is this article that clearly regulates the obligation of employers to ensure wage indexation in 2019 and other time periods, also imposing the possibility legal regulation labor of public sector employees and civil servants for certain legislative acts.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not directly provide for a direct indication of the obligation of indexation for non-budgetary organizations. However, clarifications from various government bodies and court decisions, including the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, establish that employers, regardless of their form of ownership and organizational and legal structure, are obliged to index wages. The only exception in this matter applies to public sector employees, for whom this procedure may be influenced by certain federal laws and other regulations.

It should be remembered that wage indexation can be carried out in various ways and based on various indicators. However, in any case, employers must implement salary increases by one means or another.

Direct indexation of wages is in no way connected with the minimum wage, however, legislative standards allow employers to use this particular indicator when calculating indexation. But it is also necessary to remember that, regardless of the indexation indicator, the salary of workers in 2019 should be no less than the minimum wage established for this year. Accordingly, when the minimum wage increases, all workers who previously received a salary less than its level should increase the amount of funds they receive.

Wage indexation in 2019 for government agencies and budget organizations

Public sector workers and civil servants often rely on the provisions of individual departmental documents in matters of wages. However, due to the consequences economic crisis, in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law No. 68 of 04/06/2015, during recent years There was no indexation of civil servants' wages. However, as of January 1, 2019, the moratorium on increasing salaries of public sector employees ended. Therefore, the indexation of civil servants’ wages in 2019 was carried out from January 1, 2019. At the same time, the size of the increase in salaries of public sector employees and civil servants was tied to the inflation index and amounted to 4%.

It should be remembered that from January 1, 2019 in Russia there is a new minimum wage. At the same time, regardless of the organization or institution where a citizen of the Russian Federation or a foreigner works, his salary cannot be lower than the minimum wage, which means the size of the real increase in wages may ultimately significantly exceed the indexation indicators of 4% for many employees of budgetary institutions.

In total, more than 2 million state employees and civil servants are subject to salary indexation in 2019, so the lifting of the moratorium was very good news for many. Especially for those categories that were not included in the previous, selective indexation of salaries, which only affected individual categories civil servants and budget workers. The 2019 indexation, in contrast, affected all workers without exception.

Wage indexation in 2019 for commercial and non-profit organizations

The biggest questions for employers and ordinary employees are the indexation of wages in 2019 for non-budgetary business entities. First of all, this is ensured by the rather extensive requirements of Article 134 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which assumes that the procedure for indexing and increasing salaries of employees in non-budgetary organizations is established by labor contracts, a collective agreement, or local regulations of the enterprise. Based on this, some employers, HR specialists and accountants believe that indexation is a right and not an obligation of the employer, but this is not the case.

The following documents may provide clarification on this issue:

Determination of the Constitutional Court No. 2618-O dated November 19, 2015.
Letter of Rostrud No. 1073-6-1 dated 04/19/2010.
Letter of Rostrud No. 14-3/B-1135 dated December 26, 2017.

All of them, as well as a number of other explanatory and informative acts, indicate that workers have an inalienable right to an increase in the real level of wages.

However, it should also be noted that the employer also has certain freedoms in matters of salary indexation. In particular, he independently sets the period for indexation, the methodology by which its volume will be calculated and the method of calculation. For the lack of indexation, employers face liability, and if it is discovered that wages remain at the same level, employees have the right to file complaints with the labor inspectorate.

It should be noted that government bodies also consider it mandatory for employers to have local regulations that would regulate the procedure for indexing employee salaries. Only micro-enterprises are exempt from such obligations - they can replace any local regulations by indicating the necessary information directly in employment contracts with employees.

How to calculate salary indexation for a non-budgetary organization in 2019

As mentioned earlier, the employer himself has the right to determine the procedure for indexing employee salaries. At the same time, he can indicate information about indexation both in local regulations and in a collective agreement or contract, or directly in the text of employment contracts with employees. In addition, he has the right to establish various periods for indexation, which may be:

One year. This period is the maximum during which wage indexation may not be carried out in commercial organizations. That is, this procedure should be carried out at least once a year. Considering the procedural nature of indexation, the most logical action on the part of the employer would be to initiate this procedure in the last month of the year.
Six months. The employer has the right to index salaries every six months. This allows you to diversify the dynamics of the enterprise’s expenses and increase the motivation of employees, as well as ensure a stable increase in the well-being of employees.
Quarter. Indexation of wages in commercial organizations in 2019 every quarter is also a common practice among Russian employers.
Month. This is the minimum period in relation to which indexation of workers’ salaries can be carried out, since it is the monthly indicators of consumer price growth that are published by official institutions. In addition, frequent indexation of wages will require excessive personnel costs and increase the procedural burden both on the enterprise itself and on its employees.

The mechanisms by which indexing is carried out may also differ. In particular, employers have the right to establish indexation of employee salaries based on the following indicators:

Minimum wage. Linking indexation to changes in the minimum wage or subsistence level, which become identical from January 1, 2019, is allowed for Russian employers. In this case, indexation is carried out in accordance with the proportional change in the minimum wage each time this indicator changes or in a otherwise determined period, but at least once a year, and provided that the total amount of indexation is not lower than the consumer price growth index.
Inflation rate. The employer has the right to base the indexation of employee salaries on the inflation rates forecast for the next reporting period. However, the key requirement in this matter is the fact that, regardless of inflation, the indexation amount cannot be lower than the consumer price growth index.
Consumer price growth index. In 2017, this figure was 4%; accordingly, in 2019, salaries should be indexed by at least this percentage. It should be remembered that this indicator is key in determining whether an employer complies or fails to comply with legal requirements.

Since employee salaries, which include a large number of different incomes, are subject to indexation, the employer has the right to choose which components of the salary will be indexed. The main requirement in this case is only the correspondence of the general increase in workers' earnings to the consumer price index. In addition, the employer has the right to index salaries according to other indicators, as well as with other percentages and amounts of increases, provided that they are not lower than the established requirements of the legislator.

The employer has the right to use incentive payments for indexation - if at the end of the year the actual salary and tariff rate were not increased, but the required increase in the salary of each employee was ensured in accordance with the standards through bonuses and other incentive payments, then the employer cannot be held liable.

The procedure for indexing wages at an enterprise in 2019

Indexing employee salaries in 2019 requires the employer to follow a fairly strict procedure. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the mandatory nature of a number of procedural procedures and the presence of certain internal documents. So, the procedure for indexing wages at an enterprise in 2019 may look like this:

The employer establishes regulations, according to which wage indexation can be carried out in 2019 or at permanent basis. Most often, such a normative act is the provision on wage indexation.
Since wages are mandatory information recorded in the employment contract, it is necessary to conclude with each employee additional agreement, changing the content of the employment contract.
Upon an increase in wages, the employer issues a corresponding order. The text of the order may indicate either a general list of employees whose salaries will be increased, or it may be possible to draw up an order for each employee separately.
IN staffing table, operating at the enterprise, appropriate changes are made related to changes in employee salaries.
If the enterprise previously had other regulations in force regulating indexation or simply the amount of workers' wages, appropriate changes must also be made to them.

Responsibility for non-indexation of wages in 2019

If the employer does not timely index wages, he may be held administratively liable for these actions. This responsibility is considered by the provisions of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Thus, this article implies the imposition of a fine in the amount of 1 to 5 thousand rubles for the managers of an enterprise or individual entrepreneurs or others responsible for establishing the procedure for calculating salaries of persons, and from 30 to 50 thousand rubles for direct business entities with the status of a legal entity .

If the employer has actually ensured the indexation of wages through bonuses, increased salaries and tariff rates, but does not have local regulations governing the procedure for its provision, the only measure taken in relation to him may be an order labor inspection on the mandatory implementation of these local documents.

It should be noted that in situations where wages were not indexed and the employee went to court, a decision may also be made to recover in favor of the employee the lost income and additional compensation. However, judicial practice on this issue is ambiguous and has examples of exempting the employer from such payments.

In addition, in judicial practice on issues of failure to index wages, employers are also held accountable for tax evasion, since failure to index them reduces the salary of employees in comparison with the required one and, accordingly, reduces the volume of mandatory tax deductions.

The beginning of the year is the time when many organizations carry out indexation and increase wages for their employees. It would seem that everything is simple here. Indexation is an increase in wages due to rising consumer prices for goods and services.

A salary increase is an increase in its size by decision of the employer and in the presence of financial capabilities. However, many people confuse these concepts. What do indexation and wage increases have in common and what are the differences? How often should salaries be indexed and how often should they be increased? What responsibility will the employer bear if he does not carry out indexation?

What do indexation and wage increases have in common and what are the differences?

Both indexation and wage increases are aimed at increasing wages. Indexation aims to ensure an increase in the purchasing power of wages. By its nature, indexation is a state guarantee of remuneration for workers (Article 130 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 913-O-O).

Raising salaries sets the same goals. At the same time, indexation is not formally an increase in wages, since the real content of wages remains unchanged. Indexation is only a way to protect workers' income from inflation.

In the case of a salary increase, it increases compared to the one that was previously established. In addition, there are other differences between these concepts (table below).

Differences between indexation and wage increases

Evaluation criterion	Wage indexation	Salary increase
Degree of obligation	Mandatory for any employer: both public and commercial organizations	Not mandatory, carried out at the request of the employer
The circle of persons who are provided with an increase in wages	Conducted in relation to all employees of the organization (determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 913-О-О)	Carried out in relation to the employee(s) whom the employer chooses independently
Factors influencing salary increases	Increase in consumer prices for goods and services	The employer's decision and his financial capabilities
Coefficients used when increasing wages	The consumer price index, which is published on the Rosstat website, is the official inflation rate	Any indicators established by the employer independently

How often should salaries be indexed and how often should they be increased?

Attention!
If local acts do not contain a procedure for indexing wages, the employer may be held liable, even if it annually increases official salaries (decision of the Zavodsky District Court of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Region dated October 13, 2011 in case No. 12-153/11)

The frequency and periodicity of wage indexation are not established in the Labor Code. At the same time, if an increase in consumer prices is officially recorded, it is necessary to index wages.

The procedure for this procedure for public sector employees is established by labor legislation, and for commercial organizations - by a collective agreement, agreements, and local regulations (Article 134 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

If such provisions are not present in the organization’s documents, then appropriate changes must be made to them (letter of Rostrud dated April 19, 2010 No. 1073-6-1).

In practice, it often happens that the company’s local act specifies the indexation procedure, but the financial and economic indicator for its implementation is not selected. In such a situation, when an employee files a complaint, the court may apply the consumer price growth index calculated by state statistics bodies (cassation ruling of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan dated February 8, 2012 in case No. 33-1256/2012).

In some cases, the indexation procedure and mandatory indicator may be provided for by industry agreements. Thus, for some employers there is an obligation to ensure quarterly indexation of wages in accordance with the increase in consumer prices for goods and services (according to Rosstat) 1

Typically, wage indexation occurs in the following cases:

increasing the minimum wage (when employee wages are lower than the minimum wage);
increase in inflation rate;
rising consumer prices in your region;
growth in the cost of living of the working population in Russia or in the region;
inflation fixed in the law on the federal budget or in the law on the regional budget.

In turn, a salary increase is a right, not an obligation, of the employer and therefore can be carried out at any time, regardless of any factors. Most often, employees receive salary increases in the following cases:

increasing the productivity of the organization’s employees;
increasing company revenue;
if this is provided for in a collective agreement or other local act.

How to index salaries if the organization does not have a collective agreement?

In the absence of a collective agreement, the employer can establish the procedure and frequency of wage indexation in any other local act, for example, in the regulations on wages (sample below). Typically, indexation is carried out on the basis of an order from the head of the organization (sample below).

It should be noted that the employer, when issuing an order to increase the employee’s wages in connection with indexation, cannot use the transfer order form (No. T-52)2 if the employee’s labor function and the structural unit in which he works do not change.

Is it necessary to enter into an additional agreement with the employee when indexing his salary?

Terms of remuneration (including the amount tariff rate or salary ( official salary) employee, additional payments, allowances and incentive payments) are mandatory for inclusion in the employment contract (paragraph 5, part two, article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, each time when an employee’s official salary is indexed, it is necessary to conclude an additional agreement to the employment contract and indicate the new amount of the official salary (rate).

The agreement must refer to the norm of the local act on indexation as the basis for changing the amount of remuneration (Article 134 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Inflation is a reason for indexation

Worker in statement of claim may directly refer to inflation as a basis for wage indexation. The presence of inflation is considered a generally known fact and cannot be proven in court. An explanation of this is contained in many decisions (ruling of the St. Petersburg City Court dated March 21, 2011 No. 3866, ruling of the Moscow City Court dated November 16, 2010 in case No. 33-32596, ruling of the Presidium of the St. Petersburg City Court dated February 13 2008 No. 44g-36).

The indexation clause may be contained in the employment contract concluded upon hiring (sample below). If this condition was not initially included in the document, then the employer can proceed as follows:

conclude an additional agreement to the employment contract, providing for a condition on salary indexation. This option is suitable for organizations that do not plan to frequently change the indexing procedure;
draw up an additional agreement for each wage indexation, indicating in it a specific indexation coefficient and a link to the clause of the local regulatory act. This method is optimal for companies that often change the indexation order in local regulations

What liability does an employer face if he forgets to index?

Many employers deliberately do not index wages. Administrative liability is provided for such a violation.

If there is a provision for wage indexation in a collective agreement or industry agreement, but the employer does not carry it out, then he will be brought to administrative liability in the form of a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles (Article 5.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

If indexation is not provided for in the local act and, accordingly, is not carried out, then a fine in the amount of 1,000 to 5,000 rubles may be imposed on the head of the organization, and in the amount of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles on the organization (Part 1 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) .

In addition, an employer who does not carry out indexation may incur material costs, if the employee goes to court with a corresponding claim (Articles 236, 391 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The court may oblige the organization to pay the employee the amounts due for indexation for several years (decision of the Severo-Kurilsky District Court of the Sakhalin Region dated February 19, 2013 in case No. 2-16/2013).

Remember the main thing

Note the experts who took part in the preparation of the material:

Ekaterina Shestakova– K. Yu. n., CEO OOO " Current management" (Moscow):

– Indexation of wages, as opposed to increasing them, is the responsibility of the employer. Even if an organization regularly increases wages for employees without indexing them, this leads to a violation of labor laws.

Lali Chitanova– lawyer, partner of the Law Firm “VASILIEV and Partners” (Moscow):

– If the organization does not have a collective agreement, then the conditions, procedure and frequency of indexation can be reflected in any local act. This may be a provision on wages, wage indexation, etc.

Alena Shevchenko– lawyer, expert of the magazine “Personnel Business”:

– When carrying out indexation, the employer must draw up an additional agreement with the employee to the employment contract. This must be done every time the company changes the amount of wages.

1 Clause 27 of the Industry Agreement on the Organizations of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Communications between the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications and the Russian Trade Union of Cultural Workers for 2012–2014, approved by the Russian Trade Union of Cultural Workers, Rospechat on December 7, 2011.
2 When records are kept using forms, approved by resolution Goskomstat of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1

We'll tell you how to index your salary to avoid problems with the labor inspectorate. Here are possible indexing methods. What should the instructions for salary indexation look like?

The employer is obliged to annually index wages in connection with rising consumer prices for goods and services. Rostrud reported this on its official website rostrud.ru. But Labor Code does not contain rules for salary indexation.

Important article:

Therefore, most companies are in no hurry to increase salaries. If consumer prices increased in a calendar year, but there was no wage indexation, the company faces a fine of up to 50,000 rubles. Director - up to 5,000 rubles. (Part 1 of Article 5.27 of the Labor Code). The Ministry of Labor recently issued such a warning.

Is indexation mandatory for everyone and instructions for salary indexation?

Indexation is not the only way to ensure salary increases. You can increase your salary in other ways. For example, increase salaries and pay bonuses, he believes Supreme Court(clause 10 of Review No. 4 (2017), approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court on November 15, 2017).

In the Review, the judges indicated that the Labor Code does not provide for requirements for the indexation mechanism. Therefore, commercial companies have the right to choose any procedure and conditions for indexation, depending on the specific circumstances, specifics of their activities and level of solvency.

The court considered such a dispute. In internal documents, the employer established indexation rules, according to which it depended on the results of the company’s work for the year. The company did not achieve these indicators, so it did not index the salary. Despite this, the employer actually ensured an increase in employee income.

The appeal ordered the company to index wages to the consumer price index. The Supreme Court did not agree with this approach and sent the case for a new trial. The Court of Appeal did not take into account the local acts that establish the indexing mechanism.

Local courts also come to the conclusion that the employer’s obligation to index is not unconditional. It all depends on specific factors, including economic indicators organizations (appeal rulings of the Kemerovo Regional Court dated June 1, 2017 in case No. 33-5940/2017, Irkutsk Regional Court dated December 22, 2016 in case No. 33-16711/2016, Khabarovsk Regional Court dated December 2, 2015 in case No. 33-7494/ 2015, etc.).

However, it is safer to increase wages through indexation. During inspections, inspectors will first look at the employer’s local regulations to see if there is an indexation procedure there. And then - does the employer comply with this procedure. If there is no order or it is not followed, then the employer will be held accountable.

How to index your salary

When developing regulations on wages, the employer can set the indexation amount based on the consumer price growth index, the growth of the cost of living of the working population, and the inflation rate.

Sample. Wording on indexation in the wage regulations or collective agreement (instructions for wage indexation)

You can index your salary without reference to these indicators. For example, set a fixed increase size. It is also necessary to determine the frequency of salary indexation - month, quarter, year.

Typically, the company determines all additional payments and allowances that are included in the remuneration system as a percentage of the salary. Therefore, to index the salary, it is enough to increase its constant part.

Additionally, you can specify other conditions. For example, financial results activities of the company, which will allow increasing wages for employees.

Here are possible ways to index salaries.

Index of growth in consumer prices for goods and services. Determine the indexation coefficient for 2017 as the result of multiplying the indices for each month. Use official data from Rosstat (gks.ru/Official statistics/Prices/Consumer prices).

The level of increase in the minimum wage or subsistence level. From July 1, 2017, the minimum wage is 7,800 rubles. From 2018 - 9489 rub. The indexation coefficient c will be 1.22 percent (9489 ₽: 7800 ₽). The procedure for calculating the coefficient based on the cost of living is similar.

Forecast of consumer price growth. Salaries can be indexed based on the growth in consumer prices for goods and services according to forecasts by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Inflation rate. For 2018, the inflation rate will be 4 percent (Article 1 of Federal Law No. 415-FZ dated December 19, 2016). Indexation coefficient - 1.04.

Example. How to index salaries and compile

The company annually indexes the salaries of all employees to the inflation rate established federal law. This procedure is enshrined in the regulations on remuneration in the company. Since 2018, wages have been increased by 4 percent. A sample order is below.

In 2017, the salary of a foreman construction site was equal to 40,000 rubles. From 2018, his salary will be 41,600 rubles. (40,000 ₽ × 1.04).

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