What is a valid reason for absenteeism? Sample entry in the work book upon dismissal for absenteeism

Absenteeism by an enterprise employee must be documented in accordance with current labor legislation. How to prove the absence of an employee from the workplace? What documents need to be confirmed? this fact? You will find answers to these and other questions in our article.

What is considered truancy?

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, absenteeism is the absence of an employee at the workplace according to the work schedule without good reasons. It is recognized as a gross violation by the employee of labor discipline and the terms of the employment contract with the employer, as well as non-compliance with internal labor regulations.

What do modern employers mean by absenteeism? Of course, employees not showing up for work on time can cause a lot of trouble for company management. And employers often intimidate staff by dismissing them for being late for work, staying late after a lunch break, leaving work early, etc. But the situations listed above, as a rule, are not absenteeism.

On the other hand, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not have a clear list of valid reasons. Our legislators leave this question at the discretion of the enterprise management. Apparently, the manager must independently assess the extent to which the reason for absence from work is valid. Good reasons include illness, death of loved ones, natural disasters, road accidents, housing problems that require immediate solutions, etc. Each such absence must be confirmed by a sick leave certificate, a certificate from a medical institution, the traffic police, the housing management company, etc.

IMPORTANT! If an employee verbally warned the manager in advance about his absence from work, this will not be considered absenteeism. Especially when this fact can be confirmed by other employees of the enterprise - direct witnesses.

Employee absenteeism can create problems in the organization's activities, including financial ones. For example, a failure in the production process of an enterprise operating on a continuous cycle, an unsigned agreement for a major commercial transaction, as a result of which the enterprise could increase revenue, etc.

Important conditions for recognizing absenteeism

IN judicial practice There are known cases when truants won lawsuits due to improperly executed and documented confirmed fact absenteeism and reinstatement at work. That is why the employer must carefully prepare all documents related to absenteeism. However, you should not do this retroactively. As practice shows, such facts are provable and the court will side with the employee who committed absenteeism.

In what cases is an employee’s absence from work regarded as absenteeism:

If the employee is absent from the workplace during the entire work shift (even if it lasts less than 4 hours).

If the employee is not documented workplace and he was on the territory of the organization, the employer will not be able to give him official absenteeism. Conclusion: assign each employee a workplace in employment contract upon his entry to work.

If the employee is absent from the workplace for more than 4 hours.

Moreover, if the employee was absent for exactly 4 hours, such absence will not be considered absenteeism.

In case of absence from work for unjustifiable reasons.

The employee must confirm each absence from the workplace with supporting documents. For example, a sick leave certificate, a summons to court or for an inquiry, a certificate from a medical institution and other documents. At the same time, the employer does not have the right to fire a pregnant woman who has committed absenteeism.

If the fact of absenteeism is proven.

Each absence must be documented. Otherwise, if the employee goes to court, justice will not be on the employer’s side.

Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in 2018

In Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, namely sub. “a” clause 6 states that in case of absenteeism, the employer legally may fire the employee. In this case, the conditions mentioned earlier must be met.

But should a manager always fire an employee for absenteeism? This article gives him the right to do this, but does not establish such an obligation. Legislators leave the right of choice to the company's management. It can reprimand the employee, reprimand him or simply leave absenteeism unattended.

In some cases, the dismissal of an employee is possible due to him going on unauthorized leave without warning management. Every enterprise must have an annual vacation schedule. It is brought to the attention of employees. Lack of a schedule is considered a violation of labor laws.

But in any case, going on vacation without the approval of management is a violation of labor discipline, and the employee may be held accountable for absenteeism.

You may also find these articles useful:

“How to properly arrange leave followed by dismissal?” ;
“Order for annual paid leave - sample and form” .

Sometimes it happens that absenteeism ends the employee’s desire to quit. at will. The employee writes a letter of resignation and, having not worked for 2 weeks, does not go to work on time.

If an employer dismisses an employee for absenteeism, he makes a corresponding note in his work book with reference to Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

How to prove employee absenteeism

The main difficulty in documenting an employee’s absenteeism is to prove that the reason for his absence from the workplace is not valid. In some cases, an employee cannot notify the manager of his absence from work for objective reasons. For example, there was emergency on the road, an employee was unexpectedly hospitalized in intensive care, etc.

IMPORTANT! There is no need to immediately prepare an order for dismissal or disciplinary action on the day of absenteeism. The main thing is to record the fact of a person’s absence from his workplace in the presence of several witnesses.

To do this, the HR department must draw up an employee absence report in any form on company letterhead. It is signed by witnesses who can confirm the situation. In addition, the act should indicate the place of preparation, the date and necessarily the exact time, the full name of the employee who compiled this document, as well as witnesses.

After drawing up the report and before finding out the reasons for the absence of a potential absentee from the workplace (if any), the mark “NN” (failure to appear for unknown reasons) is placed in the work time sheet in the form T-12 and T-13. In the future, if the employee submits supporting documents, the “NN” mark is corrected, for example, to “B” (sick leave). If the employee does not have such documents, “PR” (absenteeism) is indicated.

On our website you can find out the procedure for filling out time sheets, as well as download their forms. See articles:

“Unified form T-12 - form and sample” ;
“Unified form T-13 - form and sample” .

When an employee appears at the workplace, he must be required to provide an explanatory note in writing about the reasons for absenteeism (in the absence of supporting documents). There are known cases where an employee fired for absenteeism filed a complaint against his employer statement of claim to court about illegal dismissal and won the lawsuit.

Why can dismissal be considered illegal if the fact of absenteeism has been proven? The employee may refer to the last paragraph of Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the fact that the employer did not even inquire about the reasons for absenteeism and did not assess the severity of the offense and the circumstances of its commission.

IMPORTANT! In case of absenteeism, be sure to demand from the employee written explanation.

But there are cases when employees refuse to give an explanation in writing about the reasons for absenteeism. Then the employer should issue the employee, against signature, a notice of the need to provide an explanatory note. The document must indicate the number of days during which the employee must explain his absence. This is 2 working days (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

If the employee refused to receive the notice or did not provide an explanation after the specified time, this should also be recorded in an act in the presence of witnesses.

Documentation of employee absenteeism

So, we have figured out in what cases an employee’s absence from the workplace is considered absenteeism and how to prove it. How to document an employee’s absenteeism and its consequences?

The final decision on punishing an employee for absenteeism is made by the employer himself. An employee may be held liable for absenteeism in the form of:

Layoffs. When dismissing someone for absenteeism, you do not need to draw up 2 orders - on imposing a disciplinary sanction and terminating the employment contract. An order to terminate the employment contract is sufficient. The basis for such an order includes memos, acts, explanatory notes from the employee, time sheets, that is, documents that prove the fact of absenteeism and justify dismissal.
Disciplinary action. It is issued by order of the head of the institution. This order does not have a unified form, so each enterprise can develop its own sample order. You can take the unified forms of other orders as a basis, so as not to forget to indicate all the necessary details in the document. For example, an order in form T-6 to grant an employee leave.

You can download a sample order in form T-6 on our website “Unified order form T-6 - download form and sample” .

Such an order must reflect the following points:

the fact of violation by the employee of labor discipline, that is, absenteeism itself, indicating its date;
documents that prove the fact of absenteeism of the employee (memos, acts, explanatory notes from the employee, time sheets);
type of punishment (consequences of violation): reprimand, reprimand, deprivation of another bonus, etc.

On our website you can download an example of a disciplinary sanction order form. See article “Order on disciplinary action - sample and form” .

In order to punish an employee for absenteeism, if necessary, the employer must, when hiring him, familiarize him with his job responsibilities (employment contract, job description) and internal labor regulations against personal signature. Then, after a decision on dismissal or disciplinary action is made, if the employee goes to court, there will be a greater chance that justice will side with the employer.

Results

Absenteeism is the absence of an employee from the workplace for more than 4 hours in accordance with the work schedule. This is a gross violation by the employee of labor discipline, the terms of the employment contract with the employer and internal labor regulations. To recognize absenteeism, a number of conditions must be met:

absence of an employee from the workplace during the entire work shift;
absence of an employee from his workplace for more than 4 hours;
absence from work for unexcused reasons;
proof of the fact of absenteeism.

In case of absenteeism, the employer must require the employee to provide a written explanation for his absence from the workplace. An employee may be held liable for absenteeism in the form of:

dismissal, which is formalized by an order to terminate the employment contract with the employee;
disciplinary action, which is also formalized by a corresponding order.

Every incorrect document can affect the outcome trial not in favor of the employer if the employee goes to court due to illegal dismissal. So all documents must be drawn up properly at the right time and, if necessary, signed by witnesses to the situation.

Absenteeism is one of the grounds for termination of an employment contract at the initiative of the employer (). Let us remind you that absenteeism means the absence of an employee from the workplace without good reason for more than four hours in a row or throughout the entire working day (shift), regardless of its duration. The employer has the right to regard the following circumstances as absenteeism (clause 39 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces of March 17, 2004 No. 2 ""; hereinafter referred to as the Resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces No. 2):

abandonment of work without good reason by a person who has entered into an employment contract for an indefinite period, without warning the employer of termination of the contract, as well as before the expiration of the two-week notice period ();
abandonment of work without a good reason by a person who has entered into an employment contract for a certain period, before the expiration of the contract or before the expiration of the notice period for its early termination (,);
unauthorized use of days off, as well as unauthorized going on vacation.

Despite the apparent transparency of these provisions, employers, and sometimes the courts, to this day are at an impasse when deciding whether certain actions of an employee constitute absenteeism. And often the conclusions they come to turn out to be hasty.

Let's look at several specific cases of dismissal of employees for absenteeism, as well as the reasons why employers should not have made such a decision.

How voluntary dismissal turned into absenteeism

On November 1, 2013, D. submitted to her employer, individual entrepreneur K., letter of resignation of his own free will. Based on the provisions, the employee believed that she was subject to dismissal after the expiration of the 14-day period, that is, November 15, 2013. This day was D.’s last working day, but no payment was made to her and no work book was issued. Since November 18, she has already started working for another employer. However, the entrepreneur considered that the employee continued to work for him even after the notice period for dismissal had expired. Therefore, when on December 6, 2013 D. demanded that work book and other work-related documents not issued on the last day of work, she received a response that her employment relationship had not been terminated and, therefore, the requested documents could not be issued to her. And in February 2014, the employer still fired her, but for absenteeism, having issued a corresponding order.

Find out about the specifics of the procedure for dismissing an employee who is not at work from the material
"Dismissal of an absent employee for absenteeism" in the Encyclopedia of Solutions Internet version of the GARANT system.
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D. considered these actions illegal and filed a lawsuit in which she asked to declare the dismissal for absenteeism illegal, to oblige K. to issue an order to dismiss D. at his own request on November 15, 2013 and to recover from the former employer all payments due, as well as compensation moral damage.

The court of first instance refused to satisfy the claims (decision of the Frunzensky District Court of the city of Saratov dated April 17, 2014 in case No. 2-1209/2014). At the same time, he was based on the time sheet submitted by the employer, according to which D. worked for K. until November 19, 2013 inclusive. The court emphasized: since after the expiration of the notice period the employee continued to work for K. and did not insist on dismissal, this gave the employer the right to continue the employment contract (). And, therefore, D.’s further absence from work was rightfully interpreted by K. as absenteeism.

The employee did not agree with this position and filed a complaint with a higher court, demanding that the decision be overturned. And the appeal sided with D. ().

The court indicated that from the contents of the working time sheet for November 2013, it is impossible to reliably establish the fact of D.’s attendance or absence from work, since there are contradictions in this timesheet: after November 15, 2013, on the days from November 20 to 23 and from November 25 to On November 29, 2013, along with an indication of the plaintiff’s attendance at work, there is also information about absenteeism. In addition, the time sheet is not indisputable confirmation of the plaintiff’s performance of work after November 15, 2013, and the employer did not provide other evidence.

The Court of Appeal also recalled that an employee has the right to terminate an employment contract on his own initiative by notifying the employer in writing no later than two weeks in advance, unless a different period is provided by law (). Flow specified period begins the day after the employer receives the employee’s application. By agreement between the parties, the employment contract can be terminated earlier. Thus, the defendant, having received a resignation letter from D. on November 1, 2013 and without agreeing with the employee on a different period, should have issued an order to dismiss the plaintiff on November 15, 2013, that is, after the expiration of the two-week notice period. In addition, since the employee did not show up for work and had already found another job, there was no reason to believe that she did not insist on dismissal. Therefore, the court indicated that D.’s failure to show up for work after November 15, 2013 cannot be considered absenteeism.

In this regard, the court overturned the earlier decision and satisfied the plaintiff’s demands to impose on K. the obligation to issue an order to dismiss D. at his own request on November 15, 2013, as well as to pay 10 thousand rubles. for compensation for moral damage.

OUR HELP

Conventionally, absenteeism can be divided into two groups: short-term (when an employee, for example, after missing one or several working days, appears at his workplace or does not appear, but can be contacted by phone) and long-term (when you find the employee and ask him for an explanation not possible).

In the first case, everything is simple. The main thing is to comply with the requirements and, before applying a disciplinary sanction, request an explanation from the employee in writing. In case of refusal, a corresponding act must be drawn up. At the same time, the employee’s refusal to give an explanation is not an obstacle to dismissal, but in this case it would not be superfluous to take written testimony from colleagues and the immediate supervisor about the employee’s absence from the workplace. And after this you can draw up a dismissal order.

In the second case, it is not worth dismissing an employee without finding out the reasons for his absence from the workplace. The fact is that if the reasons for absence are subsequently recognized as valid, the court will reinstate the employee at work and oblige the employer to pay all amounts due to him, including average earnings for the period of forced absence. To resolve this situation, you can send the employee a letter by mail (with a notification and a list of attachments) asking him to explain the reasons for his absence from the workplace. If the employee cannot be found, a report should be drawn up about this. At the same time, a record of the employee’s absence should be entered into the work time sheet. unclear circumstances. Reports from the immediate supervisor of the absent employee confirming the fact of absence are important. If, nevertheless, the whereabouts of the employee are not established, he can be dismissed as missing (), if the corresponding decision is made by the court.

How an employer’s lack of sick leave from a pregnant employee resulted in dismissal

On July 27, 2012 N. registered with antenatal clinic in connection with pregnancy, about which three days later she notified the director of the enterprise by mail. It later turned out that this letter did not reach the addressee and was returned to the sender. In addition, in the period from August 2 to August 10, 2012, the employee was on sick leave, which she presented to the employer. Subsequently, N. repeatedly received certificates of incapacity for work, which she sent to management by mail, but none of them reached the employer. Due to the fact that N. long time was absent from the workplace, the management of the enterprise sent her a notice of the need to report to work to provide explanations. Having received this notification, the employee never showed up for work and did not provide supporting documents for her absence from the workplace. The employer recorded in the report the fact that there was no written explanation from the employee and issued an order to dismiss N. for absenteeism. The employee learned about this from a letter she received on April 12, 2013, signed by the director of the company.

N. considered that the employer had violated the ban on dismissing a pregnant woman at the employer’s initiative () and went to court demanding that she be reinstated.

The court of first instance refused to satisfy the stated requirements (decision of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar dated October 8, 2013 in case No. 2-668/2013). The court confirmed that N. handed over her sick leave to her employer for the period from August 2 to August 10, 2012, but emphasized that no explanations were received from her about the reasons for her absence before and after these dates. In addition, the employer did not have information about the plaintiff’s pregnancy. In this regard, according to the court, there was N.’s abuse of his right (), and since the defendant fully complied with the procedure for dismissing an employee for absenteeism, this gave him the right to apply this disciplinary sanction to N.

The court of appeal upheld the judicial act issued without change ().

N. decided to defend her position in the cassation instance and filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which agreed with the plaintiff’s demands ().

The Supreme Court recalled the position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which at one time noted that the rule prohibiting the dismissal of pregnant women at the initiative of the employer is intended to ensure the stability of the position of such employees and their protection from a sharp decline in the level of material well-being due to the fact that the search new job difficult for them during pregnancy (). The RF Supreme Court also added that in the event of a gross violation of her duties by a pregnant woman, she can be subject to disciplinary action with the use of disciplinary sanctions other than dismissal.

In addition, the law does not make the possibility of dismissing a pregnant woman dependent on whether the employer was notified of her pregnancy or not (clause 25 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of January 28, 2014 No. 1 "").

This became the basis for the cancellation of acts issued by the courts of first and appellate instances, and the case was sent for a new trial.

How part-time work for another employer was taken for absenteeism due to delayed wages

D. worked at P.’s plant from January 13 to April 18, 2014. Due to a delay in payment wages he decided to look for other sources of income. On April 10, 2014, D. wrote to general director plant, an application to grant him leave without pay because he found a part-time job with another employer. However, he did not receive the consent of the manager and the leave at his own expense was not formalized in the prescribed manner. Despite this, the employee did not show up for work. D. also did not submit an application for suspension of work due to delayed salaries to management (). In this regard, the employer considered the employee’s absence from the workplace to be absenteeism and fired him in compliance with the procedure prescribed by law ().

Disagreeing with the management’s decision, D. filed a lawsuit to reinstate him at work, recover wages for the period of forced absence and compensation for moral damage.

The court of first instance rejected D.’s claim (decision of the Sovetsko-Gavansky City Court Khabarovsk Territory dated May 20, 2014 in case No. 2-604/2014). He motivated his position by the fact that D. was absent from the workplace without good reason, having arbitrarily left the workplace before the start of the work shift.

However, the prosecutor did not agree with this position and prepared an appeal, in which he asked the court to cancel this decision. But the appellate court did not satisfy the prosecutor’s proposal (appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Khabarovsk Regional Court dated August 8, 2014 in case No. 33-4885/2014). But the cassation found the prosecutor’s position justified, canceled the previously issued judicial acts and sent the case for a new trial (resolution of the Presidium of the Khabarovsk Regional Court dated April 13, 2015 in case No. 44-g-26/2015). Reconsidering this case, the appellate court came to the following conclusions ().

When imposing a disciplinary sanction, the severity of the offense committed and the circumstances under which it was committed must be taken into account (). The question of whether the violation committed was gross is decided by the court, taking into account the specific circumstances of each case (). And the responsibility to prove that such a violation actually took place and was of a gross nature lies with the employer.

The employer did not dispute the fact of untimely payment of wages to employees. On the contrary, at the court hearing he explained that the enterprise was in difficult financial situation, which resulted in a delay in payment of wages. As the court emphasized, mandatory remuneration is enshrined in current legislation. Moreover, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, prohibiting forced labor, names as one of its signs violation of established deadlines for the payment of wages or payment in an incomplete amount (). And since the employer did not fulfill his obligations to timely and fully pay wages to the employee, a disciplinary sanction in the form of dismissal, even despite the absence of an application for suspension of work due to delayed wages, was applied to D. without taking into account the gravity of the offense he committed and the circumstances of it commission.

As a result, D.'s demands for his reinstatement were satisfied. In his favor, the average earnings for the entire period of forced absence were recovered, as well as compensation for moral damage.

How a wedding became the reason for dismissal

Since February 21, 2008, S. worked in the company R. The collective agreement in force in the company provided for the provision of leave of up to five days to employees on the occasion of marriage registration. calendar days, one of which was provided with payment in the amount of the tariff rate (salary), and the rest - without pay. S. notified his immediate superior orally in advance of his absence from work due to the registration of his marriage. However, as soon as the employee returned to work, he was required to provide a written explanation of the reasons for his absence, and then he was fired for absenteeism.

Believing that the dismissal was illegal, S. filed a lawsuit to reinstate him at work and collect wages for the period of forced absence, as well as compensation for moral damage.

As the court found, the basis for S.’s dismissal was his absence from work without a valid reason, since he never provided a written notice of the need to take time off due to marriage registration. In this regard, the court of first instance sided with the employer and rejected the claim (decision of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Khabarovsk dated April 1, 2015 in case No. 2-1303/2015).

S. appealed to the appellate court, which took a diametrically opposite position ().

The court noted that, in accordance with the terms of the collective labor agreement, the plaintiff could not be denied leave on the occasion of marriage registration. The absence of a written notification to the employer about absence from the workplace due to personal circumstances does not in itself constitute grounds for bringing the employee to disciplinary liability, since violation of this procedure does not exclude the employee from having a valid reason for absence. In addition, as a result of any misconduct committed by the plaintiff negative consequences did not occur for the employer. Considering that S. had not previously been brought to disciplinary liability, the court concluded: his dismissal was carried out without taking into account the circumstances that caused his absence from work and the severity of the offense committed.

As a result, the dismissal was declared illegal, S. was reinstated in his position, and the employer was obliged to pay the employee the average salary for the period of forced absence, as well as to compensate for the moral damage caused.

Since the employer’s obligation to provide an employee with unpaid leave in connection with marriage registration is provided for by law (), the court’s conclusions apply to all cases of absence from work due to own wedding– regardless of whether the relevant provisions were enshrined in collective agreement.

Thus, even if there are signs of absenteeism, the court may declare the dismissal illegal. When making a decision, it will not be the formal circumstances (for example, the absence of sick leave or a written application for leave), but the actual ones (the expiration of the notice period for voluntary dismissal, pregnancy, delayed wages, wedding and other valid reasons for the employee’s absence from work) that will be significant. .

Hello! This article talks about the reasons for absenteeism.

Today you will learn:

Disrespectful and valid circumstances of absence from work;
about absence from production;
What penalties apply for unlawful absenteeism and is it possible to impose a penalty for failure to appear for a good reason.

Truancy concept

In simple terms, absenteeism - this is the absence of a person in his place labor activity for some time, with or without reason. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the term absenteeism is defined as absence from work for more than 4 hours for an unexcused reason and less than 4 hours for a valid reason.

According to this terminology, absence from work can be divided into two types:

Without a reason, which may later result in dismissal. But in some cases, management may take other measures to punish their worker.
For any reason, that is, absence is justified.

According to labor law, an employee can seek help from the court if the employer neglected a valid reason and decided to resort to.

For how long did the absence occur, that is? working hours or time reserved for rest;
How long does the absence last?
How many times during a shift or during a working day a person was absent from performing a production task.

In practice, absenteeism at work is bad, but before you are fired, you need to know the basic concepts of labor law.

Absenteeism is classified as a violation production process, which may result in losses and damage to the organization.

Unexcused reasons for absenteeism

The concept of a disrespectful reason is not defined by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It follows from this that the employer himself has the right to assess the legality and importance of absenteeism or absence from work for some time.

The absence of a list of unexcused reasons does not give the employer the right to regard each absence as unauthorized absence. He must take this determination with full responsibility, otherwise the precedent will be considered in court.

As a rule, the court proceeds from legal and disciplinary responsibility, that is, the entire proportionality and legality of the case is taken into account. In this case, the entire galaxy of reasons and motives for the employee’s absence from his place is subject to verification. And if a valid reason for absenteeism is identified, the employer will be punished in this case.

When identifying factors that precede an employee’s failure to appear, the employer must apply a punishment commensurate with the employee’s misconduct, and also take into account previously identified disciplinary measures.

What is a valid reason for absenteeism?

There come times when you cannot be present at your workplace. And in some cases, you don’t try to warn your boss about this. This may cause disagreements between you and management. Therefore, it is better to worry about this in advance and notify about deliberate absence.
What could be the reasons for such a no-show:

Circumstance of non-appearance	Characteristic
	Reasons why it is impossible to get to work. It can be a strong storm, in which case there is a traffic jam, a blizzard. Severe frosts are also an obstacle to coming to the workplace. As a result, traffic jams and poor visibility occur. For such reasons, you do not have the right to fire if this is stated in advance in the explanatory note.
Late return from vacation	An employee may not return from vacation on time if this is accompanied by weather conditions. The boss must consider such a reason as valid.
Administrative arrest	If an employee is arrested or detained as a witness or accused, this is not a reason for recording absenteeism on the work time sheet.
Public transport malfunction	If you have to get to work by public transport, but a breakdown occurs during the journey, this is regarded as a valid reason.
Leaving work	To care for a sick member of your family, to undergo a medical examination or tests. In this case, you need to support your care with a certificate from a doctor or a certificate of incapacity for work.
There was an accident at your house	If a plumber or other specialist comes to you to eliminate an accident and your presence is required. But in this case, if you yourself called such an employee to stay at home, then this is not a valid reason
Road accidents while traveling to work	These could be accidents while driving your own car or public transport.
Self-exclusion for health reasons	If things get bad at the workplace, the employee can go to the doctor, evidence of which is a discharge or outpatient card with records of a doctor’s visit, as well as a referral to a doctor
Late payment of wages for more than 15 days	A long delay in salary may be the reason for non-attendance at the workplace, but it must be documented in writing, which is regulated by Art. 142 TK
	If at the end study session the employee for some reason was unable to show up for work on time, but if there is an explanation for this, then these are valid reasons

In any case, you must inform the director in advance of the reason for your late arrival to work. This can be put in writing upon arrival at work, calling mobile phone boss or any other managerial specialist.

According to the above circumstances of absence from work, it can be argued that some of them are beyond the control of the employee and may occur unexpectedly. But still, each of them must be considered independently, taking into account all the nuances of its occurrence.

Another group of factors confirming excused absence during a work shift are force majeure circumstances:

Malfunction of the building elevator.
Flood, fire, robbery.
The sudden onset of an epidemic in the employee’s area of residence and the need for quarantine.
Delays of regular transport during vacations, business trips and travel to work.
If there are no tickets for the next flight.

Such obstacles to getting a job must be supported by a written explanatory statement indicating the reason. If there is other evidence of the occurrence of a force majeure situation, then they should be attached to it.

There are times when the occurrence of a circumstance is known in advance:

Severe illness of a relative that ends in death;
A relative has a child;
Birthday party;
Going to a wedding.

Usually such reasons are known, so it will not be difficult to write an explanatory note before the actual reason for failure to appear occurs. As a rule, such reasons for absence are also accompanied by several unpaid days off, which do not exceed 5 days, as prescribed in Labor Code Art. 128.

Additional days off that occurred with the permission of the manager do not equate to absenteeism.

Registration of an explanatory note

Not every employee knows how to correctly draw up an explanatory note and how to indicate in it the reason for absence from work. It is the correctly formulated reason that is the legal basis for your absence and will protect you from unlawful dismissal.

A written explanation for failure to appear is a document drawn up by the truant in his own hand in any form, but maintaining a business style.

Document writing scheme:

In the upper part, right corner, write the full or abbreviated name of the organization, the full name of the manager, to whom the employee addresses with explanations.
The title of the document is indicated in the center of the sheet. In many organizations, this is an explanatory note about absence from work.
Below is a description of the circumstances of absence from work, which is presented arbitrarily.
Below is the autograph of the truant and the date of compilation.
It is necessary to list the documents confirming the fact of absence, if any, and attach them to the note.

All attributes of the note must be written correctly, without distorting the facts. Must be present business style writing. All facts and reasons are presented directly, without emotional cues.

There are moments that have a dual nature and can be regarded by the employee on the one hand, and by the employer on the other. For example, if an employee was absent from the workplace for more than 4 hours, but was present in another workshop of the enterprise, this is not absenteeism. If the time away from production was exactly 4 hours and not a minute more, this is not absenteeism. If, for some reason, an employee was unable to notify the boss of a valid reason, but there is documentary evidence of this, this is not absenteeism.

The occurrence of such moments should be fully reflected in the note. After drawing up the explanatory note, it must be endorsed in the incoming correspondence journal by the secretary and submitted to the manager for signing.

The deadline for drawing up the document has been established, which is two days from the moment of absenteeism.

Punishment for absenteeism without a good reason

If an employee actually has an unexcused reason for absence, then the employer has the right to hold him accountable, in some cases this ends in dismissal.

Absenteeism is a reason for terminating the labor relationship between an employee and his boss, which will ultimately lead to termination.

On the fact of illegal absence from work, a report is drawn up. It can be written by the manager structural unit, under whose subordination is the truant.

Such an act must be drawn up at the time of absence and contain:

Date of compilation.
Full name and position of the person preparing the document.
Reason for compilation.
Full name of the employee who was absent from work.
Length of absence.
Signature of the director of the company.

If possible, a written explanation must be taken from the absentee employee indicating the reasons for his absence. If it turns out that the absence is illegal, the director writes an order for disciplinary punishment and then dismissal.

An order is drawn up according to, which contains all the necessary points of a regular order, with the exception of a description of the essence of the order. It specifies the reason for dismissal. The dismissed employee must be familiar with the order for absenteeism and can appeal it to the local labor authorities.

Another measure may be a reprimand for absenteeism. This is at the discretion of management. The mildest measure is an oral reprimand from the boss. However, sometimes it is in writing, after which a reprimand order is issued.

At some enterprises, a series of several reprimands ends in dismissal. The reprimand has its own validity period, and it is equal to 12 months, after which it is removed from the employee. This may come earlier, but it all depends on the will of the director. A person who has committed truancy is informed of the order within three days.

Is it legal to punish absenteeism for a good reason?

If a person does not show up at work for any reason and does not answer the phone, then this is not a reason to consider his absence as absenteeism, until all the circumstances are clarified. Punishment is imposed if the reasons are classified as disrespectful.

According to the Labor Code, the employee is not obliged to report to his superiors in advance about forced absence, but after which he must give a written explanation. If, after the next appearance at work, it turns out that the circumstances are of an important nature and are due to failure to appear, then the boss should not subject his subordinate to disciplinary measures. Otherwise, this may be appealed in court.

One of the grounds for dismissing an employee at the request of the employer is absenteeism, but sometimes situations arise when employees do not show up on time or leave work for valid reasons. To avoid litigation, managers need to know a specific list of problems in which termination of an employment contract will be considered illegal. Read also the article ⇒

What is absenteeism under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation?

A complete list of grounds on which employers can dismiss their subordinates on their own initiative is specified in Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Among them is absenteeism - absence from work for more than 4 hours in a row without a good reason.

To terminate labor relations Due to absenteeism of a subordinate, the following is necessary:

Action	Description
Recording absenteeism	Draw up a report and ask two other witness workers to sign it. Video recordings and memos can also be used as evidence.
Reclamation explanatory note from the guilty employee	Within two working days, he must provide a written explanation (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If this does not happen, a corresponding act is drawn up.
Drawing up a dismissal order	Must contain a description of the reason and a link to Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, indicating the legality of the employer’s actions
Familiarization of the employee with the order	He puts his signature on the document. If he refuses to sign, a corresponding act is drawn up.
Entering information into a personal card and work book	The reason for dismissal is indicated on the basis of paragraphs. and clause 6 of Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Full payment	On the last day of work, wages and compensation for vacation balances are paid.

List of valid reasons for absenteeism

Sometimes circumstances arise when working citizens cannot predict in advance their absence from work, and this will not be considered absenteeism:

Illness or injury. To confirm, you will need a sick leave certificate.
Delay vehicle, next to the place of work on schedule.
Sudden hospitalization of a close relative.
Fires and other emergencies.
Natural disasters.
Malfunctions of utility networks (water leaks, gas leaks).
Getting into an accident on the way to work (a certificate from the traffic police will be required).

Valid reasons for absenteeism include delayed wages. According to Part 2 Art. 142 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if the employer delays it for more than 15 days, employees may not go to work, having previously notified him about this in writing.

Absenteeism is also considered valid if family circumstances arise:

birth of a child
death of a relative.

In this case, the employee may request leave without pay for up to 5 calendar days on the basis of Art. 128 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Below we consider an example of unjustified dismissal for absenteeism:

Savelyeva I.V. works as a manager in an LLC, her working day starts at 09:00. 00 min. On her way to work, she gets into an accident, but there are no injuries. It takes 3.5 hours to wait for traffic police officers. After drawing up a diagram of the accident, the culprit, together with Savelyeva I.V. sent to the traffic police department, where all documents are drawn up.

Subsequently, Savelyeva I.V. provides a certificate of the incident to the manager so that absence from work is not recognized as absenteeism.

What reasons are considered disrespectful?

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not provide a specific list of disrespectful factors, however, in judicial practice there are several situations where dismissals for absenteeism were recognized as lawful:

Failure to provide sick leave for the entire period of illness.
Taking any leave if the application is not signed by the manager.
Caring for a relative who is undergoing hospital treatment, if this is not necessary.
The employee left the workplace without permission and without good reason, without agreeing with the boss.
The circumstances of the absence are unknown to management, but the employee himself refuses to give an explanation.
If a person overslept, didn’t want to go to work, or simply forgot.

In the latter case, proving absenteeism can be problematic: as a rule, employees still come up with valid reasons and indicate them in explanatory notes in order to avoid dismissal.

In Italy, since the beginning of 2017, they have been actively fighting against absenteeism of civil servants. According to the idea, perpetrators are punished with house arrest or dismissal. “If we see that the manager does not punish the culprit, our employees intervene. If the offender is not fired by his boss, sanctions are imposed on him,” said Marianna Madia, Minister of Public Administration.

What disciplinary sanctions exist?

Conclusion

Dismissal for absenteeism in some cases is considered unlawful if the employee does not show up for work for a good reason. Employers need to take this into account when deciding whether to apply a disciplinary sanction in order to avoid making mistakes and not illegally dismissing an employee who is already in a difficult situation.

According to labor legislation, absenteeism is the absence of an employee from the workplace without good reason during the entire working day. The employer has the right to apply disciplinary standards if the employee is absent from his workplace for more than four hours in a row.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes several types of absence from work without any serious reasons, for which the employee will face disciplinary action in the form of dismissal.

Within Labor Code Absenteeism without good reason is recognized as:

Absence of an employee from the workplace during the entire working day without any notice or without good reason. There are no specific valid reasons for absenteeism, however, employers are given the right to determine valid reasons for absenteeism independently in the local regulations of the enterprise, as well as in the collective labor agreement. The assessment of the justifiability of an employee’s absence from work is carried out by the employer or a special commission, which decides to hold the employee accountable in the form of a reprimand or dismissal.
The absence of an employee of an enterprise from the workplace for more than four hours in a row, unless such behavior of the employee is justified by the execution of instructions from the employer or the performance of his job duties. For example, if an employee is absent from the office due to the delivery of correspondence, then dismissal for absenteeism is not allowed in this case.
Unauthorized departure from the workplace or absence from work when an employee of the enterprise submits a resignation letter. Even if the employee wrote a letter of resignation of his own free will, general rule he is obliged to work for at least two weeks after submitting such a document to management, unless otherwise provided local acts enterprise, or the employee is a pensioner.
Absenteeism of an employee of an enterprise who was employed under a fixed-term employment contract before the expiration of the employment contract. Absenteeism is also considered refusal to fulfill labor obligations when submitting an application for dismissal under a fixed-term employment contract, if the deadline for filing the application is violated and does not comply with the notification norm established in the agreement.
Unauthorized use of vacation days or days off without notifying management and obtaining appropriate permission from the immediate superior.

Absenteeism is an employee’s refusal to go to work without good reason, except in cases where providing rest time at any time convenient for the employee is the direct responsibility of the employer.

Good reasons

Despite the fact that there are no legally established reasons that are recognized as valid, employers have the right to independently determine the “limits of respect and seriousness” of the grounds for an employee’s absence from the workplace.

Truancy can be divided into two large groups which include:

Valid reasons for absence from work. This list includes the most serious reasons that do not allow dismissing an employee for absenteeism.
Unexcused reasons for absence from work. Most often, these include simple absences without reason, if the employee simply did not want to go to work.

We must not forget that if an employee was absent from the workplace for less than four hours, then his absence is considered late. Only absence from work beyond the specified time can be considered absenteeism.

If there are valid reasons for absence from work, dismissal due to the employee’s absence is not permitted. If for some reason the employer did not heed the employee’s arguments and fired him anyway, then the citizen can go to court to restore all violated rights. Usually, as a result of a trial, in case of a truly illegal dismissal, the employee is forcibly returned to the workplace, and compensation is also paid for forced days of absence in the amount of the average daily earnings.

Personal

The most common reasons for absenteeism are considered to be personal reasons that did not allow an employee of the organization to go to work on time. set time. Usually, when such situations arise, everything is reported to the management of the enterprise, but if there is no opportunity to call or write a message to the manager, the employee does not face any additional sanctions.

The most common personal reasons for employee absence from the workplace include:

Injury or illness. When visiting a clinic or calling an ambulance, the employee is given a certificate or appointment sheet indicating the date of visiting the doctor or calling an ambulance medical care. In this case, this document is filed with the employee’s file, and dismissal for absenteeism is not allowed.
Passing a medical examination - medical examination. For many organizations, especially in the catering industry, having a medical record and passing a medical examination is a prerequisite for working. If visiting doctors is a necessary measure, then the absence of an employee from the workplace is not absenteeism.
Illness of a child or other family member who requires outside care during illness. In this case, the employer is provided with a doctor’s certificate or sick leave for child care.
The occurrence of a technical malfunction in the gas, water and heat supply system, as well as physical breakdown of the door lock in the employee’s apartment. If for some reason there is a breakdown or fire in a residential or other premises owned by an employee, then failure to show up for work is a valid reason, since a call is required special services. To confirm the authenticity of this reason for absence from work, a receipt for payment for services to replace a door lock or call a plumber, as well as information about a fire, if one, can serve.
Employee participation in government affairs, for example, giving evidence to an employee law enforcement agencies or evidence in court. In this case, if possible, the employer is informed in advance about the need to visit government services, and is also provided with a summons or other document.
Long-term non-payment of wages. If payments are delayed by more than 15 days, the employee has the right to refuse to work, but with mandatory written notification to the employer. Refusal to work may last until full or partial payment of wages; dismissal of such an employee is not allowed.

In addition to personal reasons for absenteeism, there are other reasons that arise for reasons independent of the behavior and actions of the employee.

Due to circumstances beyond the employee's control

Personal reasons are not the only reasons absence of an employee of an enterprise from work; in addition to them, there are so-called force majeure circumstances that do not depend on the employee in any way.

The following situations can be considered force majeure:

residential elevator malfunction apartment building, which arose when an employee of the enterprise was about to go to work;
participation in a traffic accident, as well as giving evidence if an employee of the organization witnessed an accident;
malfunction of the vehicle, as well as the physical impossibility of using other ways to get to work - lack of buses or the ability to call a taxi;
emergence emergency in view of natural disasters- hurricane, flood, ice, fires, earthquakes, etc.;
risk of an epidemic or high level infection, in the event of a confirmed epidemic of the disease;
plane delays if the employee is in another city, which may result in being late for work, etc.

An explanation of the reason for absenteeism due to force majeure circumstances is possible only if there is documentary or other confirmation of the presence of such reasons. If the employee can confirm that he really did not show up for work due to weather conditions, then dismissal of an employee is not allowed.

How to register absenteeism for a good reason

Registration of absenteeism for a good reason occurs in almost the same way as registration of absenteeism for unexcused reasons, with the exception of the last point - bringing the employee to disciplinary liability. If a fact of absenteeism is detected, an absence from work report is drawn up in relation to the employee. After compiling of this document the employee is given small quantity time to provide an explanatory note.

The explanatory note indicates the reason for absenteeism, and also attaches physical evidence of the valid reason for absence from work. If the employer considers that the reason for absenteeism is valid, then no sanctions will be taken against the employee.

If the reason is not considered serious for absence from work, then the employer has the right to take any disciplinary measures against the employee. It is noted that dismissal is not a mandatory attribute of absenteeism. The head of an enterprise can choose what measure of influence to apply to an employee of the organization. The report card contains a standard designation for absenteeism, regardless of the degree of respect for it - “PR”.

Pay for absenteeism for a valid reason

Payment for absenteeism for good reason is not regulated, however, the employer has the opportunity to stipulate the possibility of paying for such a day in a collective labor agreement or other normative act enterprises.

Absenteeism for a valid or unexcused reason is not paid, as is, for example, leave without pay. However, the absence of an employee from work due to serious circumstances prohibits the employer from bringing the employee to disciplinary liability.

Reasons why you shouldn't skip

There are no unexcused reasons for absence from work, but conventionally such reasons can be considered all circumstances that do not physically interfere with the performance of work, but the employee independently decides not to attend work.

Examples of absenteeism for unexcused reasons are:

absence from work due to the alarm clock not ringing, as a result of which the employee overslept;
state alcohol intoxication, as well as the consequences of alcohol intoxication on the previous day, while the employee is prohibited from being at work under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
unauthorized assignment of time off without notifying management, etc.

Unexcusable reasons for absence from work can be considered all reasons that are not valid.

Reprimand for absenteeism without good reason

The employer has the right to independently determine the measure of disciplinary action against an employee of the enterprise in the event of his absenteeism without sufficient grounds.

Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes that in relation to an employee, the following types disciplinary punishment:

a reprimand given for a minor offense, such as being late;
a reprimand given for a more serious violation of labor regulations, for example, failure to submit a report on the work done;
dismissal, which is applied in the event of a serious violation of labor regulations, in particular for absenteeism or showing up at work in a state of alcohol or drug intoxication.

The legislation does not provide for other measures of influence. At the same time, employers very often use a bonus deduction procedure, which involves the complete or partial deprivation of bonus payments to the employee.

Explanatory note for absenteeism without good reason

An explanatory note is drawn up on the basis of an act of absence of an employee from the workplace for any period of time or the entire working day. The document indicates the actual reason for absence from work, and also reflects information about documents confirming the reasons.

The employer is obliged to request an explanatory note from the employee, but is not required to receive it. If the employee refuses to draw up a document, the employer has the right to apply sanctions in full without long waits.