Local Regulations on Labor Issues: Preparation and Legal Examination
Development, implementation and legal examination of local regulations on labor issues
Labor law legislation regulates various areas of personnel records management, defines the rights and obligations of the parties to the employment contract, records the guarantees and compensations imposed on the employer, etc. However, despite the wide range of issues reflected in labor legislation, some areas in the field of personnel records management are transferred to independent regulation, which is reflected in local regulations (hereinafter referred to as “LNA”).
A local regulatory act in the field of labor law is usually an internal document of the employer that establishes additional, in comparison with labor legislation, rights and obligations of the company as a whole, all or individual categories of its employees. As a rule, additional conditions reflected in a local regulatory act are designed for repeated systematic application. It is important to note that, depending on the circumstances, local regulations may be amended to take into account a specific situation; this position was reflected in the letter of Rostrud dated 22.03.2012 No. 428-6-1, according to which the frequency and periodicity of changes to local regulations is determined by the employer.
Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that employers adopt local regulations containing labor law standards within their competence in accordance with labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law standards, collective agreements, and agreements. At the same time, in cases provided for by law, determined by a collective agreement or agreements, the employer, when adopting local regulations, takes into account the opinion of the representative body of employees (if such a representative body exists).
It is important to note that the provisions of local regulatory acts that worsen the situation of employees compared to those established by labor legislation, a collective agreement, agreements, as well as local regulations adopted without observing the procedure for taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees, are not subject to application. In such cases, labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law provisions, a collective agreement, agreements are applied.
The main local regulatory acts according to the legislation include:
- internal labor regulations (Article 189 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- regulations on remuneration and payment of bonuses (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), which are not mandatory if all the terms of remuneration are defined in the employment contract;
- personal data policy (Article 18.1 of the Federal Law of 27.07.2006 No. 152-FZ "On Personal Data");
- vacation schedule (Article 123 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
- occupational safety documents, etc.
Internal Labor Regulations
Article 189 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes that the Internal Labor Regulations are a local regulatory act that regulates, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws, the procedure for hiring and firing employees, the basic rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties to the employment contract, the work schedule, rest time, incentives and penalties applied to employees, as well as other issues regulating labor relations with this employer.
The Internal Labor Regulations are approved by the employer taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees in the established manner for the adoption of local regulatory acts. In this case, the Internal Labor Regulations, as a rule, are an appendix to the collective agreement.
Regulations on remuneration and payment of bonuses
A mandatory condition for the employee to perform his/her work function is the payment of wages, which is established by the employment contract in accordance with the remuneration systems in force at the given employer, which includes the amounts of tariff rates, salaries (official salaries), additional payments and allowances of a compensatory nature, including for work in conditions deviating from normal, systems of additional payments and allowances of an incentive nature and bonus systems, are established by collective agreements, agreements, local regulations in accordance with labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law standards. It is important that the local regulatory acts establishing remuneration systems are adopted by the employer taking into account the opinion of the representative body of employees. Among other things, it is important to note that the terms of remuneration determined by the employment contract cannot be worsened in comparison with those established by labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law standards, collective agreements, agreements, and local regulations.
Personal data policy
Article 3 of the Federal Law of 27.07.2006 No. 152-FZ "On personal data" defines that personal data includes any information related to a directly or indirectly defined or determinable individual (subject of personal data), and the processing of personal data is any action (operation) or set of actions (operations) performed with the use of automation tools or without the use of such tools with personal data, including collection, recording, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, modification), extraction, use, transfer (distribution, provision, access), depersonalization, blocking, deletion, destruction of personal data. Considering that when hiring, HR employees use the personal data of the company's employees and process them, one of the necessary local regulations related to HR administration also includes a policy on personal data; as a rule, organizations develop and approve a regulation on the protection of personal data and a policy on the processing of personal data.
Vacation schedule
The legislator has established that the order of providing paid vacations is determined annually in accordance with the vacation schedule approved by the employer, taking into account the opinion of the elected body of the primary trade union organization no later than two weeks before the start of the calendar year in the manner prescribed for the adoption of local regulations.
It is important to note that the vacation schedule is mandatory for both the employer and the employee, while the employee must be notified of the start time of the vacation against signature no later than 2 weeks before it begins.
Occupational safety documents
A separate chapter in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to occupational safety, according to which occupational safety is a system for preserving the life and health of workers in the process of labor activity, including legal, socio-economic, organizational and technical, sanitary and hygienic, medical and preventive, rehabilitation and other measures. At the same time, occupational safety requirements are defined as state regulatory requirements for occupational safety, as well as occupational safety requirements established by local regulatory acts of the employer, including the rules (standards) of the organization and instructions on occupational safety.
Considering that the legislator regulates occupational safety not only by legislative acts, but also by regulatory acts of the employer, occupational safety documents can also be attributed to local regulatory acts in the field of personnel records management, which are mandatory for regulating labor relations.
The list contains only the main local regulatory acts in the field of personnel records management; in most cases, the development of a specific local regulatory document depends on the activities of the company and the need to consolidate certain conditions in the local regulatory act for mandatory use by employees. Competent development and implementation of local regulations in the labor sphere allows employers and employees to regulate the necessary issues in the sphere of personnel records management, reflect all the necessary additional conditions compared to the current labor legislation and avoid possible adverse consequences, both from the side of employees and from the side of regulatory authorities.
Legal services
- Consulting on the preparation and development of local regulations in the sphere of labor law
- Legal examination of local regulations in the sphere of personnel records management
- Development of local regulations for a company taking into account the specifics of the company and the work activities of employees
- Implementation of local regulations on labor issues in the personnel records management of a company
