The State Duma has limited the ability of employers to deprive workers of bonuses
May 27, 2025 at 15:18
The State Duma of the Russian Federation has adopted in the second and third readings a law that will protect the rights of employees when calculating and paying bonuses. The new law is aimed at eliminating cases of unjustified reduction of bonuses for employees who have received disciplinary sanctions.
According to RIA Novosti, the new law obliges employers to clearly specify in employment contracts and local regulations the terms, amount and terms of payment of bonuses. When developing bonus systems, the quality and duration of work, as well as the presence of disciplinary sanctions, will now be taken into account.
This will increase the transparency of bonus calculation and reduce the risk of abuse by employers. The law limits the possibility of reducing an employee's bonus only to the period in which the disciplinary sanction was applied. The employer can reduce the bonus only for this period and only for those payments that are accrued for a similar period.
In addition, the total reduction in salary associated with a disciplinary sanction cannot exceed 20% per month. It is important to note that the document does not limit the employer's right to apply disciplinary measures such as a reprimand, reprimand or dismissal.
However, now penalties cannot be used as a pretext for arbitrary reduction of all payments, including earned bonuses, for example, for the performance of paid services.
In addition to regulating bonuses, the law updated the rules on work and rest schedules for employees with special schedules, and the rules for combining jobs for teachers, medical and cultural workers. The rules for the work of minors and the procedure for working abroad were also adjusted.
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