It would be wrong to assume that all people sleep at night and work during the day. There are a large number of professions that involve night work.
In order to ensure the safety, health and well-being of citizens, the police, security, doctors, and representatives of public utilities work in the dark. Taxis, hotline operators, service workers perform their work at night. Engineers drive trains, bakers bake bread at bakeries ... It’s not easy to work at night, so the regulation of such activities has its own specifics.
Night work
Work at night in our country is allowed at the legislative level. The 96th article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines as night time period from 22 to 6 hours. Work during this period is considered employment in conditions that differ from normal, therefore, payment of night hours under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation to persons who perform their duties during the specified period is guaranteed in an increased amount.
The specific amount of payment can be determined in the contract with each employee, collective agreement or other regulatory act of the organization. However, in any case, payment for night hours cannot be lower than the minimum established by Russian labor legislation.
The amount of payment to an employee for this type of employment for the month depends on the mode in which he went to work shifts, as well as on what were the reasons for his involvement in the performance of professional duties at night.
Mode of operation
The mode in which the employee will work is determined by agreement with the employer. And this is an important condition of the employment contract, which must be agreed and prescribed in advance. It is especially important to fix the labor shift regime for those persons whose schedule differs from the general set for the rest of the team members of this organization or enterprise, according to the time of work. What is the payment procedure for night hours? It is also defined in the employment contract with the employer.
During shift work, usually any part of it (or all of it) falls on the time from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Payment for night shifts is always made in a higher amount compared to that which is set for daytime employment.
When concluding an employment contract, pay attention to an important point. The document must indicate what hours of work are considered night hours. Also, the schedule and the alternation of shifts are agreed with the tenant. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the duration of work at night should be shortened by one hour (without working off in the future).
When work occurs without shifts
In some cases, the duration of the shift is not reduced, even if part or all of it falls out at night. This is allowed when working on a six-day day with one day off per week. With this mode, the duration of the night shift is equal in time to the day.
There is no reduction in the event that a person was specially hired for night work. Such an opportunity is provided for in the Labor Code. Of course, the condition of permanent employment at night is fixed in the contract of the employee.
Representatives of such professions as watchmen, dispatchers, operators and a number of others work full time, without reducing its duration, but they are charged for night shifts according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Who should not work at night
According to the norms of labor legislation, not all people are allowed to work from 22 to 6 hours.
You can’t work at night:
- pregnant women;
- employees under the age of 18 (with the exception of representatives of creative professions in some cases);
- women with children under the age of three;
- single parents with children under the age of five (both mothers and fathers);
- disabled people.
The last three categories of persons may be involved in appropriate employment only with their written consent. At the same time, the employer must fulfill an important duty: to familiarize these employees with their right to refuse (in writing). And, of course, the night hours are paid according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if agreed. There is no legislatively developed form for familiarizing an employee with his rights and giving consent to work; therefore, it is considered perfectly acceptable to simply write “agree / disagree” on the order.
When night shifts should be shortened
In general, according to the provisions of labor law, the duration of night work is reduced by 1 hour. For example, if the shift takes 8 hours, its duration decreases to 7.
The time for the following employees is not reduced:
- accepted for the performance of professional duties only at night;
- persons who have established reduced working hours (for example, in industries with harmful and dangerous conditions);
- employees working on a shorter day (at their request or agreement with the employer).
The employer may exercise the right not to reduce the duration of the shift for a specific list of jobs in cases related to working conditions. At the same time, he must coordinate the specified list with the organization’s staff. The list of places where the working time does not decrease is included in the collective agreement or other administrative act of the company, order, position, etc.).
Legislative regulation of night employment
Night shifts are referred by labor law to work in special working conditions. Unlike daytime, nighttime employment does not allow the body to rest naturally, overloads its nervous and endocrine systems, affects the work of the heart. That is why payment of night time is made in the amount of increased, compared with the legislation for traditional watches.
Article 149 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation indicates that a worker in conditions not recognized as normal (including at night) should be accrued additional payments stipulated both by the legislation itself and by internal regulatory documents (collective agreement, agreements). Moreover, payments under local regulatory acts cannot be reduced in comparison with those stipulated by federal legal documents.
Payment for night hours under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is regulated by article 154, which also establishes that the minimum threshold for the amount of payments for the relevant work cannot be less than that established taking into account state guarantees.
What determines the size of surcharges for night work
The minimum amounts of increased nighttime payment are determined by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 22, 2008 No. 554 and make up 20 percent of the surcharge to the hourly tariff rate (salary).
In each particular case, the amount of such remuneration for night work can be found out from the provisions of the internal document on payment adopted by the organization taking into account the opinion of the staff, or from the employee’s labor contract itself.
Legislation guarantees that when going out on night shifts, a person will receive a salary of 20% higher than usual.
Payment for night work
Each organization, based on their capabilities and interests, has the right to establish how to pay night hours in case the surcharge exceeds the 20 percent minimum guaranteed by labor law. The basis for this can serve as an internal document of the enterprise (position, collective agreement, labor contracts of employees).Payment for night hours according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is calculated taking into account the cost of the employee’s hour of work (tariff, salary), excluding other allowances and surcharges. The employer, however, is not tied to such a calculation order and can establish it in a different form and size, but only if the legislatively established level is exceeded.
For certain professional categories of workers, surcharges for night shifts are established by special regulatory acts of departments or government orders in an amount exceeding the minimum amount of such remuneration.
So, for employees of medical institutions, this surcharge is 50% of the hourly salary. And employees of the paramilitary, fire brigade and the penitentiary system are entitled to 35% of this salary.
Rules for calculating increased payment
The order of how night hours of work are paid is spelled out in Decree No. 554. Also, the State Committee for Labor of the USSR of 1972 No. 12/13, which sets the rules for calculating the hourly rate for determining the supplement for night work, is currently in force in the Russian Federation. According to this document, payment for night time (per 1 hour) is determined as follows:
- employees on the tariff system the daily rate is divided by the number of hours worked per day;
- employees on salary - dividing the salary by the standard hours in each specific month.
Calculation Example
Let us consider how night shifts are paid according to the Labor Code, using the example of an organization in which the legislatively fixed amount of surcharge is established - 20% of the hourly rate (salary).
1. The watchman in the organization "Daisy" worked for a month 8 daily shifts (192 hours). Tariff rate he was set 45 rubles per hour. Of the 192 hours worked by the watchman, 64 are night shifts.
The calculation of the surcharge in this case will look like this: 45x0.2x64 = 576 rubles.
The resulting figure is summed up with other types of charges relying on the watchman for the worked period.
2. A process engineer of the same organization has a salary of 8,000 rubles per month.
The monthly norm of hours was 176. By order of the management, he was called to work from 24 hours to 8 in the morning. Of this time, 6 hours fall during the night.
The calculation will be as follows:
8000/176 = 45.45 rubles. - the salary of a process engineer in a given month.
45.45x0.2x6 = 54.54 rubles. - co-payment received.
When calculating wages, this amount is also added to all types of accruals due to the employee for the month.
Work at night in excess of time
Due to production needs, almost any employee can be hired overtime, for example, to replace a failed shift. How are night hours paid in this case?
Labor outside the normal amount of time is estimated, according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in an increased amount. During the first two hours, payment is increased by an amount not less than one and a half times the rate, in the next - not less than two times. The specific amounts of remuneration for overtime work, as well as for night hours, are established by the internal regulatory documents of the organization, the employment contract.
If overtime work occurred at a time from 22 to 6 hours, then the employee's salary should be increased immediately for two reasons (payment of night and overtime).
As you can see, the regulation of night work has its own peculiarities aimed at compensating for a person when the routine of his work and rest differs from the usual ones. The law sets a minimum by which night work hours must be increased. The employer may also increase this minimum size at his discretion within his organization.
