The procedure for dismissal of an employee for absenteeism

The absence of an employee at the workplace can be caused by various reasons: from illness, departure or accident to banal absenteeism. Sometimes citizens, having left or changed their place of work, forget to inform the employer about it, without even taking their work book from the personnel department. When the reason for absenteeism is unknown, the employer should scrupulously adhere to the requirements Labor Code of the Russian Federation, describing the procedure for terminating an employment contract with such an employee, so as not to lose a litigation if it arises.

What is truancy

Absenteeism is the absence from the workplace without good reason from 4 hours in a row to the whole working day or shift. Absence from work is regarded as a violation of labor discipline, as it creates an obstacle to the work process or makes it completely unexecutable.

According to current legislation ( article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), the following situations are considered absenteeism:

• absence not caused by a valid reason, when the employer was not notified in advance;
• the delay exceeded four hours without a significant reason.

There are some factors according to which the absence of a citizen at work is not a gross violation of labor discipline:

• the employee received the necessary first aid or medical care;
• the employee has taken sick leave for, or another disabled family member;
• the citizen was forced to testify, participated in the trial, became a participant or witness to a traffic accident.

IMPORTANT! If there is a valid reason for non-attendance, the employee must provide documentary evidence.

Grounds for dismissal for absenteeism

For absence from work without a sane reason, the most severe disciplinary sanction is provided - dismissal for absenteeism, according to Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. If we are talking about a long absenteeism, absenteeism for a week, several weeks, a month, etc. a strict penalty is applied - termination of the employment contract in accordance with subparagraph "a" of paragraph 6 of the first part of article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation No. 81, i.e. at the initiative of the enterprise.

In the case of classic (short-term) absenteeism, management usually does not know where the employee is. This happens, for example, when a citizen missed one day, but then nevertheless showed up at work, or when he did not show up for work, but was in touch and was able to explain what was happening by phone, through relatives or colleagues.

In this case, he will have to draw up a written explanation, as stated article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation No. 193. When 2 working days have passed, and an explanatory note has not been provided, an act is required that fixes this situation.

Refusal to provide explanations about the fact of absence from work must be recorded in an act with the signatures of those who were at work. It is also necessary to collect other evidence of the employee’s absence from the workplace for no reason: this may be evidence of witnesses, a memorandum of his supervisor, extracts from the logbook at the checkpoint.

If the reasons for the absence presented by the employee in a written explanation do not seem significant to the employer, or the truant refuses to provide explanations, the manager has every right to decide on dismissal. It is issued by an order for the imposition of a disciplinary sanction.

The employee must sign the document as a sign that he is familiar with it, no later than three working days from the date of issuance of the order, not counting the period of his absence from the workplace. Refusal to familiarize is also documented by the relevant act.

If the employee does not get in touch, does not answer phone calls and it is difficult to get an explanation from him about his absence from work, this is considered a long absenteeism. In such cases, the employer has the right to demand an explanation from the employee by sending him a letter or telegram to the address of registration or actual residence (as indicated in the employment contract).

It is recommended to send a valuable letter with a list of attachments and acknowledgment of receipt. The time for providing explanations is counted from the date of receipt of the letter, but a few days should be added to this period so that the employee has the opportunity to provide an explanatory letter in response.

ADVICE! If more than two working days have passed, and a written explanation has not been received, it is necessary to draw up an act of non-receipt of explanations from the employee. It is signed by the personnel service, the immediate supervisor of the truant, as well as his colleagues present at the workplace.

Acts of absence from the workplace are drawn up daily, day to day, otherwise, in the event of labor disputes, the absence of such papers will be recognized as a violation by the employer, and the dismissal will be considered illegal.

If the employee received a letter (judging by the note on the notification), but did not appear at the workplace, did not provide an explanation of the reason for absenteeism, a decision is made to dismiss. Then the terms of dismissal will be determined, and the employment contract will be terminated. In this case, the culprit is sent a written notice of dismissal. At the same time, he retains the right to receive a salary for the period worked and compensation for unused vacation.

In what cases can not be fired

Guided by the articles of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the generally accepted practice of personnel records, the following valid reasons for absence from the workplace are distinguished:

• disability;
• the presence of public duties assigned to the employee by a public authority;
• donation;
• arrest;
• weather emergency;
• lack of timely payment of wages for a period of more than 15 days, in the presence of a written refusal received from the employee to the employer;
• strike.

All these facts must be recorded by the relevant documents:

• certificate of blood donation as a donor;
• court summons or certificate of arrest;
• a certificate from the traffic police;
• comment;
• rebuke.

ATTENTION! Based on the article Labor Code of the Russian Federation 261 dismissal of pregnant women is prohibited. In this case, you need to follow article 192, which provides for disciplinary sanctions that are permissible for use in relation to this category of employees.

The fact that a pregnant woman cannot be fired for absenteeism does not negate her compliance with the internal labor regulations and the occurrence of consequences as a result of violation of labor discipline. If long absenteeism is repeated, then the terms for breaking the employment relationship will be postponed to.

Step-by-step instructions for dismissing an employee for absenteeism

The procedure for dismissal for absenteeism should be carried out in several steps. The correct registration of absenteeism will protect the employer from possible claims of the truant, the trade union and other authorities that protect the rights of workers, as well as in the event of a lawsuit.

Preparation of the act

If a decision is made to dismiss an employee, then absenteeism at work must be documented and properly executed. The supporting facts are:

• time sheet;
• a certificate of absence from work signed by other employees and services;
• written notice reminding you to return to work.

The text of the act, fixing the absence of a person from work, must contain the date, time and exact interval of absence, as an assurance, the signatures of at least three witnesses are put. For 1 absenteeism - 1 act, i.e. in the absence of an employee for several days, an act is drawn up daily. When issued after a while, the document will be invalidated.

After the employee returns to the enterprise, he must justify his absence, arguing it with documents, within two days. If this condition is not met, an act on the absence of written explanations is created. A memorandum is drawn up in the name of the head, an explanatory note should be attached to it.

sample order

To issue an order to terminate an employment contract, you can take as a basis the unified form of the order on the absence of an employee. The following information is reflected in the dismissal order.