What should you do if you are fired from a foreign company?

The provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation apply to employees working in Russia: it does not matter whether it is a foreign company or a Russian company, Olga Daineko, a specialist at the Ministry of Finance NIFI Center for Financial Literacy, told socialbites.ca. Therefore, in various situations, you need to be guided by it. Daineko listed five ways to protect rights when expelled from a foreign company.

If a foreign company has announced the suspension of its activities in Russia

In this case, the employer must order mandatory deductions for employees. If it occurred due to the fault of the employer, that is, there is no objective reason, then the employee must be paid two-thirds of his average earnings (calculated for the last 12 months). If it is not the fault of the employer – for example, there were problems with logistics, components, then the employee will be paid two-thirds of the salary.

If such an order was not given or was considered illegal, the employee has the right to claim compensation. You can apply first to the prosecutor’s office and the state labor inspectorate, and then to the court.

If a foreign company leaves Russia for good

A company cannot simply “get up and leave” by abandoning its employees. First, the decision to liquidate must be made. Each employee must then be warned in writing – against signature. This should be done no later than two months before the expected date of dismissal. In the event of liquidation, all personnel, including women on maternity leave, are dismissed, temporarily disabled.

During these two months, employees cannot be sent for forced cuts or forced to go on vacation without pay. They continue to work as usual: it is impossible to reduce their salaries and bonuses. Dismissed employees are also entitled to severance pay in the amount of an average monthly salary, payroll and compensation for unused leaves. Early dismissal is also possible, but only with the employee’s consent and payment of compensation. It is arranged by agreement of the parties.

During the job search, dismissed workers are also guaranteed for a period not exceeding two months (in exceptional cases – three). This means that if the job search period exceeds one month, the employee must be paid another average monthly salary for the second month or part thereof. You must contact your former employer within 15 days of the second month of unemployment. To do this, you will need to issue a certificate from the business center.

Employees cannot voluntarily accept dismissal: then they lose all benefits and compensation rights. In addition, it is not necessary to conclude an agreement with the payment of “compensation” for a smaller amount than is required by law.

if the company goes bankrupt

In the Labor Code of the Russian Federation there is no separate reason for dismissal, such as the bankruptcy of the employer. Therefore, rules similar to company liquidation apply here as well. The employee is required to pay severance pay in the amount of average monthly earnings, compensation for unused vacation, as well as average earnings for the period of work. In case of bankruptcy, employees can also be dismissed with discount or agreement of the parties.

Repayment of debts (especially late fees) occurs through the sale of property of a bankrupt organization. In some cases – with the involvement of business owners in subordinate liability (at the expense of personal funds).

If a person was laid off – what are the payments and guarantees?

The employee must be paid severance pay, salary for the time worked, and compensation for unused vacation. As a rule, the amount paid at the time of dismissal is the average monthly salary. However, management may pay more at its discretion. The dismissed worker is paid as much as the employment period.

If there are layoffs in the company, some employees have a preferential right to stay: these are people who support two or more disabled family members, single breadwinners suffering from industrial injury or occupational disease, disabled veterans of the Second World War and disabled combat operations for the defense of the Fatherland, workers who have developed their qualifications in the direction of the employer, persons with radiation sickness or other diseases in connection with the Chernobyl disaster. This list also includes employees who are given the priority right to stay at the workplace in the collective agreement.

What to do if you have to quit

Illegal. A manager who forces an employee to voluntarily write a statement just wants to save money on payments. Unscrupulous employers may threaten to fire you under the article, deny you access to the workplace, and pressure you emotionally. But there is no need to succumb to blackmail.

In this case, the employee should gather as much evidence of the violation as possible. For the protection of rights, you can first apply to the prosecutor’s office and, if necessary, to the state labor inspectorate, to the court. Courts and other supervisory authorities now accept as evidence not only audio and video recordings of violations, but also audio recordings of conversations and screenshots of correspondence.