Cases of concluding fixed-term employment contracts. Fixed-term employment contract: what are its features? What is a fixed-term contract?

Today, it is a common practice to hire staff. Such a document allows you to agree on the responsibilities and rights of the employee and his employer, and establish the procedure for remuneration. There are several types of employment contracts.

Below are issues directly related to the procedure for conclusion and the specifics of its validity. Since the temporary nature of agreements between the parties does not guarantee stability, this document raises many questions among citizens.

An employment contract will ensure that the employee respects his rights

Each employment contract includes a number of mandatory points:

1. Deadlines for starting work.
2. Name of position, profession, skill level.
3. Where will the work be carried out?
4. Rights, responsibilities groan.
5. Description of the characteristics of work, compensation in the presence of difficult conditions.
6. Payment order.
7. When will the employee be given rest, when should work begin and end?
8. Characteristics.

If one of the listed points is missing, the contract is said to have been drawn up with violations.

Features of a fixed-term contract

The main property of a fixed-term employment contract is that it is concluded for a certain period; when the specified period passes, the employment relationship ends. This type of contract is concluded if it is not possible to hire an employee on a permanent basis or there is no such need.

This often happens when performing work that is seasonal in nature, or in cases where a limited amount of work needs to be completed. There is no minimum time period for a fixed-term contract; the duration is limited to 5 years.

To perform a fixed-term contract, any workers with the required level of qualifications are used. To prevent a fixed-term contract from becoming a violation, you need to know in what situations it is possible to conclude it. The following are the moments when the type of work requires the preparation of fixed-term contracts:

• If it does not take more than 2 months to perform professional duties.
• If a team member is temporarily unable to begin performing duties, and it is impossible to replace him with other team members.
• If the employee is working.
• When operating a temporary organization.
• If necessary, ensure the performance of work that does not correspond to the general profile of the enterprise.
• To complete specific tasks within a limited period.
• During an internship.
• When employing a person referred by the employment service.
• When employed as an alternative civil service.
• Other cases that do not contradict current laws.

The employment contract should be studied very carefully

The restrictions mentioned above are not a significant obstacle to signing a fixed-term contract. This method of formalizing labor relations is very widespread.

This list can be expanded to include situations when an agreement is signed. They can be like this:

1. Recruitment . If a person works on a permanent basis, then reaching retirement age is not considered a legal reason for transferring him to a fixed-term contract.
2. Employment for people with disabilities who, by law, have only temporary employment opportunities. In this case, a medical report drawn up in accordance with the requirements of current legislation is attached.
3. Employment in small business companies. In this case, the total number of employees should not exceed 20 people.
4. Place of work - the Far North or regions with a similar status.
5. When hired to eliminate the consequences of disasters and emergencies.
6. Upon admission to a place on a competitive basis.
7. When employing creative workers and athletes.
8. Hiring managers, deputies, chief accountants, the type of enterprise does not matter, nor does the form of ownership.
9. Reception.

Drawing up a fixed-term contract

Fixed-term employment contract: sample

In contracts of this type, data similar to the unlimited option is recorded. The document must contain the following:

1. Full name of the person, his data;
2. information about the organization;
3. date, place of conclusion of the contract;
4. place of performance of duties;
5. all basic functions of the employee;
6. payment features;
7. information about the employee who is hiring;
8. characteristics of social insurance;
9. additional information about the nature of the work, special conditions.

In addition to the information listed above, the fixed-term contract also includes the following:

• a description of the reason that became the basis for this method of hiring;
• validity period (both a temporary designation and an indication of the implementation of specific amounts of work);
• when hired for a period of 2 months - six months - the possibility of a probationary period of 2 weeks; for other terms of employment, the probationary period is made standard;
• when hiring for temporary work - a description of the types of activities, contract expiration dates (no more than 2 months);
• to fill out an order, take form T-1, T-1a, in which lines “from” and “to” are filled out in detail, and the latter must contain all the specific information;
• The work book is drawn up in the usual way; at the end of the contract, it is written: “... in connection with the expiration of the employment contract.”

Features of validity periods

Termination of a fixed-term contract occurs according to the specified date

The termination of a fixed-term contract is said to occur when the specified period ends. The wishes of the parties do not matter, but formally the employee or employer must express their intention to terminate the relationship.

Moreover, the dismissal takes place without. The only exception is compensation for vacation. The dismissal procedure itself under such circumstances is extremely simple. By law, the time frame of the contract varies up to 5 years. The document does not stipulate the terms of the work activity or its validity period is more than 5 years - it is considered unlimited.

All other time frames for drawing up a fixed-term contract only affect the procedure for establishing a probationary period. We can name other cases when a fixed-term contract begins to be considered unlimited.

If the audit reveals violations related to the impossibility of concluding a fixed-term contract, it begins to be considered unlimited.

When extended for another term, because the Labor Code does not provide for the extension of a fixed-term contract. There is only one exception here: if a woman whose employment contract has ended writes a statement and indicates that she. In this situation, the contract is extended until the full expiration of the maternity leave period.

When violations are established that were committed by management in order to save on providing the employee with the necessary rights and guarantees usual for employment. An urgent option can be converted into an indefinite one, if there is the will of both parties.

Features of termination of a fixed-term contract

A fixed-term contract can be converted into an open-ended one

To terminate a fixed-term contract in compliance with all formalities, you must take care of the following:

1. When the validity period expires, the contract is terminated or issued for an indefinite period.
2. The reasons must be given.
3. The employee is notified of the termination of the contract no later than 3 days before the date. For this purpose a written notice is provided.
4. Basic requirements for written notification: full name, terms, full name of the organization, reasons that became the basis for termination of the contract. The form doesn't matter.
5. You can terminate the document earlier than the deadline specified in the document.
6. If an employee is hired for a permanent position after a fixed-term contract, dismissal is not required.
7. If a woman carrying a child works under a fixed-term contract, she remains employed in this position until the end of her maternity leave. She cannot be fired before this date. However, there are exceptions here too. If this woman is hired during the employee’s absence, and he returns to his previous position, then the pregnant woman is offered another position. If there is no vacant position suitable for her qualifications and health characteristics, then the contract is terminated.

What is a fixed-term employment contract? What does it mean? The word “deadline” indicated in the title of the term does not mean the speed of making a decision on concluding a transaction, but duration of the employment relationship.

A fixed-term employment contract means that the company at this particular moment needs an employee for the duration of a certain job, and its manager assumes that upon expiration of the term, the employment relationship will be terminated.

For example when it is impossible to conclude an open-ended contract which is usually associated with:

• An employee who previously held a vacant position went on maternity leave. Her place is reserved in accordance with the Law;
• for seasonal work. There may be a need for harvesters, summer route drivers, and support workers for ski slopes. The enterprise is limited in its activities by weather or natural conditions, so maintaining a full staff year-round is not economically feasible;
• The job for which recruitment is open is not permanent in principle and the need for it lasts no more than two months. For example, an enterprise is planning to hold an advertising campaign and needs promoters who will offer possible buyers leaflets indicating the address of a new trading house or office;
• If promotions can be carried out at least periodically, then there are events that generally go beyond the scope of current activities. The premises need to be reconstructed, a logo for a new company needs to be developed, a website needs to be created, a lawyer is needed to consider the case in the Arbitration Court. This task can be entrusted to a specialized company, or it can be performed by newly hired employees.

Citizens, undergoing alternative service or sent for forced public works; trainees; interns; persons accepted for work abroad; elected deputies are also employed for a pre-agreed period.

When it is possible to conclude an open-ended contract, but for reasons of rotation, legal requirements for the employment of certain categories of citizens or working conditions, it is advisable to limit it to an end date. Wherein both parties must agree to the fixed-term nature of the contract.

Examples of such voluntary restrictions:

• managers, their deputies and chief accountants of enterprises. Due to the responsibility assigned to these positions, the owners of legal entities thus insure the risks of ineffective management of enterprises;
• full-time students;
• part-time workers;
• emergency responders;
• newly employed old-age pensioners and disabled people who are not allowed permanent employment for health reasons;
• employees at private enterprises with no more than 35 employees;
• employees on sea and river vessels;
• those finding employment with the condition of moving to the Far North;
• creative workers of editorial offices, theaters, the film industry, circuses (the list of such professions and positions is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation) and others.

Subtleties of conclusion

How does a fixed-term employment contract differ from a regular employment contract? At the end of the fixed-term employment contract, the employee is subject to dismissal. This is the difference between a fixed-term employment contract and a regular “permanent” employment contract. If the term of the fixed-term employment contract is not specified, you are employed “permanently”, your dismissal is not expected.

In terms of basic guarantees and rights of workers, there should be no differences with those employed on the condition of indefinite employment. Temporary workers have the right to vacation, normal working hours, and wages. They are provided with special clothing and personal protective equipment, and are subject to all local regulations of the enterprise and regulations on labor protection.

Duration

For what period is a fixed-term employment contract concluded? What is the maximum period? And what is the minimum?

Fixed-term employment contract is concluded for a period of no more than five years- this is the maximum (maximum) period, the minimum is not specified in the Law.

This:

• concluding an agreement for a period of up to two months;
• vacancies selected for filling through a competition;
• holding a paid elective position;
• conscripts of alternative civil service;
• women raising children under 1.5 years of age and pregnant employees;
• graduates who are employed for the first time in their specialty within one year from the date of receipt of the diploma (for educational institutions with state accreditation), students who completed an apprenticeship at the same enterprise;
• minors (under 18 years of age);
• persons transferred from another employer.

• employed for 2-6 months – 2 weeks;
• managers, their deputies, chief accountants – six months;
• civil servants - from a month to six months or up to a year (Article 27 of Federal Law No. 79-FZ of July 27, 2004);
• other cases – 3 months.

Registration of a work book

If the employment contract is concluded for a certain period, upon acceptance it is done in the usual manner and does not contain references to the period ( Letter of Rostrud No. 937-6-1 dated 04/06/2010). Violation of this rule entails administrative liability of the employer under Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

But upon dismissal, if the employee terminates the employment relationship, an entry is made “upon the expiration of the employment contract, paragraph 2 of part one of Article 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.”

Since the wage fund for temporary and permanent employees does not differ, the enterprise makes mandatory payments to social insurance funds for everyone, and the insurance period for all employees is calculated according to the same rules.

Leave and compensation

The procedure for granting annual leave does not differ from the usual one; employees are granted leave of 2 days for each month of work based on a six-day work week (Articles 291, 295 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Ministry of Labor N 625-ВВ dated 02/01/2002).

Compensation for unused vacation also are accrued as usual, however, here you need to remember that if you are employed for less than 15 days, it is still valid Article 35 of the Rules of the People's Commissariat of the USSR on regular and additional leaves No. 169 of 04/30/1930“When calculating... surpluses amounting to less than half a month are excluded from the calculation, and surpluses amounting to at least half a month are rounded up to the full month.”

Maternity leave for female employees are provided as usual(). But its duration does not depend on the registration method; the employee will simply be dismissed on the last day of maternity leave.

But maternity leave until the child is one and a half years old are provided only for the duration of the contract ().

You can download a sample fixed-term employment contract.

"Pros and cons"

So, let's look at the pros and cons of a fixed-term employment contract for an employee. Temporary nature of the work, of course, limits the desired conditions for employment, but in the case when it is not possible to find a permanent position, one should be guided by other considerations: the amount of wages, working conditions, gaining work experience in a successful company, filling a forced pause during unemployment.

And then, life goes on and circumstances can change: for example, You will establish yourself as a particularly valuable employee and you will be offered another position in the structure of the same enterprise; at the end of maternity leave, the employee will go on her next maternity leave, or change her job to the one she considers most suitable.

Temporary work is often in demand by students, housewives or retirees who want to earn extra money.

If your profession is a builder or an information technology specialist, there will most likely be a job for you in such a niche, if you are not an employee of a specialized organization and are able, using the material resources of the enterprise, to perform highly professional tasks.

For an employer who wants to reduce costs and has the ability to control the work themselves, attracting specialists for a specified period can be no less profitable.

If capital work is being carried out in an economic way, if a specialist who permanently holds a position has taken sick leave or gone on vacation, and the labor market allows you to attract additional labor resources, why not take advantage of the proposed legislative norm?

The personnel service, in this case, must function flawlessly, because, if the dismissal date is missed, the person remains on staff permanently.

Passed stage

So, the final date of the concluded contract expires. What are the possible ways? Extension? Completion? How to fire?

Let's consider typical cases:

• . The employee is given a final payment and the work book is returned. with the entry “at the end of the period...”. Everything is as usual, if the company complied with the terms of the conclusion and had legal grounds for this;
• – if a woman is pregnant or caring for a baby under 1.5 years old;
• dismissal of an employee under a fixed-term employment contract is possible by the employer’s decision, even when the contract has not expired. The employee is paid compensation and dismissal benefits within two months;
• transfer to permanent job(by agreement of the parties or oversight of the personnel service);
• early dismissal on the initiative of one of the parties - similar to generally accepted procedures;
• re-registration. Judicial practice shows that repeated re-contracts violate the Law and the employee will have the right to appeal the next dismissal on these grounds with reinstatement at work.

Each person has the right to independently decide what is more important to him, stability or constant change of activities and impressions. But no matter what you choose, it is important to remember the “rules of the game” and to be protected by the law. We hope our article helped you better understand one of the issues of labor relations.

Useful video

What a fixed-term employment contract is, in what cases and in what order it is concluded, you will learn in the video below:

Employers often have situations where they have to hire workers to perform a specific task. Usually in these cases, the director wants to hire people “temporarily,” that is, enter into a fixed-term employment contract with them. But is it always possible to conclude fixed-term employment contracts? How to do it right? What wording should be in the contract and in the employment order? The answers to these and other questions regarding fixed-term employment contracts are in our article today.

What are the limitations of using a fixed-term employment contract?

It is impossible to conclude a “temporary” (or, in legal terms, fixed-term) employment contract with an employee, guided only by the desire of the employer. The list of cases in which the legislator allows a fixed-term employment contract to be drawn up is given in the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This list is exhaustive. At the same time, the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that if a fixed-term employment contract is concluded, then its text must indicate the circumstances (reasons) that served as the basis for the application of such a contract.

Thus, it is possible to formalize a temporary employment relationship with an employee only in cases where this is directly permitted by the provisions of an article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. To be fair, we note that the list of situations given in this article is quite long. Moreover, some items on the list are open-ended, which makes it possible to further expand the scope of a fixed-term employment contract.

The list itself is divided into two parts. The first includes cases when a fixed-term employment contract can be concluded at the initiative of the employer. And the second part of the list lists situations where the application of a fixed-term employment contract requires agreement of the parties. Concluding the description of the general rules that govern the conclusion of fixed-term employment contracts, let us once again draw your attention to an extremely important rule. Even if the employee does not object to the temporary nature of the employment relationship, a condition regarding the duration of its validity can be included in the employment contract only if this is directly permitted by the provisions of the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Below we will dwell in more detail on the most common grounds from the first part of this list (that is, we will consider cases when a fixed-term employment contract can be concluded at the initiative of the employer).

Temporarily absent employee

Perhaps, in practice, the most common situation in which it is possible to conclude an employment contract for a certain period is hiring to perform the duties of a temporarily absent employee. In this case, the job remains with the “main” employee. But while he is not doing his job, you can temporarily take another person in his place (Part 1 of Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, letter from Rostrud).

The Labor Code does not specify the reasons why the “main” employee may be absent from the workplace. Therefore, there can be absolutely any reasons. For example, temporary disability, leave (not only to care for a child, but also annual paid or unpaid leave), temporary transfer based on a medical certificate to another job, the employee’s performance of state or public duties, undergoing a medical examination or advanced training outside of work. work.

Let us note one more important point: it is impossible to draw up a fixed-term employment contract under which a “temporary” employee will alternately replace several absent “core” employees (for example, during their vacations). This is due to the fact that an article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for the execution of a fixed-term employment contract for the duration of the duties of an absent employee, that is, we are talking about a specific employee and the performance of his labor functions. Therefore, if it is necessary to organize “safety net” during the holidays of the “main” employees, then each time you will have to draw up a new contract (i.e., terminate the fixed-term employment contract when the “main” employee leaves and enter into a new one during the absence of another employee).

As noted above, on the basis of an article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in a fixed-term employment contract it is necessary to directly indicate that the contract is concluded for a temporary period, and provide the corresponding reason from the list established by the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In the case under consideration (when hiring for the duration of the duties of an absent employee), it is recommended to include the following wording in the contract:

What to write in the contract and in form No. T-1

The list of seasonal work, as well as their maximum duration, are established by industry agreements (Part 2 of Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Also for these purposes, you can be guided by the List of Seasonal Work (approved by the resolution of the People's Commissariat of the USSR) and other documents (for example, resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation and the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR).

As we can see, in order to conclude a fixed-term employment contract on this basis, it is necessary that the seasonal nature of the work be officially confirmed. That is, the relevant type of work must be included in an industry agreement or regulation. Moreover, the term of such an agreement cannot exceed the term of the season established by the same document.

However, a probationary period for those hired for a period of up to two months is not assigned. If the employment contract is concluded for a period of two to six months, then the probationary period can be up to two weeks (Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

What to write in the contract and in form No. T-1

It should be noted in the employment contract that it is concluded for a season. Since the length of the season depends on natural and climatic conditions, it is not necessary to indicate a specific end date of the employment contract (Part 4 of Article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Accordingly, the wording of the employment contract may be as follows:

The same wording must be transferred to the employment order (Form No. T-1). Moreover, in the “by” column of this order, the expiration date of the employment contract can be indicated not only by the specific end date of the season, but also by the occurrence of an event (for example, write “end of the season”).

Work outside the normal course of business of the employer

The next legal basis for concluding a fixed-term employment contract is the performance of work beyond the normal activities of the organization.

Features of concluding a fixed-term contract

If the employer enters into the work book data about the period for which the employment contract is drawn up, this will be a violation of the procedure for maintaining work books, and may entail administrative liability under an article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Let's look at what's going on. How justified is this type of contract and when is it impossible to choose between a fixed-term and an open-ended contract?

Distinctive features

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, two types of agreement can be distinguished, with the help of which an employee and an employer can formalize their relationship with each other. Namely:

1. urgent;
2. without specifying a deadline.

In the first case, the employee’s service life is a limited period of time, but not more than 5 years. This may be due to:

• the nature of the work;
• working conditions;
• with health or age restrictions;
• professional activity of a person.

Keep in mind: in case of concluding a fixed-term employment contract the employer does not have the right to refuse to provide an employee with annual or maternity leave, as well as sick leave. In this case, all relevant payments are retained for the employee.

Is the employee's consent required?

It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally. Each specific situation needs to be considered. In most cases, the consent of the future employee is still necessary.

On practice A fixed-term employment contract is concluded in cases where Registration of an employee for permanent work is impossible for various reasons. For example, your health condition does not allow you to do this (this fact must be confirmed by an official certificate from a medical institution). Then his consent is needed.

Investigation workers, many scientists, professors, university teachers, and artists serve exclusively under fixed-term labor contracts, which are signed for a limited period. In most cases - for 5 years. After which they either extend it or refuse the services of this person. The employer does not need to obtain consent from these categories of specialists to sign a fixed-term contract, since there is no second option for formalizing the relationship by virtue of the law.

When consent is not needed

Let's figure it out In what cases is a fixed-term employment contract concluded? and there are no other options:

1. The employee will take the place of a temporarily absent person who is on long-term treatment, on maternity leave, on leave to care for a disabled child, etc. (i.e., absent for a valid reason and retains his place).
2. The services of this specialist are needed for a short period of time - no more than 2 months
3. An employee travels to another country. Example: to work in a branch, to improve qualifications, to undergo an internship.
4. The need for a worker depends on the time of year. Example: his services are needed in winter to clear roofs of snow and icicles.
5. The person will be employed in work not related to the main activity of the company. Example: an organization sells auto parts, and the roof in the warehouse is constantly leaking. The workers hired to reconstruct the warehouse building will operate under a fixed-term employment contract.
6. A group of specialists working on one project for a company and not planning further cooperation with it after completion of work on it.
7. Employees temporarily employed by an organization for an internship or practice.

Conditions of signing

The main conditions for signing a fixed-term contract are as follows:

1. consent of both parties (except for the cases listed above when it is not necessary);
2. there are no contradictions with the law.

The employee and employer express a desire to limit their cooperation to a certain period of time. After its expiration, they can, by mutual agreement, decide to terminate or extend the contract.

When signing a fixed-term contract, no pressure should be put on either party. Otherwise, it may be declared invalid.