Are travel allowances included in the calculation of vacation pay: is business travel included and how does it affect it?

How are travel allowances calculated?

An employee going on a business trip must be reimbursed for all expenses associated with it, including travel, accommodation, etc.
Due to the fact that the employee is absent from the workplace to perform a work task, the employer is obliged to pay him for this work period in accordance with the average earnings. The rules for its calculation are approved by Art. 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On the specifics of the procedure for calculating the average salary” dated December 24, 2007 No. 922.

Average daily earnings are calculated as follows:

SDZ = DRP / KD,

Where:

DRP - income accrued for the billing period;

KD - the number of days worked by the employee in the pay period.

The result obtained is multiplied by the number of business trip days. This is the amount that should be paid for the employee’s work during his forced trip.

Find out in ConsultantPlus whether payment for work on weekends on a business trip is taken into account when calculating vacation pay. If you do not have access to the K+ system, get a trial online access for free.

Details are in the material “Calculating average earnings for a business trip.”

The calculation of average earnings for business trips and vacation pay has been clarified (O.V. Negrebetskaya)

From this article you will learn: - what payments are not taken into account when calculating average earnings; — how to calculate average earnings taking into account the latest clarifications; — whether it is necessary to recalculate the employee’s payments.

The employee worked on a business trip on his day off or a non-working holiday. For these days, he was accrued not an average salary, but a salary of no less than double (clause 5 of the Regulations, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 13, 2008 N 749, Part 1 of Article 153 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). How can this amount be taken into account in the future when calculating vacation pay and travel allowances?

Current standards

The procedure for calculating average earnings is established by the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 N 922 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on Average Earnings).

Payments taken into account

Payments taken into account when calculating average earnings are listed in clause 2 of the Regulations on Average Earnings. It includes payments related to working conditions, including payment for work on weekends and non-working holidays (clause “l”, clause 2 of the Regulations on Average Earnings).

Ignored periods and payments

Clause 5 of the Regulations on Average Earnings lists the excluded periods. These, in particular, include days when the employee retained his average earnings in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Not only days are excluded, but also average earnings. The average earnings are retained, for example, for days of a business trip that coincided with working days for a posted employee (clause 9 of the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 13, 2008 N 749).

Position of the Russian Ministry of Labor

According to the Russian Ministry of Labor, when calculating average earnings, double wages for weekends worked during a business trip cannot be taken into account (Letter dated August 13, 2015 N 14-1/B-608). Department experts believe that the main criterion for excluding accrued amounts from the calculation of average earnings is the characteristics of the period for which they are accrued. According to this logic, it turns out that any amounts accrued during the business trip should be excluded from the calculation, including double payment for work on weekends and holidays. At the same time, double pay for work on weekends and holidays not on a business trip, but at the main workplace should be taken into account when calculating average earnings. Let us show with an example what the application of these recommendations leads to.

Example. Employee A.I. Miroshnikov has been working for the company since 2010. The employee works on a five-day workweek schedule. The working day lasts 8 hours. The employee's days off are Saturday and Sunday. From December 7, he goes on vacation for 14 calendar days. We need to calculate vacation pay. Payments accrued to the employee in the pay period are shown in the table below.

Table

Payments accrued to the employee in the billing period

Solution. Calculation of vacation pay taking into account the position of the Ministry of Labor of Russia Accountable payments. If we take into account the recommendations from the Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated August 13, 2015 N 14-1/B-608, when calculating vacation pay, you need to take into account the payments listed in lines 1, 2 and 3 of the table. In this case, the annual bonus is taken into account in the full amount (paragraph 5, paragraph 15 of the Regulations on Average Earnings). The total amount of payments taken into account is RUB 443,114.16. (RUB 418,000 + RUB 20,000 + RUB 5,114.16). Average daily earnings. The number of calendar days taken into account in fully worked months is 293 calendar days. days (10 months x 29.3). The number of calendar days taken into account in months not fully worked: - in April - 16.6 calendars. days [29.3: 30 calendar days days x (30 calendar days - 13 calendar days)]; — in August — 20.79 calendar days. days [29.3: 31 calendar. days x (31 calendar days - 9 calendar days)]. The total number of calendar days taken into account is 330.39 calendar days. days (293 calendar days + 16.6 calendar days + 20.79 calendar days). Average daily earnings - 1341.19 rubles. (RUB 443,114.16: 330.39 calendar days). The amount of vacation pay will be 18,776.66 rubles. (RUB 1,341.19 x 14 calendar days). For comparison: another calculation option How much will the amount of vacation pay increase or decrease if you do not exclude worked days off and payment for them from the calculation? To find out, let's do a second calculation. The amount of payments taken into account will be RUB 445,645.92. (RUB 443,114.16 + RUB 2,531.76). The number of calendar days taken into account will also change. For August we will take into account 21.74 calendars. days [29.3: 31 calendar. days x (31 calendar days - 8 calendar days)]. And in total - 331.34 calendars. days (293 calendar days + 16.6 calendar days + 21.74 calendar days). The average daily earnings will be 1344.98 rubles. (445,645.92 rubles: 331.34 calendar days), and the amount of vacation pay is 18,829.72 rubles. (RUB 1,344.98 x 14 calendar days). With the second calculation option, the amount of vacation pay turned out to be higher by 53.06 rubles. (RUB 18,829.72 - RUB 18,776.66).

Do I need to recalculate payments?

The Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated August 13, 2015 N 14-1/B-608 gives a general approach to the issue. But if, after the clarifications were issued, you calculated the average earnings taking into account the amounts of double pay for working on a business trip on a weekend, do a recalculation. If the results of the recalculation reveal an overpayment, ask the employees to return it. But at the same time, observe the monthly amount of deductions. It should not exceed 20% of the amount paid (Article 138 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Employees can deposit money in cash at the cash desk or write a statement asking to withhold excess amounts from their salaries. Without the consent of the employee, deduction cannot be made (Part 4 of Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Clause 3 of Article 1109 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). If, as a result of the recalculation, an underestimation of average earnings is revealed, make additional calculations.

The procedure for determining the amount of vacation pay

Art. 114 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation regulates the employee’s right to annual leave, during which he is guaranteed the retention of his position and payment of the average salary. The calculation of the average daily earnings in this case is in many ways similar to its calculation for business trips. The calculation period is also the last 12 months. The periods specified in paragraph 5 of Resolution No. 922 associated with payment based on average earnings and social payments are removed.

Formula for calculating average earnings per day:

SZP = DRP / 12 / 29.3,

Where:

DRP - income for the billing period;

12 - number of months;

29.3 is the average number of days in a month.

But this formula is applicable only in the absence of partially worked months. If an employee was absent from work for part of the days, the number of actual days worked is calculated separately for each partial month.

See an example of vacation calculation. Better yet, use our vacation pay calculator.

However, the question remains: are travel allowances included in the calculation of vacation pay or should they be excluded from the calculation period?

Calculation of vacation pay for business trips

The calculation of vacation pay should not include periods of absence of an employee from the workplace, paid according to average earnings (clause 5 of Resolution No. 922). As we have already found out, payment for the time spent on a business trip is based on the average salary. But is a business trip the same as being away from work?

The definition of a business trip is given in Art. 166 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is a trip carried out by an employee by order of his manager for a certain period of time for the purpose of performing an official task outside his place of permanent work. That is, the employee leaves his workplace, albeit for official reasons. Thus, the business trip meets the criteria of paragraph 5 of Resolution No. 922 and is a period excluded from the calculation of vacation pay. The Ministry of Labor came to the same conclusion in letter dated August 13, 2015 No. 14-1/B-608. Thus, the amount of travel allowances paid to an employee during a business trip is not taken into account in calculating average earnings.

Separately, it is necessary to mention the additional payments made by the employer if the average earnings paid during a business trip do not correspond to the employee’s salary. In letter dated March 16, 2016 No. 14-1/B-226, the Ministry of Labor classifies this additional payment as part of the salary accrued for the pay period, and it must be taken into account when calculating the amount of vacation pay.

For the most common mistakes accountants make when calculating vacation pay, see ConsultantPlus. Get trial access to the system and access the material for free.

How to calculate travel allowances in 2019: formulas and examples

Most employers pay for the days that an employee travels on company business in the amount of the average wage. The payment is due exactly for the number of days during which he was on a business trip. That is, if the travel time was, for example, 12 days, including weekends, these hours are distributed over those days that are considered working days and are paid accordingly.

As an example, we can cite the following situation: a certain Sidorov, whose average salary is about 15,000 rubles per month, taking into account bonuses and various types of payments, was absent from the workplace for 3 days because he was sent on a business trip. Let's calculate how much he should be credited for these 3 days:

Results

The issue of excluding business travel expenses from the calculation of vacation pay causes so much controversy because many consider it unfair to equate a business trip with absence from work.
However, legal norms are the main argument here, and according to the instructions of the Government and the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation, it is the exclusion of travel allowances from the base when calculating vacation pay that is the only correct one. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.