In addition to the labor agreement, the relationship between employee and employer is regulated by a collective agreement. Despite this, drawing up such a document is not mandatory. However, if an agreement exists, its provisions must be respected by both employees, administrators, and the employer.
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What it is
A collective agreement (CA) is an official document necessary to regulate labor and other relations between the employer and employees of the organization. The concept of CD is established by law in Art. 40 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Like any other document, a collective agreement should not worsen the employee’s position established by state regulations. That is, the rights and obligations of the employee established by the document should not be lower than those guaranteed by the state.
The contract of agreement can be concluded at the enterprise as a whole or in its individual branches. In the first case, the document has legal force for an LLC or individual entrepreneur in general, and in the second - only for a specific division, that is, employees of other departments or branches are not required to comply with the provisions of the agreement.
Also, a company representative office located in another country can develop its own version of the agreement.
Parties to the agreement:
- employees of the enterprise represented by representatives. This may be a trade union organization or a selected individual;
- employer: individual entrepreneur, head of the enterprise or his authorized representative. For example, a lawyer or deputy director.
Most employers and full-time employees are wondering whether a collective bargaining agreement is mandatory or not in 2021. According to Russian law, such an agreement is not necessary when concluding an employment agreement.
Such a document is drawn up at the initiative of the employer or by an employee of the company. The initiative must be expressed in writing. And the other party is obliged to begin negotiations within a week after notification.
According to the law, the employer is required to sign the contract if the initiator of the procedure was employees of the enterprise. In case of refusal, the employer will bear administrative liability in the form of a fine in the amount of 3-5 thousand rubles.
Violations also include:
- avoidance or refusal to negotiate;
- ignoring deadlines;
- refusal to provide the required information.
For such violations, the fine will be from 1 to 3 thousand rubles.
If neither party has taken the initiative to conclude a collective agreement, then there is no need for it. The law does not provide sanctions for the absence of a document.
What is a collective agreement?
A collective agreement is an agreement between an organization and employees (Article 40 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
After signing a collective agreement, it becomes the basis of legal relations in the enterprise, since it is binding on both the owner of the enterprise (its administration) and all employees. The period for which this agreement is signed is 3 years maximum. However, its content should not limit the rights and guarantees of personnel provided by law.
When needed
Many employers think that a collective agreement creates some restrictions for them and, in turn, expands the range of rights of employees. However, at the legislative level, both parties receive some advantages.
The collective agreement is concluded for:
- consolidating and stabilizing the overall system for managing relations between employees and the employer;
- introduction of certain rules and regulations;
- strengthening the internal and material motivation of the employee necessary to perform current work tasks;
- enterprise expense planning;
- providing measures of social and material assistance to employees in appropriate situations.
So there are benefits for both employees and enterprises. Therefore, the employer’s obligation to enter into such an agreement at the request of regular staff should not be perceived negatively.
What's inside?
So, we found out whether a collective agreement is mandatory for an LLC, and came to the conclusion that no, such a document is not required, although it is possible to draw it up. But what should you write inside if you decide to implement it at your enterprise?
According to the law, it cannot be said that a collective agreement is mandatory, but there are requirements for what it should be if they decide to conclude it. A specific exact structure and content has not yet been developed, so the lawyers of each individual company decide this issue independently. It is generally accepted that in a particular case, employees and the manager are well aware of the specifics of the workplace, and it is on the basis of which they choose the conditions that fit into the local regulatory act.
Compilation rules
The structure and content of the CD have a uniform form and are established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. In addition to the main points, the document must be adapted to the specific activities of specific structures. Whether it is concluding an agreement in private enterprises or in budgetary organizations .
The conditions specified in the contract must not contradict the norms of legislative acts or worsen the situation of personnel.
At the discretion of the parties, additional clauses not established by law may be included in the contract of agreement. Such issues are discussed during negotiations, where the employer’s proxies and representatives of the company’s employees should be present.
The following provisions may be included in a collective agreement:
- form of remuneration and bonus system;
- possible compensations, benefits and allowances;
- procedure for salary increases;
- system of hiring and firing personnel;
- options for professional retraining or training;
- the procedure for issuing vacations, as well as options for rest and breaks during the working day;
- working conditions provided by the employer;
- occupational health and safety;
- the opportunity to study at a university without interrupting work;
- the possibility of providing sanatorium and resort vouchers for employees and their families;
- questions about catering in the company;
- appointment of a person responsible for compliance with the provisions of the agreement;
- liability of the parties for possible violations of the provisions of the agreement;
- the procedure for making edits and changes to the document;
- additional points.
A sample agreement can be downloaded from this link.
After drawing up the document, it must be approved in the appropriate manner.
What is it about?
What constitutes a collective agreement is described in the Labor Code in force in Russia, and specifically in article number 40. It states that this term refers to a legal act designed to clarify social and labor interactions within a certain company or individual entrepreneur. This agreement is concluded between a representative of the organization and people serving in the company.
It is not clear from the definition alone whether a collective agreement is mandatory at an enterprise or whether its conclusion can be avoided. But we can say for sure that the presence of such an agreement provides employees (as well as the employer) with a number of additional benefits and rights, and also regulates some of the obligations of the parties specified in the collective agreement.
How to approve
The procedure for approving a design documentation is a rather complex and lengthy process:
- Identify employer and employee representatives. The employer can be represented by an individual entrepreneur or the director of an enterprise, as well as any authorized person. A trade union can represent workers. If this is not the case, then representatives are selected by secret ballot. The negotiation period cannot take more than 3 months. For this period, all participants are released from work while maintaining their average earnings. Also, participants in the process cannot be subject to disciplinary action or dismissal. If you wish to hire an expert, the cost of his services is paid by the initiator.
- Present the project. The draft agreement is presented by the party initiating the negotiations. All points must be voiced at the meeting. However, conditions may differ from labor legislation only in the direction of improvement.
- Notify about the start of negotiations. The initiator must notify the other party of the need to begin negotiations, as well as set a date and time. The recipient of the notification may make adjustments to the start date of the process by agreement.
- To negotiate. Negotiations officially begin from the moment the second party responds to the initiator’s notification. Avoiding negotiations will result in a fine. The maximum time for starting the procedure is 7 days after receiving the notification.
- Form a single representative office. This is only necessary if there are two or more trade unions operating on the territory of the enterprise. The representation must include at least one member from each trade union.
- Condemn the project. Labor legislation does not regulate the number or content of contract clauses. If disagreements arise, specialists may be involved in the process. Each party has the right to make its own adjustments to the document. The final content of the document must be agreed upon point by point.
- Approve the project. The project is approved after its presentation at a general meeting of all employees of the enterprise. The final decision is made by a majority vote.
- Drawing up and signing a protocol of disagreements. If during the negotiations the parties still have disagreements, they should be recorded on a special form for further consideration. If there are no disagreements, then the negotiations are over.
- Registration of CD. The collective agreement must be registered with the labor authority within 7 days after official signing. This is necessary for legal verification of the document.
The maximum validity period of the CD is 3 years. After the expiration of the term, it is accepted again with the possibility of making changes.
Thus, a collective agreement is not a prerequisite for the functioning of enterprises with hired employees. Such a document is formed on the basis of agreement of the parties and cannot worsen the current situation of employees.
How to start the process?
If the enterprise has a trade union, everything is very simple. Its employees know exactly whether a collective agreement is mandatory or not, they figure out where to start concluding it and how to approach the manager in order to organize a correct and effective discussion of the conditions. But what if there is no trade union, but there are activists among the staff who are ready to take on this issue? What to do in this case?
First of all, you have to tell the manager and the personnel department whether a collective agreement is mandatory or not, and then offer to conclude this agreement. An employee representative is elected, and in some cases even a special representative body is created. To form it, all employees of the company are gathered and a secret vote is held.
The current Labor Code does not contain any conditions for the selection of representatives from among the company’s employees. Nevertheless, experts recommend making a decision in favor of one person or another if at least half of the company’s entire staff participated in the meeting and at least half of those present voted in favor of one candidate. These are the requirements that are presented to meetings during which a decision is made to start a strike, so it is fair to assume that in the situation of discussing the design agreement they are appropriate.
How it works
The collective labor agreement, as soon as it was possible to conclude this local legal agreement, immediately applies to each and every employee registered in the organization. It applies equally to those who took an active part in the selection of representatives and to those who were at that moment amorphous. The Code of Conduct will continue to be valid in the future for every employee hired.
According to the legislation of our country, there is no such standard that would speak about the need for a collective agreement. This document is not required to be concluded. On the other hand, a number of norms of the Labor Code say that some issues can be resolved precisely through the labor contract and nothing else.
Only a collective agreement can normalize the following aspects:
- changing the length of the working day if the conditions for this are harmful or dangerous;
- shift schedule;
- reducing working hours at night;
- granting leaves for additional reasons when salaries are not maintained;
- application of labor standardization methods determined individually in the company.
More recently, in 2012, a new resolution was adopted. According to this legal act, the employer does not have the right to refuse to conclude a collective agreement if, according to certain norms of the Labor Code, he has to resolve an issue from among those described above, that is, not considered in other documents.
Substance of the document
A collective labor agreement is an internal document of a specific company, the main task of which is to establish certain provisions for labor activity in it. A collective agreement, as its name suggests, is always signed by one employer and a group of its employees.
The presence of a valid collective agreement in the organization is not mandatory. Unlike an individual agreement, the drawing up and signing of a collective document is rather an initiative of one party rather than a direct responsibility.
Since a collective agreement enshrines numerous aspects of work, it is convenient to conclude it in a large organization in which professional activity is characterized by a large number of various nuances, features and provisions. For example, in some large companies, employees are provided with preferential housing - in this case, the collective agreement will contain the conditions for its provision, as well as other nuances related to it.
One party to a collective agreement is always the employer, represented by a responsible representative of the organization, who has the appropriate authority to sign this document. Most often, such a representative is the immediate manager of the company or the head of the personnel department. Sometimes a legal adviser is involved in this action. The second party to the contract is always the employees themselves, namely the body that represents them. These two parties, through joint negotiations, agree on important nuances and features of the content of the document.
The validity of a collective agreement may concern both the entire team and its individual parts, for example, a certain structural unit. In some cases, a collective agreement is drawn up and signed for a separate branch of the organization.
With regard to the content of the document, it must include all provisions of labor activity that were not reflected in the individual employment contract previously concluded by the parties.
