Features of accounting for bonuses and other similar remuneration when calculating average earnings

Taking into account bonuses when calculating average earnings The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for a number of payments that are calculated based on average earnings for a certain period.

To obtain the result, you need to take into account all components of the salary - including bonuses . And due to the fact that there are quite a lot of types of bonus payments, it is advisable to know certain nuances of taking them into account when calculating average earnings.

The need to calculate the average salary

You may need to find out the amount of average monthly, average annual, or calculated earnings for other periods in the following situations:

when calculating vacation pay and travel allowances;
to determine the amount of severance pay upon dismissal of an employee;
upon receipt of accruals during business downtime;
for an employee transferred to a job with lower earnings, the amount of which should be less than the average at the previous workplace.

The concept of “average earnings” should not be confused with the amount established by the state. The average salary indicator used to calculate alimony and other payments is calculated in a special way and applies to the country as a whole. It is calculated annually, without changing the amount until the end of the billing period.

Average salary in Russia. And also in Moscow, St. Petersburg and in the regions!

The need to take into account the annual bonus in calculating average earnings

According to government decree No. 922 of December 24, 2007, all bonus payments must be taken into account when calculating the average salaries of employees. Moreover, if the amounts of vacation pay, travel allowance or severance pay are calculated before the bonus is accrued, a recalculation is required. And then pay the employee the missing amount.

In cases where the employee continuously performed his duties during the period under review (that is, a year), the annual bonus is taken into account in full (100%). But, if during this period he had non-working days, two options for events appear:

for organizations that calculate the annual bonus based on the fact, and not on the time worked by the employee, only part of it is taken into account in the calculations - in proportion to the period of work;
in enterprises where annual bonus payments to employees depend on actual working hours, the annual bonus is used in full in the average earnings formula.

As an example, consider a situation where an employee of an organization goes on vacation on January 25, 2021. The calculation is performed in the accounting department at the beginning of the month, taking into account the earnings for the year worked by the employee (see The best accounting programs: comparison, advantages and disadvantages). During this time he received 350 thousand rubles. salaries, 10 thousand rubles. for a five-day business trip and 60 thousand rubles. annual bonus for 2016. Before going on vacation, all personnel of the organization receive an annual bonus in the amount of 70 thousand rubles. (in fact, excluding time worked) for 2017.

The calculation is performed as follows:

in the calculations, not 247 working days of 2017 are used, but 242, since the employee was on a business trip for 5 days;
according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the bonus for 2016 is not taken into account in the calculations due to the fact that the period for which it was paid does not relate to the previous calendar year;
annual bonus payments for 2017 are taken into account when determining average earnings only after they have been accrued.

When preliminary calculating vacation pay, 70 thousand not yet paid are not taken into account - as well as 60 thousand for the previous billing period. And the amount received by the employee going on vacation requires recalculation - but not 70,000, but 70,000 x 242/247 = 68,583 rubles are taken into account. And he will be paid vacation pay twice. The main amount immediately, the additional amount - after the bonus for 2017 arrives and changes are made to the formula.

Can a salary be less than the minimum wage?

Accounting for bonuses

When calculating average earnings, you can only include those bonuses that are provided for by the remuneration system.
Such rules are established by paragraph 2 of the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 No. 922. When calculating average earnings, take into account the bonuses that were accrued to the employee during the billing period (including for other periods) (clause 15 Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 No. 922).

An example of calculating average earnings. For the time included in the pay period, the employee was awarded a bonus. The premium accrual date is not included in the billing period.

The organization’s collective agreement states that employees are awarded bonuses based on the results of the quarter.

In April 2015, economist A.S. Kondratiev was on a business trip. During the business trip, he retains his average salary.

The calculation period for determining average earnings for business trip days is from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015.

In April 2015, Kondratiev was awarded a bonus for the first quarter of 2015. Due to the fact that the quarterly bonus was accrued outside the billing period, the accountant did not take it into account when calculating average earnings.

The exception to this rule is annual bonuses. They must be taken into account as part of the average earnings for the billing period, regardless of the accrual date. In this case, only bonuses accrued for the calendar year preceding the occurrence of the event paid according to average earnings are taken into account. Such rules are established by paragraph 4 of clause 15 of the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 No. 922. This means that if remuneration based on the results of work for the year is accrued after calculating average earnings, then it will need to be recalculated.

Advice: to avoid recalculation of average earnings, try to accrue remuneration based on the results of work for the year as early as possible. The best option is to accrue the bonus on December 31 of the current year. Then you won't have to do any recalculations.

When calculating average earnings, monthly bonuses and bonuses accrued over a period exceeding a month are taken into account differently.

In what cases are annual bonus payments not taken into account?

The Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation provides that when determining the average salary, all types of bonuses reflected in the regulatory documentation of the organization are taken into account. These also include annual bonus payments for the billing period. Accounting is not required only in cases where the company’s documents do not contain a clause that specifies the calculation of annual bonus payments to employees.

If a bonus for the year was assigned not in accordance with the collective agreement or other documentation, but for other reasons, its size will not affect the average salary. The situation can be corrected by changing the provisions of the relevant documents. Or include the annual bonus among other types of payments - one-time ones, which are taken into account in any case.

Minimum wage from January 1, 2021 in Russia - Regional minimum wage and subsistence minimum

Categories

When calculating average earnings, bonuses and remunerations (including the cost of consumer goods issued in the form of bonuses, rewards), other monetary incentives provided for by the regulations on remuneration (bonuses, incentives) for employees of organizations are taken into account in the following order:

monthly - no more than one payment for each month of the billing period for the same indicators accrued in the billing period;
for periods of work exceeding one month - no more than one payment in the amount of the monthly part for each month of the billing period for the same indicators accrued in the billing period, if the time of work for which the bonus is paid exceeds the number of months of the billing period;
remuneration based on the results of work for the year, a one-time remuneration for length of service (work experience), other remuneration based on the results of work for the year, accrued in the billing period for the previous calendar year - in the amount of 1/12 for each month of the billing period.

If the employee has worked in the organization for an incomplete working year, for which the specified payments are accrued, and they were accrued in proportion to the time worked, they should be taken into account when calculating the average earnings in the amount of the monthly part for each month of the billing period.

In cases where the time falling on the billing period was not fully worked or time was excluded from it on the grounds provided for by the Procedure for calculating the average salary, determined by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 11, 2003 No. 213 (hereinafter referred to as the Procedure), bonuses and remunerations , other monetary incentives are taken into account when calculating average earnings in proportion to the time worked in the billing period (with the exception of monthly bonuses paid along with the salary of a given month).

The calculation period may include the time the employee was on regular leave or the time during which he received temporary disability benefits or maternity benefits or did not work due to downtime due to the fault of the employer or for reasons beyond the control of the employer and employee , and other cases when average earnings are maintained. This retained average salary includes bonuses (quarterly, monthly, etc.), as well as rewards for length of service (work experience), based on the results of work for the year.

Therefore, when calculating average earnings, in order to avoid double counting, bonuses or remunerations that were included in the previous calculation when calculating the time spent on regular leave or the time during which the employee received temporary disability benefits, etc. should be excluded.

That is, if an employee was sick during the billing period, then the amount of the bonus taken into account when calculating average earnings is determined by dividing the entire amount of the one-time bonus by the number of working days on a five-day schedule in the billing period and multiplying by the actual number of days worked.

In accordance with the regulations on bonuses for employees in the organization, a bonus based on the results of work for the month is awarded depending on the time actually worked by a specific employee in a given month. The employee was sick for half a month, and accordingly, the bonus was awarded to him in half the amount. When calculating average earnings, if the time falling within the billing period is not fully worked, should this bonus be taken into account in proportion to the time worked in the billing period, i.e. actually reduce it again?

When considering the issue, it should be borne in mind that the amounts of bonuses actually accrued (and subsequently received by employees) are in no case reduced or withdrawn. However, if the employee has not fully worked the billing period, then the amount of the bonus (having a purely calculated value) is determined, which will be taken into account when calculating the average daily earnings in proportion to the time worked in the billing period.

Let us give several specific examples of determining the size of bonuses that will be taken into account when calculating average daily earnings.

In all the examples given, only the bonus was calculated, which in the future, to determine the average daily earnings, should be summed with the accrued amount of wages in the billing period, and then calculations are carried out in accordance with the Procedure on a general basis.

Calculation of bonuses when the billing period has not been fully worked out.

Let's assume that the employee goes on another vacation in July, and the billing period will accordingly include the next three calendar months - April (21 working days), May (20 working days) and June (21 working days).

The number of working days on a five-day work schedule is indicated in brackets.

Example 1

The employee was ill in March 2005, and based on the results of work for March, he was credited with 1,000 rubles in April. awards.

The employee worked the entire pay period and was accrued the following bonuses:

in May, based on the results of work for April - 6,000 rubles.
in June based on the results of work for May - 6,000 rubles.