How often is SOUTH carried out at the workplace in an organization?

From 01/01/2020, the rules for conducting a special assessment of working conditions (SOUT) are changing. New responsibilities will appear for all its participants: organizations conducting assessments, employers and even labor inspectors. In our material you will find ready-made instructions for conducting a special assessment, which already takes into account legislative innovations. And also refresh your knowledge in this area, learn about the mistakes that employers make when conducting special assessments and their consequences. We will also tell you about automatic fines for special assessments - very soon they will become a reality.

How the legislation on SOUT has changed until 2021

At first, special assessment activities were called “Workplace Certification”, then they were renamed SOUT (special assessment of working conditions). Since 2014, the main nuances of this procedure are regulated by the Law of December 28, 2013 No. 426-FZ “On the special assessment of working conditions.”

Since then, this law has been amended 5 times: by the laws of June 23, 2014 No. 160-FZ, of July 13, 2015 No. 216-FZ, of May 1, 2016 No. 136-FZ, of July 19, 2018 No. 208-FZ and of December 27, 2018 No. 553-FZ.

Despite the fact that the procedure for conducting special assessments has already been studied and has been used in practice for several years, the legislation on special assessment continues to be adjusted. The purpose of the amendments is to improve the quality of special assessments in order to ensure guarantees and rights of workers.

Now another package of amendments to Law No. 426-FZ is approaching ─ draft No. 769142-7 is already in the State Duma. The start of application of the new version of the law is scheduled for January 2021.

When is an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions carried out?

Each employer is obliged to conduct a planned special assessment once every five years, based on the results of which the corresponding classes (subclasses) of working conditions are assigned. The reason for assigning an unscheduled special assessment is recognized as significant changes in the production process that occurred (or should occur) in the interval between two planned (past and upcoming) special assessments. Thus, an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions should be carried out in the presence of the following circumstances (Article of Law No. 426-FZ):

if an order from a State Labor Inspectorate was sent to the employer with a requirement to carry out VSUT;
upon the fact of an accident that occurred at work;
when an employee is diagnosed with an occupational disease, which is duly recognized as a consequence of working with harmful and/or dangerous factors;
on the initiative of the trade union body, which declared the need to conduct VSUT;
when introducing new jobs into the staffing structure of the enterprise;
when launching new equipment;
when integrating new technologies into the production process;
in the case of using a new raw material base (materials, raw materials), which can change the level of exposure to harmful factors, changing protective equipment.

What's new in the SOUT procedure since 2021

Globally, legislators did not rewrite Law No. 426-FZ. But starting from 2021, there will be a number of significant adjustments to the procedure for conducting SOUT.

The changes affected not the special assessment procedure itself, but the preparatory stages for it and the final procedures, as well as a number of other provisions of Law No. 426-FZ.

If we list these amendments very briefly, they will fit into a few lines:

the organization conducting the special assessment is responsible for registering the employer before the start of the special assessment in the FSIS SOUT system and then notifying him of the special identification number assigned by the system ─ without this number, the SOUT report will be invalid;
the start of validity of the SOUT results will shift ─ it will be possible to use the results of the special assessment only after information about it appears in the FSIS SOUT (federal information system for recording the results of the special assessment). Now this moment is tied to the date of approval of the report.

Important clarification! New edition of Part 4 of Art. 8 of Law No. 426-FZ provides that the period of the special assessment will continue to be calculated from the date of approval of the report regarding the results of the special assessment, containing information that constitutes a state or other secret protected by law.

But that's not all the changes. In the new edition of Law No. 426-FZ, a number of other aspects will be corrected and added regarding the additional responsibilities of appraiser organizations, the timing of approval of the SOUT report, the use of UKEP when sending a copy of the approved report, etc. We will talk about them further.

What does the procedure for carrying out SOUT look like starting from 2021?

A special assessment is still required once every 5 years. The stages of its implementation are presented in the diagram:

And, of course, let’s not forget about filing a declaration - no one has canceled this obligation of the employer. Let us recall that such a declaration is submitted in relation to workplaces with optimal (class 1) or acceptable (class 2) working conditions (Article 11 of Law No. 426-FZ). Its form and procedure for submission are approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor dated 02/07/2014 No. 80n.

The declaration must be submitted within 30 working days from the date of approval of the special assessment report (Part 1, Article 11 of Law No. 426-FZ, paragraphs 3, 5 of Appendix No. 2 to Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 80n). The declaration can be submitted remotely on the Rostrud website (clarifications of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated January 16, 2019).

What will the employer additionally receive from the appraiser company starting from 2021?

Starting from 2021, the appraiser company will be obliged to inform the employer about the fact of sending information about the special assessment carried out at his enterprise to the FSIS SOUT. This is given 3 working days from the moment such information is sent (Part 3 of Article 18 of Law No. 426-FZ).

This obligation will be considered properly fulfilled only if the employer receives a notification from the appraiser company in one of the forms specified in the law:

in the form of a paper notice delivered by registered mail with return receipt requested;
in the form of an electronic document signed by UKEP.

Note that the appraiser company, according to the new version of the law, is given a number of responsibilities with clearly defined deadlines for their implementation:

She is given 10 working days from the date of approval of the report to transfer information about the results of the special assessment to FSIS SOUT. The law requires this to be done in the form of an electronic document signed by the UKEP (Part 3 of Article 18 of Law No. 426-FZ).
Within 10 days, she must inform Rostrud about changes in the composition of qualified experts and a reduction in the scope of accreditation of the testing laboratory (Article 19 of the new edition of Law No. 426-FZ).

When is a repeat special assessment needed, and when is an examination needed?

The results of the special assessment may not suit the employer or employees. To check the quality of the conducted SOUT, you can conduct a state examination for a specific workplace. The procedure for conducting the examination of SOUT was approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated August 12, 2014 No. 549n.

It’s another matter if, during the special assessment, there were violations of the methodology for its implementation or the requirements of the law and these violations were identified by inspectors during inspections. In this case, it is possible that the special assessment will have to be carried out again. A repeated special assessment is carried out based on the order of the state labor inspector.

In the new edition of Part 6 of Art. 24 of Law No. 426-FZ it is noted that the results of the examination of the quality of SOUT, consideration of disagreements on the issues of conducting a quality examination and the results of its implementation also need to be transferred to the FSIS SOUT. The responsibility for transferring this information to the information system is assigned to the body authorized to conduct the examination - the executive body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on labor protection issues at the location of the employer who conducted the special assessment (clause 1 of Article 24 of Law No. 426-FZ).

Timing and frequency of carrying out SOUT

The last stage of the special assessment was completed by January 1, 2019 (Part 6 of Art. Law on SOUT). It is assumed that by this date all employers have carried out the above activities and submitted the declaration on time.

When should the next SOUT procedure be scheduled? If there are no industrial accidents or occupational diseases, and inspectors do not find violations in the field of labor protection, there is no need to do a second special assessment. And only upon the occurrence of one of these events, it is necessary to carry out an unscheduled assessment of labor conditions and re-submit the declaration (see “The declaration of special assessment of working conditions was made indefinite”).

IMPORTANT. When a new workplace appears, it is necessary to organize an unscheduled special assessment. This must be done within 12 months from the date it was put into operation.

Errors and violations made during the implementation of SOUT

Listed below are the most common mistakes made by employers and appraisers when conducting special assessments:

Employer mistakes.

Due to the special assessment, the employer may be punished by labor inspectors. It's all about the numerous requirements that the law imposes on this procedure.

Let's name the most common violations of employers during the implementation of SOUT:

Item no.	Type of violation	What legal norm has been violated?
1	The employer did not organize a planned special assessment	A special assessment is carried out at least once every 5 years, unless otherwise not established by this law (clause 4 of article 8 of the Law of December 28, 2013 No. 426-FZ “On special assessment of working conditions”)
2	The employer did not organize an unscheduled special assessment	In some cases, the law obliges employers to conduct unscheduled SOUT (Article 17 of Law No. 426-FZ). For example, when changing technological process, replacement of production equipment, which can have an impact on the level of exposure to harmful and (or) hazardous production factors on workers, etc.
3	SOUT was carried out by a company that does not have appropriate accreditation (the special assessment report is invalid)	The requirements for such companies are specified in Art. 19 of Law No. 426-FZ. The list of companies authorized to carry out SOUT is posted on the website of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation
4	The employer did not familiarize the employees with the results of the SOUT	The employer is given 30 calendar days from the date of approval of the SAW report, to familiarize workers with the results of the assessment of their jobs. Read also: Balance sheet in 1C - step-by-step instructions It does not include periods of temporary incapacity for work of the employee, whether he is on vacation or a business trip, periods of rest between shifts (Clause 5, Article 15 of Law No. 426-FZ)
5	The procedure for conducting a special assessment was not followed (the results of the SOUT may be invalid)	Methodology for conducting a special assessment and Classification of harmful and (or) hazardous industrial conditions factors, the report form on the implementation of special assessment and assessment and instructions for filling it out approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2014 No. 33n
6	Incorrect application of special assessment results	When providing compensation for work in harmful and (or) dangerous conditions cannot be guided solely by the results carried out special assessment of workplaces. It is necessary to take into account the requirements of other legal acts of the Russian Federation (for example, the right to additional leave “for harmful activities” for medical workers in psychiatric medical institutions does not depend on the class of working conditions, established based on the results of the SOUT, which is provided for other employees medical organizations in accordance with paragraph. 4 hours 1 tbsp. 22 of Law No. 3185-1)
7	The employer did not involve representatives trade union organization to participate in the special assessment procedure	If the company has a trade union or other representative workers' body, its representative must be included in the composition commission for conducting SOUT (part 2 of article 9 of Law No. 426-FZ)
8	The employer did not inform employees about the date of the special assessment, and they could not be present during it	The employee has the right to be present during special assessments at your workplace (Part 1, Article 5 of Law No. 426-FZ)
9	The employer did not take into account the employees' suggestions when identifying potentially harmful or dangerous production factors	The employee has the right to contact the employer, his representative, the organization conducting the special assessment, the expert of the organization conducting special assessment with proposals for implementation at his workplace identification of potentially harmful and (or) hazardous industrial factors and for clarification on issues related to special assessment of working conditions at his workplace (Article 5 of Law No. 426-FZ)
10	The special assessment commission did not identified all harmful factors that affect employees	Identification of potentially harmful and/or dangerous production factors in the workplace is carried out expert of the appraiser company. Identification results Read also: Form OS-3. Certificate of acceptance and delivery of repaired fixed assets potentially harmful and (or) hazardous production factors approved by the commission (Part 2 of Article 10 of Law No. 426-FZ)

For an employer, a special assessment carried out with violations can result in a whole set of negative consequences - legal proceedings (if employees go to court to invalidate the results of the special assessment system), unscheduled visits by inspectors, examination of the special assessment system and other unexpected and not very pleasant events and unplanned expenses.

Let us note that the claims of workers and inspectors against the employer based on the results of special labor assessment, as judicial practice shows, are not always justified (see Decision of the Rebrikhinsky District Court of the Altai Territory dated January 14, 2019 in case No. 2A-14/2019, Appeal ruling of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court dated 04/16/2018 in case No. 11-5344/2018).

Violations of the appraiser company.

It would be useful for the employer to become familiar with the mistakes that the appraiser company’s experts make in practice. Due to these errors, the results of the special assessment may be challenged and/or canceled:

Knowing about these shortcomings, the employer, when drawing up an agreement for the provision of services for carrying out special assessment and assessment work, can provide for separate conditions that will help avoid negative consequences due to errors made by the appraiser. In particular, it is possible to stipulate in the contract the procedure for the appraiser company to compensate the employer for losses incurred during a re-special assessment if the results of the special assessment are subsequently declared invalid due to violations committed by the appraiser company’s experts.

Reasons for conducting an unscheduled special assessment

The basis for conducting an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions is an order (instruction) from the head of the organization.

Before the start of activities for an unscheduled special assessment, the manager, by his order (instruction), appoints a commission to conduct an unscheduled special assessment.

The commission includes officials of the organization and representatives of the trade union organization or representative body of workers. In the order (instruction) we indicate the activities being carried out for an unscheduled special assessment and the timing.

Automatic fines SOUT 2021

For the fact that an employer violated the rules for conducting a special assessment established by law or did not carry out this procedure at all, in 2020 they will continue to be punished under Part 2 of Art. 5.27.1 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The penalties have not changed - the employer will be warned or fined in the following amounts:

officials and individual entrepreneurs - from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles;
companies - from 60,000 to 80,000 rubles.

The differences between the 2020 fines and those in force in 2021 are the possibility of their imposition not only by inspectors during inspections, but also the generation of fines automatically.

A special computer program will monitor information received by FSIS SOUT and compare data on the registration period of employers with information on the special assessment they conducted. If the program detects that the company has been operating for more than a year, but has not carried out a special assessment, a fine under Part 2 of Art. 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation will be calculated automatically without the participation of controllers.

Let's sum it up

Starting from 2021, amendments and additions are being made to the Law “On Special Assessment of Working Conditions” dated December 28, 2013 No. 426-FZ, according to which SOUT participants will have new responsibilities.
The appraiser company will be obliged, before the start of the SOUT, to register the employer in the FSIS SOUT and inform him of the identification number assigned to him by this system - without this number, the SOUT report will be invalid.
It will be possible to use the results of the special assessment only after information about it appears in the FSIS SOUT (currently this moment is tied to the date of approval of the report).
The appraiser company will have a new obligation to inform the employer about the fact of sending information to FSIS SOUT about the special assessment carried out at his enterprise. This is given 3 working days from the moment such information is sent to the information system.
From 2021, fines for violating the procedure for conducting special assessments and failure to conduct a special assessment will be assessed not only based on the results of inspections, but also automatically based on the results of monitoring the information available in the information system.

What if?

The question of most interest to the employer is whether it is necessary to conduct an unscheduled special assessment in the following cases:

Change of employee at the workplace;
Changing the name of the enterprise or its structural division;
Changing the name, surname, patronymic of the employer;
Changing the name of a position or profession.

This phenomenon may also be an unscheduled special assessment is not carried out in cases where the changes that occurred did not entail the occurrence of the conditions reflected in Part 1 of Article 17 426-FZ. The decision not to conduct an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions is made by the commission and must be reflected in the minutes of the meeting.