The employee does not come to work, what should I do? What to do if an employee does not show up for work

One of our clients found himself in a very unpleasant situation.

Right before the semi-annual reportingtheir chief accountant has disappeared. One “fine” day, the employee did not show up for work, leaving behind her work book and salary for the month she worked. She doesn’t answer calls; it’s unclear what happened to her.

What should an employer do in such a situation? Is it possible to fire a missing employee without his knowledge or not?

Answer to the question posed

It should be noted that unauthorized leaving of the workplace can be qualified as absenteeism, only if it was committed without good reason.

Therefore, in order to be able to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of dismissal, the employer must carry out the following sequence of actions.

1. Firstly, try in every possible way find out the reasons absences (make sure there are no valid reasons for missing work).

This includes: calls to relatives, conversations with friends and neighbors.

If there is such an opportunity, then it is better to visit the missing employee at his home address (with witnesses) and hand over the request directly or draw up an act of absence of the addressee.

On days of absence of an employee, the code “NN” (absence for unknown reasons) will be reflected in the time sheet and wages will not be accrued.

In addition, as an additional safety net, it is advisable to draw up employee absence certificates on a daily basis and sign them by several employees who will act as witnesses.

2. Next, if it was not possible to communicate with the employee who did not show up for work, you should send notification letter– with request explanations of reasons absence from work.

This requirement is established by Article 193 of the Labor Code.

3. If an explanation is not provided, an appropriate Act.

Moreover, according to Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the absence of an explanation is not an obstacle to applying a disciplinary sanction (in the form of dismissal).

4. Thus, on the basis of the mentioned acts, notifications of delivery and other documents, orders of disciplinary action and dismissal employee for absenteeism.

The date of the dismissal order will be the day the order is signed, and the date of dismissal will be the employee’s last day of work (Article 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Let us once again make a reservation that it is advisable to first make sure by experience that the employee is not in the hospital, has not been captured, etc., but is in good health away from the production activities of the organization.

In any case, the fact of the existence of a “valid” reason for absence will be established by the court subsequently if the employee requests reinstatement at work (under Article 394 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

And here it should be mentioned that in the case when an employee appears after some time and declares the need for reinstatement at work due to the fact that he was absent for valid reasons, the case will be considered taking into account principle of inadmissibility of abuse of rights(clause 27 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated March 17, 2004 No. 2), including such abuse as the employee’s failure to report the reasons for absence from work if such an opportunity exists.

If the court determines that the employee has abused his right (concealing information), the court will refuse to satisfy his claim for reinstatement at work.

It is to ensure the evidence base in this case that every effort must be made to find out the reasons for the employee’s absence with appropriate documentation of all procedures performed.

It is also worth remembering that, according to the same Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, disciplinary sanction is applied no later than one month from the day the misconduct was discovered, that is, from the first day the employee was absent from work. Therefore, you need to try to carry out all these procedures as quickly as possible.

For this period, the organization can enter into a fixed-term employment contract with another person (Articles 58 and 59 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) or transfer the responsibilities of an absent employee to another employee by formalizing an internal combination.

5. On the day of the employee’s dismissal, a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt should be sent to his home address - about the need to appear for work book or agree to have it sent by mail.

This step is due to the fact that the employer is legally required to issue the employee his work book on the day of dismissal (clause 35 of the Rules for maintaining and storing work books, producing work book forms and providing them to employers, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 16, 2003 No. 225). Without the consent of the dismissed person, sending a work book by mail is illegal (clause 36 of the Rules).

In addition, the employee should be sent copies of orders imposing disciplinary sanctions and dismissal, as well as a notice of the need to appear to receive wages or agree to transfer money by mail (Articles 62, 140 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

From this moment on, the employee is considered dismissed and no additional action is required from the employer.

Another possible behavior in this situation should also be mentioned - termination of an employment contract due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties, that is, in particular, in connection with the recognition by the court of an employee deceased or missing(Clause 6 of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Articles 42 and 45 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, it is necessary to comply with all procedures provided for by law. And this will take a lot of effort and time. According to this option, the employer waits for the return of the missing employee for a year, and then goes to court with an application to recognize the citizen as missing (Article 42 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In any case, the costs of these procedures will significantly exceed the costs that may arise if the court decides to reinstate the dismissed employee.

Thus, the best option in a situation where an employee has disappeared and everything indicates that he is not going to return is active action with step-by-step documentation of all the facts and the subsequent dismissal of the employee.

P.S. This material formed the basis for our publication “ An employee has gone missing. Options" in the magazine "Glavbukh" (No. 17, 2008).

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Author of the article: Zvyagina Tatyana, company " Independent solutions»
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Tatiana Gezha,
leading expert consultant at TLS-GROUP CJSC

The employee did not come to work, and nothing has been heard about him for several days. Anything can happen in life, and an employee’s absence may be due to illness or some other serious reason. What should an employer do in this situation?

We are trying to find the employee
To begin with, HR specialists need to use the employee’s personal card and try to contact him or his relatives using all available telephone numbers. However, the phone is silent, the phones of relatives are also not answered. What to do next?
We record the fact that the employee is absent from work
The fact that the employee is absent from the workplace must be confirmed by some written document.
In the future, if the reason for the employee’s absence turns out to be unjustified, it will be quite possible to dismiss him in accordance with Art. 192 - 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for “truancy”. A document confirming the absence of an employee can be a memorandum or act. If an act is drawn up, the presence of two witnesses is required (see Appendix 1).
During the first week of the employee’s absence, it seems advisable to draw up reports every day at the end of the working day.
In subsequent weeks, it is possible to draw up one report based on the results of the week.
We prepare a time sheet
While there is no information about the employee in the work time sheet, in accordance with the Decree of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated January 5, 2001 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for labor accounting and payment”, it will be necessary to enter the code “NN” (failure to appear for unknown reasons (until the circumstances are clarified)) or digital code 30. If the employee appears over time, an adjustment sheet is drawn up, which indicates the real reason for the employee’s absence.
Replacing a missing employee
While the search is underway, someone must do the job of the missing employee.
1st option
You can replace an employee yourself. To do this, one of the company’s employees who has certain experience or qualifications that allows them to perform work in place of the missing employee can be offered a combination of professions (positions). If the employee agrees with the proposal, an additional agreement to his employment contract on combining positions is drawn up (see Appendix 2).
Based on the signed agreement, an order is issued in any form (see Appendix 3).
2nd option
If you cannot use the combination option, you will have to look for a specialist “outside”. The complexity of this option lies in the fact that not every applicant will be ready to enter into a fixed-term employment contract, and even for an indefinite period. Therefore, the applicant can be warned that a fixed-term employment contract will be concluded, but in the event of termination of the employment contract with the main employee, the fixed-term contract can be reissued to the “main” one (see Appendix 4).
After concluding an employment contract, an order is issued in form No. T-1 for employment. After replacing the missing employee, the organization must continue to search for the missing employee. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to dismiss an employee “in absentia”. Before the employer learns about the circumstances of the absence, the employee is absent for him for an unknown reason.
Sending letters home
In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, before applying a disciplinary sanction, the employer must request a written explanation from the employee.
Therefore, in addition to phone calls, you will need to send a letter to the employee asking for written explanations regarding the fact of absence from the workplace.
The letter is written in any form. It is better to send a registered letter with acknowledgment of delivery to the addressee. Confirmation of sending such a letter will be a mail receipt, as well as a notification received back.
The sending of such a letter must be endorsed in the outgoing correspondence journal. If the letter is returned due to the absence of the addressee, in accordance with Art. 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, you will need to draw up an act stating the impossibility of obtaining a written explanation from the employee.
Contact the police
Who can report a missing person to the police and when? Until recently, many departments refused to accept an application if less than three days have passed since the disappearance, citing the fact that most of the missing themselves are on the second or third day. Today the situation has changed.
Any person or organization can file a missing person report. If an employee is missing from work, his colleagues have the right to submit a statement.
Moreover, the application must be accepted immediately, precisely in the internal affairs body where the person applied. That is, not necessarily at the place of residence, not necessarily at the address where the person lived at the time of disappearance or worked. Although the search in the future will still be carried out by the internal affairs body in whose territory the last location of the missing person has been reliably established.
The duty department will register the appeal and issue a notification coupon. The duty officer is obliged to check the wanted person against all available databases of the sobering-up center, hospital, and morgue. After registering an application, an investigative and operational team is sent to the last place of residence of the wanted person, which is obliged to inspect the house or apartment and determine whether a crime was committed there. As a result, a search case will be opened against the missing person and all subsequent operational search activities will be carried out within the framework of this case. During this time, the applicant has the right to regularly receive information about the progress of the search.
Let's go to court
If an employee is absent for a long time, then it is possible to dismiss him only under clause 6, part 1, art. 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, i.e. due to circumstances beyond the will of the parties (death of an employee or employer - an individual, as well as recognition by a court of an employee or employer - an individual as deceased or missing).
In accordance with Art. 42 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen may, at the request of interested parties, be recognized by the court as missing if during the year there is no information about his place of residence at his place of residence.
If it is impossible to determine the day of receipt of the latest information about the missing person, the beginning of the calculation of the period for recognizing an unknown absence is considered to be the first day of the month following the one in which the last information about the absent person was received, and if it is impossible to determine this month, the first of January of the next year.
In accordance with Art. 276 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, you will need to draw up an application to recognize a citizen as missing and submit it to the court at the place of residence or location of the interested person a year after his disappearance.
The application to recognize a citizen as missing or to declare a citizen as dead must indicate for what purpose the applicant needs to recognize the citizen as missing or declare him dead, and the circumstances confirming the unknown absence of the citizen or the circumstances that threatened the missing person with death must also be stated. or giving grounds to assume his death from a certain accident (Article 277 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
The application is also accompanied by a certificate from the internal affairs bodies stating that the search efforts did not produce results.
After the court recognizes the employee as missing, the employment contract with him can be terminated on the basis of a court decision that has entered into legal force (Article 209 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
We terminate the contract
The order is issued in form T-8 (see Appendix 5).
The entry in the work book will look the same (Appendix 6).

The labor legislation of the Russian Federation provides the employer with a number of tools for regulating relationships with employees. One of them is the application of a disciplinary sanction - dismissal - for violation of labor discipline, namely absenteeism. However, the application of this sanction against an employee requires compliance with the procedural order and the legality of the grounds.

We all understand that dismissal “under article” is not the most humane method.

But if an employee systematically violates internal labor regulations, he skips work. And all possible solutions, such as dismissal or, no longer help.

Then there is only 1 option - dismissing the employee for absenteeism. Today we will tell you how to do this correctly and legally.

What is truancy?

Important! Please keep in mind that:

• Each case is unique and individual.
• A thorough study of the issue does not always guarantee a positive outcome. It depends on many factors.

To get the most detailed advice on your issue, you just need to choose any of the options offered:

Sometimes an employer or employee interprets the concept of “absenteeism” in their own way. For some, it is failure to show up for work without warning, for others, being late, and some believe that absenteeism is a refusal to do extracurricular work. To resolve disputes, you need to study what the law says. The legal definition of truancy is given in Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Absenteeism is considered to be absence from the workplace without good reason during the entire working day (shift), regardless of its duration, as well as absence from the workplace without good reason for more than four hours in a row during the working day (shift).

To qualify absenteeism, the following conditions must be met:

• absence for 4 or more hours;
• unjust cause;
• the offense is one month old.

Therefore, before dismissing an employee for absenteeism, it is necessary to establish that he was actually absent from the workplace, correctly determine the period of his absence and the reason why the employee did not come to work or left the workplace before the end of the shift.

What constitutes absence from work?

The procedure for dismissal for absenteeism clearly regulates the condition - absence from work. But what is considered a workplace? An office, company territory or a chair on which an employee sits while working?

In this matter, you should first study the job description and the employment contract with the employee, as well as the collective agreement, if any. Additionally, other local acts (orders, instructions, regulations) can be used that define the “workplace” for a specific employee.

For example, an instruction or order for a worker may indicate that his workplace is a specific machine or workshop number. In this case, absenteeism will be considered the time that the employee spent outside the workshop or at the machine.

If there is no clear concept of what is considered a workplace in local acts or labor agreements, then you need to be guided by Art. 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which defines that a workplace is a territory where an employee needs to arrive to perform assigned functions. That is, the entire territory of the company.

Time away from work

The law gives an employer the right to dismiss an employee for absenteeism if the employee has been absent for 4 hours or more. It means that, If an absence of exactly 4 hours or less is recorded, then you cannot be fired for absenteeism. Yes, other disciplinary measures can be taken, such as a reprimand, but not dismissal. Having information on how to fire a person for absenteeism, employees sometimes take advantage of this four-hour period, which does not allow absence to be considered absenteeism.

How is time away from work calculated correctly?

Further, the period of absence does not include the lunch break. Reason – Art. 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, excluding the duration of the break from working time. Therefore, if, for example, an employee came to work at 14:20, but was supposed to at 10:00, while the break was set from 13:00 to 14:00, then this act will not be considered absenteeism, since the employee was absent only 3 hours 20 minutes.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows you to take into account and summarize all periods when the employee was not on site, but only within one shift or day, depending on the established schedule. That is, periods of absence cannot be summed up over several days or shifts.

• 1 hour in the morning;
• 1 hour 10 minutes after lunch;
• 2 hours at the end of the shift.

In total, 4 hours and 10 minutes will be missed for the whole day. This can be qualified as truancy, subject to other procedural requirements.

Valid reasons for absenteeism

The legislator for the current 2019 does not define in any article of the Labor Code what are valid reasons for absenteeism. It is believed that this fact must be established within the framework of the proceedings, that is, separately in each individual case. In practice, a valid reason is one that arose not at the will of the employee.

That is, they recognize as respectful:

• employee illness;
• illness (death) of a close relative;
• emergencies;
• road accidents or incidents;
• housing and communal accidents;
• other.

Of course, valid reasons for absenteeism must be documented or otherwise confirmed, for example, by testimony of witnesses. Documents must be certified in accordance with the general procedure. For example, get a medical certificate, a copy of the accident report.

The law also does not consider absence of an employee with the consent of the manager as absenteeism. That is, if an employee “asked for time off,” then this is not absenteeism. But, as with other reasons, the fact of management’s permission must be proven.

Oral permission alone is not enough, because it will be impossible to prove it. In practice, the employer can take advantage of this “loophole”. Therefore, it is important to know what constitutes absenteeism without a good reason, absence from the workplace even with the permission of the manager, if there is no written confirmation of permission.

Step-by-step procedure for dismissal for absenteeism

The step-by-step instructions for dismissal for absenteeism provide the following procedure for going through all stages: from committing an offense - absenteeism - to the final entry in the work book.

It is important to comply with all procedural formalities to avoid litigation. After all, if the procedure for actions and paperwork is violated, the dismissal may be declared illegal in court, the employee may be reinstated in his position, and the employer may be required to pay compensation.

So the procedure for how to properly fire an employee for absenteeism:

1. Document the fact of absenteeism. This can be done by logging the employee's absence. The act is drawn up in the presence of witnesses (2-3 people). It is also permissible if the immediate supervisor submits a report on the commission of an offense to his subordinates to higher authorities.
2. . An explanatory note must be drawn up only in writing. Verbal explanations are not suitable. Duration – 2 days.
3. Based on the results, either the official investigation is closed or a report is drawn up. Also, if there is no explanation from the employee within 2 days, a corresponding one is drawn up (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
4. A decision is made to impose penalties. The right to fire for absenteeism is not an obligation, that is, the employer may not fire the employee, but apply another type of penalty.
5. A dismissal order is being prepared.
6. Familiarize the employee with the order.
7. Record your dismissal by making an entry in your work book.

Nuances of action during long absences

The situation when there is a long walk deserves special attention. When dismissing someone for long absence, the step-by-step instructions are almost the same as for normal dismissal, that is, there are discrepancies:

1. Record absence: compile, enter data in.
2. Draw up the need to appear and provide explanations.
3. Send notice to the employee at a known postal address.
4. After receiving notification of delivery, wait 2 days + the period required for delivery of correspondence.
5. If explanations are not provided and confirmation of receipt of the notification, draw up a report.
6. Take measures to determine the reasons for absence if notification has not been received. This stage is not mandatory, but recommended to avoid problems in a possible lawsuit later. You can make calls to the employee’s relatives and get their testimony.
7. Write down the activities carried out, recording the information received. Optional.
8. Design .
9. Draw up a report on the impossibility of familiarizing the employee with the order.
10. Enter information into the work book.
11. Make payment calculations.
12. Send a notification to the employee about the need to obtain a work book.

Due to the fact that the law establishes a period for disciplinary punishment of 1 month, it is necessary to carry out all actions as quickly as possible. Considering that letters are returned to the sender after a month of storage, we recommend sending a telegram asking for clarification.

It would also be reasonable to draw up daily reports of the employee’s absence during the entire period of absenteeism, or to record this in another accessible way, for example, by making notes in the arrival and departure log, in order to comply with the procedure for dismissal for absenteeism without a good reason.

Preparation of procedural papers

The first document that needs to be prepared is confirmation of the fact of absence. The most common option is to draw up a report, although a report can also be used, based on the results of which an official investigation is opened. After requesting an explanatory note, you must wait two working days. Immediately on the day of absenteeism, it is impossible to issue a dismissal order for absenteeism sample and terminate the employment contract.

As part of the investigation, a decision may be made to dismiss for absenteeism without a valid reason if the employee refuses to provide an explanation for why he was absent. Or he did not confirm the documented reason, even if he considers it valid. An act should be drawn up about this.

date of dismissal

If there is a dismissal for absenteeism, then on what day should the dismissal take place? Not an easy question. To make a decision, you must be guided by Art. 84.1 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. According to its contents, the employee’s last working day is the date of his dismissal, if for other reasons there is no place assigned to him. In the case of absenteeism, the last day that the employee worked was the day before the day of absenteeism, unless a valid reason was confirmed.

Therefore, if the absenteeism was a one-time occurrence and the employee subsequently appeared and gave explanations that were regarded as an unjustifiable reason, the date of dismissal and the order to dismiss for absenteeism will correspond to the day the explanatory note was received. if the absenteeism is of a long nature, the employee’s daily absences are confirmed by reports and time sheets, and explanations were never received, then dismissal is allowed on the last working day. However, dismissal dated on the day of drawing up the final act of lack of explanation will not be a violation.

Registration of a work book

Entering data into the work book is the final stage of dismissal. If you don’t know or are not sure under what article one is fired for absenteeism, then dismissal for absenteeism is regulated by Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Information is entered into the employee’s work book based on the order. The registration data of the order itself is written in the column “Name and date of the document.” Sample entry in the employment record about dismissal for absenteeism:

First, the number of the serial entry is indicated; the deadline is not missed. Next, the date for entering the information is specified, which must coincide with the date of dismissal and issuance of the order. Next, the employment record of dismissal for absenteeism is indicated in words (). Afterwards the signature and title of the position of the responsible person are affixed. The record is certified by the company seal.

Sometimes an employer can terminate a contract and fire not for absenteeism, but if the employee is recognized as dead or missing. To do this, it is necessary to have a court decision (here in detail about) confirming this fact. The employer can initiate the process himself, or another interested party, for example, a relative, will file a claim.

The entry in the work book will look like this:

Special cases of dismissal for absenteeism

Not every absence from work is regarded as absenteeism, even if it has almost all the signs. For example, it will not be considered absenteeism if the employee does not want to go to work on a non-working day. However, there are exceptions to this rule, the same as when recalled from vacation. It is acceptable to have employees work on days off if this is required to recover from accidents or emergencies.

Dismissal and sick leave

It is unacceptable to fire someone if an employee is sick. If an employee was hastily fired for absenteeism, and he brought sick leave in the form of an explanation of the reason, then such an employee must be reinstated in his position, since the dismissal is unlawful. However, if the fact of concealment of illness and the presence of sick leave has been established, then during the trial the court may side with the employer, considering that the employee is abusing his rights and infringing on the rights of the employer (Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation).

In their lawsuits, citizens explain the situation this way: “I was fired for absenteeism while I was on sick leave.” A certificate of incapacity for work is provided as proof. This is not enough; it is necessary to prove that the employer was notified that the employee was ill. Moreover, a citizen may be denied a claim if he refuses to give an explanation. Of course, if he could do it for objective reasons.

Can a pregnant woman be fired for absenteeism?

Employers often want to fire a woman in a position. Especially if she commits misconduct. However, the question is: “How to fire a pregnant woman for absenteeism?” - has a simple answer: “No way.”

The Labor Code directly prohibits any grounds for terminating an agreement with a pregnant woman at the initiative of the employer, except for the complete liquidation of the organization (Article 261 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Can a pregnant woman be fired under this article if she has committed an offense? Yes, but only on the basis of Art. 336 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which regulates the application of sanctions to employees of educational institutions.

Lawyer at the Legal Defense Board. Specializes in handling cases related to labor disputes. Defense in court, preparation of claims and other regulatory documents to regulatory authorities.

The employee did not show up for work or disappeared without warning. How to find it? What documents should I fill out if the search does not produce results? Is it possible to fire an employee in his absence? Natalia Vladyko, leading editor of the magazine “I am an occupational safety specialist,” answers these questions.

— If an employee does not come to work and does not warn the manager about it, the employer must first find out the reasons for the absence on his own. If an employee disappears from his workplace for a long time during working hours for unknown reasons, then the immediate supervisor should inspect the most likely places of his location.

Natalia Vladyko
Managing editor of the magazine “I am a labor protection specialist”

The search, of course, is carried out within reasonable limits and within the company’s workspace.

For example, there is no need to follow a truck driver from Belarus to the Amur region just to make sure that his phone battery is dead. However, if the driver is involved in an accident, a message about the incident will be sent to the organization and such an accident will be investigated according to the established requirements.

How to register absence using documents

The absence of an employee must be recorded in writing.

1. At the end of the working day, in the presence of several witnesses and in free form, a Act, which indicates information about the employee and the number of hours he was absent.

For impartiality, it is better to involve people from other departments or divisions as witnesses. 2. On the time sheet Only those hours that the employee actually worked should be recorded: for example, 4 hours in the case of disappearance or NN in the case of absence. If the employee shows up later and the reason for his absence turns out to be valid (for example, a document from a medical institution), then an adjustment report card with amendments is drawn up.

If the employee never shows up

Let’s say the employee never got in touch, and the employer no longer wants to continue cooperation with him.

In accordance with legal requirements, it is impossible to dismiss an employee until the reason for his absence has been established. Therefore, if an employee does not appear for a long time after disappearing and the reason for his absence is unknown, the employer should take more serious measures to find him. Perhaps the person is hospitalized, detained by law enforcement, or there is another valid reason. Algorithm of actions:

Step 1. Look at his personal card, find out his contacts and try to reach him or contact his relatives.

Step 2. If you are unable to contact, send a letter to the employee’s address asking him to explain the reason for his absence. If there is no answer, approximately a week after the notification is returned, draw up a report stating that it is impossible to obtain an explanation.

Not only a person’s relatives, but also his colleagues have the right to write a statement to the police. Step 4. If the search by the police does not produce results for more than a year, then the employer, as an interested party, has the right to go to court to have the missing person recognized as missing. Only after this can you formalize the dismissal of an employee who has gone missing.

• Organization of labor of workers - art. 55
• Organization of working time recording - art. 133.