Every citizen at least once in his life may encounter situations that happen to members of his family, in which his direct participation is necessary. Of course, to do this, you need to get time off from work, while justifying it on a completely legal basis - the right to take leave for family reasons if there are good reasons. In this article we will talk about how to properly arrange this vacation in conditions of urgent need to go on it.
Family leave
Family Leave: How to Leave
We would like to warn you right away that the law does not oblige management to give leave for family reasons to an employee in all situations. This is because this wording is very general, and it is what is used to write a vacation application in many situations that, from an official point of view, you should not describe.
Are there circumstances in the family that require your presence? It's time to apply for vacation!
Further in the table we will consider under what circumstances it is possible to provide the type of leave of interest to us.
Table 1. Features of obtaining leave for family reasons
| Nuance | Description |
| Having a good reason | In this case, going on vacation is possible only if the management considers the reasons for going on vacation to be valid. |
| Deadline agreed with the leadership or legislation of the country | Determining the period during which you will be away from work is not the preference of the employee, but of the boss. In some cases, the establishment of a specific time period will be based on information from the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. |
In order to achieve what you want and solve the problems that have arisen in the family as soon as possible, you need to agree with the employer regarding this leave. There is only one way to do this: briefly or in detail, if desired, describe to the manager the reasons why you are asking for a break.
To achieve what you want and solve the problems that have arisen in the family as soon as possible, try to describe to your manager the reasons why you are asking for leave
Financial compensation
Labor legislation does not provide for the concept of time off, and, accordingly, the procedure for their payment. However, taking into account the fact that a number of days off are equivalent to leave without pay, we can conclude that additional days off are not paid even if there are good reasons. An exception that confirms this rule is donation, in which the employer is obliged to provide the employee with paid days for rest and recovery.
Another option when an employee can receive monetary compensation instead of time off is overtime. However, in practice the choice between additional time off and financial payment is made by the employer. That is, it is possible to refuse compensation and issue an additional day of rest. This is done in order to save money on the part of management, but this cannot be fully considered a violation.
For going to work on holidays or weekends, you can receive time off or monetary compensation.
Also in practice, you can receive compensation upon dismissal. The calculation will be carried out in accordance with established standards in a particular organization. If an employee takes a day off after working a full shift, then the payment will be appropriate.
Providing leave for family reasons: good and bad reasons
Of course, the reasons voiced to your superiors can only be valid, that is, when your presence is necessary to participate in circumstances that have arisen at home, and the management will understand that they are simply obliged to provide several days of official leave.
Unfortunately, the laws of our country do not define a list of causes that evoke special respect and understanding; however, the Labor Code explains that this list includes only those events that are closely related:
- with incidents that directly affected the company employee;
- situations in which close relatives of a citizen find themselves.
There is a list of valid reasons that may serve as a basis for taking leave for family reasons.
Please note: unfortunately, not all bosses share the family values accepted in society, and therefore do not take into account the importance of the requests of their employees.
In some cases, such rejection will be hopeless, since it is almost impossible to prove the seriousness of your reasons, especially given the fact that your boss has no direct obligation to provide you with leave. However, some family circumstances are still protected by law.
Thus, the Labor Code contains a short list of reasons that are officially considered valid, the occurrence of which becomes an exhaustive circumstance for assigning leave to employees.
If such reasons arise, the employer:
- is obliged to allocate 5 days to the employee to establish peace in the family and resolve general issues;
- will not pay any maintenance, since the period is too short and the grounds are insignificant.
For many modern people, the opportunity to take such a vacation is the only chance to resolve all the problems that have arisen at home.
In the table below we will find out which reasons are valid for receiving a few days to resolve family issues.
Table 2. List of valid reasons for granting leave for family reasons
| Cause | Description |
| The appearance of a child in the family of an employee | The birth of a child is one of the main miracles in the life of every person, which, however, is accompanied by such difficulties as:
|
| Official registration of marriage relations | Each employee has the right to use the required five-day vacation in this situation according to his own desire:
|
| Death of a close relative | The required five days in the event of such grief occurring in the employee’s family are given to him to resolve issues regarding:
|
A number of reasons voiced by the employee can be a good enough reason to let him go on vacation for a few days.
Additional list of reasons for taking family leave
The laws of the Russian Federation do not prohibit the employer from independently making a decision regarding the definition in the regulatory acts of the organization of an additional list of grounds for granting several days of vacation.
For example, female employers often introduce the opportunity for mothers working at the organization to take one day of leave without pay on September 1, when their offspring goes to school for the first time.
In addition, employers quite often include in self-organized lists the following grounds:
- an illness affecting a close relative;
- divorce in court;
- a family member leaving for compulsory military service;
- natural disasters occurring in the region, or other emergency circumstances that in any way affected the employee’s family members;
- school holidays for an employee’s child;
- introduction of quarantine at a preschool educational institution or school;
- packing up the offspring for a further trip to a health camp;
- exams that a citizen takes as part of a session or defense of coursework and dissertations when receiving a second higher education.
There is an additional list of reasons that may serve as grounds for receiving time off.
What to do in case of refusal
Since there is no clear regulation of the registration of time off in labor legislation, there are also no reasons for refusing additional rest. However, it is possible to define situations based on the grounds formed by practice. Some of them, for example, production necessity, which does not allow releasing an employee without reasons according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, allow refusal.
If the employee is convinced that he was refused without reason or that the employer’s decision violates his rights, then the person has the opportunity to file a complaint with the Labor Inspectorate and even in court. However, the second option is more often used when it comes to unpaid monetary compensation.
In practice, such disputes are not considered. The difficulty lies in the lack of regulation of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation directly for the concept of time off and its features. When it comes to overtime that is recorded, it is possible and necessary to prove a violation on the part of the employer, but if, for example, time off is denied due to personal circumstances, then it is almost impossible to establish the guilt of the organization’s management.
If your employer refuses to grant you time off, you can go to court, but it will be difficult to prove your case
Thus, additional days off provided to employees can be issued on the basis of specifically defined grounds, either due to overtime, or due to the person’s special social status.
At the same time, the law does not regulate the time off system, which gives some freedom to employers in determining the procedure for registering and paying for unscheduled time off. Order a free legal consultation
Vacation at any time: who can get it?
The law designates certain categories of workers who can demand leave without pay from their superiors at any time of the year, when it is convenient for them, and go on it. The period of time off provided in this case will range from 2 weeks to 2 months.
This list includes:
- participants of the Great Patriotic War;
- citizens who have reached retirement age and continue to work;
- persons with officially confirmed disabled status who have also not left work;
- husbands, wives and parents of representatives of such professions as the military, firefighter; employee of the prosecutor's office, member of the security forces, rescuer, etc., who died as a result of fulfilling their professional duty or due to an illness acquired in the process.
There are some categories of benefit employees who can receive this leave at any time
Registration procedure
- The employee must make a statement stating the reasons in writing.
- The employer decides on the advisability of providing leave.
- In a personal conversation with the employee, the terms and conditions are discussed (in some cases, the average salary is retained during the vacation, if this is established in local regulations).
- The manager issues an order to the personnel department to create the appropriate order.
- The personnel department is preparing an order, after signing which the employee will have the right not to go to work for a specified period. The order can be issued in any form or in the T-6 form.
This is important to know: Can a woman on maternity leave be laid off?
Documents to confirm reasons for leave
If you want to go on vacation for one of the reasons specified in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, there is no official need to provide evidence confirming the occurrence of a particular circumstance.
It is enough just to draw up a statement of appropriate content addressed to the head of the organization, which indicates the following mandatory nuances:
- the reason for requesting leave;
- the period during which the employee wants to resolve issues that have arisen at home.
Let's give an example. The text of the application may sound something like this: “I ask you to grant me leave without pay from November 10, 2018 to November 14, 2018 for 4 calendar days for family reasons.”
There is also no requirement to attach documents confirming the presence of a valid reason to such an application due to the fact that:
- some family circumstances cannot be officially recorded;
- in other situations, even when possible, documents confirming the need for your presence are issued after the event you were supposed to attend has passed.
Sample application for family leave
So, for example, when a citizen gets married or has a child, he receives a certificate of marriage and the birth of an offspring only immediately after the event.
However, if for some reason the employer insists on the subsequent provision of documentation, then after the event you can bring the papers so that they can be filed with your personal file.
How to write a leave application
Leave at your own expense for 1 day is an unpaid free day provided to an employee based on his request with the consent of the administration.
The application is written in free form (see examples above), it is necessary to indicate the name of the enterprise, the essence of the appeal (you can also mention the reason), and the request for a day off. Legal justification is desirable, but not required. The form is presented to the reception desk, secretary or other person responsible for receiving and registering incoming documentation, or to the human resources department. On such an application, the director puts a visa, then an order is drawn up in the approved form, which the employee is introduced to and signed. Only after this can you be sure that all forms are completed correctly. It is not necessary to print the application, you can write it by hand, the main thing is to register it at the reception and receive a manager’s visa on such paper.
This rest period must also be correctly and correctly reflected in all personnel documentation. In this case, only the order is an administrative document; you should not rely on oral statements.
Application for time off at your own expense
Application for time off due to vacation
Documents to confirm the valid nature of the leave
Supporting documents are papers provided to your superiors after the fact, when you have already gone on vacation and have undertaken to officially confirm the reason for going on vacation.
The employer may require the following supporting documentation.
Table 3. List of supporting documentation
| Document | Description |
| Certificate from a medical organization | If you are taking leave to care for a sick family member, you must obtain a certificate from the hospital stating that they require it. Please note: if you and the ward have different surnames, a paper will be added to this certificate, which should prove the existence of family ties between you. |
Photocopies of certificates:
| Each of these events, of course, is a respectful one, and is accompanied by the issuance of a mandatory certificate, which must be submitted for consideration at the place of employment. |
| A copy of the telegram about the death of a close relative | To go to another locality to say goodbye to a loved one, you must provide a telegram to work informing you of the fact of his departure. |
| Certificate from the civil registry office indicating the time of marriage | A certificate from the civil registration authorities will also be provided, which will indicate the officially designated time for your marriage. |
| Certificate from the medical office of a school or preschool educational institution regarding quarantine | Such certificates can be issued upon request to parents who have to stay at home with their children during quarantine to the detriment of work. |
| Certificate from a higher educational institution | You can officially confirm that you have a session or intermediate certification at the university using an official certificate obtained from the dean’s office. |
| Other documentation | In other circumstances, you may be able to provide other documents to help you prove the necessity of your absence. |
Sample marriage certificate
To whom is the employer obliged to provide leave at his own expense?
Categories of workers, as well as the reasons that prompt an employee to apply to the administration for additional time off, can be very different. And the legislator classified some of them as those for which the administration does not have the right to refuse.
Among the mandatory conditions (social statuses) for providing free time off are:
- WWII participant status (mandatory period 35 days);
- pensioners who continue to work and have an old-age pension (agreed obligation of the employer - 14 days);
- wives and parents of military personnel, as well as employees of state law enforcement agencies (can count on 14 days);
- able-bodied disabled people (up to 60 days);
- employees after the birth of a baby, the death of a relative, or a wedding day (up to 5 days);
- external part-time workers who have taken leave from their main place of work (for the entire period of such leave);
- students in secondary specialized state institutions for the period of admission or passing exams;
- other points provided for by special legislation or a collective agreement.
You need to understand that when an employee wishes to take mandatory time off for one of the reasons listed above, even the lack of payment for these days does not relieve the administration of the right to demand a document confirming this event. Some of them can be provided simultaneously with writing the application (disability certificates, pension certificates, documents of WWII participants, certificates from the place of work of spouses of military personnel).
But sometimes an employee, for objective reasons, cannot provide a document (for example, a death certificate, birth certificate, marriage certificate). Here, documentary confirmation of the used right is carried out after the worker returns to the work process.
Remember, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes minimum social guarantees. They can be expanded by local documents and a collective agreement and also acquire the status of mandatory implementation by the administration.
Duration of family leave
The Labor Code of our country states that if an employee wants to use vacation to resolve family issues, then up to 5 days are allotted for this. During this period, you can act as you wish:
- take only one day;
- immediately use up all five days, etc.
However, if the employer deems it necessary, he may provide a longer period to settle the home situation. In any case, no matter what the parties to the agreement decide on, the period must be indicated in the application for vacation.
Special categories of employees included in preferential groups can count on significant periods of leave considered by us:
- working pensioners can rest another 14 days a year;
- family members of military officials who were injured during the performance of their professional duties or who died altogether can also count on two weeks of leave;
- persons with disabilities who continue to work can count on 60 additional days of rest;
- Parents of children under three years of age can take time off by agreeing on the duration with management.
Labor Code of the Russian Federation Article 128. Leave without pay
Submission period
You can get days off for overtime, donation, and under other possible circumstances at any time while working in a specific organization. The law does not provide for a limitation period for registering time off. For example, if in five years of work a pensioner never takes advantage of additional rest, then in the sixth year of work he will have the opportunity to take seventy days off immediately. Thus, the days of compensatory leave do not expire and are retained by the employee until they are used or dismissed with monetary compensation.
Can leave be denied?
As we have already said, granting leave for family reasons is the right of your superiors, not an obligation, so when you submit your application, you may receive something that you did not expect - a refusal.
It is possible in all situations when the reasons for which you are asking for time to rest are not included in the list of situations defined by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation when providing it is mandatory.
Sometimes your boss may deny you leave. In some cases it is legal, in others it is not. Everything is decided individually
If even in this case the leave is not approved, proceed as follows.
- Submit your application for leave without pay in an official manner, that is, in the form of a registered incoming document. This is usually done, however, many employees take risks by refusing to register and carry out the procedure retroactively, which subsequently negatively affects its results.
- When officially submitting an application, management will be forced to give a refusal in writing. Wait for this paper and start acting.
- The third step consists, in fact, in the mentioned action, represented by writing a complaint to the inspectorate responsible for the protection of workers' rights. Attach a photocopy of:
- your application for leave;
- written refusal from superiors.
- Wait for the test result.
You can put the violating boss in his place by writing a statement to the labor inspectorate
Please note: the consequences of this complaint will be favorable for the employee in terms of the eventual receipt of leave, and at the same time unfavorable, since it will undermine good relations with management. Therefore, before writing such a complaint, contact management verbally, informing them that they are violating your rights in the field of labor law.
Can a part-time worker count on this type of leave?
In Art. 287 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that most of the guarantees provided by the legislator, and also enshrined by the company in an internal document for key employees, should also apply to specialists working on a part-time basis.
For more information about part-time work, see the article “How to properly arrange an external part-time job?”
If the company has secured in the collective agreement for some of its specialists the right, in addition to standard paid leave, to take several more unpaid days annually by virtue of Art. 263 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, such a right should be granted to all specialists with the specified family circumstances, including part-time workers.
A similar point of view was expressed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in paragraph 15 of Resolution No. 1.
Vacation pay rules
The Labor Code states that leave arising due to the circumstances we have identified is not subject to payment, and therefore on days of rest you will also not receive wages.
According to the law, vacations of this type are not paid, however, if desired, the boss can establish such a column of expenses from the organization’s budget
However, in exceptional cases, employers undertake to pay for your time off. If this opportunity is initially voiced by the regulations of the organization in which you work, you can count on the provision of material support.
In this case, monetary compensation will be calculated in the same way as the amount of maintenance for annual leave is determined. It is necessary to calculate the average earnings of a particular employee for one day, and multiply the discovered amount by the number of days of upcoming rest.
In addition, the head of the company can stipulate in the organization’s rules the possibility of providing employees with:
- gifts in cash or other equivalent for the birth of a child or wedding of an employee;
- financial support in connection with the untimely death of a loved one;
- partial compensation of expenses for medical services for a sick family member;
- cash gifts to mothers of first-graders to purchase school supplies;
- other types of financial assistance.
Family values are protected by law, so you can get family leave
Refusal of compensation
As stated above, material payments towards the required time off are not provided for by labor law. This fact gives the employer the right to determine the compensation regime for employees if overtime is recorded. That is, working on weekends for time off according to the Labor Code does not oblige the management of the organization to provide compensation; it may, at its own discretion, refuse to pay money. You shouldn't get into an argument over this. Full cash for unused vacation is possible only upon dismissal.
Also, when establishing separate reasons for time off (wedding, funeral, medical examination), monetary compensation is not provided at all. That is, if the employee demands to pay money, for example, for three days allocated for a wedding, he will receive an unequivocal refusal. The exception is the category of employees who are entitled to a certain number of days off directly according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Causes and duration
The legislation provides for five days leave without pay if the following circumstances exist:
- the birth of a child in an employee’s family (unpaid leave is granted to the father of the child, since a different type of leave is provided for women);
- death of a close relative;
- marriage registration if the employee himself gets married.
At each enterprise, the collective agreement may establish a different duration of such leave.
By decision of the employer and application of the employee, it can also be extended.
Military personnel are granted leave for up to 10 days in the event of the death or serious health condition of a close relative (Article 11 of the Federal Law on the Status of Military Personnel). Also, in accordance with this article, he is provided with days to travel to the vacation spot and back.
Pensioners can count on an extension of vacation up to 14 days, WWII participants - up to 35 days.
Is it allowed to extend vacation on non-working holidays?
The duration of an employee’s unpaid leave is determined by the bilateral consent of him and the employer. The exception is cases when such a right is delegated by law. Calculated in calendar days. But here, unlike the rules for registering regular paid leave, there are some nuances.
Leave without pay for the employee is provided in calendar days for the entire agreed period and is not limited to an upper limit of days. Given this fact, there is no mandatory rule obliging the employer to postpone days that fall on official holidays or weekends. Only calendar days that were indicated in the agreed statement will be counted.
Remember, free periods of absence from work are provided exactly for the period specified in the application and are not extended. Even if it falls on holidays or official days off.
How many days can you take at your own expense?
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not have an upper limit on the duration of free breaks for employees. It is established by agreement between the worker and his management. When the period is defined as a mandatory number of days, then the employer is obliged to give the legally established duration of rest at the request of the employee. And everything that will be longer than this duration is by agreement.
It should be noted that some categories of workers may have the right to receive unpaid time off for several reasons. For example, a working pensioner will be able to apply for up to 5 days of this type of vacation in connection with the death of a relative, and then use the 14 days due to him. Therefore, if there are several reasons, the worker can (but is not obligated) to use them one by one. The total duration of the right to this type of free holiday is summarized here.
Additional leave for military personnel
Military personnel are ordinary people, and various events also happen in their family that may require additional leave.
According to Article 11 of Federal Law No. 76, military personnel may also have additional leave for family emergencies. The period of such release from service is 10 days. The right to sign an order for additional leave is vested exclusively in the unit commander. It is he who decides how valid the reason for requesting temporary suspension from service is.
