Employment contract: conclusion, form, conditions, term, difference from the contract

The concept of an employment contract with an employee

The term “employment contract” came from abroad.

In the States, this is the main document for employment.

A contract is a type of employment contract with a certain period of validity.

In Russian labor legislation there is no definition of “employment contract with an employee”, there is only “agreement”. These two concepts are considered identical.

The contract, just like an agreement, contains certain conditions: the name of the employer, working conditions, position, etc. The contract is terminated upon expiration of the term, in case of violation of labor protection rules (industrial injury or death of an employee), failure to comply with the conditions of one of the parties, violation work discipline or failure of the employee to fulfill labor duties.

See additional information in this article about types of disciplinary punishments.

Other advantages of the self-employed over hired employees.

You are allowed to be self-employed and work for hire. 13% of personal income tax will be withheld from your salary for your main job, and for self-employment you will pay 4%.
You can apply for a tax deduction of 10 thousand rubles. The money is not given in person, but a tax deduction is applied to the interest to pay taxes. This allows individuals to pay 1-2% taxes instead of 4%.
You won’t have to do accounting or file a tax return. A self-employed person is only required to inform the tax office that he is conducting a professional activity and pay 4% or 6% of the profit.
Self-employed people are allowed to issue checks to clients using the My Tax app. Thanks to this, you can advertise yourself and your services and expand your client base.
Tax payments for the previous month must be made by the 25th of the next month. If you were on vacation or did not work, you do not need to pay anything.

Terms of the employment contract

A contract is a form of agreement that outlines the rights and obligations of the employer and employee, the responsibilities of the parties, working conditions, validity period and other important points.

Mandatory terms of the employment contract:

name and address of the employer (if a citizen gets a job in a branch or representative office - the name of the corresponding structural unit and location address);
job responsibilities (job function) – performing work in accordance with position, qualifications and schedule;
the specific type of assigned duties (if, according to the law, the assignment of benefits and compensation is associated with the performance of work in a specific position or there are restrictions, the name of this position or profession must correspond to the names listed in the qualification directory approved by the Government of the Russian Federation);
day of going back to work;
the contract is considered a fixed-term employment contract, therefore it specifies the validity period, as well as the reasons that serve as the basis for concluding the contract;
wage conditions (tariff rate, salary, additional payment, allowances, cash incentives);
working hours and time allotted for rest (if for a particular employee it differs from generally accepted rules in the organization);

compensation for work in difficult, harmful or dangerous working conditions (indicating the specifics of work);
conditions describing the nature of the work (traveling, at home, on the employer’s premises, etc.);
conditions for the transfer of contributions to the Social Insurance Fund (compulsory social insurance of an employee in accordance with labor legislation);
other conditions provided for by law and other regulations.

Advantages and disadvantages for each side

Let's leave the issue of legality out of the equation - we will proceed from the fact that in a certain situation the employer has good reason to enter into a civil law agreement with a person instead of a labor one. Let's look at the pros and cons of each of these types of agreements for the employer and the person hired.

Employment contract

The advantages of an employment contract for an employee are:

Social guarantee package . For example, sick leave, annual paid leave, as well as leaves without pay, in case of study, for child care. Full-time employees receive all the allowances established by internal regulations - bonuses, compensation, and so on.
Labor legislation protects the employee from unlawful actions of the employer . He cannot simply terminate the employment contract on his own initiative. There must be a reason - the desire of the employee, the agreement of the parties, the employee’s violation of internal regulations, his labor incompatibility and some others. If there is a reduction in staff or working hours, the employee will not be left completely without income.
An employee on staff can count on career growth.

What if an employment contract has disadvantages for an employee? In general, only one thing can be noted - in practice, he is placed in a dependent position on the employer (as they say, “working for his uncle”). He must comply with internal regulations, fulfill the labor standards established for him, and go on vacation when the employer allows. And he does not even have the right to resign without warning about it in advance.

But for the employer, there are much more disadvantages in an employment contract than advantages. The advantages can include the same thing that is a disadvantage for the employee. Namely, that in labor relations the employer has more power. He requires employees to comply with their job responsibilities and internal regulations. And if one of them does not comply, the employer can take disciplinary action against him, up to and including dismissal.

Among the disadvantages of an employment contract for an employer, we note the obligation to comply with strict labor legislation:

adhere to the rules for paying wages (the amount is not lower than the minimum wage, payment is made at least once every 2 weeks);
guarantee various benefits, additional payments and compensations that are established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
guarantee the provision of various types of vacations, as well as other exemptions from work required by law;
perform various duties related to safety - special assessment of working conditions, safety instructions;
keep personnel records for each employee and others.

Duration of the employment contract

It is a common belief that a contract is the same as a fixed-term employment contract, which is concluded for a period of one to five years .

This opinion is not entirely correct, since the Labor Code allows for the conclusion of an agreement both for a limited period and for an unlimited time .

One way or another, the term of the employment contract ranges from one to five years. After this time it is extended or terminated. The employee must be notified of this two weeks in advance.

If the contract is terminated prematurely (while it is still in effect), the employer pays compensation to the employee.

Legal differences

And yet, despite the fact that contract and agreement are often considered interchangeable concepts, there are some differences between them. But they “pop up” only in the process of labor relations. The differences are as follows. The contract between the employer and the contractor, as a rule, is concluded for a long term, while an order is issued, and seniority and vacation are accrued. When concluding an employment contract, a job application is drawn up. An employment agreement usually means work under a civil contract. If you are interested in the difference between an employment contract and a civil contract, we recommend reading our article “ The difference between an employment contract and a civil contract .”

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The difference between an employment contract and an agreement

The employment contract is not limited by any terms.

It is drawn up in accordance with all labor legislation requirements.

An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and a citizen being hired, which is concluded in writing and defines working conditions, responsibilities and a remuneration system.

The employer is obliged to provide the employee with a properly equipped workplace.

An employment contract, just like a contract, contains information about the employee and the employer, their rights and obligations, working conditions, rest schedule, wages, etc.

See more here about the collective agreement, the meaning of the document and the need for its presence at the enterprise.

An employment contract is terminated by agreement of the parties, if one of the parties terminates it, due to emergency situations, due to the liquidation of the enterprise, if the employee fails to fulfill his work duties, if he violates labor discipline, if there is absenteeism and if there is gross non-compliance with labor protection rules.

The difference between the two documents is that the contract can be terminated by both the employee (with two weeks’ notice) and the employer.

In the case of an employment contract, termination occurs at the initiative of the employer in the presence of a gross violation on the part of the employee, in the absence of the latter - with monetary compensation.

Many companies are increasingly concluding employment contracts instead of contracts, since the contract no longer meets modern realities.

It makes it much easier to violate the rights of an employee and force him to resign at his own request.

In the case of a contract, everything is somewhat different. The employer is interested in the employee, therefore, the contract is a guarantee that the employee will work for the entire required period.

In the case of a contract, job responsibilities are more clearly defined and the employer cannot force the employee to perform functions not specified in the document. Thus, the contract is more reliable compared to an employment contract .

Difference of concepts in modern jurisprudence

Contract and agreements are identical definitions

Let us note that in the jurisprudence of different countries, the interpretation of the definitions of “contract” and “agreement” can present completely different manifestations.

Since the information from the pages of our resource is primarily aimed at residents of the Russian Federation, we will consider the in-depth essence of the summarized concepts specifically in relation to the legal sphere of Russia.

First of all, we note that from the point of view of almost all legal spheres and branches of jurisprudence of the Russian Federation, a contract and an agreement are identical definitions.

According to civil law, a contract is an agreement between several parties, which entails the establishment, change or various forms of termination of civil rights and obligations.

That is, in Russian jurisprudence there is no particular difference between the concepts. The only thing is that the word “agreement”, due to its greater specificity, is used much more often than its today’s counterpart. Despite the information presented earlier, in one area of the law of our country there are differences between a contract and an agreement. We are talking about labor legislation.

If you delve into its study, then on the pages of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF) you can find a division of documents of interaction between subjects of law into contracts and agreements, which are given distinctively clear concepts. Thus, the definitions are interpreted as follows:

A contract is a certain legal interaction between representatives of labor law, which can acquire some force both in written and oral form. Regardless of the chosen format, contracts must fully comply with the provisions and norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
An agreement is also a legal interaction, but it is drawn up between subjects of labor law exclusively in written format. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation distinguishes agreements of different types, for example: sectoral, general, tariff, regional and many others. In general, an agreement in labor law is a legal act that regulates the social and labor aspect of the legal relationship between an employer and an employee and is drawn up only in writing.

Of course, the differences are not so significant, but they are reflected in the law, so it is simply unacceptable not to highlight them when considering today’s issue.

Otherwise, the concepts of “contract” and “agreement” have only extremely subjective differences. According to established legal practice, contracts most often represent narrowly focused relationships between subjects of law, legalized in the form of a normative act, which is drawn up by one party and signed by the other (Service Agreement, Sales and Purchase Agreement, etc.).

The definition of agreement is most often used in cases where there is a certain process of negotiations, based on the outcome of which the parties to legal relations decide to formalize the agreements reached in some way (Set-off Agreement, Termination Agreement, etc.).

Frequently asked questions about employment contracts

How to terminate a contract?

There are many reasons why a contract can or should be terminated. The contract can be terminated if certain conditions change from the moment it was signed. Some contracts may be voided if they were not entered into in accordance with the law. If you decide to terminate the contract, then make sure that this step will not lead to negative consequences for you .

An employment contract can be easily terminated if:

the document itself contains a clause on the procedure for termination;
impossibility of fulfilling obligations;
unattainability of the purpose of the contract;
refusal to fulfill obligations (for example, one party refuses to fulfill the agreement);
violation of contract terms.

Legal regulation

The Civil Code draws attention to the fact that employment can only be formalized if its parties are 2 citizens. Despite the fact that there is no clearly stated requirement to compile it in writing, if the cost of services exceeds 10 thousand rubles, the conditions will need to be recorded on paper. Thus, any long-term agreement must be drawn up in the form of one document signed by both parties.

For short-term hiring, for example, for 2-3 days, the law does not impose such a requirement.

Lease relations have either a legal entity and a citizen or two companies as their participants. For him, written form will be required, regardless of the amount. The contract is regulated by Chapter 34 of the Civil Code. All possible clauses of these two types of agreements are described only in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; they are not regulated by government regulations or other regulations.

Attention: Disputed issues are resolved in court, and the legal protection of both parties depends on the degree of care with which the document is prepared.