What does a shift work schedule mean according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (nuances)?

You can organize the work schedule at an enterprise in different ways, choosing the most effective way of allocating time for work. If work must be in full swing, the usual working hours are not enough, and equipment can be used more efficiently with minimal interruptions, it makes sense to introduce a shift schedule.

• What are its specifics in accordance with the Labor Code,
• how workers’ work is organized at night,
• the correct procedure for drawing up and introducing such a schedule and familiarizing staff with it,
• as well as some restrictions that both the employer and employees working on a shift schedule should remember.

We consider all this below.

Reasons for introducing shift work

IMPORTANT! Recommendations for introducing shift work in an organization from ConsultantPlus are available here

Shift schedule is work organized in a special way, when working time is divided into two, three or four shifts, when each working group carries out its activities during one established working period of time according to an established schedule.

ATTENTION! It is prohibited for the same group of workers to work two shifts in a row.

Labor Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 103 provides for the possibility of organizing work on a shift schedule. The law specifies the features of this schedule and the circumstances that may serve as grounds for its introduction :

• the features of production require a continuous labor process;
• under normal operating conditions, the duration of the working day will exceed the permissible duration established by law;
• such a schedule will help increase the volume of products or services provided;
• thus, the efficiency of using equipment, machinery and tools increases.

IMPORTANT! The objectivity of these grounds allows the employer to introduce a shift schedule when he finds it appropriate.

The legislative framework

Article 103 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides the concept of shift work and the grounds for introducing a shift work schedule. The legislator attributes the following objective circumstances to the reasons for introducing shift work:

1. The duration of the production process associated with technological features, in which it is inevitable that the permissible duration of daily work will be exceeded. Or with the urgent need of society for the provision of certain services around the clock. For example: organizations providing security services (private security companies/private security companies); 24-hour emergency medical assistance.
2. The need for highly efficient operation of technical equipment, a larger number of products, and certain services. For example, 24-hour operation of shops and canteens.

Thus, shift work schedules are widely used in different areas: in the public service sector, in continuous production where conveyors and production lines are involved, the stop of which is not economically feasible.

According to the law, a shift schedule is a document regulating the start and end of work, the type of shift (day, night, etc.), the duration of breaks for rest and food. The shift schedule is work in 2, 3 or 4 shifts.

Which enterprises work on a shift schedule?

Provisions of Art. 103 clearly regulate the specifics of enterprises that can introduce a shift schedule: these are those organizations that must be constantly monitored by personnel. These include the following areas of work.

1. Non-stop production. These are those plants and factories, the shutdown of which will cause problems in the national economy, or the shutdown of equipment can cause an emergency:
   chemical production;
2. metallurgical enterprises;
3. wood processing industry;
4. automotive industry, etc.
5. Emergency services. People need the availability of certain services around the clock, and the activity must occur immediately. The following services should be available at any time:
   medical;
6. fire department;
7. gas;
8. law enforcement (police);
9. Ministry of Emergency Situations.
10. Services that provide infrastructure. Cargo and passengers move around the clock, so the transport sector must work without interruption:
    rail transportation;
11. automobile companies;
12. water transport;
13. air travel;
14. pipeline.
15. Trade and service sector. For the owners of such enterprises, continuous work to provide their services is more effective:
    convenience stores;
16. hotels;
17. restaurants;
18. some service departments, etc.

Also, those enterprises where such use of equipment, premises and territory will be considered more effective have the right to introduce such a schedule.

Labor standards rules for shift work

The shift schedule according to the labor code requires the preparation of acts that include the following information:

1. Weekly duration. The schedule can be flexible, including the exact number of shifts.
2. Duration throughout the day. The total number of shifts at the enterprise is also established. One to four shifts are allowed for specialists working at different times.
3. Breaks, start and end of shift. The order of alternating not only working days, but also weekends.

It is recommended to use current methods developed for the HR department. This allows not only to ensure full production capacity, but also not to violate the rights of workers. At the same time, the correctness of documentation and the normal passage of inspections by the labor inspectorate are guaranteed.

Division into shifts

To work on a shift schedule, all personnel are divided into work groups (teams, shifts), each of which will work during one time period allocated to them. They perform their work sequentially; the purpose of such an organization is to eliminate pauses in the production process.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not give clear recommendations on the division of workers into shifts. There is no minimum limit for group composition. Therefore, by default, based on the definition of “group of employees” used in the legislation, it follows that in order to introduce a shift schedule, the staff must have at least three employees, since it is impossible to work two shifts in a row (two work in different shifts, and the third is on vacation).

The number of shifts is also not limited by law. In practice, enterprises most often choose a two- or three-shift option, less often a four-shift option. An employer can divide a day into any number of shifts, depending on the number of its personnel and the nature of the work.

Types of operating modes

The production activity of each enterprise has its own characteristics. Therefore, for various categories of employees on the basis of Art. 100 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes a certain work schedule.

The Labor Law regulates a variety of activities, which can be divided into categories:

1. Work according to a standard schedule: five days and two days off, six days and a day off.
2. Working day beyond the norm.
3. Flexible schedule.
4. Shift method.
5. Generalization of working hours.
6. A period fragmented into parts.
7. Shift work.

In all types, the principle of rationing the time of the working period must be observed. The modes differ in time: daily, weekly, summarized.

A generalized accounting of working hours provides for a long period of a month or a year, but it must be within the limits of the standard. This type of accounting can be weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual. The essence of this method of accounting is that the time for performing labor functions does not exceed the established norms of the accounting period.

Most often, generalized accounting is carried out on a rotational basis. The personnel officer calculates the standard hours on a monthly basis or as established by the schedule. In any case, the HR department employee must carefully ensure that the company’s employees do not have long overtime hours so that their rights to rest are not violated.

Schedule according to shift schedule

The employer develops and approves this document in addition to current regulations. It should take into account the following nuances:

• the number of shifts into which working time is divided;
• start and end times of each shift;
• lunch breaks and shift changes (if any);
• the order in which the shifts alternate;
• rest regime between shifts;
• shift composition and transfer possibilities for workers;
• procedure in case of emergency situations (for example, no-show of a shift worker).

The form for drawing up such a schedule can be arbitrary, but most employers use a unified work time sheet, where in columns 1-6 they note the features of the shift schedule.

is approved as an additional agreement to the collective agreement. But if the organization has not concluded a collective labor agreement, then the schedule can be issued as a separate regulatory act or act as an annex to the internal regulations.

Coordination of the drawn up schedule is mandatory (this is required by Article 371 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

• with a trade union organization, if it operates at the enterprise;
• with any employee representative body (for example, a general meeting).

Time of preparation: it is not necessary to approve the schedule for the entire working period at once; any time period is acceptable: a month, a quarter, or any stage of the accounting period. It is not necessary to have a single constant schedule; corrections and changes are allowed.

Employees must be familiarized with the schedule no less than 30 days before its introduction (Part 4 of Article 103 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). This must be documented in writing, that is, confirmed by the employee’s handwritten, dated signature on the appropriate document.

Sample shift work schedule

Coordination with employees

Article 102 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines the requirement to coordinate the start and end times of shifts and the total duration of work. If the organization has a trade union, its opinion should be taken into account. For some categories of workers, special conditions must be taken into account:

• for disabled people, the maximum working time is determined by a medical report (Part 1 of Article 94 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
• for minors - 5 and 7 hours (15-16 and 16-18 years old, respectively) with a ban on working at night;
• for persons combining study and work - no more than 3.5 hours;
• for workers employed in hazardous industries - a maximum of 8 hours;
• for pregnant women - no night shifts.

Night work is prohibited for the following categories of workers, unless they themselves write written consent to it:

• women with a child aged 0 to 3 years;
• disabled people;
• persons with dependent disabled children;
• workers who care for sick family members;
• single parents and guardians of children under 5 years of age.

The team should explain what a shift work schedule means, talk about the features of the work and rest schedule, their rights and responsibilities. It is also required to inform about the employer’s right to dismiss those who refuse to work under the new regime (with the exception of categories protected by law). The employee is recognized as familiar with the schedule when he puts his signature and date in the addendum to the employment contract and on the shift schedule itself. Also, a mark of familiarization is affixed in a special journal. If the employee refuses to sign the document, a report should be drawn up.

Night shifts

With a shift organization of the work process, some amount of working time may fall at night. According to the law, night time is considered to be the time starting from 22 o'clock to 6 o'clock in the morning. If half of the time or more in a shift falls within this period, it is classified as a night shift (Article 96 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

The night shift must be 1 hour shorter than the usual day shift, and such a reduction does not include any compensatory work.

The law provides for some categories that cannot be used at work “at night,” even with their consent:

• pregnant women;
• workers under 18 years of age (exception - if they are authors or performers of artistic works);
• persons considered such in industry documents or local regulations.

If written consent has been previously received (but only in this case!) the following may be assigned to the night shift:

• mothers of children under three years of age;
• disabled people of any group;
• persons caring for disabled people or sick relatives (with medical documentary evidence);
• Single parents whose children are under 5 years old.

Working hours beyond the norm

The Labor Code provides for an irregular work schedule. Workers are periodically attracted to this regime to carry out functional duties in excess of the limit of working hours.

The employee is subject to a certain schedule, but by order of the manager he may stay late to perform unforeseen functions, but only those that are reflected in the employment contract. Categories of positions are provided for by a collective agreement, internal labor schedule standards, and local regulations.

The irregular schedule applies to the following employees:

• engineering, management category;
• whose work does not take into account time;
• distributing working time on personal initiative;
• the schedule of which is divided into several parts, usually two periods.

Such workers may qualify for special leave or monetary compensation for overtime.
Labor legislation prohibits demanding performance of professional duties not provided for in the employment agreement. But at the same time, the administration is not obliged to request the consent of the trade union to engage in irregular work. The employee has no right to refuse; such an action is a violation of labor discipline.

Work on holidays

If the work shift falls on a day that is a public holiday, then the employee is given the choice:

• receive double pay for work that day;
• additional rest on another day agreed with the employer (with regular pay).

If an employee works in shift mode, then his vacation begins and ends on the calendar dates determined by the vacation schedule. What are the features of providing annual leave to an employee with a shift work schedule ?

Comments: 266

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Author of the article Irina Rusanova

Consultant, author Popovich Anna

Financial author Olga Pikhotskaya

1. Novel
   10/13/2021 at 1:37 pm Hello. I work in the healthcare sector. Due to the COVID situation, the employer forces people to be on duty 24 hours a day, then 2 days off. There are 9-10 daily shifts per month according to this schedule. It’s simply not possible to recover over a 2-day weekend. How legal is this? And how many DAILY duty per month is required by law?
   Reply ↓ Anna Popovich
   10/13/2021 at 19:09

   Dear Roman, in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation there are no prohibitions on such a work schedule. But the employee must work no more than 40 hours per week in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and during the week the employee must have continuous rest for at least 42 hours (Article 110 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

   Reply ↓