Where to file a complaint against an employer: 4 proven ways

When is it legal to contact the labor inspectorate?

The basic rights and obligations of the employee and the employer are listed in Articles 21 - 22 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. If you believe that your manager is being unfair to you or breaking the law, please read these articles carefully. If you are convinced that your rights are being violated and the employer is not going to correct the situation, prepare a statement of violation of the employee’s labor rights to the State Labor Inspectorate (SIT). You can find out the addresses of inspections and get additional advice on the Rostrud website or on the Onlineinspektsiya.rf portal.

Complaint against the employer to the prosecutor's office

The next most effective department can be considered the prosecutor's office or the investigative committee. In some cases, applications to these structures are even more effective than GIT. In any case, you won’t have to call the prosecutor’s office 80 (EIGHTY) times to find out the name of the specialist who is working with your application. This is not a joke, here a man describes the story of his ordeal, during which he had to call GIT specialists 80 times.

Here you can find out how to painlessly prepare and submit an application to the prosecutor's office, as well as use an example of an application.

What violations should you complain about?

Often, an employee simply does not know what issues can be addressed to the labor inspectorate, considering violations to be a normal work process. But this is not so: an employee has the right to apply to the State Tax Inspectorate in response to any violations or facts of discrimination on the part of the employer. Carefully read the text of the contract, study the internal rules and job descriptions. Familiarize yourself with the procedure for granting vacations and sick leave. Often employers do not give vacation in the summer, forcing the employee to rest only in winter or autumn - this is illegal. The workplace must comply with labor safety standards. And fines for being late or not meeting the sales plan are a gross violation. It makes no sense to list them all - the list is huge.

How to protect your labor rights?

As a rule, the employee is aware of an impending conflict with the employer. At this point, it is very important to prepare for the upcoming dispute. The employee must try to collect and keep all the documents that will later serve as evidence in the case and defend the employee’s position. This can include documents about the performance of one’s job duties, correspondence with the employer (electronic or paper), orders, regulations, regulations, payrolls, etc. If possible, it is advisable, from the very beginning of a conflict relationship, to record conversations with a representative of the employer, be it an employee of the HR department, your boss, the director of the company, or, in general, labor law lawyers hired by the company, on a voice recorder (telephone).

Filing a complaint during a personal visit to the State Tax Inspectorate

On the Rostrud website, find the addresses of the State Labor Inspectorates of your region. Prepare 2 copies of the application. The inspector will mark one of them as accepted and return it to you. You can attach documents proving the violation to your application.

If you live in a remote place or other circumstances do not allow you to contact the State Tax Inspectorate in person, the post office will help you. In this case, you will have to write a complaint to the labor inspectorate against the employer with a notification of delivery and a list of attachments if the letter contains additional documents.

What results to expect

Writing a complaint does not guarantee that it will be satisfied in full; partial satisfaction or refusal is possible, but in any case, the decision must be made strictly in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation. During the consideration of the complaint, labor inspectorate lawyers (namely, these specialists are directly involved in the investigation of labor disputes) will contact the employer with a demand to provide them with all the necessary information for the investigation. Then, if violations are detected in any part, the employer will be required to eliminate them, and penalties will be imposed.

If the applicant does not agree with the decision of the territorial labor inspectorate, he has the right to appeal it to a higher authority (for example, by writing a statement to the chief labor inspector of the Russian Federation) or in court.

Where to apply online

The fastest way is to complain to the labor inspectorate online on the websites of Rostrud, Onlineinspektsiya.rf.

1. Rostrud is the official website of the federal service for labor and employment. Here you can write a complaint in two ways. On the main page you will see an active window - send a request. When you click on it, you will be taken to a form that you need to fill out. Then select the text written in advance on your home PC, attach it and additional documents, if any. Choose a method to receive a response, fill in your personal information and send your request.

2. The second method involves contacting the State Tax Inspectorate through the Onlineinspektsiya.rf service. On the main page of the portal, select the “Employee” window. The system itself will tell you how to file a complaint on the official website of the labor inspectorate and redirect you to select a problem. This is either a navigator with step-by-step instructions, or the ability to immediately send a statement about violation of labor laws.

3. The website Onlineinspektsiya.rf will allow you not only to send a complaint against the employer. Here you can find notices explaining the requirements of the Labor Code, you can make an appointment with an inspector, find out the most common violations and their solutions.

IMPORTANT!

Filing a complaint in the Onlineinspektsiya.rf service requires authorization on the State Services portal!

Individual labor dispute: where to go

In the course of work, conflicts often arise between the employee and the employer.

In what order are individual labor disputes considered? Today we will talk about this in our video.

An individual labor dispute is recognized as unresolved disagreements between an employer and an employee on the application of labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law norms, a collective agreement, an agreement, a local regulatory act, an employment contract (including on the establishment or change of individual working conditions), which were reported to the labor dispute resolution body.

An individual labor dispute is also recognized as a dispute between an employer and a person who previously had an employment relationship with this employer (i.e. a dispute between a former employee), as well as a person who has expressed a desire to conclude an employment contract with the employer, if the employer refuses to conclude such an agreement .

If a labor conflict takes place between an individual employee and an employer, it is an individual dispute, if between a group of employees (team) of a company and an employer, it is a collective dispute.

The consideration of labor disputes is carried out by the Labor Dispute Commission (LCC) and the courts in the manner established by the Labor Code and the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).

An employee may apply to the CCC to resolve an individual labor dispute, with the exception of those disputes that fall within the competence of the court or for which federal law establishes a different procedure.

Important! The CCC considers labor disputes only in those companies in which it was established.

The CCC may consider labor disputes related to:

• with changes in the terms of the employee’s employment contract;

• remuneration, provision of leave;

• payment of wages and bonuses,

• establishing an operating mode;

• with the application of disciplinary sanctions.

An employee can contact the CCC within three months from the day he learned or should have learned about a violation of his rights. If the deadline is missed for a valid reason, then the CTS has the right to restore it.

The CCC considers a labor dispute within 10 days from the date the employee submits the application.

Important! Appealing to the CCC does not exclude the employee’s ability to go to court without going through the CCC.

If a CTS has not been created in the company, then the dispute is considered directly in court. At the same time, for a number of categories of workers, labor disputes have a special procedure for resolution. This applies to employees elected, approved and appointed to positions by the highest government bodies of the Russian Federation, judges and prosecutors.

Labor disputes are heard in courts of general jurisdiction:

• on reinstatement of the employee at work;

• about changing the date and wording of the reason for dismissal;

• about transfer to another job;

• payment for forced absence or payment of the difference in wages for the time spent performing lower-paid work;

• about unlawful actions (inaction) of the employer when processing and protecting the employee’s personal data;

• refusal to hire.

The following may also apply to courts of general jurisdiction for labor disputes:

• employees working under an employment contract with employers - individuals;

• employees of religious organizations;

• employees who believe that they have been discriminated against.

The time frame for an employee to go to court to resolve an individual labor dispute varies and depends on the subject of the dispute.

See more details in the material prepared by Managing Partner Alena Talash.

Are anonymous requests considered?

In Art. 11 clause 1 No. 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” the question of how to contact the labor inspectorate anonymously or without indicating a return address is considered. In this case, the request remains unanswered. State in the application a request not to disclose the personal data of the person who wrote it - on the basis of Art. 358 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, you have the right to this. Art. 6 No. 59-FZ prohibits prosecution of a citizen in connection with his appeal in order to protect violated rights. Paragraph 2 of this article contains a prohibition on disclosing the applicant’s personal information without his consent. Sometimes this is difficult, since during an inspection the inspector is required to indicate its basis.

When to file a claim with your employer

It is not necessary to draw up such a document in the sense that the judge will not rule on the return of the statement of claim. This is if there is an intention to go to court.

In addition to issues of non-payment of wages, reinstatement at work - which, due to shortened deadlines, are advisable to resolve in court, a claim can be sent to:

• in case of non-accrual and non-payment of the regional coefficient to wages;
• wrongful disciplinary action;
• applying for compensation under Art. 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (an analogue of a penalty for violation of the terms of payment of wages and other labor payments);
• refusal to provide additional leave in cases where this is the employer’s responsibility;
• assignment on a business trip, etc.

In such cases, a complaint will help the employer receive a written answer without unnecessary obstacles and build a line of further behavior.

We draw up an application to the inspectorate

There are no legal requirements for how to correctly write a complaint to the labor inspectorate. Write in free form. Try to avoid unnecessary details and emotions. Try to make the presentation concise, clear, preferably in chronological order of the facts of violations. Study this sample on how to write a letter to the labor inspectorate, use it as a template, enter the necessary details and the essence of the problem.

Features of the complaint to the employer

If you decide to write a claim to your employer, then, depending on the reason for filing such a document, check the statute of limitations for the labor dispute. So, in cases of reinstatement to work, they are only a month. In such cases, it is better to file a claim, as well as a complaint to the labor inspectorate and the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation. It's much more efficient. In addition, in the vast majority of cases, working for an employer is extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, people are reinstated, collect wages and quit of their own free will.

A pre-trial claim to an employer is drawn up according to general rules. In the text of the document you indicate the essence of the dispute, provide arguments for the illegality of the actions of the employer or its representatives in the organization and your requirements. The employer has the right to verify the information specified in the complaint and bring the perpetrators to disciplinary action. Therefore, in such cases, the results of the claim will have to wait.