Paying according to average earnings: practical examples

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The general procedure by which average earnings are calculated is established by Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for the participation in the calculation of all types of payments determined by the remuneration system, including the average daily earnings for paying for vacations, business trips, etc. Their source does not matter. Let's take a closer look at this topic.

Determining the average salary

Why might you need to calculate the average earnings in the enterprise? This question interests many. The average salary is determined from the actually accrued and actually worked by the employee for the twelve calendar months that precede the period during which the employee retains the average salary. The calendar period includes the period from the 1st to the 30th (31st) day of a certain month, inclusive, with the exception of February, where this period lasts from the 1st to the 28th (29th in February in a leap year) day. The procedure by which payment is made according to average earnings,established in the Annex on the peculiarities of calculating the average salary.

Determining the average daily and average hourly wages

To determine the average salary of an employee and the amount of money that is supposed to be accrued in favor of the employee, his average daily and average hourly wages are calculated (the use of the latter indicator is necessary if the employee is required to record working hours in the amount).

To determine these indicators (average daily earnings for pay and average hourly earnings), you need to know:

• calculation period and the number of days in it that are taken into account when determining the average salary;
• the amount paid for the billing period, taken into account in determining the average salary.

Setting the billing period

What is the billing period in this calculation?

It was mentioned above that the billing period includes twelve calendar months, before the month when the employee should receive the accrual of payments depending on the average salary. The Company has the right to set any term of the billing period. For example, 3, 9 or even 24 months that will precede the payment. The main thing is that a different calculation period should not lead to a decrease in the amounts due to the employee (that is, to a deterioration in his position in comparison with the twelve-month billing period).

If a decision is made to change the period, the corresponding amendments to the regulation on wages based on average earnings and collective agreements should be indicated.

Case Study 1

This calculation is easier to understand with practical examples. Suppose an employee of a large enterprise is sent on a business trip. For these travel days he is paid average earnings. Assuming the departure of the employee in the current year, then:

• February - calculation period from February 1 last to January 31 this year;
• March - calculation period from March 1 last to February 28-29 this year;
• April - calculation period from April 1 last to March 31 this year;
• May is the calculation period from May 1 last year to April 30 this year;
• June - calculation period from June 1 last to May 31 this year;
• July is the calculation period from July 1 last year to June 30 this year.

Then you need to calculate the number of working days in the billing period during which the employee worked. The best, but extremely rare option is to fully work out all the working days of the billing period. Then there are no difficulties in calculating, except for cases of calculating the average earnings for vacation pay.

Case Study 2

Consider the following situation. The commercial organization established a 5-day forty-hour work week and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). In November of this year, an employee of the company was sent for training to improve his qualifications, while the average salary was maintained. The billing period will includetwelve months from November 1 last year to October 31 this year.

If we assume that during the billing period the employee worked all the days according to the production calendar, then the number of workers will be 247 days.

Here is an example of an ideal. Basically, none of the company's employees work for the full twelve months of the billing period. An employee can get sick, go on vacation, get some kind of exemption from work while maintaining average earnings, and so on. These periods are excluded from the calculation. Including the amounts credited to the employee for these days are not included in the calculation. Below is a list of periods excluded from the calculation:

1. The average salary of an employee according to Russian legislation was preserved (for example, the employee was on a business trip, paid annual leave, or he was sent for training, etc.). The exception is the periods of feeding the child, which are provided by Article 258 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, since they are included in the calculation, as well as the amounts accrued for them.
2. Employee received temporary disability benefits or maternity and pregnancy benefits, but did not work at the same time, i.e., average earnings are taken into account to pay sick leave.
3. The worker did not participate in the strike, but because of it he was unable to perform his duties.
4. An employee was provided with paid extra time off to care for a disabled child and disabled since childhood.
5. In other cases, when an employee was released from work with or without partial or full pay(for example, when an employee took a vacation at his own expense) according to the legislation of the Russian Federation.

How is payment calculated on holidays and weekends?

Holidays or weekends worked by an employee must be taken into account when calculating the general payment procedure for average earnings. To make it clearer, let's look at another example.

Case Study 3

A commercial firm has a 5-day, 40-hour workweek and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). An employee of the company in December of this year was sent on a business trip. The billing period will include twelve months, starting from December 1 of the past year and until November 30 of this year.

To determine the average salary of an employee, 37 days and the payments accrued for them are excluded. Accordingly, 213 days worked from the billing period (250-37) will participate.

Average earnings when paying for vacation

Sometimes it happens that an employee gets a job in the reporting period. This means that at the moment when the accountant must determine the calculation of payment on average earnings, he has not yet worked for the company for, say, 12 months. The calculation of the average salary in situations that are not related to the payment of vacation is not in the Regulation, and therefore the company can determine it in the employee's employment contract or regulation on remuneration for his work. In this case, you can include in the billing period the time from the 1st day of a person’s work until the last day of the month preceding the payment of the average salary.

Case Study 4

The organization has established a 5-day forty-hour work week and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). An employee of the company in December of this year was sent on a business trip. He was accepted into service on August 22 this year. The billing period will be from August 21 to November 30 of this year.

Pay billing period

With regard to payments included in the calculation for determining wages based on average earnings, the general provision is established by Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This norm for calculating average earnings takes into account all payments provided for by the wage system. This provision of the Code is specified by paragraph 2 of the Regulations. Thus, when calculating earnings, an accountant must take into account the following:

1. Salary (in kind, including accrued at the tariff rate and salary for the time worked; for work performed at a piece rate, as a percentage of revenue or commission).
2. Personal income tax is charged (payment according to average earnings implies this). Although why this happens is unclear to some.
3. Supplementary payments and allowances to the salary and tariff rate for professionalism, length of service, class, academic title, academic degree, work with information that make up the state. secrecy, knowledge of foreign languages, combining positions or professions, team management, increasing the volume of work performed, expanding the service area, and others.
4. Payments that are related to working conditions, also those that are due to the district regulation of wages in the form of percentage bonuses towages and coefficients, increased payments for hard work, as well as work with dangerous and harmful and other special working conditions, for night shifts, for work on public holidays and weekends, for overtime work (up to a maximum limit of 120 hours per year, and above it).
5. Remunerations and bonuses provided by the wage system (some remunerations and bonuses have a special accounting procedure).
6. Other types of payments that are related to salary and are used in the company (this includes incentive and motivational payments).

Payments that are not taken into account when calculating average earnings

It has already been mentioned above that some payments are not taken into account when calculating the payment for average earnings, as well as the time of their accrual. For example:

• average salary reserved for an employee under the law (when he is on annual or study leave, business trip, and so on);
• payments for downtime due to the employing company or for a reason beyond the control of the employee or employer;
• payments for the weekend for the care of people with disabilities since childhood and children with disabilities.

It can be concluded that the calculations include all payments that are related to the remuneration of employees. Payments that are not related to it and are not remuneration for work are not included in the calculation. For example, these include material assistance, various social payments (payment for utilities, recreation, treatment,food, training, travel, etc.), loans issued to employees, dividends accrued to company owners, interest on loans received from employees, remuneration to members of the supervisory board or board of directors, and so on. In addition, it provides for an employment contract soc. payment or not, it does not matter.

Case Study 5

Let's consider how it will be done in 1C: ZUP payment for average earnings on a business trip.

A large enterprise has established a 5-day forty-hour work week and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). All the same employee of the company in December of this year was sent on a business trip. The billing period will include twelve months, that is, the time from December 1 of the past year to November 30 of this year. During this period, the employee received a payment of 472,400 rubles, including:

403 thousand rubles – total salary (salary);

24 thousand rubles – additional payment for combining a profession;

3 thousand rubles – pay for work on weekends and holidays;

12 thousand rubles – material assistance;

3 thousand rubles – cash gift;

22 thousand rubles – holiday pay for annual paid leave;

5, 4 thousand rubles – travel allowance (average salary for travel allowance and daily allowance).

Travel allowance, material assistance, vacation pay and a cash gift are excluded from the amount of payments taken into account in the calculation of the average salary. Then the accountant must take into account payments of the size:

472400 - 12,000 - 3,000 - 22,000 - 5,400=430,000 rubles

When calculating the average salary and additional payments to it up to the salary amount are not taken into account, even if they are defined in the employment contract or the salary supplement, which is accepted in the company. It should be borne in mind that the corresponding days when the average salary was kept for the employee, and the amounts are excluded from the billing period. Accordingly, this surcharge falls under this definition. In 1C, payment for average earnings is calculated quite simply.

Calculate the amount owed to an employee and the average daily earnings

To determine the amount of accrual for the days that keep the average salary for the employee, his average daily earnings are calculated. Exceptions include only those employees for whom the accounting of working time in the amount is established (for them, the average hourly earnings are determined).

Case Study 6

The commercial organization has established a 5-day forty-hour work week and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). An employee of the company in December of this year was sent on a business trip for 7 days. The billing period will include twelve months, that is, the time from December 1 of the past year to November 30 of this year. The employee was given a salary of 30,000 rubles per month.

Pertov's average daily earnings will be:

338,990 rubles:231 days=1467 rubles/day.

An employee should be paid according to average earnings in 7 days (a business trip is paid this way):

1467 rubles/day × 7 days=10,269rubles.

Calculate the amount owed to an employee and average hourly earnings

Employees who have set the accounting of working time in the amount, the average hourly earnings are calculated to pay for those days, the average earnings of which are kept. The average hourly and average daily earnings are calculated in a similar way, but if for the average daily earnings only the number of days is taken into account, then for the average hourly - the actual number of hours worked by the employee.

Case Study 7

A large company has established a 5-day forty-hour work week and 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday). In December of this year, an employee of the company was sent on a business trip for 7 days (according to a schedule of 56 hours). The billing period will include twelve months starting from the 1st of December of the past year and until the 30th of November of this year. For this employee, a tariff rate of 180 rubles / hour and a summarized accounting of work time were set. The average hourly earnings of an employee will be:

341 820 rubles:1843 hours=185 rubles/hour

He should be paid according to average earnings (after all, a business trip is also considered working time):

185 rubles/hour × 56 hours=10,360 rubles

For piece-workers, the average earnings when taking into account working time in the amount are calculated in a similar way. All payments included in the calculation, which we presented above, and the time actually worked by the dealmaker take part in the calculation.