The key facts
- The 13th salary is mandatory for the employer only if it is stipulated in the company's internal documents
- Payment conditions may be tied to length of service, fulfillment of targets, and the year's economic results
- An employee cannot be arbitrarily excluded from the list, but the employer has the right to justify a decision not to award the bonus
The bonus depends on the company's internal documents
The 13th salary is not a mandatory payment by default: everything depends on the company's internal documents. This was stated by Alexander Safonov, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in an interview with the online publication Regions.ru, as retold by Life.ru. If the annual bonus is stipulated in a collective agreement or a remuneration regulation, the organization is obliged to pay it — but with the caveat that the company must have the necessary funds, and the conditions may be tied to the economic results of the year.
Who will get the bonus and who will not
Even when the bonus is paid to the entire workforce, the amounts and recipients may differ: internal rules often take into account length of service, fulfillment of targets, and performance indicators. Therefore, a particular employee not receiving the bonus does not always mean their rights have been violated. At the same time, a manager cannot arbitrarily strike a person off the list: if the 13th salary is an element of bonuses rather than of the base salary, the employer has the right to decide whether to pay it or not, but the decision must be justified, Safonov explained.
What an employee should check
To know in advance what to expect, an employee should study the bonus regulation, the collective agreement, and their own employment contract. Practices vary: in some companies the bonus goes only to those who have worked a full year and met their targets, in others it goes to the entire workforce, and the amount depends on length of service or position.
Context: the debate over a one-time payment versus indexation
Earlier, Life.ru already reported, citing a specialist, that a mandatory 13th salary could lead to staff cuts: in the public sector, according to this assessment, it would be wiser to index salaries rather than introduce a one-time payment. Thus, the question of the annual bonus is discussed on two levels: for an individual employee — as a right depending on the company's local documents, and for the economy as a whole — as a choice between a one-time bonus and regular salary growth.
