Many people choose traveling work, which is the need to constantly travel between different cities and even countries. During the trip, a business trip is not made out, since the basic duties of a citizen are directly related to travel. At the same time, the traveling nature of the work must be properly documented in the company. The internal documentation of the company should contain information on the amount of salary, on the functions performed by employees, as well as on other important points of cooperation.
Who is involved in traveling work?
There are many specialists who are faced with the traveling nature of work. These include the following employees:
- plumbers, builders or people engaged in repair work at customer sites;
- sales representatives who are forced to travel within the same city or between different subjects of the Russian Federation to negotiate, sell products or perform other similar actions;
- drivers or couriers.
On the basis of the TC, the traveling nature of work in the employment contract is mandatory, since otherwise such trips should be arranged in the form of business trips.
Labor criteria
If an employee during work is forced to constantly encounter movements around the city or country, then such work on the basis of Art. 168 shopping mall can be divided into several types:
- in expeditions;
- in the field;
- on my way;
- traveling work.
The legislation does not contain information about what exact criteria can be applied to a particular type of work. Therefore, each company can independently apply different factors. Most often traveling work is associated with the following criteria:
- the employee of the enterprise spends most of the working time outside the organization's territory, coping with his duties stipulated by the job description;
- the main work involves the need for regular trips, and they can take place within the same city or between different regions of the country;
- for a particular position, the head of the enterprise may develop other criteria.
Based on Art. 168 TC in each company should develop its own regulatory documents. They prescribe positions in which employees must constantly face traveling. For this purpose, the company establishes a statement on the traveling nature of work.
Business Benefits
The on-site nature of work in an employment contract is secured when hiring an employee in a particular company. The choice of this method of employment has some indisputable advantages. These include:
- company management does not have to spend a lot of time preparing numerous documents necessary in a situation when citizens go on business trips;
- time tracking is simplified;
- it is much easier for an accountant to calculate the size of employees' salaries, since it is not necessary to do advance reports for this;
- labor costs are reduced, since people involved in traveling receive a standard salary, not claiming the average earnings paid to employees on business trips.
Another important plus is that the company does not need to open a separate division in another region. To solve important issues in this city, it is enough to send the right specialists to another region.
Differences from business trips
The traveling nature of the work does not imply regular travel arrangements. Business trips are represented by rare business trips due to production needs. They are associated with a one-time task in another city or country under art. 166 TC.
If a specialist goes on a business trip, then the company retains a job and a salary. At the same time, he can receive not only a salary, but also reimbursement of his expenses associated with the purchase of food, travel and payment for accommodation in a hotel or rented apartment. Other costs are paid if approved by the head of the company.
To send an employee on a business trip, the company management must correctly draw up certain documentation for this. It refers to:
- an order is issued by the director of the company;
- an official assignment is being handed over to the employee;
- travel certificate is formed;
- at the end of the trip, an employee reports on the work done, which includes information about the expenses incurred.
Business trips in companies are usually required quite rarely. They involve a one-time job, after which the employee continues to work in the enterprise. With the traveling nature of the work, the employee is constantly traveling, and for this it is not necessary to issue an order by the head or prepare other specific documents.
Information about such a feature of labor must be entered into the citizen's employment contract. All conditions under which such work is carried out are prescribed in Art. 57 shopping mall. For such trips, the law does not assign any compensation or compensation to the employee, so he can only rely on his salary, the amount of which is agreed upon upon employment. The employer may independently appoint various allowances.
If under the contract a person must be on the move within one city, then when sending him to work in another region, it is required to arrange a business trip.
What documents are prepared?
In order for an employee to be able to travel regularly, it is important to correctly arrange the traveling nature of work. For this, certain documentation is generated by the company management. It refers to:
- an individual labor contract drawn up with a specific hired specialist, which indicates on what conditions the citizen will be engaged in labor activity;
- collective agreement if all employees of the enterprise must face regular travels;
- local normative act, usually represented by a competently formed provision.
Based on Art. 168 of the Labor Code, in the provision it is required to indicate the size of the allowance, which is assigned to employees who are forced to regularly travel. Applying compensation for traveling work is only a right of the company management. Therefore, if necessary, the administration of the enterprise can appoint only the optimal salary in a solid cash amount, which does not increase with regular trips.
A sample provision on traveling work is presented below.
Rules for drawing up an employment contract
The provision on the traveling nature of work is an obligatory document in the organization, but when drawing up an employment contract with an employee, it is additionally required to include information on the features of the specialist’s labor in this document. Therefore, when compiling this document, the following features are taken into account:
- it is prescribed that the basic work duties of a citizen must be connected with regular trips;
- it is indicated whether these trips will be carried out within the same region or whether a citizen will have to travel between different cities;
- Provides information on possible allowances or compensation.
Each hired specialist must be warned in advance about the traveling nature of work. An agreement drawn up with him must contain information about all the nuances of cooperation. If necessary, the employee may insist on making changes to this document, but only until its direct signature.
A sample agreement on the traveling nature of work can be studied below.
The nuances of issuing an order
Often in companies a situation arises when workers in a particular position are transferred to traveling work. In this case, it is allowed not to completely change the situation, therefore, it is enough to only increase the list of specialties in the order issued by the head of the company. The rules for the preparation of this document shall indicate:
- it lists all the positions in which workers will be forced to face work of a traveling nature;
- the document number and its name are given;
- Signed by the head and employees of the company;
- a reference is made to the law by which the employer can use such a transfer.
As soon as employees are familiarized with this document, they should be prepared to change the conditions of their work. When traveling, it is required that workers have accompanying documents with them. These include waybills issued for all company vehicles, waybills or service notes.
Are expenses reimbursed?
Many companies offer employees traveling work. Jobs may be different, but in any case, the employee will have to constantly travel around the city or regions of the country to solve work issues. At the same time, each employee is interested in the question of whether expenses will be reimbursed.
Compensation for traveling work can be presented in two varieties:
- all expenses related to meals and transportation are reimbursed, but per diem is not included here;
- a fixed amount of funds is paid to the employee, which does not depend on how much money the citizen actually spent on the trip.
If the first option is chosen, then the employee must independently transfer to the manager payment documents confirming the expenses incurred by him. This includes various transport tickets, waybills, checks or receipts. Additionally, other strict reporting documents may be used.
The company management independently determines which documents should be prepared by employees so that they can confirm their expenses.
Are surcharges being introduced?
If several company employees are forced to engage in mobile activities within the same region, then premiums are often introduced for them. They increase the employee's salary in comparison with the earnings of other employees of the enterprise.
Since the work is carried out within one city, the citizen does not face housing costs, since he is in the region of his residence. Transportation costs are quite small, so they are usually not reimbursed if there is an allowance for the employee of the company.
Some companies use a combined method of cost recovery. In this case, the cost of transportation, food and accommodation are reimbursed on the basis of payment documents transmitted by the employee, but the per diem is replaced by a fixed allowance. The possibility of using this method is provided for by Art. 168.1 TC.
Optimal compensation amount
The legislation does not contain information on how much money should be transferred to workers working on regular trips. Therefore, employers can independently calculate the size of the allowance. For this, it takes into account how much money you have to spend on public transport or using a personal car, as well as how much money is spent on food in catering establishments.
The additional amount should compensate for transport, food, and other expenses. Typically, company executives try to reduce this payment, as this helps reduce taxes. The employee must receive information on the size of the allowance prior to the direct signing of the employment contract.
Some employers do not use a fixed amount of money, but a percentage of the salary. For this, the following recommendations are taken into account:
- if more than 12 days are spent on trips per month, then the optimal premium amount is 20% of the salary;
- if less than 12 days are spent on a monthly basis to carry out traveling work, then a bonus of 15% of the salary is usually used.
The above indicators are only approximate, therefore, each owner of the company can use their own tariffs and interest.
What to do to employees in violation of the law?
Some employers, when hiring specialists, do not notify them that they will have to work on traveling work. This information is not indicated in the employment contract, therefore, citizens sign the document without notification of the features of their work.
If already in the process of activity the employer demands that the employee carry out work at constant trips without issuing an appropriate order, then this is a serious offense. Under such conditions, the employee may decide to implement the following actions:
- refusal to comply with the instructions of the management associated with traveling, if there are no official documents for this;
- if the employer brings disciplinary action against the employee for such a refusal, the citizen can write a complaint to the labor inspectorate or prosecutor's office;
- if necessary, it is possible to challenge the management’s requirements in court, recovering compensation from the company’s administration for non-pecuniary damage.
After receiving a complaint from a citizen, labor inspection specialists carry out a company audit. If evidence comes to light that the firm’s administration really violates the rights of citizens, then company officials are held accountable.
Conclusion
If the employer attracts citizens to carry out traveling work, then he is obliged to correctly execute this process. For this, the relevant provision is fixed in the accounting records of the company, and an order is issued by the head of the company.
Workers working under such conditions can rely on compensation. It can be represented by a fixed amount of funds or a percentage of the salary. Additionally, it can be determined by counting the actual expenses of a citizen, confirmed by payment documents. Refusal of proper registration by the employer is the basis for holding the director accountable.