A person working for hire, not least of all, is thinking about how to get as much as possible. Many are glad to make additional efforts to this, provided that the company fixes simple and transparent criteria for how labor compensation can be increased. Through what schemes can a firm determine the principles for calculating employee salaries? How should management choose the best?
Determination of remuneration
Before exploring the types of remuneration accepted in the Russian Federation and world practice, we examine the essence of this concept. What are the main theoretical concepts related to this aspect, common among Russian researchers? In accordance with the popular definition, wages should be understood as relations that are associated with the determination of the scheme of settlements of the employer with the employee, as well as with ensuring its legality. Some researchers distinguish the term under consideration from wages - the employee’s remuneration for work in accordance with his qualifications, the complexity of the duties and the conditions for carrying out the activity. Salary in this case is understood as a component of remuneration. But in a number of interpretations the two terms in question are identified.
Remuneration should be of a systemic nature - so that the employee knows what compensation he can rely on after completing a certain amount of work within a specified period of time. In some cases, state laws may establish minimum wages — as, for example, in the Russian Federation.
The legal acts regulating the calculation procedures of employers and employees do not have direct recommendations defining the criteria by which the company should accrue appropriate compensation. Therefore, each organization has the right to independently formulate requirements, which must comply with the wage system. The types of payment schemes of employers and employees that are popular in world and Russian practice are very different. But among the most popular: time-based, piece-rate, as well as a chord system of remuneration. Consider their specifics in more detail.
Time wage
The time-based scheme, within which the calculations of employers and employees can be carried out, suggests that the amount of compensation will depend on the duration of the employee's performance of his duties, as well as on his tariff rate. The unit of accounting for working time can be an hour, a day, or a month. In Russia, the third option is by far the most common. But many firms also practice hourly and daily rates.
There are a number of additional criteria by which the considered form of payment can be classified. Types of time compensation:
- simple time-based form;
- salary with bonus elements.
In the first case, the amount of earnings is determined on the basis of multiplying the rate - hourly or daily, by the total number of corresponding units of time during which a person performed his labor duties at the enterprise. If, for example, an employee worked all the statutory working days in a month, then the compensation will be equal to his fixed salary. If not, then he will receive a salary based on its correlation with the salary in proportion to the number of days of presence at the enterprise. It is possible that the period of absence of a person at work will be compensated by accruing sick leave or vacation pay.
Time-based pay may include bonus elements. It is most often expressed as a percentage of salary. The premium is usually paid in accordance with the regulation established in the organization. That is, the criteria for their calculation are usually the same for all employees - in the same positions. As a rule, this is overfulfillment of planned targets, material savings (not to the detriment of the results), and higher quality of products.
Piecework pay
Consider other types of payroll . The piecework scheme suggests that compensation is formed on the basis of quantitative indicators of the effectiveness of a person's work. This may be the release of products in pieces or the provision of services in relation to the number of customers. An employer can also set certain production standards that affect the size of wages.
There are a number of additional reasons for classifying the appropriate form of compensation. The main types of remuneration according to the piecework scheme:
- direct;
- progressive;
- premium.
In direct piece-rate form, a person receives a salary based on multiplying the quantitative indicators for the release of goods or the provision of services that he achieved in a set period of time - for example, a month - by the amount of the monetary rate determined by the enterprise (depending in some cases on the employee’s qualification level, complexity or urgency of work). A progressive scheme implies a surcharge for exceeding quantitative indicators relative to the norm - as a rule, as a percentage of the standard value. An analogue to it (or an additional criterion) can be a bonus system by which a company pays an employee a set amount of cash for processing.
Accord pay
At some enterprises, the considered piecework types of remuneration are supplemented by the so-called indirect or chord indicators, which also affect the amount of compensation. This may be due to the performance by a person, by default, carrying out activities in a particular position, of other labor functions. For example, the head of an outerwear workshop may ask some employees to help colleagues from a nearby department in which jeans are sewn - for 1-2 hours a day. In this case, their salary is calculated not only at the expense of the tariffs set for the production of outerwear, but also when using indicators on the “jeans” line of production.
All the piecework types of wages we have examined are usually fixed in local regulations. These can be orders in which the development targets are fixed, and at the end of the shift, the degree to which they are achieved. This may be an order on the payment of bonuses to certain employees, signed by the head. For assistants on the "jeans" lines can be published chord tasks.
Tariff Standards
There are, of course, other payment methods (types of labor compensation). Among the popular ones are tariff standards. According to one or another criteria, they can be similar to the schemes considered by us - time-based, piece-wise and accord-like due to their complexity. The fact is that these standards are a set of indicators on the basis of which the amount of labor compensation is determined - such as qualifications, complexity of work, labor intensity, climatic features of the location of production, and the specifics of manufactured goods. How should determine the appropriate criteria for the company, which introduced the tariff system of remuneration? The types of work, professions and positions for which the firm should formulate a settlement policy are usually recorded in special tariff directories. In some cases, the recommendations contained in them are not binding, but nevertheless the use of such sources is a common practice among Russian companies.
Floating salaries
Some enterprises supplement the types of remuneration considered by us with other criteria and approaches to calculating compensation for employees. So, firms can practice the so-called floating salaries. Their specificity is that with the expiration of a specified period - for example, a month, the value of the corresponding rate established for an employee can be revised. If a person has achieved high production indicators, then the salary may increase.
Remuneration of labor under civil law contracts
In accordance with what criteria are wages made under civil contracts that are close to labor? The most important point - for all their possible similarities with contracts concluded in accordance with the norms of the Labor Code, the main regulatory source of law in relation to them is the Civil Code. Therefore, the term "remuneration" in relation to such contracts is not legally applicable.
Of course, an enterprise and an employee - it is more correct to call him a contractor - may agree that certain types of payment for services or work will be practiced in their legal relations, but such agreements will not be governed by labor law. Accordingly, by the state they can be called either illegal or subject to renegotiation - already in the format of full-fledged contracts according to the norms of the Labor Code.
If we talk about the recommended forms of settlements under civil law contracts - the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation allow parties to such agreements to fix the conditions under which the contractor must show the customer the result of work in such and such a volume. Or determine that the payment will occur in accordance with the actual indicators in the Act of completion. Thus, compensation under civil law contracts in the general case will be similar to those that are practiced in the piecework form of remuneration.
Salary in government agencies
The payment methods (types of compensation) of labor in state institutions are quite specific. The fact is that the relevant criteria - the scheme for calculating the wages of workers, tariff standards, salaries - are determined mainly at the level of legislative acts. What types and forms of remuneration are common in Russian state institutions? Most often, this is a time-based scheme, complemented by a premium component. That is, a basic salary is paid to a person, and depending on the results of work for the month or another period, a bonus is added as a percentage of the corresponding compensation rate.
How to choose the optimal form of remuneration?
So, we examined the types and forms of remuneration that are popular among Russian enterprises. How can the head of the company decide on the most suitable of them? You can focus on the following criteria.
If the company produces something - for example, the same clothes, then it is best to practice the types of uniforms and wage systems that are close to piecework. That is, a person working on a factory line will receive compensation, depending on his productivity. However, it is highly desirable that this scheme be accompanied by the payment of a certain guaranteed amount to the employee. Best of all, if its value is not limited to the minimum wage fixed in the legislation, and represents at least more than half of the total earnings.
In turn, if the company provides services, and the demand for them is floating, then it is optimal to choose a time-based scheme. The same can be said of multidisciplinary firms, when piecework is difficult, and actions that are not directly related to production — for example, maintaining accounting documents — may prevail in the labor activity of an employee .
Combined method
Of course, you can combine different types of payments. At the same time, they should arrange workers from the point of view that a person will have the opportunity, on the one hand, to control his earnings, and on the other, he will be sure of the stability of the amount of labor compensation. It is also desirable that the conditions for payment for a particular specialist do not differ from those that are fixed in the contract between the organization and another employee in a similar position. It is allowed in a number of cases, so that employees of some departments know what types of remuneration are practiced in other departments of the company - perhaps they will determine them as more optimal for themselves and will go there to work. This will allow the company to increase labor productivity due to the competent distribution of human resources - people will be engaged in the activity that they like best.
The legislation of the Russian Federation does not restrict enterprises (with the exception of state-owned enterprises — they must, as we noted above, bring internal employee remuneration schemes in accordance with legislative criteria) in choosing a particular compensation scheme or in applying their combinations. It is quite possible wages determined on the basis of time and piecework indicators at the same time - in which a person, on the one hand, receives a fixed salary, on the other hand, additional payments in case, relatively speaking, the achievement of higher rates for the release of goods relative to those prescribed in regulations.
The wage system at the enterprise must be competitive - otherwise specialists may begin to move to other firms with more just, in their opinion, principles for calculating compensation. The scheme introduced by the company should at the same time promote the interest of employees in improving work efficiency and improving their approaches to its implementation. If a person receives a large guaranteed salary, his motivation to work actively may decrease. But the employee receiving stable compensation - as we noted above, the company must provide.