In the modern rhythm of life, there is often a need for travel even among those professionals who could not even think about leaving the workplace. But there are professions that suggest a constant mobility of a person. And there are many reasons for disputes between the employee and the employer. Most often, disagreements arise about the payment for the traveling nature of the work.
What does the traveling nature of work mean?
Do not confuse business trips and traveling nature of work. If the employee from time to time in the interests of the employer travels to objects located in the city (country) different from the permanent place of residence for a certain period, then this will be a business trip. But if the work is constantly carried out on the road, then under the definition of a trip it does not fit. There may be two variants of traveling work:
- the employee returns home after work every day (driver, sales representative);
- the employee does not have the opportunity to return to his permanent place of residence on a daily basis (visiting auditor, freight forwarder, long-distance driver).
How to arrange the traveling nature of the work?
To be able to talk about the bonus and compensation for the traveling nature of the work, it is necessary to properly design it in documents.
First, the traveling nature of the work should be reflected in the employment contract. This is true for Russia and Ukraine, because neither the Russian Federation TC and the Labor Code set a list of specialties that are of a traveling nature. If the employment contract does not specify that the work will be carried on a traveling basis, questions may arise with the payment of travel. This is especially true of Ukraine, where there is an indication that there is no list of professions that are traveling on the enterprise, considering all official trips as business trips.
Secondly, in the collective agreement, the employer's obligations regarding compensation and additional payment for the traveling nature of labor may be reflected. If there is no collective agreement, the list of positions and the procedure for compensation can be (and even more appropriately) approved in the Regulation on the traveling nature of work by the order of the head.
Compensation for the traveling nature of work
In Russia, the employer can provide an allowance for the traveling nature of the work and (or) compensation for the worker's expenses. Such an allowance is established by local regulatory enactments and is charged as interest to the salary (tariff rate) of the employee and is an integral part of the employee's salary. In case of compensation, the employer shall reimburse the employee for his expenses related to the performance of his duties. In this case, cash payments are not part of the salary.
In Ukraine, the allowance for traveling work is only compensatory.
What expenses does the employer have to compensate the employee? These are the four groups of costs determined by the TC and the Labor Code, hence they are the same for Russia and Ukraine.
- Expenses for travel (by public or personal transport).
- The cost of hiring a dwelling, if the employee does not have the opportunity to return after the completion of work to the place of permanent residence.
- Additional expenses related to living outside of a permanent place of residence. This includes daily allowance and field allowance.
- Other expenses that were incurred with the knowledge or permission of the employer and for his purposes.
The rates of per diem and other expenses are established by a labor or collective agreement. It should be noted that, for tax purposes, daily subsistence allowance can not exceed 700 rubles. (30 hryvnia).