What does the salary consist of? Wages: what laws regulate this?

Each of us has heard two concepts such as salary and wages. Everyone understands that both of these concepts mean a remuneration system, but at the same time they have different definitions and meanings. Let's look at how salary differs from salary, and what these two terms mean.

What is salary

Before considering what wages and salaries are, what is the difference between them, it is necessary to provide a detailed description of the two concepts. So, salary is a fixed amount, which the employer, in accordance with the employment contract and the internal remuneration system, is obliged to pay to its employee for the pay period. In simple words, this is part of the salary, which is expressed in a fixed amount of money.

In addition to salary, an employee may receive other payments, for example, allowances, bonuses and others. Accordingly, the employee’s total income cannot be the same monthly; it depends on the length of the pay period and other factors.

By the way, the full salary is paid only when employees work the full pay period. That is, if an employee was on sick leave for a month, then the time he was actually absent from the workplace is deducted from his earnings.

What is salary

The difference between a salary and a salary is precisely that an employee’s monthly salary is the amount of money he receives for performing his official duties. In simple words, wages consist of several components, including bonuses, allowances and other payments provided for by the enterprise’s remuneration system. In addition, personal income tax is deducted from this amount.

What is the difference

So, how is salary different from wages? The main differences are that salary is just an integral part of wages. Although for some employees both data values ​​are equal, the only difference is that income tax is deducted from wages for the pay period.

In addition, a fixed amount is a mandatory payment, which is provided for in the employment contract. While other allowances are a value that depends on many pros and cons. After all, some allowances may not be regulated by an employment contract, but are reflected only in financial reporting documents.

Wages are the systematic remuneration of an employee established by agreement of the parties for work performed under an employment contract.

The new Russian legislation on wages is based on the following principles:

equal pay is given for equal work;

wages depend on the labor contribution of employees and are not limited by the maximum amount;

the state establishes and guarantees each worker a minimum wage;

labor is paid differentially.

There are two ways to set wages: contractual and centralized.

I . Contractual method of setting wages. During the existence of the USSR, most organizations and enterprises were state-owned and financed from the state budget. Therefore, the issue of the amount of wages when entering a job was not discussed: the employee received as much as the state determined for him. In other words, a centralized procedure for setting wages prevailed. Now the situation has changed. A large number of enterprises and organizations are non-state, and their owners, having the absolute right to dispose of their property, can set any wage for their employees.

Since wages are paid from the enterprise’s own funds, the state And tries not to interfere in this area of ​​activity of commercial enterprises, giving them the right to resolve wage issues independently (by agreement with employees, as well as taking into account the opinion of the trade union). That is why wage issues are the subject of an agreement between the employee and the employer, fixed in the employment contract, and the subject of corporate regulation, i.e. regulation in corporate acts, primarily in the collective agreement. But it regulates these issues only in the most general form: it establishes the principles of remuneration, the type and system of wages, the size of tariff rates, the minimum wage at the enterprise, as well as the wage ratio between individual categories of personnel.

A collective agreement is far from the only and not the best way to regulate relations at an enterprise, and it is not always acceptable. Firstly, the feasibility of its conclusion in small enterprises is questionable. Secondly, its complex nature does not make it possible to study in detail the normatively resolved issues. One cannot discount the ease of use of such a corporate act, which specifically regulates a particular issue, compared to the multi-page text of a collective agreement. That is why detailed regulation of wages requires the publication of special corporate acts.

At some enterprises, one comprehensive corporate act is created, called "Regulations on remuneration." The regulation includes the following sections:

1) basic salary;

2) bonuses for the final financial results of the enterprise;

bonuses based on work results for the year;

At other enterprises, an independent corporate act is dedicated to each of the components of wages.

It is important to note that wages are now almost entirely relegated to corporate regulation. The first step in this direction was taken in connection with the adoption of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 15, 1991 “On the abolition of restrictions on wages and on the increase in funds allocated for consumption.” The level of independence of enterprises in terms of wages is limited only by the availability of their own funds.

Determining wages is one of the most difficult management tasks, the solution of which is directly related to the profitability of the corporation.

A high salary will attract many candidates and provide the administration with a choice. But this is not yet a guarantee of high labor productivity and staff stability. The level of wages is influenced by many factors (unemployment level, influence of trade unions). But the profitability of the enterprise is still more important: an unprofitable corporation is not able to pay wages above the average level.

What factors, besides the profitability of the corporation itself, can influence the level of wages?

environmental factors - demand and supply of labor, cost of living in general, correlation with working conditions at other enterprises, etc.;

industry factors - the importance of a particular industry, traditions (traditionally high earnings will influence the determination of wages), etc.;

factors related to the nature of the work - working conditions, danger, severity, harmfulness of work, degree of responsibility, required skills, etc.;

personnel factors - staff stability at the enterprise, the scale of hiring, the complexity of hiring, the amount of additional benefits, etc.

One cannot fail to take into account such a factor as the desire of any enterprise to create a reputation as a good employer.

In general, wages are the assessment of workers' work or the process of ranking them according to the relative value of each in order to more fairly pay for the labor expended by them.

Remuneration at an enterprise may have the following structure.

1. Basic salary- These are wage payments for actual work performed. At some enterprises, the emphasis is placed specifically on the basic salary, which necessitates the publication of such corporate acts as “Production Standards”, “Official Salaries”, “On the Procedure for Assigning Grades”, “On Tariffication”, “On the Distribution of the Wage Fund” and etc.

2. Awards These are incentive payments. They constitute, as it were, additional wages. Bonuses can be made on a variety of grounds established in corporate acts, such as:

based on the results of work for the month;

based on the results of work for the year;

for the introduction of new equipment and technology;

for saving material resources;

for the supply of products for export;

for high-quality performance of work and tasks of the administration;

for certain types of work;

for qualifications and professional excellence.

There are enterprises where bonuses make up a significant part of the salary, sometimes exceeding the basic one. It is clear that in this case the administration is relying on stimulating labor on an additional part of wages. In such a situation, such a corporate act as “Regulations on bonuses”, “Regulations on material incentives”, etc. becomes very significant.

3. Compensation- these are payments that compensate for the increase in employee energy costs:

for night work;

for working the second and third shifts;

for overtime work;

for work on holidays and weekends;

for performing work in conditions deviating from normal;

for combining professions;

for high labor productivity;

for the period of development of new production (products);

for a business trip;

for the use of a foreign language;

for performing work with a smaller number of workers;

4. Guarantees- these are payments for actually unworked, no-show time:

length of service; regional allowances; special allowances, etc.

All of the above issues of wages, this main lever for organizing production, the enterprise has the right to decide independently.

P. Centralized method of setting wages. This method is used in enterprises and institutions financed from the state or municipal budget. For employees of these institutions, a single tariff schedule has been established, which includes 18 categories (ETC) (Table 6.1).

Wages are determined by multiplying the tariff coefficient by the minimum tariff rate, the size of which is determined by periodically issued special decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation on increasing the minimum wage tariff rate. The categories themselves are determined on the basis of the Tariff and Qualification Directory of Work and Professions of Workers and the Qualification Directory of Employees, consisting of three parts: 1 - managers; 2 - specialists; 3 - technical performers.

These directories, necessary for the qualification commission to assign a qualification category to an employee, are adopted in a centralized manner for the entire national economy, which, however, does not exclude the existence of corresponding directories for individual sectors of the economy. In turn, on their basis, corporate directories for employees of a particular enterprise (institution) can be developed.

For public sector employees, bonuses and additional payments are established centrally. However, within the limits of available funds, state budgetary institutions, as well as commercial enterprises, can increase their size.

The “minimum wage” is determined centrally, which, representing the minimum guarantee of any employee working under an employment contract, applies to all organizations, regardless of their form of ownership.

The procedure for payment of wages. Salary is issued employees at least twice a month, although the enterprise may set other terms for its payment.

Salaries are usually paid at the place where the work is performed.

Table 6.1 Unified tariff schedule

Holds from wages are possible as a general ruleonly with the written consent of the employee, and in the absence of consent - in cases established by law,or by court decision. Thus, in accordance with current legislation, regardless of the employee’s consent The administration is obliged to withhold the following amounts:

taxes and contributions to the Pension Fund;

for the execution of court decisions and other enforcement documents, including fines;

to return unspent advances issued in connection with a business trip or issued on account of wages, as well as amounts overpaid due to an accounting error;

when an employee is dismissed through his fault for unworked days of the vacation received;

to compensate for damage caused by an employee to production, if the amount of damage does not exceed the employee’s monthly earnings.

The total amount of withholding cannot exceed 20% of the salary for each payment, and when collecting amounts under several writs of execution - 50% (when collecting child support, damage caused by a crime - up to 70%).

Salary is a fixed amount of remuneration based on the assumption that the employee worked the entire calendar month (did not take sick leave or vacation). The salary is described in, the candidate is familiar with it when applying for a job.

The salary does not include bonuses, allowances and compensation; it is taken as the basis for subsequent calculations of other indicators of remuneration.

Salary is the sum of all funds that an employee receives after summing up the days actually worked, all allowances and bonuses, while mandatory personal income tax is withheld. When calculating, bonuses, allowances, and compensations are added to the salary amount, if any are provided for at a particular enterprise.

For example, remuneration for overtime on official weekends, overtime in the evening, high performance indicators, harmful and dangerous working conditions, length of service, and others.

Salary and salary are different concepts.

The main difference between the amount of salary and wages is that the salary is a fixed amount for a specific position according to the work schedule. The salary amount is unchanged provided that the hired employee goes to work on all days of the calendar month.

The salary, in turn, may vary depending on the availability of bonuses and allowances, which add up to the salary amount. Thus, when calculating the salary, all compensations, bonuses are added to the salary amount and fines, if any, are subtracted.

The amount of the required salary is in, but the salary is not indicated in any document when applying for the desired job.

In most cases, its amount may change in each subsequent month.

Systems and forms of remuneration

The salary amount is specified in the employment contract.

There are various forms and systems of remuneration for employees of enterprises. Why can’t we come up with one universal way to determine the amount of wages for the entire team?

Due to the fact that there are a large number of types of work performed, tasks set by higher management and sales standards for each individual profession, an equally large number of methods have been invented for calculating the amount of remuneration for workers. This is due to the fact that each enterprise has its own operating characteristics.

For example, an employee of a metallurgical plant works at a fixed rate, which can only change based on variations in the amount of time worked by the employee (if there were weekend days off and evening production hours).

A sales employee receives a salary directly related to the volume of product sales. This stimulates better customer consultation, which increases sales and, accordingly, the profit of the business owner.

The seller receives a well-deserved increase in income, directing more and more efforts and efforts towards increasing the customer base and increasing the sales of goods or useful services provided to them.

But there are also types of work in which we cannot measure the strength and applied professional efforts of each individual person. Then his income is stable and changes only when taking annual vacations, unforeseen sick leave, and time off for family matters.

There are cases when an employer deliberately sets a low salary in order to force an employee to perform more standard operations, thereby increasing the size of the bonus and monthly income.

This method of calculating salaries is more appropriate than ever if you need to increase the volume of services or product units for an organization.

Workers who repair equipment, machines, replace outdated parts with new ones, receive an incentive to perform a higher quality work, receiving an additional payment to their income for the absence of frequent breakdowns of equipment important for the organization.

Distributors and employees in the field of network marketing and direct sales receive income based on the difference between the purchase price of products and the price of their sale to customers potentially interested in the product.

Minimal salary

Allowances are taken into account when calculating the salary.

The minimum wage is set at the legislative level by the state. An employer will not be able to arbitrarily pay its workers less than the minimum wage.

This basic indicator is constantly and rapidly changing and is taken as the main basis when determining the final amount of fines, taxes levied, and mandatory payments.

Thus, it became extremely clear that salary and salary are completely different economic terms and concepts. The accountant’s salary consists of the amount of the salary and all kinds of bonuses, special incentive bonuses and mandatory compensation provided by the enterprise.

In this video you will learn about the difference between salary and compensation.

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By law, there is no division of salaries by color - white, gray or black. But in practice, many private enterprises use just such methods of paying employees.

Official wages (also called white wages) are wages that fully comply with all internal documents of the enterprise and from the amount of which taxes are deducted. It is in order to save money (in the form of non-payment of taxes) that managers offer employees to receive part of the money unofficially.

There are also cases when the official salary cannot be paid to an employee on time. Then she becomes

Official salaries are classified according to types, forms and systems, each of which needs to be considered in more detail.

Basic and additional, real and nominal

The following main types of wages are distinguished:

Main – the amount paid to a worker for the quantity and quality of work performed. It depends on the performance of job duties, time standards or production. For workers these are tariff rates, piece rates, for employees - official salaries. It also includes additional payments for working overtime, at night, and for downtime, if it was not the fault of the worker.

– payments for time that the employee did not work(severance pay, payment for regular vacation, for a break from work for nursing mothers). This includes bonuses for success at work or for working under special conditions.

– actual amount of funds, which is accrued and paid to the employee for a certain period. This indicator does not reflect the real standard of living, since it does not take into account the purchasing power of wages, the price level and inflation.

Much more important is real wages - that is, those goods (goods or services) that a worker can buy for a nominal salary.

Separately, it is worth highlighting such a concept as the minimum wage. This is the amount of payment established and enshrined by law for the ordinary work of an unskilled worker, for the amount of work performed by him (per hour or month). The employer has no right to pay wages below this amount.

What are the components of the salary? The video below provides the answer.

Piecework and time-based

The form of remuneration establishes the indicators by which labor is paid - based on performance results, on time, or on specifically manufactured products. Depending on the economic indicators by which labor costs are measured, there are two main forms of wages:

Time-based – Pay depends on time worked and qualifications worker. It does not take into account the increase or decrease in the amount of work performed and therefore is not always effective for the enterprise.

Piece salary – depends on the quantity of goods produced or services provided. It is advisable to use this form of payment if the work performed can be calculated quantitatively, and for each employee separately. For example, the number of products produced or services provided, including per worker.

Piecework has benefits for both workers and the company. In the first case, the employee has the opportunity to increase his earnings by increasing the intensity of work. In the second case, such payment is a kind of motivation for staff to work faster and produce more products. But this may negatively affect its quality, which is unprofitable for the enterprise.

Each of these forms is divided into its own subtypes (or systems).

Time-based systems

It is classified as follows:

1. Simple time-based – payment is based on the number of hours worked (salary = tariff rate multiplied by the number of hours).
2. The time-based bonus system is distinguished from a simple additional payment in the form of a bonus - for saved raw materials, exceeding the plan, improving product quality. It is used to improve certain performance indicators (for example, reducing the accident rate of work).

there are the following types:

Direct piecework – payment for work depends from individual production worker. This system is convenient if it is possible to organize labor accounting separately for each employee. Its use is also effective if the organization has an unlimited supply of increasing production volume. Salary is calculated as the product of actual output and salary per unit of production.

Piece-progressive - amount direct piecework salary with additional payment for exceeding the norm. Such a system can be used, for example, in a new enterprise when rapid growth in production volume is required.

Piece-rate bonus - an increase to the size of the basic salary of payments both for exceeding the norm and for improving the quality of products (absence of defects, production waste, etc.). This stimulates the employee not only to work harder, but also improves the quality of work.

Chord - in advance an agreed amount for completing a specific job within a specified time frame. A group of workers determines its own size and distributes responsibilities. This system is used in construction, when developing a project, that is, where the end result is a scope of work completed on time.

Collective piecework systems – payment of labor to the entire team of workers. The distribution to each employee is carried out using the labor participation coefficient. They are used when it is difficult to standardize the rate of an individual employee.

Also varieties of this system are the establishment of various types of percentages on sales (of goods or services), piece rates from cash turnover (in the field of retail sales), salary payments depending on the quality of services provided (for example, reducing rates in the presence of complaints from customers).

Unofficial

In addition to the official, white salary, in many private enterprises there are types of wage payments unofficially, or, as people say, in an envelope.

If only part of the amount is paid in an envelope, and the other part is paid officially with taxes, then such a salary is called gray. If the employee is not employed at the enterprise at all and receives all the money unofficially, then this. Using such methods of paying employees violates the law, but they are very common because they are beneficial to both parties.

The employer retains a substantial amount that he would have contributed as tax, and the employee receives a larger salary than what is officially stated in his employment contract. In addition, the employee is also charged less for income taxes and, in some cases, for child support.

Most often paid in small and medium-sized businesses. Areas in which unofficial wages are common:

• trade – wholesale and retail;
• construction;
• manufacturing industries.

Gray wages are used not only in the case of tax savings. There may be a situation when a specialist is needed to complete a project or a certain type of work, the position for which is not in the staffing table. In this case, the employer can hire this specialist for another position, officially pay him the minimum salary and pay for the work performed in person.

In the case of man may be listed as unemployed, receive benefits and at the same time work unofficially.

An employment contract is not concluded with such an employee, no taxes are paid on his salary at all, and double accounting is carried out to make such payments.

This method is convenient in those types of businesses where there is a high cash turnover - it is cash that is used to pay black wages. This could be transportation, sales of goods, real estate.

Black and gray salaries mainly benefit only employers, because they save significant amounts of money on taxes, can pay for vacations and sick leave at their discretion, and in the event of a conflict with a subordinate, they can even deprive him of his salary.

There is criminal liability for tax evasion, but it is often difficult to prove the fact of payment in an envelope, and the employees themselves often agree for this method of calculation. But in order to sleep peacefully and not worry about being exposed, it is better not to use such methods of paying salaries and conduct business honestly.

Each enterprise can choose its own form of remuneration that is most suitable for it, if it does not contradict the law. When choosing, you need to take into account, first of all, the specifics of the activity. The most effective for an enterprise will be the types of piecework forms of remuneration, since they help to establish the relationship between payment and the specific result of work and calculate wages in accordance with this.

Wages represent an employee's remuneration for work activities. When carrying out any work, a person, in one way or another, expects monetary compensation for the expended physical and time resources. At the same time, the salary must be no less than the subsistence minimum, regulated by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

When applying for a job, a person must be aware of all the details related to this topic so that he cannot be deceived, and he receives everything that is due by law.

What is a salary and how is it different from a salary? The answer to this question will appear as we study the presented material.

Concept in labor law

Wages (wages) in our country are regulated by a number of legislative acts and laws:

• Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
• Constitution of the Russian Federation.
• Specially prescribed individual laws.

The legal basis for this issue determines the minimum wage rate, the terms of payment of wages, the procedure for monetary penalties and incentives, special measures for failure by the employer to fulfill its obligations to pay wages, and the like.

Salary elements

Salary is a combination of three elements:

1. The fixed part is the salary (we will touch on this concept a little later).
2. The variable part is modified in relation to the actions of a particular employee, the type and class of enterprise, and even geographic location. For example, residents of the northern regions must receive a special allowance due to the harsh living conditions. The variable part represents a certain portion of the salary (from 15 to 100%) based on their residence in a particular region.
3. Additional payments - related to the season, production features or performance of work that are not specified in the employee’s employment contract.

For example, employees of some enterprises are paid monetary compensation for food. Covering the cost of travel to your vacation destination is also an additional payment, because this happens extremely rarely.

Differences from salary

So what is salary? Let's try to understand in more detail the concept that interests us.

The salary is the so-called base from which one starts when calculating wages.

What is the difference between salary and salary? First, tax deductions are primarily based on salary. Secondly, appropriate increases can be accrued in case of processing. From there, penalties for damage to property or other fines are deducted, and incentives or bonuses are added.

This is interesting! Posadovy salary in Ukrainian is an official salary.

As a result, the salary is what the employee receives in his hands. It can be either less or more than the salary. As a rule, the salary amount is agreed upon in advance for a certain amount of hours of work, but if during the process the employee exceeded the norm at the request of his superiors by working overtime, then he should be compensated for this.

What salary size is clearly regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation? It is a fixed amount, which must be prescribed when drawing up an employment contract with an employee, and changing the salary is hardly possible. In order for the concept under consideration to change its size, a number of conditions are necessary. One of them is the Order. In this case, the salary, or rather, changing it, would be advisable. But the salary is a calculated amount, so it is not written down anywhere in advance.

An employee should carefully monitor the amount of his salary, because sometimes the employer writes off damage to materials or equipment as a deduction for the employee’s monetary compensation, although the latter is not actually to blame for anything (indirectly or directly).

For such a gross violation of laws, you can sue the employer.

The work of counselors at a summer camp can serve as the most striking example of such a case. Some property damage is deducted from new caregivers' pay when management does not verify that the previous shift was completed.

The employee has every right to be informed of all deductions of his wages.

So, what is salary in an employment contract? After all, everyone knows that for some important reasons and in some cases, drawing up this type of agreement is simply necessary. Whether the concept itself and the size and other characteristics are indicated in it, we will consider further.

The employment contract must specify the salary of an employee of the enterprise, the procedure for calculating it and increasing it.

As a rule, the salary is calculated based on the remuneration system, which is:

Some nuances of an employment contract

In Russia, salaries are most often calculated according to the tariff system. In this case, the employee’s experience and qualifications, which are prescribed in the employment contract, must be taken into account.

It is worth remembering that this written document indicates only the established salary of the employee, but the final salary may differ significantly from it, both up and down.

Some employers stipulate in the contract a mixed system for calculating wages, which is very relevant for the sales sector, when the salary depends on the results of the work of a talented specialist.

Bet concept

The wage rate is a certain fixed amount calculated when paying wages to an employee per unit of time.

Usually the rate is indicated in the staffing table and is equal to one.

It does not depend on the employee’s qualification level, work experience, education or age, whereas the question of what salary is would be answered with precisely these criteria.

But these concepts also have something in common: both values ​​cannot be less than the minimum amount specified by the state.

Salary functions

Payroll carries out the following functions:

• Motivational is the main function for an employee, because wages make it possible to satisfy needs. People would not waste their time working without monetary reward.
• Reproductive - closely related to the stimulating function, but contributes to the good of the enterprise: the employee must be in good physical shape and have normal nutrition. His family members should also not need anything so that he can fully concentrate on his work responsibilities. Decent financial reward increases employee productivity and ensures smooth operation of the enterprise.
• Stimulating - an employee must understand when going to work that his salary directly depends on his work performance. For such purposes, the employer provides the employee with work instructions, identifies achievements and stimulates the employee for exceeding them, for example, with a bonus.
• Status - the salary amount is determined by the employee’s qualifications, experience and knowledge. The amount of material remuneration reflects a person’s place in a certain social group.
• Production and business - the employer takes into account the contribution of each employee to the final production costs.
• Regulatory - employees and subordinates must interact effectively.

Remuneration system

The procedure for remuneration is all activities that financially reward the employee for his work.

In this case, it is necessary to take into account all the hours spent and the final results, as well as the quality of work. The organization of wages in our country depends on:

• payment systems;
• forms of remuneration;
• rationing of labor activity.

Finally

Now you know what salary and salary mean, their differences and functions. When applying for a job, be sure to negotiate all the conditions with the employer and carefully monitor their implementation.