Unexcused reason for absence from work. The duration of the employee’s absence and its impact on the choice of disciplinary action. If an employee refuses to provide an explanation, a report must be drawn up

17.04.2017, 14:31

What is truancy? Absenteeism is absence from work for how many hours? One, two, three or four? Or is absenteeism an absence without good reason during the entire working day? For what duration of absence from work can one be fired? Let's figure it out.

Truancy is a serious violation

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (namely, in accordance with paragraph “a” of paragraph 6 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), an employment contract with an employee can be terminated due to absenteeism, that is, absence from the workplace without good reason during the entire working day (shift) regardless of its (her) duration, as well as absence from the workplace without good reason for more than four hours in a row during the working day (shift).

Thus, absenteeism is considered absence from work without good reason:

• or throughout the entire working day (shift), regardless of its duration;
• or absence from the workplace without good reason for more than four hours in a row during a working day (shift).

If these circumstances exist, the employer has the right to apply disciplinary sanctions in the form of dismissal.

For a disciplinary offense, the employer can apply one of the disciplinary sanctions to the employee (Part 1 of Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

• comment;
• rebuke;
• dismissal.

It is worth noting that dismissal for absenteeism is an employer’s right, not an obligation. Consequently, even if there is a fact of absenteeism, the employer can apply a reprimand or reprimand to the employee. Or don't use anything at all.

Absence less than four hours

The employer must assess the reasons for the employee’s absence and apply a disciplinary sanction in proportion to his misconduct, taking into account the employee’s previous behavior (Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated March 30, 2012 No. 69-B12-1).

Good reasons

As can be seen from the above formulations, absenteeism is an absence from work without valid reasons. It is important for the HR officer to understand which reasons can be considered valid and which cannot. However, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not disclose an exhaustive list of valid reasons for an employee’s absence from work. Therefore, I turned to judicial practice and individual articles of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation to determine such reasons. For more information about this, see “Good Reasons for Absenteeism: List.” Not filled yet

Dismissal documents

Dismissal under paragraphs. “a” clause 6, part 1, art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is a type of disciplinary sanction (Part 3 of Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The application of penalties to the employee and the termination of the employment contract are formalized by appropriate orders (Article 84.1, 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). You will also need to make an entry in the work book stating that the person was fired for absenteeism:

“The employment contract was terminated due to a one-time gross violation of labor duties by the employee - absenteeism, subparagraph “a” of paragraph 6 of part one of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.”

Many employers go to any lengths to get rid of so-called unnecessary people. At the same time, they forget that failure to comply with the dismissal procedure for the same absenteeism may lead to legal proceedings and reinstatement of the employee in his position.

Indeed, one of the most common violations is absenteeism. Therefore, it is very important for the enterprise administration to know the features of the entire procedure.

Concept and types

The term absenteeism in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is interpreted as an unjustified absence from the workplace for 4 or more hours. It refers to situations where an employee did not show up to the place of work or left it without permission, without the consent of management. The fact of absence must be confirmed by eyewitness accounts compiled in writing.

Types of absenteeism are divided into two categories:

• The main one, that is, when an employee is absent, but the employer can still contact him and knows why he did not come and when he will appear at the workplace. In such situations, the reason is usually good.
• Long absence. In such a situation, the employee cannot be contacted, and he may not be at work for several days or even weeks. These are the most difficult cases when dismissing and punishing for absenteeism.

“Legal” truancy

The reasons for absenteeism can also be valid. You cannot fire a person if he provided medical assistance to another person and applied for it himself. It is not necessary that force majeure or an emergency situation occur. In this case, even calling an ambulance for a stranger and waiting for doctors is equivalent to providing assistance. However, you should be on the safe side and request a supporting document from doctors.

Absence from work due to the need to participate in investigative activities, interrogations or legal proceedings also cannot be interpreted as absenteeism without good reason. Typically, in such cases, the person has a subpoena or court order stating the date, address and time of arrival. If he does not have such a document, then he needs to request a certificate that will confirm the reason for absence from work. For example, an employee may become a participant or witness of an accident. Or he is detained until his identity is clarified. The main thing is that the date and time on the certificate coincide with the period of absence from work.

Refusal of “free” work cannot be interpreted as absence from work without a good reason. The legislation clearly establishes payment deadlines. If the employer delays payment for more than 15 days, then the employee has the right not to fulfill his job duties, but under one condition. The employee is obliged to inform the employer about his decision by submitting an appropriate application. In this case, it will be impossible to accuse him of absenteeism. In this case, if the case goes to court, the employee, who has a copy of the application with a mark of acceptance by the enterprise administration, will be able to prove that refusal to work is forced absenteeism.

Refusal to perform work in dangerous or harmful conditions cannot be considered absenteeism unless this is stipulated in the employment contract. An employee is not obliged to start work that clearly poses a threat to his life or health. Absence from work in this case may be regarded by the court as forced absenteeism.

When can you not be fired for absenteeism?

It is impossible to fire a pregnant woman, even if she often does not consider it necessary to come to work. She may be subject to other disciplinary measures.

It cannot be recognized as absence from work without a valid reason if the employee refused to leave the vacation early. A day of rest after donating blood or its components is not considered absenteeism, even if the employer refused to provide it.

Employer's actions

Before issuing an order to issue a reprimand for absenteeism, the employer must follow a certain procedure:

• Draw up a truancy report. This step may be preceded by the truant's immediate supervisor if the enterprise structure is large.
• Obtain an explanation from the truant and establish the reasons. If an employee refuses to explain the reasons for absenteeism, especially in writing, then a report must be drawn up about this. The request for clarification may be handled by the personnel department or the truant’s immediate supervisor, again depending on the structure. If the procedure is entrusted to the head of a structural unit, then he draws up a memo addressed to senior management about the proposed disciplinary measures and the explanations received.
• Issuance of disciplinary action. This could be a sample order of reprimand for absenteeism, imposition of a fine or dismissal.

Act

To confirm the fact that an employee is absent from the workplace, the employer must draw up a report. The form of such a document is not provided for by any regulatory act, so it is drawn up in free form. At the same time, the act of the employee’s absence from the workplace must be drawn up and signed by members of a specially appointed commission. It must contain the following information:

• About the whereabouts of the truant. If it was not possible to establish it, then the measures that were taken to find an employee are prescribed.
• The exact date and time of the employee’s absence from the workplace.
• The date the document was drawn up, which must coincide with the date of absenteeism.

The employee must familiarize himself with the text of the act against his signature. Although, if he refused, then this does not matter much when imposing a disciplinary sanction. The main thing is that the commission members put an appropriate mark indicating that the truant refused to sign.

A sample of this document looks like this:

"Act on the absence of an employee from the workplace"

Date and place of compilation

Time for drawing up the act ... hours ... minutes

Commission consisting of:

... job titles ... full name

A report was drawn up as follows:

... date ... position ... full name ... was absent from the workplace, from ... exact time ... to ... time, which in total amounted to ... hours ... minutes ...

... Full name ... was asked to provide a written explanation to his immediate superior ... position ... Full name within 2 days.

Positions... full names... of commission members

I have read the act:

Position... full name... signature

If the guilty person refused to sign the act, then an appropriate note should be made about this.

Request for an explanation

But, having drawn up the act, you should not rush to draw up a sample order of reprimand for absenteeism. The employee must be required to provide a written explanation of the reasons for his absence. First of all, the employee must be given the opportunity to justify himself. Maybe he really had to be absent or he needed time to collect supporting documents. 2 days are allotted. If the employee has not submitted an explanatory note, then a corresponding act in free form is drawn up about this.

• warning;
• rebuke;
• dismissal.

The first two measures are moral and ethical influence and are most often applied to employees who are highly qualified specialists and have committed an offense only once.

Many enterprises also use material measures of influence, for example. In fact, an employer is not always in a hurry to fire an employee.

Punishment without dismissal

So we've already looked at some samples. An order to reprimand for absenteeism is issued based on the explanations of the labor discipline violator. Absolutely all employees, regardless of position, can be held accountable. It should be remembered that only one penalty can be imposed for one violation. There is no standardized form for an order, but in practice certain requirements for this type of local document have already been formed.

Sample order "Reprimand for absenteeism"

Name and legal form

Order No.

Date and place of compilation

On imposing a disciplinary sanction

Due to absence from work... position... full name... for... hours... date...

I ORDER:

1. ... date... considered absenteeism... position... full name.
2. Impose a disciplinary sanction on ... position ... full name ... in the form of a reprimand.
3. Please familiarize yourself with this order... position... full name for signature.
4. Control over the execution of the order is assigned to ... position ... Full name.

Reasons:

1. Job description of the head of the structural unit... Full name.
2. Explanatory note from the violator of labor discipline.
3. Or an act of refusal to provide an explanatory note.
4. Act on absence from work from ... date.

Head of the enterprise ... signature ... full name

I have read the order:

... position ... signature ... full name

The order must necessarily contain an administrative part with the following information:

• description of the violation;
• time off;
• a full description of the date and time when the absence occurred;
• the reasons for such behavior, if they were clarified from the employee;
• documents that formed the basis for drawing up the order.

The violator must be familiarized with the order within 2 days from the date of its preparation. At the employee’s request, he is given a copy of the order.

Validity period of foreclosure

As a general rule, the validity period of a disciplinary sanction is 1 year from the date counted from the date of issuance of the relevant order. If during this period the employee has not committed another violation and a new disciplinary sanction has not been imposed on him, then it is automatically removed. Removal of the penalty in this case does not require the issuance of an additional order.

When an employee has committed a new violation, which is followed by disciplinary action, the validity period will already be calculated from the moment the last order was issued.

What to do with persistent violators?

There are two extreme measures that an employer can apply to a violator:

• deprivation of a bonus, that is, material impact;
• dismissal.

Naturally, the last measure is the most severe, and in certain circumstances it may take place.

According to labor legislation, termination of an employment contract with an employee may occur due to the actual absence of the worker from the workplace without valid reasons, equal in duration to both the entire working day (shift) and more than four hours in a row during this day (shift). In other words, an employee’s four-hour absence from work is equivalent to absenteeism.

Let's look at how such absenteeism is punished and what the procedure for dismissal is.

Duration of employee absence and its impact on the choice of disciplinary action

It is important for the employer to record the duration of the worker’s absence from the workplace.

Since the law provides for the possibility of dismissal due to absenteeism only in the absence of an employee for more than 4 hours in a row, dismissal for absence for 3.5 hours is no longer allowed (subparagraph “a” of paragraph 6 of paragraph 1 of Article 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

In this case, disciplinary sanctions may be applied to the employee for committing an offense. This is a reprimand, reprimand and termination of employment relations, i.e. dismissal.

In addition, it is not allowed to sum up the time of a worker’s total absence, for example, over several days, for individual hours of delay (morning, afternoon) or those associated with leaving earlier than expected.

Dismissal due to absenteeism is considered to be the rights of the employer, and not its responsibilities. Therefore, if there is a fact of absenteeism, he can apply one of the types of disciplinary sanctions against the employee or not apply anything at all.

Dismissal procedure

Since absenteeism is classified as a type of disciplinary offense, i.e. failure to fulfill the job duties entrusted to him or performing them improperly, termination of the employment contract can become a disciplinary measure.
Dismissal of a worker, taking into account the provisions of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, can be carried out only subject to compliance with the rules stipulated by Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Firstly, you should prepare and verify it with the signatures of at least two witnesses. The act must be drawn up on the same day, but the absent employee must be familiarized with this document on the day he appears at work.

In the event of a long absence of the latter, daily drawing up of such an act is allowed. If a document confirming the valid reasons for the absence is presented, some days of those that were missed may be beyond the scope of documentary evidence.

In the work report card, the corresponding marks are made according to the time of the employee’s absence.

This can be the letter code “NN” or the numeric “30”, which means failure to appear for unknown reasons.

In addition to the act, you can prepare a memo addressed to the head of the enterprise. The immediate supervisor of the absent employee can handle its registration.

The note should indicate the worker’s absence from the workplace and the measures taken to find him (call a mobile phone, home phone, etc.). As soon as an unscrupulous employee appears at work, you should immediately demand from him an explanation for his absence, documented in writing.

The employee is given two working days to prepare such an explanation (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If the employee has not submitted an explanatory note, a report is drawn up indicating the employee’s refusal to provide explanations for his behavior. The act is certified by the signatures of at least two witnesses.

After the employer receives an explanatory note from the employee, the validity of the reasons for the worker’s absence is assessed. This is a rather difficult task, since labor legislation does not provide an approximate list of reasons considered.

If the employer considers the stated reasons to be disrespectful, an order for his subsequent dismissal () is issued to the employee and presented to him for review and signing. If the employee refuses to sign the document, the corresponding act is drawn up again, after which an entry is made in the work book confirming the dismissal under the article.

The dismissed employee is given a full paycheck. If an employee disagrees with the actions of the employer, he can go to court.

The labor legislation of the Russian Federation provides the employer with a number of tools for regulating relationships with employees. One of them is the application of a disciplinary sanction - dismissal - for violation of labor discipline, namely absenteeism. However, the application of this sanction against an employee requires compliance with the procedural order and the legality of the grounds.

We all understand that dismissal “under article” is not the most humane method.

But if an employee systematically violates internal labor regulations, he skips work. And all possible solutions, such as dismissal or, no longer help.

Then there is only 1 option - dismissing the employee for absenteeism. Today we will tell you how to do this correctly and legally.

What is truancy?

Sometimes an employer or employee interprets the concept of “absenteeism” in their own way. For some, it is failure to show up for work without warning, for others, being late, and some believe that absenteeism is a refusal to do extracurricular work. To resolve disputes, you need to study what the law says. The legal definition of truancy is given in Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Absenteeism is considered to be absence from the workplace without good reason during the entire working day (shift), regardless of its duration, as well as absence from the workplace without good reason for more than four hours in a row during the working day (shift).

To qualify absenteeism, the following conditions must be met:

• absence for 4 or more hours;
• unjust cause;
• the offense is one month old.

Therefore, before dismissing an employee for absenteeism, it is necessary to establish that he was actually absent from the workplace, correctly determine the period of his absence and the reason why the employee did not come to work or left the workplace before the end of the shift.

What constitutes absence from work?

The procedure for dismissal for absenteeism clearly regulates the condition - absence from work. But what is considered a workplace? An office, company territory or a chair on which an employee sits while working?

In this matter, you should first study the job description and the employment contract with the employee, as well as the collective agreement, if any. Additionally, other local acts (orders, instructions, regulations) can be used that define the “workplace” for a specific employee.

For example, an instruction or order for a worker may indicate that his workplace is a specific machine or workshop number. In this case, absenteeism will be considered the time that the employee spent outside the workshop or at the machine.

If there is no clear concept of what is considered a workplace in local acts or labor agreements, then you need to be guided by Art. 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which defines that a workplace is a territory where an employee needs to arrive to perform assigned functions. That is, the entire territory of the company.

Time away from work

The law gives an employer the right to dismiss an employee for absenteeism if the employee has been absent for 4 hours or more. It means that, If an absence of exactly 4 hours or less is recorded, then you cannot be fired for absenteeism. Yes, other disciplinary measures can be taken, such as a reprimand, but not dismissal. Having information on how to fire a person for absenteeism, employees sometimes take advantage of this four-hour period, which does not allow absence to be considered absenteeism.

How is time away from work calculated correctly?

Further, the period of absence does not include the lunch break. Reason – Art. 108 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, excluding the duration of the break from working time. Therefore, if, for example, an employee came to work at 14:20, but was supposed to at 10:00, while the break was set from 13:00 to 14:00, then this act will not be considered absenteeism, since the employee was absent only 3 hours 20 minutes.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows you to take into account and summarize all periods when the employee was not on site, but only within one shift or day, depending on the established schedule. That is, periods of absence cannot be summed up over several days or shifts.

• 1 hour in the morning;
• 1 hour 10 minutes after lunch;
• 2 hours at the end of the shift.

In total, 4 hours and 10 minutes will be missed for the whole day. This can be qualified as truancy, subject to other procedural requirements.

Valid reasons for absenteeism

The legislator for the current 2019 does not define in any article of the Labor Code what are valid reasons for absenteeism. It is believed that this fact must be established within the framework of the proceedings, that is, separately in each individual case. In practice, a valid reason is one that arose not at the will of the employee.

That is, they recognize as respectful:

• employee illness;
• illness (death) of a close relative;
• emergencies;
• road accidents or accidents;
• housing and communal accidents;
• other.

Of course, valid reasons for absenteeism must be documented or otherwise confirmed, for example, by testimony of witnesses. Documents must be certified in accordance with the general procedure. For example, get a medical certificate, a copy of the accident report.

The law also does not consider absence of an employee with the consent of the manager as absenteeism. That is, if an employee “asked for time off,” then this is not absenteeism. But, as with other reasons, the fact of management’s permission must be proven.

Oral permission alone is not enough, because it will be impossible to prove it. In practice, the employer can take advantage of this “loophole”. Therefore, it is important to know what constitutes absenteeism without a good reason, absence from the workplace even with the permission of the manager, if there is no written confirmation of permission.

Step-by-step procedure for dismissal for absenteeism

The step-by-step instructions for dismissal for absenteeism provide the following procedure for going through all stages: from committing an offense - absenteeism - to the final entry in the work book.

It is important to comply with all procedural formalities to avoid litigation. After all, if the procedure for actions and paperwork is violated, the dismissal may be declared illegal in court, the employee may be reinstated in his position, and the employer may be required to pay compensation.

So the procedure for how to properly fire an employee for absenteeism:

1. Document the fact of absenteeism. This can be done by logging the employee's absence. The act is drawn up in the presence of witnesses (2-3 people). It is also permissible if the immediate supervisor submits a report on the commission of an offense to his subordinates to higher authorities.
2. . An explanatory note must be drawn up only in writing. Verbal explanations are not suitable. Duration – 2 days.
3. Based on the results, either the official investigation is closed or a report is drawn up. Also, if there is no explanation from the employee within 2 days, a corresponding one is drawn up (Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
4. A decision is made to impose penalties. The right to fire for absenteeism is not an obligation, that is, the employer may not fire the employee, but apply another type of penalty.
5. A dismissal order is being prepared.
6. Familiarize the employee with the order.
7. Record your dismissal by making an entry in your work book.

Nuances of action during long absences

The situation when there is a long walk deserves special attention. When dismissing someone for long absence, the step-by-step instructions are almost the same as for normal dismissal, that is, there are discrepancies:

1. Record absence: compile, enter data in.
2. Draw up the need to appear and provide explanations.
3. Send notice to the employee at a known postal address.
4. After receiving notification of delivery, wait 2 days + the period required for delivery of correspondence.
5. If explanations are not provided and confirmation of receipt of the notification, draw up a report.
6. Take measures to determine the reasons for absence if notification has not been received. This stage is not mandatory, but recommended to avoid problems in a possible lawsuit later. You can make calls to the employee’s relatives and get their testimony.
7. Write down the activities carried out, recording the information received. Optional.
8. Design .
9. Draw up a report on the impossibility of familiarizing the employee with the order.
10. Enter information into the work book.
11. Make payment calculations.
12. Send a notification to the employee about the need to obtain a work book.

Due to the fact that the law establishes a period for disciplinary punishment of 1 month, it is necessary to carry out all actions as quickly as possible. Considering that letters are returned to the sender after a month of storage, we recommend sending a telegram asking for clarification.

It would also be reasonable to draw up daily reports of the employee’s absence during the entire period of absenteeism, or to record this in another accessible way, for example, by making notes in the arrival and departure log, in order to comply with the procedure for dismissal for absenteeism without a good reason.

Preparation of procedural papers

The first document that needs to be prepared is confirmation of the fact of absence. The most common option is to draw up a report, although a report can also be used, based on the results of which an official investigation is opened. After requesting an explanatory note, you must wait two working days. Immediately on the day of absenteeism, it is impossible to issue a dismissal order for absenteeism sample and terminate the employment contract.

As part of the investigation, a decision may be made to dismiss for absenteeism without a valid reason if the employee refuses to provide an explanation for why he was absent. Or he did not confirm the documented reason, even if he considers it valid. An act should be drawn up about this.

date of dismissal

If there is a dismissal for absenteeism, then on what day should the dismissal take place? Not an easy question. To make a decision, you must be guided by Art. 84.1 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. According to its contents, the employee’s last working day is the date of his dismissal, if for other reasons there is no place assigned to him. In the case of absenteeism, the last day that the employee worked was the day before the day of absenteeism, unless a valid reason was confirmed.

Therefore, if the absenteeism was a one-time occurrence and the employee subsequently appeared and gave explanations that were regarded as an unjustifiable reason, the date of dismissal and the order to dismiss for absenteeism will correspond to the day the explanatory note was received. if the absenteeism is of a long nature, the employee’s daily absences are confirmed by reports and time sheets, and explanations were never received, then dismissal is allowed on the last working day. However, dismissal dated on the day of drawing up the final act of lack of explanation will not be a violation.

Registration of a work book

Entering data into the work book is the final stage of dismissal. If you don’t know or are not sure under what article one is fired for absenteeism, then dismissal for absenteeism is regulated by Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Information is entered into the employee’s work book based on the order. The registration data of the order itself is written in the column “Name and date of the document.” Sample entry in the employment record about dismissal for absenteeism:

First, the number of the serial entry is indicated; the deadline is not missed. Next, the date for entering the information is specified, which must coincide with the date of dismissal and issuance of the order. Next, the employment record of dismissal for absenteeism is indicated in words (). Afterwards the signature and title of the position of the responsible person are affixed. The record is certified by the company seal.

Sometimes an employer can terminate a contract and fire not for absenteeism, but if the employee is recognized as dead or missing. To do this, it is necessary to have a court decision (here in detail about) confirming this fact. The employer can initiate the process himself, or another interested party, for example, a relative, will file a claim.

The entry in the work book will look like this:

Special cases of dismissal for absenteeism

Not every absence from work is regarded as absenteeism, even if it has almost all the signs. For example, it will not be considered absenteeism if the employee does not want to go to work on a non-working day. However, there are exceptions to this rule, the same as when recalled from vacation. It is acceptable to have employees work on days off if this is required to recover from accidents or emergencies.

Dismissal and sick leave

It is unacceptable to fire someone if an employee is sick. If an employee was hastily fired for absenteeism, and he brought sick leave in the form of an explanation of the reason, then such an employee must be reinstated in his position, since the dismissal is unlawful. However, if the fact of concealment of illness and the presence of sick leave has been established, then during the trial the court may side with the employer, considering that the employee is abusing his rights and infringing on the rights of the employer (Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation).

In their lawsuits, citizens explain the situation this way: “I was fired for absenteeism while I was on sick leave.” A certificate of incapacity for work is provided as proof. This is not enough; it is necessary to prove that the employer was notified that the employee was ill. Moreover, a citizen may be denied a claim if he refuses to give an explanation. Of course, if he could do it for objective reasons.

Lawyer at the Legal Defense Board. Specializes in handling cases related to labor disputes. Defense in court, preparation of claims and other regulatory documents to regulatory authorities.

Valid reasons for absence from workare not clearly defined by law. Therefore, the question posed in the title of the article is asked by every working person at least once in his life. Let's try to find the answer.

What is truancy

You cannot come to work without good reason. Every employee knows this. Absenteeism from work is fraught with: at a minimum, an explanation with your superiors, and at maximum, dismissal for absenteeism “under the article.” Absenteeism, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation tells us (Article 81, Part 1, Clause 6, Sub. “a”), is an absence from the workplace without good reason for more than 4 hours in a row. Moreover, if your employment contract does not stipulate a specific workplace, then it is impossible to assume that you are absent from work, being not where you usually work, but on the territory of the organization.

Dismissal for absenteeism must be preceded by a written explanation from the employee. If the employer considers the reasons for absence from work that the employee provides to be disrespectful, he may fire him. If the latter does not agree with such dismissal, he can go to court. The court will decide whether the reasons for absence from work were valid or not. This means whether there was absenteeism on the part of the employee or not.

The catch is that the law does not contain a clear list of valid reasons for absence from work. Analysis of labor legislation allows us to identify several groups of such reasons.

Subjective good reasons

Subjective reasons are inextricably linked with the personality of the employee.

First of all, it is a disease. In this case, evidence of justified absence from work will be:

• a doctor's certificate confirming the visit;
• entry in the outpatient card about the appointment;
• sick leave.

Periodic medical examinations of certain categories of workers (Article 213 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) are a valid reason. A valid reason is the child’s illness. Here everything is exactly the same as with an adult’s illness, only the sick leave will be issued not in an adult, but in a children’s clinic.

An employee cannot be fired for absence from work due to participation in a court hearing as a plaintiff, juror, witness, victim, or defendant in the case. The same applies to failure to appear for work due to being in the investigative authorities in order to participate in investigative actions. The supporting document in this case is a subpoena to the court or to the investigator (interrogator). Calls to the police and work as a member of the election commission also fall into this category of valid reasons.

Absence from work in connection with the elimination of any utility accident at the employee’s place of residence is justified. However, scheduled inspections of housing and communal services organizations are not a sufficient reason for absenteeism.

Objective good reasons

Objective reasons that make it impossible to appear at work are circumstances of various force majeure. These could be weather conditions, road emergencies, man-made accidents or catastrophes, and military operations.

If the employer in these cases does not agree that the absence from work occurred due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control, and the matter comes to dismissal, then, as an analysis of judicial practice in such cases shows, the case for reinstatement at work will most likely be considered in benefit of the employee.

The main thing is not to delay going to court. Labor legislation allows a month to file a claim for reinstatement at work (Article 392 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Valid reasons for the application

There are a number of circumstances under which an employee has the right not to show up for work. But the employer must be warned about this. Therefore, the employee must write an application to be granted days off.

In accordance with Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, at the request of an employee, the employer is obliged to provide up to 5 unpaid days in the event of the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, or a wedding.