What is full liability?

Financial liability for damage caused to the employer
(organization, enterprise, institution and individual entrepreneur), can be carried by any employee - both an ordinary employee and a manager. The fundamental legislative act defining the employee’s obligation to compensate for damage caused to the employer is the Labor Code Russian Federation, which in Chap. 39 “Financial liability of the employee” establishes what kind of damage is subject to compensation and under what conditions the employee is obliged to compensate for this damage. In addition, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines the limits and procedure for collecting damages, provides guarantees when imposing financial liability on an employee, as well as the employer’s right to refuse to collect damages. Knowledge of the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation will allow heads of organizations and individual entrepreneurs correctly determine the cases of application of one or another type of liability, its limits, as well as the guilt of the specific employee (workers) on whom it is assigned.

According to Part 1 of Art. 238 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee is obliged to compensate for direct actual damage that he caused to the employer.

Financial liability for damage caused to the employer is assigned to the employee only if the damage was caused by his guilt. Only those employees with whom a written agreement has been concluded will receive full compensation for damages. Responsibility for damage caused is not removed from the employee even after the termination of the employment relationship, if the damage was caused during the validity of the employment contract. Financial liability implies the withholding of funds from the employee to compensate for the material damage caused by him in the manner and amount established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. When determining the amount of damage, only direct actual damage is taken into account and lost income that the employer could have received, but did not receive as a result of the employee’s unlawful actions, is not taken into account, i.e. lost profit. Direct actual damage is understood as a real reduction (deterioration) of the employer’s available property (including property of third parties located by the employer, if the employer is responsible for the safety of this property), as well as the need for the employer to incur costs for the restoration or acquisition of property.

The amount of damage is calculated based on market prices prevailing in the area on the day the damage occurred. But it cannot be lower than the residual value of the lost or damaged property according to accounting data. When determining damage, actual losses within the limits are not taken into account established standards natural loss.

Material damage is not recovered from the employee if it arose as a result of force majeure - an emergency and unpreventable event, the elimination of a danger threatening the person, as a result of necessary defense. Financial liability also does not arise if the employer himself fails to fulfill his obligations to ensure proper conditions for storing property entrusted to the employee (Article 239 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, labor legislation directly provides that an employee may be considered guilty
in causing damage if his actions were committed intentionally or through negligence, i.e. illegal. Particular attention should be paid to the provisions of Art. 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the right of the employer, at its own discretion, to decide the issue of holding an employee financially liable: to recover from him the cost of damage or to completely or partially refuse to recover from the guilty employee the damage caused by him.
If the employer decides to recover from the employee the damage caused by him, then compensation is made in the amount of two types of liability provided for by labor legislation - limited and full (Articles 241, 242 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

At limited liability damage is compensated in an amount not exceeding the employee’s average monthly earnings. That is, the smaller of the two amounts is chosen: if the damage is less than the salary, it will be compensated in full. If the salary is less than the damage, an amount equal to the salary is recovered, i.e. Some of the damage will not be reimbursed. And this is a general rule. Full material liability is an exception and is possible only for those employees who are directly serve or use monetary, commodity valuables or other property. At full financial responsibility damages are compensated without any restrictions, but this type of liability may apply only in cases provided for in Art. 243 Labor Code of the Russian Federation:

1) when in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation or other federal laws the employee is held financially liable in full for damage caused to the employer during the performance of the employee’s job duties;

2) shortage of valuables entrusted to the employee on the basis of a special written agreement or received by him under a one-time document;

3) intentional infliction of damage;

4) causing damage while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or toxic substances;

5) damage caused as a result of the employee’s criminal actions established by a court verdict;

6) causing damage as a result of an administrative violation, if such is established by the relevant government agency;

7) disclosure of information constituting a secret protected by law (official, commercial or other), in cases provided for by federal laws;

8) damage was caused while the employee was not performing his job duties.

Persons under 18 years of age may bear full financial liability only for intentionally causing damage while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or toxic substances, as well as for damage caused as a result of a crime or administrative offense (for example, in the case of criminal prosecution for theft).

When hiring employees for certain positions or work related to the servicing of monetary and commodity assets, heads of organizations (individual entrepreneurs) must conclude agreements with them on full individual or collective (team) financial responsibility (Part 1 of Article 244 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If financial liability is established by federal law, then in this case it is not necessary to conclude an agreement on full financial liability.

Decree of the Ministry of Labor and social development of the Russian Federation dated December 31, 2002 No. 85 approved the Lists of positions and work replaced or performed by employees with whom the employer can enter into written agreements on full individual or collective (team) financial responsibility (hereinafter referred to as the Lists), as well as Standard forms of agreements on full financial responsibility1. Employers should be guided by the Lists when concluding agreements on full financial responsibility, both individual and collective. Collective (team) full financial liability for causing damage to the employer is provided for in Art. 245 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Agreements can be concluded in organizations of any legal form and form of ownership. Agreements on full financial liability can be concluded with employees specified in the Lists, subject to the following conditions:

– the employee reaches 18 years of age;

– direct transfer of monetary, commodity valuables or other property for storage, processing, sale (release), transportation or use in the production process, i.e. for maintenance or use.

The lists of positions and work replaced or performed by employees with whom the employer can enter into written agreements on full financial responsibility for shortages of entrusted property are not subject to broad interpretation. When combining professions (positions), an agreement can be concluded with the employee if the main or combined profession (position) is provided for in the Lists. An agreement on full financial liability concluded with an employee whose position (job) is not in the Lists has no legal force.

An employee who has entered into an agreement on full financial liability with a private entrepreneur bears full responsibility for ensuring the safety of those valuables that he personally received by invoice or other accounting document, despite the fact that in some cases other persons (for example, auxiliary workers) also have access to these values.

An agreement on full financial liability is concluded with an employee on the basis of an employment contract and an order in a standard form2, approved by Decree of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of the Russian Federation of December 31, 2002 No. 85. It specifies the responsibilities of the employee and the employer to ensure the safety of valuables. Failure by the employer to fulfill obligations to provide adequate conditions for storing property entrusted to the employee is the basis for releasing the employee from financial liability, and in appropriate cases, for imposing the obligation to compensate for damage on the guilty manager, his deputy or chief accountant.

The agreement between the manager and the employee is drawn up and signed by the parties in two copies, one of which is kept by the administration, the second by the employee. A prerequisite for the validity of the contract is the date of its conclusion, since from that moment the contract comes into force, and the employee becomes responsible for the failure to preserve the valuables entrusted to him. The employee is not responsible for any shortages that occur before the transfer of valuables. If there is no date for concluding the contract, the latter is considered invalid.

The validity of the concluded agreement on full financial liability extends to the entire time of work with the material assets entrusted to the employee. A financially responsible employee, in accordance with the contract, must promptly report all circumstances that threaten the safety of the property entrusted to him, keep records, draw up and submit to the accounting department commodity-monetary and other reports on the balances and movement of the property entrusted to him (commodity reports). At enterprises where commodity reports are not maintained, transactions of the movement of valuables are recorded in the accounting registers according to primary documents submitted by financially responsible persons.

The financially responsible person must participate in the inventory of the valuables entrusted to him, and the administration of the employer company is obliged to create conditions for the employee to work normally and ensure the complete safety of the valuables entrusted to him, to acquaint him with the current legislation on financial liability, as well as other regulations on the procedure for storage, reception , processing, sale, release, transportation and other transactions with valuables.

The employee does not bear financial liability if damage from shortage or damage to valuables was not his fault. This condition must be specified in the contract. In addition, this agreement provides for full financial liability only for shortages and damage to valuables. In all other cases, damage is compensated in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on limited liability.

Liability is one of the basic legal terms that denotes the legal obligation of the person responsible for causing property damage to compensate the injured person. The amount and procedure for compensation for damage is regulated by labor legislation. This type obligations are the response of one party to a business relationship to violations by the other.

The financial liability of the parties to the labor relationship has its own distinctive features.

Firstly, it is always personal. This means that the employee must independently compensate for the damage caused by him. This also applies to minor employees with whom the contract was concluded.
Secondly, the obligation to compensate for harm arises only after the guilt of the person himself has been established directly. The owner of the entrusted property must prove the existence of an offense.
Thirdly, when establishing an employee’s guilt, the limit of liability is correlated with his wages. The amount of payments to compensate for the damage caused should not exceed the average monthly income of the person.
Fourthly, this type of liability threatens only for actual property damage. It is impossible to oblige an employee to make payments for non-compliance with plans and income not received by the company.
Finally, if several employees are at fault, the amount of payments should be distributed taking into account the degree of guilt of each of them. This phenomenon is called shared liability.

If you want to know more about govt. orders and regulations, go to . We provide an analysis of the legislation of the Russian Federation on this topic. Having talked about the concept of financial responsibility, let's move on to the types.

There is this term. By subject, one can distinguish between the obligations of the employee and the employer.

And according to the amount of cash payments, it includes:

. The person must compensate for the property damage caused in full. This type of obligation often arises in the event of intentional harm, violation while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or disclosure of legally protected corporate secrets. Read about such an agreement.
. The amount of payments in this case should not exceed the person’s monthly income (according to Article 241 of the labor legislation). This type of liability is the most common.

Conditions of occurrence

Existence of actual property damage.
The fault of the violator (one of the parties labor relations) is proven.
The exact amount of damage and the amount of payments have been determined.
There are no circumstances that could release the offender from liability.

Briefly about the mat. responsibilities of the parties to the employment relationship:

Knowing what financial responsibility is, it is worth understanding those cases when it does not apply. There are some circumstances that relieve an employee from the obligation to compensate for the harm caused to him. The first of them is property damage due to force majeure. These include natural disasters(flood, earthquake), man-made circumstances (enterprise accident, fire) or social disasters (terrorist attack, war, armed attack, etc.).

The second circumstance is normal economic risk. Criteria this concept may be interpreted differently. If the employee made every effort and care in relation to the property, fulfilled all the instructions assigned to him by management, if the damage was caused for the benefit of the health and life of people or the set goal could not be achieved in any other way, then it is removed.

The third circumstance is causing harm in conditions of extreme necessity. This point includes self-defense, which resulted in property damage.

And the last circumstance is the employer’s failure to fulfill his duties. If the management committed violations of the storage of property and the conditions for its storage, then the employee is not responsible for the damage caused.

Almost any organization develops a special system of incentives and criteria for assessing employee performance. Such systems are supported by the basic principle of financial responsibility. It lies in the fact that every employee who is directly related to the property is responsible for the results labor activity. At enterprises, there are 2 forms of organization of this type of responsibility: and collective.

The most common is 1 form. It means that the employee who is responsible for the organization’s property:

will have to compensate for damage caused to certain goods. We wrote about such an agreement. represents the responsibility of not one person, but a group of financially responsible persons (of this type).

As for, for them the principle of this type of obligation is expressed in a system of fines and penalties for non-compliance with tax legislation.

Deadlines

Management may hold an employee liable for property damage within one year after discovery of the violation. If an employee refuses to compensate for actual damage caused by him, he can be brought to such obligations in court.

With the agreement of both parties, according to labor legislation, payment by installments can be made. The employee is obliged to provide his superiors with a document in which he indicates the exact terms of repayment of the debt.

Target

There are two main goals of this type of obligation. Firstly, bringing an official to financial responsibility significantly reduces the number of violations which entail property damage.

Secondly, labor legislation clearly indicates the conditions for this type of responsibility, its types, special procedure and principle. This helps protect wages employee from illegal and unjustified penalties from the employer.

Limits

According to Article 241 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of monthly payments for causing property damage should not exceed the average income of the employee. This is the main limit of financial liability.

The employer's right to refuse to collect damages from the employee

The employer, according to Article 240 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, may refuse to recover damages for the harm caused by the employee. To do this, he must refer to certain circumstances. Instead of collecting the debt in full or in part, the employer may take disciplinary action against the employee.

This article has been updated. The property owner may reject the employer's wishes and force the offender to pay damages.

Legal entities that are directly related to property also have some obligations. For example, an employer who did not comply with the rules for storing and operating goods must compensate the owner for all damage caused.

So, financial responsibility is a term without which it is impossible to imagine labor law . The obligation to compensate for property damage caused may be imposed on both individuals and legal entities.

The amount of monthly payments, the procedure for penalties, and types of liability are regulated by labor legislation. Any departures are illegal.

The main purpose of this type of liability in production is compensation for harm caused. Any collection measures must be carried out either on a voluntary basis or through judicial proceedings.

Labor legislation provides for full and limited financial liability of the employee. In any of these cases, the employee who committed illegal actions/inactions is obliged to compensate for the resulting harm. Next, let's look at what limited financial liability of employees ika.

General information

Involves compensation only for direct actual harm, unless otherwise provided by law or an employment agreement. The amount of compensation for damage cannot exceed the average monthly salary. These are enshrined in Article 241 of the Labor Code.

Conditions

Limited financial liability of the employee for damage caused property of the enterprise arises if it arises:

During the employee’s performance of his professional tasks.
Due to negligence or lack of due diligence (negligence).

If culpable actions/inactions were committed with intent or damage occurred due to a person’s failure to fulfill his duties, then full liability arises. Its limits are fixed in the Labor Code.

Nuances

The essence limited financial liability of the employee is that actual damage is compensated. In this case, the amount of compensation cannot be higher than the amount provided for by law for deduction from an employee.

If the total amount of losses is higher than the established limits, it is permissible to impose on the employee the obligation to fully compensate for losses.

Cases of limited financial liability of employees

In practice, the most common cases in which an employee is required to compensate for damage within the limits of his average monthly earnings are:

Payment by the employer of a fine for the employee (if a penalty was imposed on the company due to the fault of the employee).
Damage to valuables transferred to a person for the purpose of performing professional tasks.
Loss of documents that cannot be restored within a certain period of time, which causes real damage.
Violation of the procedure for drawing up documents, resulting in the inability of the employer to conduct business in full.

Limited financial liability of the employee for damage property involves compensation for repair costs and restoration of damaged valuables. For example, due to the carelessness or negligence of an employee, a machine malfunctioned. Its repairs are carried out at the expense of the employer. However, due to the fact that the employee is to blame for the breakdown, the corresponding amount is deducted from his salary.

Pinning to local documents

To bring a person to full financial responsibility, it is necessary that the corresponding provision be enshrined in an employment or additional agreement. As for limited financial liability of employees, then there is no need to specifically stipulate such a condition in the contract. IN in this case the penalty is imposed in accordance with the direct instructions of the law.

As a rule, ordinary employees do not have access to cash enterprises and other objects, damage or loss of which could lead to significant negative consequences for the organization. The harm that may arise from their actions/inactions is not commensurate with the damage that may result from violations committed by employees who have access to such valuables.

Accordingly, it depends not on the profession or position, but on the scope of authority and the amount of damage. In this case, there must be no intent in the person’s actions/inactions.

Conditions for imputation of penalties

When deciding on attracting employee to limited financial liability the manager must find out that the resulting harm was caused by the employee’s action/inaction. For example, the loader did not notice the display case and, while bringing in a box of goods, broke it, or the secretary accidentally spilled coffee on the keyboard.

An important condition for imputation limited liability is the absence of circumstances excluding it.

Exceptions

As mentioned above, there are several circumstances in which a penalty cannot be imposed on an employee. These include:

Force majeure (force majeure).
Disaster.
Failure by employer to provide necessary funds, failure to create proper working conditions for employees.
Normal business risk.
Necessary self-defense or extreme necessity. For example, a robber burst into the office, the secretary was not taken aback and hit him on the head with a laptop, as a result of which the equipment was damaged.

It should also be said that the law provides for the right of the employer to refuse to impose penalties on the employee.

The limits of limited liability thus depend, among other things, on the presence/absence of the above circumstances.

Explanatory

After establishing the fact of causing harm, the employee responsible for it must provide written explanations to the manager. If he refuses to do this, an act is drawn up.

In most cases, after receiving the employee’s explanations, the employer approves the order to impose a penalty. The guilty employee must familiarize himself with its contents against signature.

Rules for bringing to responsibility

They are enshrined in Article 248 of the Labor Code.

The manager’s order to impose penalties on the employee must be signed within a month from the date the final amount of damage is determined. If given period expired or the employee refuses to compensate for the damage, the employer has the right to go to court.

In the case of voluntary compensation by an employee for harm, he transfers the established amount to the enterprise's account or transfers the money to the organization's cash desk. By agreement of the parties, payment by installments may be established. The conditions and procedure for payments in this case are fixed in the contract.

Termination of the employment relationship does not relieve the employee of the obligation to compensate for the damage incurred.

An employee can compensate for damage with equivalent property, restoration of damaged valuables with the consent of the employer.

Recovery of damages from an employee does not exclude the possibility of bringing him to disciplinary, criminal or administrative liability.

Amount of penalty

By general rule, the amount of compensation must be within the average monthly earnings of the guilty employee. If the amount of damage is equal to or smaller size salary, then it is collected in full. If the amount is greater than the average monthly earnings, the amount equal to the salary is compensated, and the rest is written off as a loss to the employer.

The salary amount is determined on the date of discovery of the damage. The calculation of average monthly earnings is carried out according to the rules of Article 139 of the Labor Code. When determining the amount, all payments provided for the employee by the local documents of the enterprise are taken into account.

Regardless of the mode of work, the average monthly salary is calculated in accordance with the actual accrued amount for the time worked for the 12 months preceding the occurrence of the damage.

Features of the trial

When filing a claim, the employer must take into account that the court will only consider those claims that were submitted. Go beyond them own initiative the authority has no right, except in cases expressly provided for by law.

This means that if the employer files a claim for recovery of an amount based on the limited liability provisions, and during the proceedings it turns out that the liability in this case is full, compensation will be awarded based on the original claims, i.e. in the amount of average monthly earnings the culprit.

Full financial responsibility

It occurs under certain conditions:

The position held assumes full financial responsibility.
A special agreement is concluded between the employer and the employee.
There was embezzlement/damage to valuables entrusted to the person for reporting purposes.

The list of financially responsible employees includes all employees who are to one degree or another connected with money or other valuables. These include:

Directors.
Heads of departments/divisions.
Warehouse managers.
Trade and banking workers.
Cashiers, etc.

Cases of full financial liability

According to the law, compensation for the full amount of damage is charged to an employee if:

Full financial responsibility is assigned to the employee by legislative and other regulations, local documents for harm arising during the performance of his professional duties.
A shortage of valuables transferred to the employee in accordance with a special agreement or a one-time document was identified.
The damage was caused intentionally.
The damage occurred as a result of the actions of an employee who was intoxicated (toxic, alcoholic, narcotic).
The harm arose in connection with the commission of a crime established by a court verdict, or an administrative violation identified by an authorized government agency.
Information classified as a protected secret (official, commercial, state) was disclosed.
The damage was not caused while performing professional duties.

Important point

Before holding an employee accountable, both limited and full, the manager must make sure that the actions of this particular citizen resulted in harm. For this purpose, the law provides for the obligation to obtain explanations from the employee.

If necessary, law enforcement agencies may be involved in clarifying the circumstances of the damage. As a rule, this happens if the employee commits criminal acts intentionally.

Question 75. Full financial liability of employees

Full financial liability involves compensation by the employee for the damage caused in full without any restrictions. It occurs in cases provided for in Art. 243 TK.
Full financial liability occurs when, in accordance with the law, the employee is given full responsibility for damage caused to the employer. Such liability, for example, in accordance with Art. 277 of the Labor Code are borne by the heads of organizations for direct actual damage caused to the organization.
Full financial liability occurs in the event of a shortage of valuables entrusted to the employee on the basis of a special written agreement or received by him under a one-time document. It occurs when a written agreement is concluded between an employee or team (team) and the employer on the assumption by the employee or team of full financial responsibility for the shortage of valuables entrusted to them. The legislation provides for two types of agreements: on full individual financial liability (Article 244 of the Labor Code) and on full collective (team) financial liability (Article 245 of the Labor Code).
Full financial liability occurs when damage is intentionally caused (theft, intentional destruction, intentional damage to property, and in other cases when the fault of the causer of damage was in the form of intent). This is understandable, since the limitation of liability in these cases contradicts common sense.
Full financial liability occurs when damage is caused by an employee in a state of intoxication: alcohol, drugs or other toxic substances. In this case, the method of causing the damage (damage, destruction, loss of property), as well as the type of property to which the damage was caused, does not matter. It doesn't matter who caused the damage. To bring to full financial liability on this basis, the fact that the employee was drunk at the time of causing the damage is sufficient. The fact that the employee was suspended from work in connection with the drunk or not.
Full financial liability occurs when damage is caused as a result of the employee’s criminal actions established by a court verdict. The basis for bringing to full responsibility in this case is the court verdict. Therefore, neither the initiation of a criminal case nor the filing of charges against an employee before a court verdict can entail bringing him to full financial liability on this basis.
Full financial liability occurs if an employee causes damage as a result of an administrative violation, if established by the relevant government body. From the wording of the law it follows that full financial liability on this basis is possible only if the employee is subjected to administrative punishment in the manner prescribed by law for an offense as a result of which damage was caused to the employer.
Full financial liability occurs when the damage resulted from the disclosure of information constituting a secret protected by law (official, commercial or other) in cases provided for by federal laws. To bring full financial liability on this basis, it is necessary that the information relates to a secret protected by law; so that the information is known to the employee in connection with the performance of his job duties. In this case, it is necessary for the employer to prove a direct causal connection between the property damage and the disclosure of information by this particular employee. The amount of damage and the employee’s guilt must also be proven by the employer. And it is extremely important that full financial liability due to the disclosure of secrets protected by law occurs only in cases provided for by federal laws. This means that this offense does not always entail full financial liability.
Employees bear full financial responsibility when damage is caused by them not in the performance of their job duties. This refers to cases where the employee had access to the employer’s property due to his job duties, but caused damage to him while not performing these duties. It does not matter whether the damage was caused in work time or not. If during working hours the employee did not actually perform his job responsibilities(for example, the organization’s driver used the car for personal purposes), then the damage caused at this time is subject to compensation in full. And vice versa, if during non-working hours an employee, while performing official duties, caused damage to the employer’s property, full financial liability cannot arise on this basis.
Full financial liability in accordance with Art. 243 of the Labor Code can be established by an employment contract concluded with the deputy heads of the organization, the chief accountant.
Minor workers can be brought to full financial liability only: for intentionally causing damage; for damage caused while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other toxic substances; for damage caused as a result of a crime or administrative offense (Article 242 of the Labor Code).

Material liability in the world of labor is the obligation of one party to an employment contract, guilty of causing damage to the other party, to compensate it in the amount and manner provided for by labor legislation.

Classifications of material liability in the world of work:

By volume of compensation They distinguish between full (in the amount of direct actual damage) and limited (in the amount of direct actual damage, but not more than the average salary of the employee). The employer always bears full financial responsibility, and the employee, in cases specified by law, bears full financial responsibility, and in other cases - limited;

According to the number of perpetrators and the method of distribution of responsibility between them highlight and . According to the method of distribution of responsibility in the group of workers guilty of causing damage, they distinguish shared, joint, subsidiary and collective (team) financial liability;

According to the method of compensation for damage caused compensation is allocated on the basis of a written agreement of the parties (voluntary compensation procedure), on the basis court decision and based on the order of the employer.

It should always be remembered that mandatory conditions bringing to financial liability are:

the presence of actual (real) damage;
damage is caused by one party to the employment contract to the other party;
there is fault of the party that caused the damage (except for cases of damage caused by a source of increased danger and the employer’s liability for damage caused by its employee in the performance of work duties);
there must be a causal connection between the guilty unlawful act (action or inaction) and the damage caused;
There are no circumstances that exempt you from liability.

Usually, financial liability is based on an offense, therefore, when holding an employee accountable, the employer takes an explanation from him, as in the case of disciplinary liability. In addition, as with any offense, in order to be held accountable, a certain composition must be present.

The elements of an offense for material liability can be defined as follows:

subject: a party to the employment contract, including the former, if the damage was caused during the employment relationship;
subjective side: the subject’s guilt as a category characterizing the subject’s attitude to the act and the ensuing consequences, is determined in the form of intent or negligence;
object: the legal relationship violated by the act is the relationship of property and property interests that are violated as a result of causing damage;
objective side: this external characteristic the act itself, including the consequences, the causal relationship between the action or inaction and the damage caused, as well as the place, time, method of committing the act and other external characteristics.

Speaking about material liability, one cannot fail to note the importance of the institution of material liability in labor law:

recovery value: the damage caused is compensated;
educational value: having to endure adverse consequences; influence is exerted on the employee himself and other members of the work collective not to allow such acts;
legal meaning: procedure, scope of compensation, order - everything is regulated by law, and failure to comply with the established rules may deprive a party of the possibility of compensation.

It should be taken into account that the conditions for ensuring the property interests of the parties to an employment contract do not appear on their own; they are directly related to the performance of their duties by the parties to the employment contract. Thus, labor legislation provides for the employee’s obligation to take care of the employer’s property (Article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The employer is obliged to create the necessary conditions for work, he is obliged to ensure the safety of machines, mechanisms, must provide workers necessary tool, documentation, in established cases, train the employee in the methods and techniques of conducting work, and the employer must provide conditions for the safety of the property entrusted to the employee (Articles 22, 212, 239 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). An exception to the general rule will be enterprises where, when performing duties, there is a certain economic risk of consequences in the form of damage.

The conditions at whose production economic risk is considered justified, the following: the goal cannot be achieved by two means without risk; the person accepting the risk has taken all possible measures to prevent adverse consequences; the risk of loss corresponds to the economic purpose for which it is undertaken; the object of risk should be property benefits, and not the life and health of people; the right to risk is given only to professionally trained persons.

Employees are not liable for damage within the limits of natural loss in the process of work or if the damage was caused within the framework of a normal economic risk, subject to compliance with the conditions justifying it. The legislation provides for exemption from liability in cases of extreme necessity and necessary defense if the established limits were exceeded.

Based on the requirements of Art. 232 of the Labor Code, the obligation to compensate for damage caused is considered as a mutual obligation of the parties to the employment agreement, which can be specified by the parties. The party to the employment contract (employee or employer) who caused damage to the other party shall compensate for this damage in accordance with Labor Code and other federal laws. Employment contract or agreements concluded in writing may specify the financial liability of the parties to this agreement. At the same time, the contractual liability of the employer to the employee cannot be lower, and the employee to the employer higher, than provided for by the Labor Code or other federal laws.

The employee’s financial liability for harm caused should be distinguished from the corresponding civil liability. According to Art. 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code of the Russian Federation) damage caused to the property of a physical or legal entity, subject to full refund. At the same time, the concept of harm includes both real damage and lost profits. Real damage is the expenses that a person has made (or will make) to restore damaged property or purchase new property of equal value. Lost profits mean income that a person could have received under normal conditions of civil transactions if his right had not been violated. The financial liability of an employee under labor law is established only for actual damage; lost profits are not subject to recovery.

Direct actual damage is understood as a decrease in the employer’s available property or deterioration in the condition of said property, as well as the need to incur unnecessary expenses for the acquisition or restoration of property. At the same time, the damage recovered from the employee also includes damage caused to the property of third parties if the employer is responsible for its safety (i.e., property in safekeeping). Separately, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation considers the employee’s obligation to compensate for material damage caused to the employer as a result of his compensation for harm to other persons. Similar relationships, as a rule, arise from employers who own sources of increased danger. In this case, the damage caused to a third party is first compensated by the employer, and then the employee is presented with a recourse claim to recover the expenses incurred by the employer. And if the employer is liable to third parties in accordance with civil law, then the employee is liable to the employer in accordance with labor law. And this is not an infringement of the employer’s rights, since the employer is responsible for organizing the employee’s work, and he is obliged to control the labor process.