The lawyer warned about the possibility of dismissal of employees for frequent smoke breaks

The company may punish an employee for frequent smoke breaks during a shift. Disciplinary measures, including dismissal, may be applied to an employee for a systematic violation. Lawyer Ilya Rusyaev stated this on Monday, April 21.

According to the expert, in some cases this can affect the calculation of wages. Any violation of the performance of work duties during the working day for no reason may result in a violation of labor discipline.

"If an enterprise has a break schedule and it is fixed in internal regulations, any unauthorized departure from it entails potential consequences for the employee. The employer has the right to record the fact of absence from the workplace and, if such episodes are systematic, apply disciplinary measures, starting with a remark and a reprimand and ending with dismissal on appropriate grounds," Rusyaev explained in an interview with Paragraph.

The lawyer added that the Labor Code does not allow for the arbitrary imposition of fines or deductions from wages for smoking or other uncoordinated breaks. At the same time, the employer is not obliged to pay for the time when the subordinate was not in his place without a legitimate reason. The fact of absence should also be documented, Rusyaev stressed.

Please explain: Russians complain about delayed salaries

Experts talked about ways to deal with employers

On April 16, Honored Lawyer of Russia, Doctor of Law and Professor Ivan Solovyov explained in an interview with RT how work is paid during the May holidays.

On the same day, Valentina Mitrofanova, founder of the Institute of Professional Personnel Management, an expert on employment and legal issues, told Moscow 24 that parents with many children, pregnant women and minors have the right to take vacations for the May holidays, even out of schedule.

He clarified that, according to Article 153 of the Labor Code, on weekends and holidays, the employer pays for the work of an employee in at least double the amount. In other words, the law provides an opportunity for an employer to reward an employee for such work at its discretion, but not less than twice the amount.

On April 11, it became known that Anton Orlov, director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Politics (IIPSP), appealed to Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, with a request to assess the possibility of prohibiting employers from holding clean-up days with the mandatory participation of employees.