Irreducible balance: how will the procedure for awarding employees change from September 1

Starting from September 1, 2025, new rules will come into force in Russia, limiting the ability of employers to reduce employee bonuses. Now the amount of payments cannot be reduced arbitrarily, even if there are disciplinary penalties. The legislation will clearly limit the grounds on which a reduction in premiums is acceptable, and the total salary should not be reduced by more than 20%. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

New bonus rules in Russia from September 1

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law No. 144-FZ dated June 7, 2025, which introduces important changes to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. These innovations were developed on the basis of the Constitutional Court's Resolution No. 32-P of June 15, 2023 and relate, in particular, to the procedure for awarding bonuses.

Now collective agreements and other internal regulatory documents of the employer must clearly specify the terms of bonuses: the types of incentives, their amount, frequency and grounds for payment. At the same time, employers are required to take into account not only production performance, but also the presence of disciplinary penalties against the employee.

A reduction in the award for misconduct is allowed only if the payment relates to the period when the employee was already under disciplinary action. At the same time, the total monthly salary cannot be reduced by more than 20%.

If the organization has a trade union, the decision to reduce the amount of the bonus must be made taking into account the opinion of the elected body of the primary trade union organization in accordance with the procedure established by art. 372 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The new provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation come into force on September 1, 2025.

Employee protection

The amendments made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation will establish transparent criteria for awarding bonuses that will take into account the employee's performance. This will become a tool to protect staff from unfair actions by the employer. HR specialist Zulia Loikova told Izvestia about this in an interview.

"This is a good opportunity to additionally protect the rights of our employees from unjustified wage cuts, because, unfortunately, unscrupulous employers have begun to do this," the expert emphasized.

She clarified that some companies prescribe part of the salary as bonuses to solve their tasks.

"In some companies, bonuses are conditionally the same salaries, divided into some parts. That is, in fact, a person is underpaid his salary, without justifying it in any way. From the last one, I heard such explanations that [employees] did not perform the task well, there were fewer sales or the market sank, for example, in this segment. But the employee himself did the job efficiently," Loikova concluded.

Special working conditions: what will change from September 1st

In addition to changes in the award procedure, the law covers other aspects of labor relations. In particular, the regulations on work and rest conditions for transport workers and other employees whose activities are of a specific nature have been updated.

An acceptable physical activity limit was also set for manual weight transportation.

Special attention is paid to the specifics of part-time work for teaching, medical, pharmaceutical workers, as well as cultural workers. For teaching staff, as well as employees of Russian foreign missions, the working hours and duration of additional leave have been clarified.

The law also clarifies the rules for concluding contracts on full financial liability and fixes the list of positions where the work of minors is prohibited.

In addition, minors between the ages of 14 and 18 will now be able to officially work during the summer holidays, including weekends and holidays. This will be possible provided that young employees are employed through an employment center or as part of a student group registered in the official registers of children's and youth associations receiving state support.

Employers will have to obtain written consent.: from the teenager himself, if he is already 15 years old, or from one of the parents or guardian, if the age is from 14 to 15 years. In the case of orphaned children or those left without the care of legal representatives, permission from the guardianship authorities or another authorized person will be required.