Employers were forbidden to reduce premiums by more than 20% of salary

Starting from September 1, 2025, employers in Russia will not be able to cut an employee's bonus by more than 20% of their monthly salary. The head of the Legal Department of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) told TASS on July 7. Yakov Kupreev.

"Now, unfortunately, employers often divide salaries so that an employee can receive 20 thousand rubles as a salary, and 80 thousand rubles as a bonus. And in case of disciplinary misconduct, the employer can deprive the employee of the entire bonus, that is, in the end, the employee will receive only 20 thousand in his hands," Kupreev said.

According to him, according to the new amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, starting from September 1 of this year, the amount of bonus deduction in case of disciplinary action should not exceed 20% of the total salary. He noted that the introduction of clearer rules for the bonus system would make the system more transparent.

"Trade unions support such changes to the Labor Code, they are important for the protection of labor rights," Kupreev added.

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

The employer is obliged to prescribe in advance the conditions, amounts and reasons for a possible reduction in payment.

On June 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on amendments to the Labor Code, which will protect employees from unjustified reduction of bonuses for disciplinary violations. According to the content of the law, bonuses will be reduced only for the period when the employee was disciplined.