- Статьи
- Society
- The contract is more expensive: the doctor managed to challenge the amount of compensation payments
The contract is more expensive: the doctor managed to challenge the amount of compensation payments
In Blagoveshchensk, the court made a decision that may turn out to be a landmark for all state employees: the nurse was able to prove that after the salary increase, incentive and compensation payments depending on its size should also increase. Before that, the management of the Amur Regional Clinical Hospital, having raised the salary in connection with federal requirements, decided to limit the growth of the total salary by setting fixed amounts of incentive and compensation payments. The court found this practice illegal, and it may affect the situation in other healthcare institutions and regions where the same scheme is applied. Read more about the resonant decision in the Izvestia article.
What was the essence of the dispute
The decision in question was made on November 7, but it has only been published now. Marina Andreeva, a nurse at the Amur Regional Clinical Hospital, appealed to the court. She demanded that the agreement on changing the terms of the employment contract be declared illegal and that wages be recalculated.
Starting from April 1, 2024, her salary was increased in connection with Vladimir Putin's order to bring the share of salaries of medical workers to 50% of the total salary. However, a few months later, the nurse was allowed to sign additional agreements to the employment contract, which proposed changing the percentage of compensation and incentive payments to a fixed value.
Thus, with a salary of 21.4 thousand rubles, for example, the surcharge for having a qualification category decreased from 30% of salary (6430 rubles) to 4480 rubles, for work in rural areas from 25% of salary (5358 rubles) to 3731 rubles, etc. Andreeva considered this illegal, since the change in working conditions The agreement is allowed only by agreement of the parties. She demanded a recalculation of wages from October 1, 2024, until the court's decision.
The representative of the hospital did not agree with these requirements at the court hearing, pointing to the decision of the Ministry of Health of the Amur Region, which in June 2024 developed regulations on the remuneration of employees of budgetary healthcare institutions. According to it, incentive and compensation payments are set in absolute terms. It was also pointed to the decisions of the Supreme Court, according to which incentive payments relate to additional elements of wages and "can be regulated by the employer independently, without mandatory compliance with the procedures provided for changing the essential terms of the employment contract."
The Ministry of Health of the Amur Region supported the hospital in its response to the claim.
However, the court listened to Marina Andreeva's demands, recognizing the change in the terms of the contract as illegal. The hospital was ordered to recalculate wages.
Lawyer Oleg Samsonov emphasizes that the court correctly determined that the establishment of incentive compensation payments in absolute terms with an increase in salary is illegal, especially since this is not a new wage system, but simply a deterioration of the old conditions.
— The payments are the same, their name does not change in any way, they are simply set in absolute values. It's illegal. If the employee does not agree to amend the employment contract and establish compensation and incentive payments in absolute terms, then the employee should be paid according to the previous agreement," he explained to Izvestia.
At the same time, if the employee agrees to the new conditions himself, then it will be legal — and he will lose his salary.
How widespread were the complaints
Andrey Konoval, co-chairman of the union of medical workers "Action", noted that in 2024, after the announced instructions to bring the salaries of medical workers to 50% of the total salary, the remuneration structure began to be reviewed throughout the country.
— The Ministry of Health then issued an order explaining how, from their point of view, it would be possible to revise the payment structure. And there they recommended doing this, including by reducing incentive and compensation payments," the source told Izvestia. — Meanwhile, salaries have increased in the Amur region, and, apparently, they felt that it was too much. Therefore, in June 2024, a new approximate salary regulation is being adopted, in which the allowances were transferred to fixed and lower amounts than before.
According to Andrey Konoval, in this situation there was also a time gap between decisions to raise salaries and reduce allowances: previously, this could be prescribed in one regulatory act — and it was more difficult to argue with this, but now several months have passed between these events.
The co-chairman of the Action trade union noted that employees began to complain to the supervisory authorities, and the prosecutor's office and the labor inspectorate recognized the unilateral revision of the employment contract by the employer as unlawful. Moreover, the workers were put in conditions where it was impossible to maintain the previous working conditions, and accepting new ones would mean a reduction in wages. Otherwise, dismissal.
However, the employees had to go to the courts on their own. This was preceded by a massive refusal to sign new terms of the employment contract, says Andrey Konoval. According to him, employees of about ten medical institutions are currently in a lengthy lawsuit with their employers over this issue.
Why is this important for all state employees
Andrey Konoval believes that if this judicial practice stands, the precedent will become very important for the further development of labor relations.
— The Labor Code clearly states that the regulation of labor relations combines the principle of state and contractual regulation. All these years, they have been trying to prove to us that the way officials made the decision is the way it should be, even if it worsens, as in the case of the Amur Hospital. It should not be allowed for an employer to unilaterally dictate and change working conditions," he said.
According to him, if necessary, the doctors who were able to win this case will go to the Supreme Court to confirm the illegality of the employer's actions.
Oleg Samsonov notes that this precedent is also important for teachers who have a similar remuneration system and similar problems. So, in the Khabarovsk Territory, where salaries for teachers are currently set at 12 thousand rubles (and this is also being challenged in the courts), they are going to raise the salary by 25% from 2026 and introduce compensation and incentive payments in absolute terms for all teachers.
— I was doing calculations for a teacher who closes more than two bids, working 42 hours, — he said. — If a teacher with the highest qualification category increases his salary by 25% and sets an additional payment in absolute terms for the length of service, for the qualification category, then the salary will not only increase from January, but will decrease by almost 40 thousand rubles. The salary will increase only for teachers who have no experience or category. I think this is illegal, and I would advise teachers not to sign these additional agreements at all, but simply follow the example of doctors and go to court.
Dmitry Kazakov, chairman of the Teacher trade union, however, notes that there is no uniform practice on teachers' salaries. Although the wage system can be somewhat similar, there are significant differences. The story is similar in the sense that when salaries are raised, manipulations often begin with the rest of the salary.
"The size of these compensation and incentive payments depends on the region, and in some cases on the district and the specific school," he told Izvestia. — But when the Constitutional Court recognized that the teacher's salary should not be less than the minimum wage, in response to the legitimate demands of teachers, the regions began to reduce or completely cancel compensation and incentive payments.
Meanwhile, as reported in October last year, a new system of remuneration for public sector teachers and doctors was supposed to be tested in a pilot mode in 2025. It was planned to prepare a final solution in 2026, and implement it nationwide in 2027 (but not necessarily from the beginning of the year). Since then, no new information has been received in this regard.
The trade unions had high hopes for this system: it was supposed to lead to higher wages and, in part, to its alignment between regions. However, according to rough estimates, about 450 billion rubles would be needed to implement the system across the country, says Andrey Konoval.
Dmitry Kazakov stressed that "any wage system can be invented," but if money is not allocated, then there will be no salary increase — there will only be an endless redistribution of funds.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
