Labor is the most important factor of production; it creates the basis of national wealth and the gross domestic product of society. At the same time, it provides income for citizens, whose lifestyle and standard of living is largely determined by whether they have and what kind of work they have.
A special role in the structure of an employee’s income belongs to wages. It still remains the main source of income for most workers.
High level wages can have a beneficial effect on the economy as a whole, ensuring high demand for goods and services. And, finally, high wages stimulate the efforts of enterprise managers to use labor wisely and modernize production.
There are two main concepts in economic theory determining the nature of wages :
a) wages are the price of labor. Its magnitude and dynamics
are formed under the influence of market factors and, first of all, supply and demand;
b) wages are the monetary expression of the value of the product “working
force" or "the transformed form of the value of the commodity labor force." Its value is determined by production conditions and market factors - supply and demand, under their influence there is a deviation of wages from cost labor force.
The most important condition for the organization social production, stimulating highly effective labor activity is to establish the measure of labor and the measure of its payment. The measure of remuneration is the remuneration or wages received by workers for providing their labor. In practice, wages, or the income of a particular employee, can take the form of various monetary payments: monthly salaries, hourly wage rates, bonuses, rewards, fees, compensation, etc. .
The true essence of wages is manifested in the functions that they perform. Wages serve several functions.
Reproductive function consists in ensuring the possibility of reproduction of the labor force at a socially normal level of consumption, that is, in determining such an absolute amount of wages that allows the conditions for normal reproduction of the labor force to be realized, in other words, maintaining, or even improving, the living conditions of a worker who should be able to live a normal life (pay for rent, food, clothing, i.e. basic necessities), who should have a real opportunity to take a break from work in order to restore the strength necessary for work. Also, the employee must have the opportunity to raise and educate children, the future labor force. Hence the initial meaning of this function, its determining role in relation to others. In the case when the salary at the main place of work does not provide the employee and his family members with normal reproduction, a problem arises additional earnings. Working on two or three fronts is fraught with depletion of labor potential, a decrease in professionalism, deterioration of labor and production discipline, etc.
Social function, sometimes stands out from the reproductive one, although it is a continuation and addition of the first. Wages, as one of the main sources of income, should not only contribute to the reproduction of the labor force as such, but also enable a person to take advantage of a set of social benefits - medical services, quality recreation, education, raising children in the preschool education system, etc. And in addition, to ensure a comfortable existence for workers at retirement age.
Stimulating function is important from the position of the management of the enterprise: it is necessary to encourage the employee to be active at work, to achieve maximum output, and increase labor efficiency. This goal is served by establishing the amount of earnings depending on the results of labor achieved by each person. The separation of payment from the personal labor efforts of workers undermines the labor basis of wages, leads to a weakening of the stimulating function of wages, to its transformation into a consumer function and extinguishes the initiative and labor efforts of a person.
An employee should be interested in improving his qualifications in order to earn more money, because... higher qualifications are paid higher. Enterprises are interested in more highly qualified personnel to increase labor productivity and improve product quality. The implementation of the incentive function is carried out by the management of the enterprise through specific remuneration systems based on the assessment of labor results and the connection between the size of the wage fund and the efficiency of the enterprise. The main direction of improving the entire wage organization system is to ensure a direct and strict dependence of wages on the final results economic activity labor collectives. In solving this problem, the correct choice and rational application of wage forms and systems, which will be discussed below, play an important role.
Status function salary presupposes the correspondence of the status, determined by the amount of wages, with the labor status of the employee. Status refers to a person’s position in a particular system of social relations and connections. Labor status is a place of this employee in relation to other employees both vertically and horizontally. Hence, the amount of remuneration for work is one of the main indicators of this status, and its comparison with one’s own labor efforts allows one to judge the fairness of remuneration. This requires the transparent development of a system of criteria for remuneration of individual groups, categories of personnel, taking into account the specifics of the enterprise, which should be reflected in the collective agreement (contracts). The status function is important primarily for the workers themselves, at the level of their claims to the salary that workers of the corresponding professions have in other enterprises, and the orientation of personnel to a higher level of material well-being. To implement this function, a material basis is also needed, which is embodied in the corresponding efficiency of labor and the activities of the company as a whole.
Regulatory function- This is the regulation of the labor market and the profitability of the company. Naturally, all other things being equal, the employee will be hired by the enterprise that pays more. But another thing is also true - it is not profitable for a company to pay too much, otherwise its profitability decreases. Enterprises hire workers, and workers offer their labor on the labor market. Like any market, the labor market has laws for the formation of labor prices.
Production-share the wage function determines the extent of participation of living labor (through wages) in the formation of the price of a product (product, service), its share in total production costs and in labor costs. This share makes it possible to establish the degree of cheapness (high cost) of labor, its competitiveness in the labor market, because only living labor sets materialized labor in motion, and therefore presupposes mandatory compliance with the lowest limits of the cost of labor and certain limits for wage increases. This function embodies the implementation of previous functions through a system of tariff rates (salaries) and grids, additional payments and allowances, bonuses, the procedure for their calculation and dependence on the payroll. The production-share function is important not only for employers, but also for employees. Some non-tariff wage systems and other systems imply a close dependence of individual wages on the wage fund and the employee’s personal contribution. Within an enterprise, the wage fund of individual divisions can be based on a similar dependence (through the labor contribution coefficient or in another way).
Each function, as a part of a single whole - wages, not only presupposes the existence of other parts, but also contains their elements. For example, functions such as accounting and production, reproduction, and stimulation simultaneously play a social role. In turn, the stimulating and accounting-production functions of wages are realized in the reproduction function. At the same time, with general unity, one of the functions, to a certain extent, may be opposite to another or exclude another, reducing the result of its action.
The most significant contradiction between the functions is that some of them lead to the differentiation of earnings, while others, on the contrary, lead to their equalization. The stronger the equalization, the weaker the differentiation, the weaker the stimulating effect of wages. This is a normal phenomenon, because... it reflects the internal unity and struggle of opposites, and does not indicate the inaccuracy of the identified functions.
The organization of wages at the enterprise is associated with a two-pronged solution tasks :
Guarantee payment to each employee in accordance with the results of his work and the cost of labor in the labor market;
Ensure that the employer achieves a result in the production process that would allow him (after selling the product on the goods market) to recover costs and make a profit.
Thus, through the organization of wages, the necessary compromise between the interests of the employer and employee , promoting the development of social partnership relations between the two driving forces market economy.
The Economic Problem of Wages - provide conditions for human life. For this reason, a person rents out his services. It is not surprising that workers strive to achieve high wages in order to better satisfy their needs. Moreover, a high level of wages can have a beneficial effect on the country’s economy as a whole, ensuring high demand for goods and services. With a generally high level of wages and a tendency towards their increase, the demand for most goods and services is growing. It is generally accepted that this phenomenon leads to the creation of new and development of existing enterprises and contributes to the achievement of full employment.
Proponents of the high-wage economy add that in developed industrial countries, wages are both the main source of income and the main source of livelihood for the bulk of the population. The stimulating effect it provides is not only greater than other incomes can provide, but also affects the entire country and the economy as a whole. This is a healthy impact, stimulating the production of basic consumer goods rather than expensive items for the elite. And, finally, high wages stimulate the efforts of enterprise managers to use labor wisely and modernize production.
Obviously, there is a certain limit level, which cannot be exceeded when setting wages. Wages should be high enough to stimulate demand, but if they rise too much, there is a danger that demand will exceed supply, and this will lead to rising prices and trigger inflationary processes. In addition, it will cause a sharp reduction in employment in society and an increase in unemployment. It is important that wages, while contributing to the rationalization of production, do not simultaneously generate mass unemployment. It is clear that wage issues occupy an important place in the daily concerns of workers, employers and government authorities, as well as their relationships with each other.
2. Basic principles of organization and regulation of remuneration.
While employees are primarily interested in the amount of money they receive and what they can buy with it, the employer views compensation from a different angle. To the cost of labor, he adds the cost of raw materials, fuel, and other production costs in order to determine the cost of production and then its selling price. Ultimately, the amount of wages affects the amount of profit that the employer receives.
Thus, the main requirements for the organization wages at an enterprise that meet both the interests of the employee and the interests of the employer are:
1) ensuring the necessary wage growth;
2) with a decrease in its costs per unit of production;
3) a guarantee of increasing wages for each employee as the efficiency of the enterprise as a whole increases.
The main task of organizing wages is to make wages dependent on the team and the quality of the labor contribution of each employee and thereby increase the stimulating function of everyone's contribution.
When developing a salary policy for an organization at an enterprise, it is necessary to take into account a number of principles:
· application of progressive forms and systems of remuneration that best meet the requirements of the enterprise;
· forms of material remuneration must be competitive with the forms of remuneration of other enterprises;
· independence of enterprises in organizing wages, in establishing forms, systems and amounts of remuneration for workers;
· taking into account the complexity of the work performed and the level of qualifications;
· differentiation of wages depending on the conditions and severity of physical labor, the industry sector of the enterprise;
· payment for the final results of production and depending on the quantity and quality of labor expended;
· material interest of workers in high final results of work;
· systematic increase in real wages, bringing the minimum wage level closer to the subsistence level budget;
· ensuring social protection of workers with the help of state guarantees and the enterprise itself;
· government regulation wages;
· indexation of wages in accordance with the level of inflation;
· the growth rate of labor productivity exceeds the growth rate of average wages;
· incentive measures for efficient work, product quality, resource savings;
· penalties for violations of labor and production discipline;
· agreeing on general terms and conditions of remuneration with trade unions.
When organizing remuneration, the following tasks are solved:
· choice of forms of remuneration;
· choice of method for forming the basic salary;
· choice of wage regulation mechanism;
· determination of wages;
Issues of labor organization occupy one of the leading places in the socio-economic policy of the state. In a market economy, the practical implementation of measures to improve the organization of remuneration should be based on compliance with a number of principles of remuneration, which must be based on the following economic laws: the law of reimbursement of costs for the reproduction of labor, the law of value.
From the requirements of economic laws, a system of principles for organizing remuneration can be formulated, including:
The principle of payment based on costs and results, which follows from all the above laws. For a long period of time, the entire system of organizing wages in the state was aimed at distribution according to labor costs, which does not meet the requirements of the modern level of economic development. Currently, the principle of payment based on costs and results of labor, and not just costs, is more strict;
The principle of increasing the level of wages based on an increase in production efficiency, which is determined, first of all, by the action of such economic laws as the law of increasing labor productivity, the law of increasing needs. It follows from these laws that an increase in employee wages should be carried out only on the basis of increasing production efficiency;
The principle of advancing productivity growth social labor compared to wage growth, which follows from the law of increasing labor productivity. It is designed to ensure the necessary savings and further expansion of production;
The principle of material interest in increasing labor efficiency follows from the law of increasing labor productivity and the law of value. It is necessary not only to ensure a material interest in certain results of labor, but also to interest the employee in increasing labor efficiency. The implementation of this principle in the organization of remuneration will contribute to the achievement of certain qualitative changes in the work of the entire economic mechanism.
Each enterprise independently determines its policy in matters of remuneration.
At the same time, there are a number of factors external nature, in a certain way limiting decision-making at the enterprise. These include:
Legally established minimum wage per month;
Terms of collective agreements between the administration of the enterprise and the workforce represented by the trade union organization;
Wage level used by competitors commercial organizations;
The level of employment of the population and the availability of free labor in the required professions and specialties;
Level of labor market conditions, unemployment in the region;
Cost of living (consumer basket).
Internal factors influencing the level of wages are:
Results of economic activities and financial situation enterprises;
The desire for stable work and stabilization of the workforce;
Demand for highly qualified workers.
In the course of work, types of work performed functional responsibilities are not the same: they can be prestigious or non-prestigious, satisfying or dissatisfying the employee. At the same time, workers have different classification categories and qualifications; Changes in working conditions and regime are possible. All this influences the formation of wage inequality and its organization.
Differences in wages are determined by the employee’s compliance and contribution to the final results of the enterprise. Factors that determine differences in employee wages include the level of education, professional training and production experience, determined by practical work experience.
The salary must be such that the employee can support himself and his family. Unreasonably low wages force the employee to look for other sources of income or place of work. This reduces the employee’s “return” due to the fact that he does not recover physiologically and morally by the start of a new working day and works less efficiently. In a market economy, the demand and supply of free labor resources and unemployment have a significant impact on the amount of wages. The labor market strives for an equilibrium system of differences in wages, in which the aggregate demand for each category of labor will be equal to supply, respectively. And at the same time, he is one of the most imperfect markets due to the fact that the potential free labor force is not aware of the availability of all vacant jobs in the region and, in general, about the demand for its labor.
There are several reasons for this:
Lack of complete reliable information in the employment service about vacancies at enterprises;
The desire and production need of the employer to attract an experienced, highly qualified specialist or worker to the enterprise;
Transition to a more advanced democratic and public system for selecting and hiring the necessary categories of workers based on competitive recruitment;
The outdated practice of employment based on the so-called principle of forming “generational dynasties” at prestigious enterprises;
Reservation of vacant jobs for the employment of young specialists, graduates of vocational schools, schools, demobilized from the army and other categories of citizens.
Thus, the amount of wages is influenced by supply and demand, which depend on the quantitative, qualitative and social factors of hiring.
Graphically, the amount of wages can be represented by adding the labor supply and demand curves (Fig. 1).
Rice. 1. Salary amount
Curve – characterizes the demand for labor; – labor supply; point – the point of equilibrium between supply and demand. The quadrilateral determines the amount of wages.
Real wages are determined by the quantity of goods and services that can be purchased with a nominal wage.
The amount of real wages depends on a number of factors:
1) this is the value of the nominal wage. The higher the money wage, the higher the level of real wages;
2) the price level for consumer goods and services. If the money wage remains unchanged and prices rise, then this is equivalent to a decrease in wages, and vice versa;
3) the availability of a sufficient number of goods that meet the demand of the population. If the price does not change, but there are no goods, then the shortage is also equivalent to a decrease in wages;
4) cost level paid services, i.e. use of transport, home repairs, clothing, etc.
In modern conditions, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, regardless of the organizational and legal forms, enterprises independently determine the forms, systems and amounts of remuneration. However, enterprises do not search for more advanced forms of organizing remuneration than the traditional ones - time-based, piece-rate. In some, being unprofitable, which limits the possibilities of stimulating the work of workers, they are not able to optimize the proportions of wages in accordance with the complexity of the work performed and the professional and qualification characteristics of the workers. Therefore the state regulates wages by establishing and changing the minimum wage, tax legislation, establishing state guarantees, indexation, social insurance and protection.
Thus, the wage regulation mechanism should be based on a combination of the following areas:
· government regulation;
· labor market;
· general agreement;
· collective agreements.
State regulation is carried out directly or indirectly. Direct regulation- this is the establishment of certain quantitative parameters mandatory for business entities, a minimum wage (based on the minimum consumer budget); the size of the tariff rate of the first category and coefficients; tax rates.
Indirect regulation is carried out through periodic recommendations on the application of tariff rates, on the organization of progressive forms and systems of remuneration, etc.
The minimum wage is the minimum level of wages officially established by the state in enterprises of any form of ownership in the form of the lowest monthly rate or hourly wage. The mechanism for applying the minimum wage is regulated by Article 59 of the Labor Code, Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated February 15, 2002. No. 3 “On some issues of regulation of the minimum wage”, Law of the Republic of Belarus dated June 17, 2002. No. 124-3 “On the establishment and procedure for increasing the minimum wage”, by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 13, 2004. No. 1579.
In foreign countries, the state minimum wage is reviewed regularly, taking into account the level of inflation and some other factors. For example, in France, a mechanism has been developed that provides for an automatic increase in the minimum wage when prices rise by 2%. In the US, the minimum wage is revised as necessary; The legislation does not provide for the state's obligations to review.
Regulation of the minimum wage is carried out on the basis of laws (USA, France, Spain, etc.) and agreements (Great Britain, Germany, Italy, etc.). Consumption funds, i.e., corresponding social payments or social funds of the state and enterprise, have a certain impact on the incomes of workers.
Internal, microeconomic flexibility of wages is associated with the results of the enterprise, that is, its profitability and profitability, as well as with the individual performance indicators of the employee himself. An individual approach to increasing wages is built taking into account the following basic provisions that form the system:
1. determination of the minimum annual wage for each category of workers, taking into account all payments;
2. unequal increase in wages within the framework of a predetermined increase in the total wage fund;
3. refusal to index wages as prices rise and switch to increasing them depending on the personal merits of workers;
4. taking into account the employee’s merits, and not his length of service, when deciding on personal salary increases;
5. determination of methods for assessing the individual merits of an employee.
One of the elements that determines the amount of wages is the cost of living budget. It is an indicator of the minimum composition and structure of consumption of material goods and services necessary to maintain human health and ensure livelihoods. The BPM is used as a basis for implementing targeted social policy, to justify the minimum wage, old-age pension, establishing a minimum unemployment benefit and scholarships for students. The subsistence budget is approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus for the main socio-demographic groups in average prices of the previous period on average per capita for: the working population, pensioners, students, children aged 3 to 16 years, children under 3 years of age. The minimum consumer budget represents a higher standard of living wage. It is calculated and approved differentiated by age and social groups by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus.
In addition to government regulation, there are other restrictions in matters of organization and remuneration. They are due to regulation through social partnership system .
A partnership is created on the basis of an agreement that regulates the rights and obligations of the participants. The types of partnership include a general agreement between the government, the Union of Employers and trade unions of the country to establish uniform approaches to the organization of wages in industries, regions, and enterprises.
Based on the agreement, the administration concludes collective agreements with the workforce and trade union organization at enterprises. They reflect:
ü questions of forms, systems and amounts of remuneration, material incentives, specific amounts of guarantee and compensation payments, benefits, additional payments;
ü a mechanism for changing wages in accordance with rising prices, the level of inflation, depending on the fulfillment of the indicators of the collective agreement;
ü issues of personnel retraining, conditions for releasing employees;
ü duration of working hours and rest time, vacations;
ü improvement of working conditions and safety; economic security and health protection;
ü social insurance issues, benefits for employees;
ü terms of payment of wages;
ü the circle of employees is determined, for whom an individual level of remuneration is established, etc.
Indirect regulation involves ensuring conditions for the use of progressive forms and systems of remuneration, informing about the level of wages in various industries, methodological support, consulting, recommendations on the application of regulatory documents.
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Wages perform several functions, the most important of which are reproduction, incentive, status, regulatory (distribution), production-share, etc.
The reproductive function consists of ensuring the possibility of reproduction of the labor force at a socially normal level of consumption, i.e. in determining the absolute size of the salary, which allows for the implementation of the conditions for normal reproduction of the labor force. Hence the initial meaning of this function, its determining role in relation to others. This is especially true at the present time, when almost all issues of remuneration come down mainly to the possibility of ensuring a decent standard of living. In the case when the salary at the main place of work does not provide the employee and his family members with normal reproduction, the problem of additional earnings arises. Their implementation outside the enterprise (firm) can cause not only positive, but also negative consequences. Working on two or three fronts is fraught with depletion of labor potential, a decrease in professionalism, deterioration of labor and production discipline, etc.
The status function of wages assumes that the status, determined by the size of the salary, corresponds to the labor status of the employee. By “status” we mean a person’s position in a particular system of social relations and connections. Labor status is the place of a given employee in relation to other employees, both vertically and horizontally. Hence, the amount of remuneration for work is one of the main indicators of this status, and its comparison with one’s own labor efforts allows one to judge the fairness of remuneration. This requires the public development (with mandatory discussion with staff) of a system of criteria for remuneration of individual groups, categories of personnel, taking into account the specifics of the enterprise, which should be reflected in the collective agreement (contracts). For example, you can lay down the three-stage principle common to RKS: 1) criteria for the economic efficiency of the entire enterprise; 2) similar criteria for individual units; 3) individualized criteria that play a large stimulating role (personal labor contribution, coefficient labor participation, "merit", etc.). The main problem is to find the most appropriate combination of collectivism in work, necessary for the successful operation of the company, and individualism in wages. The status function is important, first of all, for the workers themselves, at the level of their claims to the salary that workers of the corresponding professions have in other companies (in RKS), and the orientation of personnel to a higher level of material well-being. To implement this function, a material basis is also needed, which is embodied in the corresponding efficiency of labor and the activities of the company as a whole.
The stimulating function of wages is important from the standpoint of the company’s management: it is necessary to encourage the employee to be active at work, to achieve maximum output, and to increase labor efficiency. This goal is served by establishing the amount of earnings depending on the results of labor achieved by each person. The separation of payment from the personal labor efforts of workers undermines the labor basis of wages, leads to a weakening of the stimulating function of wages, to its transformation into a consumer function and extinguishes the initiative and labor efforts of a person. The implementation of the stimulating function is carried out by the management of the company through specific remuneration systems based on the assessment of labor results and the connection between the size of the wage fund (WF) and the efficiency of the company.
The regulatory function of wages affects the relationship between demand and supply of labor, the formation of personnel (number of employees and professional qualifications) and the degree of its employment. This function serves as a balance between the interests of employees and employers. The objective basis for the implementation of this function is the principle of differentiation of wages by groups of workers, by priority of activities or other grounds (features), i.e. development of a specific policy for establishing the level of wages for various groups (categories) of workers in specific production conditions. This is the subject of regulation of labor relations between social partners on mutually acceptable terms and is reflected in the collective agreement. This principle can be successfully used only if the pricing mechanism in the labor market and the associated behavior of subjects of market relations are taken into account. The specificity of the product “labor power” requires distinguishing between the concepts of “labor price” and “labor price”.
Labor price-- this is the monetary expression of its value, reflecting, according to segmentation criteria, the level of costs required for the reproduction of labor, taking into account supply and demand in the labor market. The price of labor can be the basis for developing a cost differentiation policy at an enterprise, as well as when establishing contractual terms of remuneration for a specific employee hired by the employer.
Price of labor- this is a monetary expression of the various qualities of labor; it allows you to compare the amount of labor with its payment. The unit of measurement can be the price of an hour of labor, which is a derivative of the price of labor, determining the terms of payment for an employee based on the results of his current activities in the conditions of the internal labor market mechanism at the enterprise. Prices for various types of labor take the form of calculated tariff rates ( official salaries). By setting the price of a specific type of labor, the enterprise regulates wages so that, on the one hand, it does not underestimate its level (otherwise qualified personnel will leave), and on the other hand, it does not inflate the price so that the company’s products are competitive not only in terms of consumer qualities , but also at the price of the product (product, service). Otherwise, the volume of sales (sales, revenue) may decrease, which will affect the demand for labor, its employment, etc.
The production-share function of wages determines the extent of participation of living labor (through wages) in the formation of the price of a product (product, service), its share in total production costs and in labor costs. This share makes it possible to establish the degree of cheapness (high cost) of labor power, its competitiveness in the labor market, because only living labor sets materialized labor in motion (no matter how great it is), and therefore presupposes mandatory compliance with the lower limits of the cost of labor power and certain limits salary increases. This function embodies the implementation of previous functions through a system of tariff rates (salaries) and grids, additional payments and allowances, bonuses, etc., the procedure for their calculation and dependence on the payroll. The production-share function is important not only for employers, but also for employees. Some non-tariff wage systems and other systems imply a close dependence of individual salary on payroll and the employee’s personal contribution. Within an enterprise, the payroll of individual divisions can be based on a similar dependence (through the labor contribution coefficient (LCC) or in another way).
Legal basis for organizing wages in Russian Federation.
The main fundamental legislative document of our country - the Constitution of the Russian Federation - contains articles entirely devoted to labor in the country.
Article 34 states that everyone has the right to the free use of his abilities and property for entrepreneurial activity. However, it is not allowed economic activity aimed at monopolization and unfair competition. This is a statement of the right to work in any form permitted by law.
Article 37 states that labor is free. Everyone has the right to freely use their ability to work and choose their type of activity or profession. However, forced labor is prohibited. Everyone has the right to work in conditions that meet safety and hygiene requirements, to remuneration for work not lower than the minimum wage established by federal law. Everyone has the right to rest. A person working under an employment contract is guaranteed the working hours, weekends and holidays established by federal law. holidays, paid annual leave.
Article 39 defines the types social protection citizens of the Russian Federation. The main collection of legislative decrees on issues of organization and remuneration of labor is the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF)
Article 1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation forms the objectives of this document: “The Labor Code of the Russian Federation regulates labor relations all workers, promoting the growth of labor productivity, improving the quality of work, increasing the efficiency of social production and raising on this basis the material and cultural standard of living of workers, strengthening labor discipline and the gradual transformation of work for the benefit of society into the first vital need of every able-bodied person."
The Labor Code is intended to establish the level of working conditions and comprehensive protection labor rights workers.
Chapter I. General provisions(Articles 1-5).
Sets out the rights and obligations of workers (Article 2), contains a description of the basic principles of labor regulation in collective farm and cooperative organizations (Article 3), labor legislation (Article 4) and Article 5 - on the invalidity of the terms of labor contracts that worsen position of workers.
Chapter II. Collective agreement (Article 7).
Chapter III. Employment agreement (contract) (Article 15-40)..
Chapter IV. Working hours(vv.41-56).
Chapter V. Time of rest (vv.57-76).
Chapter VI. ZP (Article 77-100).
This chapter describes, item by item, all possible options for accounting and remuneration of labor in various economic systems, in enterprises of any form of ownership, from hiring to dismissal. In this edition of the Labor Code, new articles have been introduced in Chapter VI. These are 81-1 “Indexation of wages” and Article 85-1 “Payment for deviations from normal working conditions” - they also reflect the new phenomena that are now occurring in the economy.
Chapter VII. Labor standards and piece rates (Articles 102-108).
Here the definition of the basic concept of “Labor Standards” is given and the procedure for introducing, revising these standards, determining prices for piecework wages, etc. is described in detail, article by article.
Chapter VIII. Guarantees and compensation (Articles 110-126).
This includes descriptions of all types of guarantees in cases where the employee does not directly perform job duties, but has the right to payment for the time spent (performing state and public duties, donation, moving to another location for work reasons), and also determines compensation from the enterprise in favor of the employees, and on the part of the employee in favor of the enterprise, in favor of the workers, and on the part of the employee in favor of the enterprise.
Article 121 "Cases of complete financial liability" supplemented by Articles 121-1, 121-2 and 121-3. All of them relate to determining the financial liability of workers and determining the amount of damage. Here on state level labor benefits are determined for certain categories of workers, in particular those working in the Far North and equivalent areas, as well as the specifics of labor regulation in certain sectors of the national economy and during seasonal work.
Article 254 specifies additional grounds for termination employment contract certain categories of workers under certain conditions. Separately, the principle of material liability of employees is considered in cases where the actual size material damage exceeds its nominal size. These are, in general terms, the composition and content of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It clearly formulates all the main provisions on labor and is the main document on legal regulation labor in our country. But labor legislation in our country is not limited to the Labor Code alone - in addition to and expansion of the Labor Code, there is a whole list of documents relating to the organization and remuneration of labor. By nature they can be divided into legal and economic. Among the legal ones are those articles of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation that also relate to labor. At all Civil code characterizes all types of emerging relationships between citizens, citizens and society, and enterprises and citizens. Important economic documents include the “Regulation on the composition of costs for the production and sale of products (works, services) included in the cost of production (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 08/05/1992 No. 552 (as amended and supplemented by No. 1672 of 12/31/97 , No. 509 of May 27, 1998, No. 273 of March 11, 1997) regarding labor costs), the Law of the Russian Federation "On income tax individuals" dated December 7, 1991 No. 1998-1, with amendments and additions dated November 25, 1999 No. 207-FZ, Federal law RF “On the cost of living in the Russian Federation” No. 134-FZ (dated 10.24.97) and much more.
Reproductive
ensuring full recovery of the employee’s expenses and creating conditions for his normal life activities
Stimulating
wages are a means of motivation through the establishment of a quantitative relationship between the amount of payment and the quantity, quality and results of workers’ work
Social
wages should reflect the social status of the employee and solve the problem of social justice
Formation of effective demand
the influence of wages through the effective demand of the population on the volume and structure of goods and services produced and, to a large extent, on investment policy
Regulating (resource-allocation)
optimization of the deployment of labor resources by region, economic sector, enterprise through influence on labor demand and supply
Accounting and production
reflects the extent of participation of living labor in the process of formation of the price of a product, its share in total production costs.
Motivational
the development of creativity in work and moral and prestigious attitudes shapes the moral qualities of workers, their work morale.
From the requirements of economic laws, a system of principles for regulating wages can be formulated, including:
The principle of payment based on costs and results. For a long period of time, the entire system of organizing wages in the state was aimed at distribution according to labor costs, which does not meet the requirements of the modern level of economic development. Currently, the principle of payment based on costs and labor results, and not just costs, is more strict.
The principle of increasing the level of wages based on an increase in production efficiency, which is determined, first of all, by the action of such economic laws as the law of increasing labor productivity, the law of increasing needs. It follows from these laws that an increase in employee wages should be carried out only on the basis of increasing production efficiency.
The principle of faster growth of social labor productivity compared to wage growth, which follows from the law of increasing labor productivity. It is designed to ensure the necessary savings and further expansion of production.
The principle of material interest in increasing labor efficiency follows from the law of increasing labor productivity and the law of value. It is necessary not only to ensure a material interest in certain results of labor, but also to interest the employee in increasing labor efficiency. The implementation of this principle in the organization of remuneration will contribute to the achievement of certain qualitative changes in the operation of the entire economic mechanism.
Typically, wages are regulated and controlled by competent government agencies.
State regulation of wages - implementation of measures aimed at implementing the principle of correspondence between the measure of labor and the measure of its payment, ensuring equal pay for equal work.
Directions of state regulation of wages:
Legislative regulation of the conditions and procedure for remuneration, enshrined in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other regulations
Regulation of wages of employees in the public sector of the economy based on the tariff system
Establishment of the minimum wage (minimum wage)
Interdistrict regulation using regional coefficients and wage premiums
Tax regulation using direct (income tax) and indirect (VAT, sales tax, excise tax) taxes
Wage indexation
Establishment of regional coefficients and percentages of premiums
Establishment of state guarantees for wages.
There are three types of income and wage policies:
Controlling inflation through taxes and fiscal measures;
Revenue regulation based on government rules and regulations;
Tripartite cooperation policy.
Thus, the state implements measures to regulate wages at two levels:
Determines the state guarantees ensuring the interaction of all employers and employees in order to develop and agree on wage conditions;
Directly implemented by the state. guarantees established for employees of state organizations. sectors of the economy that are financed from budgets of different levels.
Wages have many functions that represent a dialectical unity and only together allow one to correctly understand the essence of wages, the contradictions in it and the problems that arise in the process of improving the organization of wages. This is important to emphasize because often the opposition of functions, the overestimation of some and the underestimation of others lead to a violation of their unity and, as a consequence, to one-sided and sometimes incorrect theoretical and practical conclusions regarding the organization of wages. Their scientific classification is necessary, which has not yet been fully done in the economic literature.
The following can be distinguished wage functions:
1. Reproductive , which consists in ensuring the possibility of reproduction of the labor force. The mechanism for implementing the reproductive function of wages is the marginalization of wages, that is, the establishment of a limit, primarily a minimum wage. The minimum wage should be fixed at the level of the subsistence level, or the minimum consumer budget, designed to satisfy the necessary needs of a simple worker and his family at the minimum acceptable level. The ability of wages to fulfill their reproductive function depends on many factors, such as the saturation of markets with goods, inflation, etc., but the main factor is its (wages) level. If a worker is satisfied with his salary, with which he can support himself and his family, then he has an incentive to work, and, consequently, the quality and productivity of labor increases.
2. Distribution, the essence of which is to ensure optimal proportions in the distribution of labor and labor across segments of the economy. The mechanism for implementing this function is the appropriate segmentation of wage levels for workers by industries and areas of the national economy, professions and specialties, as well as by regions of the country. Unreasonably high or, conversely, low wages in certain segments of the economy can cause labor movements that are undesirable from the point of view of the interests of society and the national economy. A typical example is the situation with wages that has developed in Russian healthcare, education and culture. The wage level in these industries is 30–40% lower than in industry. Meanwhile, according to research, the complexity and social significance, the level of qualifications and the number of specialists in socio-cultural sectors are higher than in industry, the training time for specialists is longer, and there remains unsatisfied demand for social services high quality. It is also known that in the USA, countries Western Europe The earnings of doctors and teachers are not inferior to, and often exceed, the salaries of technical specialists. Thus, in the USA in 1989, the average monthly wage medical workers and workers in public education exceeded wages in industry by 10–15%. Approximately the same ratios in wages for workers in the social sector and industry are typical for Germany, France, Great Britain and other Western countries. Quite high wages have also developed in the commercial sector of the Russian social sphere.
3. Stimulating (motivational) , aimed at increasing interest in the development of production, increasing production volumes, developing new types of goods, adopting more effective regulations, laws and decrees. The mechanism for implementing the incentive function of wages in social sphere is its comprehensive differentiation - differentiation according to the complexity of work, responsibility of work, conditions and intensity of work, qualifications of workers, and most importantly - according to the results of work, that is, according to the quantity and quality of services provided.
4. Social , ensuring the implementation of the principle of social justice (payment based on work and results).
5. Production , as the main condition for using labor to fill the market with goods.
6. Accounting , characterizing the measure of living labor and net income in the process of forming the value of goods and national income.
7. Political , aimed at timely formation of the budget through the system of taxes on the income of citizens and the payroll of enterprises, which guarantees the payment of benefits, pensions from public consumption funds and the state budget; on the economic and financial stabilization of regions and the country as a whole, acceleration of ongoing reforms to democratize society and develop market relations.
Each function, as part of a single whole - wages, not only presupposes the existence of other parts, but also contains their elements (for example, functions such as accounting, production, reproduction, stimulating, simultaneously play a social role; stimulating functions are realized in the reproductive function , accounting and production functions, etc.) At the same time, with general unity, individual functions can be to a certain extent opposite to one another or exclude one another, reducing the results of their action.
The most significant contradiction between the functions is that some of them lead to the differentiation of earnings, while others, on the contrary, lead to their equalization. The stronger the equalization, the weaker the differentiation, the weaker the stimulating effect of wages.
When regulating wages, one must skillfully use the objective unity and opposition of its functions, timely strengthen some and weaken others, so that the organization of wages corresponds to its objective content and the characteristics of the development of society.
Principles of wage organization - these are objective, scientifically based provisions that reflect the operation of economic laws and are aimed at a more complete implementation of the functions of wages.
The most characteristic principles of organizing remuneration can be identified:
ü Distribution by quantity, quality, costs and results of labor.
ü Material interest of workers in achieving high final results of work.
ü A combination of material and moral incentives to work.
ü Simultaneous application of basic and bonus wages.
ü Evaluation of individual and collective labor results.
ü Combination of employee incentives with financial responsibility.
ü Steady growth of nominal and real wages.
ü Ensuring faster growth rates of labor productivity compared to the growth rates of wages.
ü A fairly simple and clear procedure for remuneration.
The economic nature of wages, the functions it performs and the principles of organization are identical in all spheres and sectors of the national economy, however, the specific mechanism for implementing these functions in individual spheres and industries is specific and diverse.
Forms and systems of remuneration are designed to ensure that wages take into account the quantitative and qualitative results of labor, to create among workers a material interest in improving the immediate results of their work and the overall results of the enterprise (organization).
Forms and systems of remuneration differ in the procedure for calculating wages depending on labor productivity. The accrual system must be simple and clear so that the relationship between labor productivity, quality of products and work performance, on the one hand, and the amount of wages, on the other, can be understandable to every worker and employee.
Salary form characterizes the relationship between working time costs, labor productivity of workers and the amount of their earnings.
There are two forms of remuneration: time-based and piece-rate.
Time-based form of remuneration assumes that the amount of wages is determined on the basis of actually worked time and the established tariff rate (salary). Main advantage time payment labor for a worker - guaranteed earnings, depending on a possible decrease in production volume in a given period of time. The disadvantage is the inability to increase your earnings by increasing labor productivity for the worker, and for the enterprise - the time-based form of payment does not stimulate increased productivity.
Piecework form of remuneration means that wages are accrued to the employee based on the quantity of products actually manufactured or the time spent on their production. For the worker, this form has the advantage that it allows you to increase wages due to increased output. At the same time, it leads to an increase in labor intensity, which creates a greater risk of accidents and occupational diseases. At the same time, piecework payment creates a risk of decreased product quality.
Salary system characterizes the relationship between the elements of wages: the tariff part, additional payments, allowances, bonuses. Within each of the two forms of remuneration, there are different systems salary:
1. Within the piecework form :
1.1. Direct piecework wage system lies in the fact that earnings are accrued to the employee at predetermined prices per unit of high-quality products (work performed). The main element of this system is piece rate, established on the basis of the tariff rate (salary) corresponding to the type of work, and the production standard or time standard for this work.
1.2. Piece-bonus system assumes that in addition to earnings at direct piece rates, the employee is awarded and paid a bonus for quantitative or qualitative performance indicators.
1.3. Piece-progressive system is that remuneration of an employee within the established initial base (norm) is made on the basis of single rates, and in excess of the established initial base - at increased piece rates.
1.4. Indirect piecework system assumes that the level of an employee’s earnings is directly dependent on the results of the labor (work) of the workers he serves. This system usually used to pay support workers.
1.5. Chord piecework system - setting the amount of payment not for each production operation separately, but for the entire complex of works taken as a whole. The chord system is used for work with long production cycle. Workers may be paid a bonus for reducing the time required to complete a piece of work while performing high-quality work. Such a system is called chord-premium .
When using each piecework payment system, the following must be observed: general conditions , violation of which can reduce efficiency and harm production. Among them:
ü scientifically based rationing of labor and correct pricing of work and workers in accordance with the requirements of tariff and qualification reference books;
ü well-organized accounting of the quantitative results of labor, excluding all kinds of errors and additions, as well as artificially inflating the volume of work performed;
ü the level of production should directly depend on the worker himself;
ü there should be no interference with productive work in the workplace;
ü the use of piecework should not lead to deterioration in product quality, disruption of technological conditions, deterioration in equipment maintenance, violation of safety regulations, or excessive consumption of material resources.
2. Within the time-based form :
2.1. Simple time system . Wages are determined by multiplying the hourly rate by the hours worked. This remuneration system makes it possible to take into account the quality of labor, the qualifications of the worker, and working conditions, but it does not sufficiently provide a direct connection between the final results of the work of a given employee and his wages.
2.2. Time-bonus system , in which, in addition to earnings at the tariff rate (salary) for the time actually worked, a bonus is paid for meeting and exceeding certain performance indicators.
Most common requirements that must be observed when applying time-based wages:
ü strict accounting and control over the time actually worked by each employee with mandatory reflection of downtime;
ü justified (in accordance with the requirements of the ETKS) assignment of tariff categories (tariff rates or salaries) to time workers, and to specialists and other employees - rates (official salaries) in strict accordance with the work they perform job responsibilities taking into account personal business qualities workers;
ü development and application of reasonable service standards, standardized tasks and headcount standards for each category of workers, which makes it possible to eliminate varying degrees of workload, and therefore different levels of labor costs during the working day;
ü optimal organization of work in the workplace, efficient use working hours.
Salary system of remuneration used mainly for management personnel and engineering and technical workers with irregular working hours - it is difficult to establish the number of hours worked here, since these workers are often late at work, go on business trips and are sometimes forced to work on weekends. Therefore, in this case, they are assigned a certain amount as wages - salary.
For managers and specialists, it is increasingly used contract wage system . The contract duration is usually 3-5 years. Its main sections are:
1) general characteristics contract;
2) working conditions;
3) wages;
4) social security;
5) the procedure for terminating the contract;
6) resolving controversial issues;
7) special conditions.
Remuneration for directors of enterprises, their deputies, as well as heads of relatively independent divisions can be made as a percentage of the profit of the enterprise. However, more often a combined option for paying managers is used: salary plus allowances and bonuses depending on profit or its components, directly dependent on the activities of the corresponding manager.
Tariff-free wage systems based on the shared distribution of funds intended for wages, depending on various criteria, primarily on the principles of agreed assessment professional qualities employees and their contribution to the final result.
The principle of a tariff-free wage system is as follows: the employee is assigned a certain qualification level, but no fixed salary or tariff rate is established (hence the name of the system).
Tariff-free systems, with a certain degree of approximation, can include those used in various sectors of the economy (trade, provision of household services to the population, etc.) payment as a percentage of revenue, negotiated and contract systems remuneration, payment as a percentage of profit and other similar systems.
Since there are many psychological elements in this method of distributing earnings, good relationships within the team are necessary to avoid resentment, misunderstandings and injustice. The management of this work team needs to be good organizers and educators in order for a certain friendly climate to develop.
The advantages of non-tariff remuneration systems include their simplicity and accessibility for understanding the mechanism for calculating earnings for each employee, which increases the importance of the incentive function of wages.
Choice of one form or another of remuneration is dictated by objective circumstances: features technological process, the nature of the means of labor used and the forms of its organization, the degree of demands on the quality of the products produced or the work performed. A comprehensive account of these conditions can only be carried out directly at the enterprise or organization. In this regard, the choice of forms and systems of remuneration is the prerogative of the enterprise, the organizer of labor and production, that is, the employer.
The most effective form of payment in certain conditions is one that promotes growth in output, improvement in the quality of products (services, performance of assigned work), reduction in their cost and ultimately obtaining additional profit, ensuring the most complete combination of the interests of workers with the interests of the enterprise team and the employer. . Depending on the organization of work, forms of wages can be individual or collective.
In modern conditions, the use of piecework wages is gradually decreasing, which is associated with the effects of scientific and technological progress: the nature of production and labor is becoming more complex, the connection between the application of labor and the products produced is becoming more and more indirect, technical regulation is becoming more complicated and difficult.
The essence of wages is manifested in the functions that it performs in various phases of social reproduction. Salary is a multifunctional category. It has a variety of functions, the main ones in a market economy are: distribution, reproduction, stimulation, social, regulatory (resource allocation), the function of forming effective demand, pricing (Fig. 9.1).
Wages are one of the tools for distributing the created social product along with profit, business income, rent, social transfers, etc. . Her distribution function consists in establishing the worker’s share in the created product and reflecting the share of living labor in the distribution of the consumption fund between hired workers and owners of the means of production.
Reproductive function wages is that its size must ensure the reproduction of the labor force of a certain quality level - meeting the needs of the workers themselves and members of their families. It should be noted that the ideas of employees and employers about the role of the reproductive function of wages may differ significantly.
Rice. 9.1. Basic functions of payroll
A hired worker, offering his labor power on the labor market, expects that his wage rate will correspond to the “price of labor power” and will cover all costs of its reproduction. The latter include costs for food, clothing, housing, cultural and social and medical services, education and vocational training, employment, migration of workers, their social needs, etc., covering all phases reproduction of labor power - its production, distribution, redistribution and use.
An employer interested in minimizing production costs seeks to limit the amount of labor cost reimbursement only to the immediate labor process, i.e. one phase of the reproduction of labor power - its use. He views wages not as an instrument for the reproduction of labor power, but as an instrument for compensating for labor costs incurred by the employee in the production process, as the “price of labor.”
In market conditions, where wages are based on the price of labor, ensuring its reproductive function means that the wage, by definition, cannot be less than the subsistence minimum. In reality, we have a paradoxical situation in our country where the state-approved minimum wage is many times less than the subsistence minimum. In particular, in the Samara region in the third quarter of 2006, the minimum wage established by the state (1,100 rubles per month) amounted to 26.7% of the subsistence level budget, calculated on average per able-bodied resident of the region. The average accrued wage was also below the minimum consumer budget. All this indicates that wages in modern Russia does not fully fulfill its reproductive function.
Increasing the minimum wage to the subsistence level, and then to the minimum consumer budget, is the most important task of the state’s social policy.
Without increasing the level of wages, it is impossible to fully realize and stimulating function . The latter involves establishing the dependence of wages on the quantity, quality and results of workers’ labor and is aimed at encouraging the growth of production, improving its quality, the qualifications of workers, the rational use of all types of resources, and the retention of personnel in the organization. The stimulating function of wages is implemented directly in the organization through the effective use of various forms and systems of remuneration, bonus systems, allowances, additional payments, additional payments and benefits and is embodied in the differentiation of wages according to the criteria of quality and labor efficiency. This differentiation is opposed to the equal approach to wages, which has a disincentive effect on workers, preventing the use of their labor and creative potential.
Wage differentiation, designed to promote increased productivity and labor efficiency, should be perceived by both employers and employees as fair and justified. For equal work, for equal work, equal pay must be made. Ensuring pay equity is reflected in social function wages. One of the founders scientific organization labor and management G. Emerson characterized the importance of justice in the organization of wages as follows: “There is no question more difficult than the question of wages, and there is no area that would be more in need of justice. ... Here we are dealing with the most dangerous explosive, for which the slightest spark, the slightest shock is enough to overturn and destroy the entire structure.”
In countries with long-established market relations in the labor sphere, “the problem of fairness occupies an important place in the relationship between employer and employee.” Equity theory states that people subjectively determine the ratio of wages received to effort expended and then compare it with the wages of other people doing similar work. If the comparison shows imbalance and injustice, e.g. If a person believes that his colleague received a higher salary for the same work, then he experiences psychological stress.
Consequently, the degree of validity of the current remuneration system can be judged by the efficiency of labor activity and the socio-psychological atmosphere in work collectives, including the presence (or absence) of labor conflicts based on different perceptions of the level and differentiation of remuneration.
The current differentiation (regional, sectoral, intra-industry) in wage levels cannot be considered normal; it aggravates social tension. Reducing this tension and smoothing out unjustified differences in wages should be facilitated by further development and improving the collective bargaining process. The system of industry, regional and intra-company agreements and collective agreements should ensure socially acceptable differentiation of wages for work of varying complexity and equal pay for equal work.
Within the same profession, work of the same complexity and productivity at different enterprises and organizations should be paid the same. This is due not only to considerations of social justice, but also to the functioning mechanism of the competitive labor market. However, at the present stage of development of market relations, one cannot expect that the principle of equal pay for equal work will be implemented automatically. In this regard, it seems to us actual problem creation and development, along with industry ones, of so-called shop unions, uniting workers of the same profession. If industry trade unions should play an important role during the collective bargaining process in the correct differentiation of wages for various categories and professions of workers, then shop unions are called upon to monitor fair and equal wages for workers of the same professions in various industries.
It is also important regulating (resource-allocation) function wages. Depending on the relationship between supply and demand for labor, wages, in turn, influence the formation of labor market conditions, change the direction of labor flows, and largely determine the structure of employment.
In conditions when state regulation in the field of placement of labor resources is reduced to a minimum, and the formation of an effectively functioning labor market is possible only if each employee has freedom to choose where to apply their labor, the desire to improve living standards determines the movement of workers in order to find work, to the maximum extent possible to satisfy their needs. The impact of this function is intended to ensure the movement of workers to the most important areas of activity for society and the most efficient industries and production, meeting the needs of organizations for personnel of a certain professional and qualification composition, attracting workers to specific jobs, taking into account the needs of production and the interests of the workers themselves.
Function of forming effective demand of the population, employed, is closely related to the reproductive function and, at first glance, has no independent significance. It is no coincidence that most authors of educational and scientific literature on the problems of labor economics and the organization of remuneration do not single out this function of wages as an independent one.
The connection between these functions is obvious and indisputable. But it is also obvious that these are different functions of wages and their separation as independent ones is appropriate and justified. In contrast to the reproductive function of wages, aimed at providing workers and their families with the necessary benefits of life for the reproduction of the labor force, the reproduction of generations and thereby the formation and functioning of labor market, the formation of effective demand of the population is an important condition functioning market of goods and services.
A key factor in market demand for goods and services is the level of consumer income. For hired workers, the main one. And sometimes the only source of income is wages. If its level is insufficient, a significant part of the needs of the working population remains unsatisfied due to the inability to pay (buy) certain goods and services. A decrease in effective demand compared to real needs (real demand) leads to a reduction in the production of many types of goods and services or to a significant decrease in their quality.
It is worth paying attention to one more difference between the functions under consideration. Reproduction of the labor force can be carried out not only through monetary, but also non-monetary income - all kinds of benefits, free services, food, food and clothing rations, etc. Performing a reproductive function, these non-monetary incomes of part of the population reduce its effective demand in the market for goods and services, narrow the scope and disrupt the mechanism of its normal functioning. Wages that are sufficient in size and regularly paid to employees are an important condition for the formation of solvent consumer demand and the normal functioning of the market for goods and services.
