Damage caused to the employer by the employee: how and when liability arises

The relationship "employee-employer" is not limited only to the fulfillment of obligations assumed by the parties under an employment contract. They are also linked by mutual financial responsibility. Cases when an employee, through his actions or through inattention, causes damage to the employer are not uncommon.

Most of these situations are resolved amicably. The guilty person voluntarily, without any consequences for his further work, compensates for the harm caused. And some minor losses due to the fault of employees are completely forgiven by the employer: many organizations easily write off damaged office equipment or a corporate mobile phone accidentally lost in a taxi.

However, this does not apply to incidents involving significant damage, especially if it is associated with intentional actions or gross misconduct. In such cases, of course, the employer has the right to demand compensation for losses, and such a right is enshrined in law. The material liability of the employee for damage caused to the employer is regulated by the current labor legislation.

Grounds for liability

The employee is obliged to compensate the employer for damage in the event that he caused direct actual damage to the organization by his actions or inaction. From the point of view of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, such cases include the actual loss of the company's property and a significant deterioration in its condition. This also includes all costs incurred by the organization for the repair, replacement of damaged property, as well as compensation for losses to third parties related to it. In this case, the lost profit of the employer is not subject to compensation by the employee.

Thus, the grounds for the onset of material liability of an employee for damage are:

shortage of cash;
loss of accountable values;
damage to company property;
damage to property of third parties transferred to the employer for use and storage;
a fine imposed on the organization through the fault of the employee.

Under what conditions does liability arise?

In order for an employee to be fairly liable, the employer must comply with several conditions:

Record the damage caused.
To prove that the employee has committed unlawful actions: violated work instructions, clauses of the employment contract, legislative norms, neglected his job duties, etc.
Identify a causal relationship between the action of the guilty person and the resulting damage.
Establish the guilt of the employee, that is, the presence of intent or negligence in his actions. In the first case, the employee is fully aware of the illegality of his actions and their consequences. In the second, there is indiscretion, a frivolous attitude, when a person does not fully understand the harm from his actions and hopes to avoid a negative result.

Exemption from punishment for material damage

Causing damage to the employer can occur in such circumstances that relieve the employee from liability for damage:

force majeure (natural disasters, terrorism, military clashes);
if the employee, in the course of performing work duties, failed to preserve the property, despite all the efforts made, and it was impossible to do otherwise;
situations of extreme necessity and necessary defense - material damage occurred in conditions that pose a danger to the company's property, life and health of employees, third parties;
the loss of accountable property occurred due to the fact that the employer did not provide employees with conditions for the safe storage of entrusted valuables (security, alarm, individual safes, etc.).

Limits of liability of an employee

The amount within which the employee undertakes to indemnify the company depends on whether or not he has an agreement on full liability. If such an agreement was not signed with the employee, then his liability is limited to the average monthly earnings.

Full property liability arises for the employee upon employment and upon transfer to a position involving the operation of accountable values. The list of positions with which employers enter into an agreement on full liability is established by the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation. For managers and chief accountants, property obligations appear automatically and do not depend on the existence of an agreement.

In full, employees compensate the damage to the employer in cases clearly defined by law:

Lack of entrusted property received under a one-time power of attorney or due to the nature of work.
Committing an offense with intent.
Damage to property while intoxicated.
Causing damage as a result of a crime committed by an employee, proven by the court.
The cause of property damage is an administrative offense.
Disclosure of confidential information, official, commercial secrets.
The damage was caused by the use of official property for personal purposes.

In addition to individual property liability, there is also a collective form (brigade), which occurs when an appropriate collective agreement is concluded. This form is appropriate when, in the course of joint work of a group of employees, it is not possible to determine the degree of responsibility of each of them.

How to hold an employee liable for damages?

If the fact of causing damage is revealed, the employer is obliged to issue an order to establish a commission. Its purpose is to investigate the circumstances of the incident and establish the amount of losses to the organization through the fault of the employee. Members of the commission consider all significant facts, collect evidence of the employee's guilt, and assess property damage.

In this case, the perpetrator is required to provide a written explanation on the merits of the incident within 2 days. He also has the right to monitor the progress of the investigation and participate in it: study documents, dispute the facts, involve independent experts.

Refusal of the perpetrator to testify is fixed by a special act. The conclusions of the commission are also documented (acts of inventory, audits, reconciliations, etc.).

Compensation for established losses that do not exceed the average monthly income of the employee is recovered by order of the head, regardless of the consent of the perpetrator. They compensate for the damage from the employee's salary, withholding no more than 20% from it, thus stretching the payment for several months.

Voluntary compensation is issued by agreement of the parties: it can be either a lump-sum payment or partial payments according to a set schedule. If the employer has no objections, the employee can compensate for the losses in another way, for example, by buying new property, making repairs at his own expense, etc.

In this case, the debtor has the right to quit, but his debt will continue until full repayment. In this case, the termination of the employment contract is accompanied by the signing of an obligation to indemnify, which is the basis for litigation if the former employee refuses to pay compensation.

The unwillingness of the culprit to voluntarily return the costs incurred to the organization often leads the parties to court - this is the only way the employer can recover the funds due to him from his employee. The judge accepts a claim for pecuniary damage in such situations:

the employer did not collect compensation in a timely manner from an employee with incomplete liability (this must be done no later than a month from the date of the conclusion of the audit commission);
the guilty person is not ready to compensate for the damage, the amount of which exceeds the amount of his salary;
the resigned employee waived his obligations to cover the losses of the former employer.

Appeal to the court does not guarantee satisfaction of the claim by the affected organization. The judge has the right to change the amount of the payment, taking into account the intent of the perpetrator, taking into account his income, financial situation of the family, etc. The employer, in turn, can appeal this decision.

How to avoid material damage and liability?

As you know, most of the facts of property losses are revealed as a result of audits and inventories. Employers should carefully control the process of accounting for material assets. Perhaps it makes sense to conduct checks on the accountable values of employees more often, including sudden audits. Such measures make it possible to timely detect cases of misuse of official property and prevent major damage. At the same time, a materially responsible employee will have a more disciplined attitude towards the values entrusted to him.

In turn, workers can protect themselves from, possibly, unintentional damage by working with material values. To do this, it is important to independently check the relevance of data on the reporting property and control the availability of all accompanying documents:

when receiving property, it is necessary to check not only its quantity, but also serviceability, completeness, compliance of inventory numbers and bar codes, and other characteristics;
acceptance certificates and other documents must be properly executed, contain all the required details, dates, signatures, the correct name of the transferred values and their identification differences;
save documentation on accountable property, update inventories and store them at the workplace;
systematically conduct an audit / inventory, inspect the property for integrity and absence of damage;
timely inform the accounting department / manager about the need to repair property, replace it, write off.

These simple rules for working with values will help the organization solve two important problems: to ensure the safety of its property and to protect the material interests of the company's employees in the event of property disputes related to damage.