How to calculate the average monthly number of calendar days. Examples of vacation pay calculation
An accountant is faced with calculating average earnings in various cases: when calculating vacation pay, compensation for unused vacation, when an employee is sent on a business trip, and other cases. The first thing an accountant needs to do when calculating average earnings is to correctly determine the billing period.
How to determine the billing period?
At first glance, everything is simple. We know that the average salary of an employee is calculated based on the salary actually accrued to him and the time actually worked for the 12 calendar months preceding the period during which the employee retains the average salary (clause 4 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 24, 2007 No. 922). And this is regardless of the employee’s work schedule. This norm also states that a calendar month is considered to be the period from the 1st to the 30th (31st) day of the corresponding month inclusive (in February - to the 28th (29th) day inclusive). That is, if an employee goes on a business trip on April 15, 2017, then the billing period will be the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
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Calculation of average wages. Other periods...
Is it possible to provide other periods for calculating average wages? Yes, it is possible, if it does not worsen the situation of workers and is enshrined in a collective agreement or a local regulatory act (Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). But, having chosen a different period, the accountant, when calculating average earnings, needs to make the calculation twice:
- Based on 12 months;
- Based on another period established in the organization.
The resulting amounts will need to be compared. And if in the second case the average earnings turn out to be lower than the average earnings calculated for 12 months, then another period cannot be applied.
Further, when calculating average earnings, it is necessary to exclude from the calculation period the time that is named in paragraph 5 of Resolution No. 922. For example, the time when the employee maintained average earnings, when the employee was sick, and other times is excluded from the calculation period.
In general, at first glance, there should be no difficulties in the calculation. But non-standard situations may arise, for example, if the employee did not work during the billing period or the entire time of the billing period should be excluded. What to do in such cases?
Examples of calculating average earnings. Determining the days of the billing period
Situation 1. Calculating average earnings for a business trip
The employee went on a business trip on April 15, 2017. The billing period will be from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017. But at this time the employee was on maternity leave. And we know that this time should be excluded from the calculation. What to do in this case?
Solution: let us turn to paragraph 6 of Resolution No. 922, which states: “... in the event that the employee did not have actually accrued wages or actually worked days for the billing period or for a period exceeding the billing period, or this period consisted of time excluded from the billing period period in accordance with paragraph 5 of Regulation No. 922, average earnings are determined based on the amount of wages actually accrued for the previous period, equal to the calculated one.”
From this norm we conclude: to calculate average earnings, the previous period equal to the billing period should be used. In this situation, from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.
But a situation may arise when the employee did not work both during the billing period and before the start of the billing period. What to do in this case? Consider the following situation.
Situation 2. If the employee did not work during the billing period
The employee was hired on April 1, 2017, and on April 15, the employer sent her on a business trip. Paragraph 7 of Resolution No. 922 states: “... if the employee did not have actually accrued wages or actually worked days for the billing period and before the start of the billing period, the average earnings are determined based on the amount of wages actually accrued for the days actually worked by the employee in the month of occurrence of an event that is associated with the preservation of average earnings.” Accordingly, the calculation period will be from April 1, 2017 to April 14, 2017 inclusive.
Situation 3. Average earnings for new employees
The employee was hired on April 1 and on the same day she was sent on a business trip. How to calculate average earnings? The answer is in paragraph 8 of Resolution No. 922: “... if the employee did not have actually accrued wages or actually worked days for the billing period, before the start of the billing period and before the occurrence of an event associated with the preservation of average earnings, the average earnings are determined based on from the tariff rate established for him, salary (official salary).”
That is, the accountant will simply calculate the average earnings based on the salary established for the given employee.
In conclusion. The article examines the procedure for determining the billing period in cases falling within the scope of Government Decree No. 922 of December 24, 2007.
Be careful when determining your billing period. Do not forget that this is the first step in calculating average earnings, on which the further validity of the calculation depends.
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The procedure for determining average daily earnings depends on:
- whether the employee worked the entire pay period;
- provide him with leave in calendar or working days.
It is also important to consider whether the salary changed or not .
The billing period has been worked out in full, vacation in calendar days
If the billing period is worked out in full and vacation is provided in calendar days, determine the average daily earnings using the formula:
This calculation procedure is established by part 4 of article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
An example of determining the average daily earnings for calculating vacation pay. The billing period has been fully worked out. Leave is provided in calendar days
From June 15 to June 28, 2016, economist A.S. Kondratiev was granted basic paid leave.
The billing period - from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 - has been fully worked out, there is no time or income excluded from the calculation.
Kondratiev receives only a salary. During the billing period, the employee was accrued 240,000 rubles. (RUB 20,000 × 12 months).
The organization's accountant calculated the average daily earnings to pay Kondratiev's vacation pay as follows:
240,000 rub. : 12 months : 29.3 days/month = 682.59 rub./day.
Situation: how to determine the average monthly number of calendar days when calculating the average daily earnings for vacation pay? One of the months of the billing period was worked in excess of normal working hours.
Calculate the average daily earnings for vacation pay in the usual manner.
In this case, the month that the employee worked in excess of the monthly working hours is considered fully worked. There are no non-working days, which excluded from the billing period (for example, related to illness, vacation, downtime, etc.). Therefore, the number of days in this month for the purposes of calculating vacation pay will be 29.3 days. This conclusion allows us to draw part 4 of Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
The billing period has not been fully worked out, vacation in calendar days
If the billing period has not been fully worked out and vacation is provided in calendar days, calculate the average daily earnings as follows:
Settlement period is the period of activity of a legal entity, calculated in calendar months. Its minimum value is 30 days, and its maximum is a year (12 months). The concept is used to establish the amount and timing of payment to employees of an enterprise of wages, benefits and benefits. The organization has the right to set the duration of one pay period, but this should not have a negative impact on employees.
Legal regulation
The settlement period is a method for calculating monetary remuneration due to an individual for fulfilling labor standards, as well as other payments. The deadlines for determining wages, vacation pay, maternity benefits and other social benefits are regulated by labor legislation. When calculating certain amounts, an enterprise has the right to use a billing period established independently.
Selecting a period for calculating the average salary
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes a period of 12 months for determining average earnings. This is the most objective calculation method, taking into account the fact that unworked time, for example, business trips, is subtracted from the period. For some workers, wages fluctuate greatly throughout the year. This is especially true for the piecework form of payment and additional bonus payments to the salary.
In cases where an employee receives wages every month in equal parts, to simplify the calculation, the company has the right to establish a shorter billing period: 3, 6 months, or any other. The main condition is the absence of a negative impact of changes on employees.
Rules for determining the billing period for calculating the average salary
According to labor legislation, the recommended and maximum pay period is a year (for the purpose of determining the average salary). But this does not mean that all 365–366 days will be included in the calculation. During calculations, only days actually worked are taken into account. It is recommended to exclude from the calculation:
- The periods during which the employee received average wages. Hence, breaks to feed the baby should be excluded.
- Time of incapacity for work on sick leave.
- Maternity leave.
- Duration of unpaid leave.
- Paid days off provided additionally to care for disabled children.
- Periods of downtime due to the fault of the employer.
- The time of a strike in which the employee did not take part, but could not work because of it.
- Other periods provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Having excluded such periods from the total duration of the period of time under consideration, the accountant can begin to calculate the average salary.
An example of determining the period for calculating the average salary
Consider a situation in which it is necessary to calculate the average salary for the past 12-month period:
The employee went on a business trip on February 14, 2016. For this period, the company paid him an average salary. To calculate the value, it is necessary to consider the period from 1.01. until 31.12. last year, 2015. The employee was not at the workplace all the time:
- from April 12 to April 23, 2015 – on a business trip;
- from July 5 to July 25, 2015 – was on unpaid leave;
- from November 20 to November 28, 2015 – was incapacitated for work on sick leave.
Based on these data, the accountant determined the billing period:
- from January 1 to April 11;
- from April 24 to July 4;
- from July 26 to November 19;
- from November 29 to December 31.
According to the working time schedule, weekends will be excluded from the total number of days.
Calculation period for vacation: rules for determining
The length of the period for which the number of days of paid leave is calculated depends on the duration of the employee’s work at the enterprise. But in general, it cannot last more than 12 months. Regardless of which half of the year the employee goes on vacation, the period will consist of one year. In this case, it begins from the first day of the calendar month of the start of the holiday until the last date of the 12th month. For example, an employee was on legal vacation from 12/28/15 to 01/15/16. The billing period for vacation will be determined in the interval from 12/1/14 to 30/11. 15.
In cases where the employee actually worked less than a year, the calculated period is considered to be from the first working day until the last day of the month preceding the vacation. For example, an employee was hired on August 1, 2015, and his vacation falls on December 27–14.01. In this case, the billing period is the time from 1.08. until November 30, 2015.
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides the opportunity to set the deadlines on the basis of which vacation payments are calculated independently. A prerequisite is to indicate the period in the personal or collective employment contract.
Accrual of vacation payments in days
After determining total earnings, to calculate vacation pay, you should calculate the average daily wage. If the employee has worked in full for the last 12 months, without deductions for the days of the pay period, then the calculation is made according to the formula: With d.z. = Z p.: 12: 29.3.
- Z p. – the total amount of earnings for the entire period;
- 29.3 – average number of days in one month;
- 12 – value of the billing period in months (in this case the year is set).
Let's consider an example of calculating average daily earnings for calculating vacation payments: from March 14 to April 27, 2016, accountant X will be granted annual paid leave. For the calculation, the period from 03/01/15 to 02/29/16 is used, which is fully worked out, without deductions. X receives a monthly fixed salary of 18 thousand rubles. Calculate average daily earnings.
Let's do the calculations:
- The total salary for the year will be: 18,000 × 12 = 216,000 rubles.
- The average daily wage will be determined at: 216,000: 12: 29.3 = 614.33 rubles.
- In total, for 14 days of vacation, the company must pay the amount: 614.33 × 14 = 8600.62 rubles.
Accrual of vacation pay for periods not fully worked
When determining the period of work for which an employee is granted paid rest, the following time is not taken into account:
- receiving average earnings;
- illness, maternity leave;
- unpaid leave;
- additional days off to care for a disabled child;
- downtime due to the fault of the enterprise;
- other cases provided for by law.
When subtracting the listed periods, it turns out that the employee did not work the entire period calculated for vacation, but only part of it. This results in an incomplete rest time that needs to be determined.
To find how many calendar days of the pay period the employee is due for vacation, you need to perform several mathematical operations:
1. Calculate the number of days worked in a part-time working month: T d. = 29.3: T d.m. × T from.d. , Where:
- T d.m. – number of calendar days of the month;
- T from.d. – number of days actually worked.
2. Determine the amount of average daily earnings using the formula: C d. = W: (29.3 × T m. + T d.), where:
- Z – total amount of earnings accrued for the period;
- T m. – number of fully worked months;
- Td. – the number of days worked in a part-time working month (see clause 1).
If there are several incomplete months in one period, the calculation should be made separately for each of them, and then the results should be summed up.
An example of calculating average daily earnings for an incomplete period
Consider the situation: an employee will be granted paid leave from June 15, 2016. The monthly billing period for payments is from 06/1/15 to 05/31/16, this time was not fully worked: from February 18 to 25, the employee was sick. In addition to sick leave payments, the employee is due a salary totaling 240 thousand rubles.
Let's make the calculation:
- Number of days for fully worked months: 11 × 29.3 = 322, for February: 29.3: 29 × 21 = 21.
- In total, the following will be used to calculate vacation pay: 322 + 21 = 343 days.
- Average daily earnings will be: 240,000: 343 = 699.7 rubles.
Calculation period of sick leave benefits
An officially employed employee has the right to receive financial compensation for a period of illness if the fact is confirmed by a doctor and sick leave is provided. The period for calculating the amount of payment is considered to be 2 years. The amount is calculated based on total earnings for the period by multiplying it by the compensation coefficient and the number of days of disability. The resulting number is divided into 730–732 days.
When making payments to employees, it is extremely important to correctly determine the period for which payments are due to an individual. The established time limits directly affect the average salary and many other social benefits and compensations.
Before you begin calculating an employee’s average earnings for calculating vacation pay, determine which period to take as the basis for the calculation. The billing period is limited by time frame and some periods of time are excluded from it.
How to determine the duration of the calculation period for vacation pay?
The billing period is equal to the number of days worked by the employee in the organization, but not more than one year. The employee has been working in the organization for more than a year - the calculation period will be 12 months before the start of the vacation. In this case, the period from the 1st to the last day of the month inclusive is taken as a calendar month. If the vacation starts in one year and ends in another, the same rule applies and the billing period will be 12 months.Example: An employee goes on vacation from December 25, 2017 to January 15, 2018, and was hired on May 1, 2017. The period May 1, 2017 to November 30, 2017 is estimated.The management of the enterprise has the right to establish another billing period. Such a decision must be spelled out in the Regulations on Remuneration and supported by a collective agreement or other local act. In the Regulations on remuneration, the phrase “... the billing period for calculating vacation pay is nine months...” See part 6 of article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The main thing is that the changes do not in any way worsen the situation of the organization’s employees. When determining the billing period for calculating average earnings, adhere to the following rules:
- Sum up the complete months in the billing period;
- Calculate separately the months worked partially.
- We will determine the billing period based on the employee’s time working in the organization.
- We exclude from the billing period the time that the employee was sick.
Example: Let's determine the billing period if an employee was sick during vacation. An employee of ATEK LLC, I.N. Ivanov, took leave from July 5 to July 18, 2017. At the end of the vacation, Ivanov I.N. brings sick leave and asks to postpone the vacation from August 1 to August 14. Ivanov I.N. has been working in the organization since March 1, 2016, so the billing period is equal to the period from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017. Sick leave (from July 5 to July 18, 2017) is excluded from the calculation period. In practice, there are cases when an employee quits and then re-enters the same organization. Then the payroll period is taken only after the employee is rehired. Accordingly, the time worked before dismissal is not included in the calculation period. This is explained by the fact that upon dismissal, the organization terminates the employment contract with the employee. The accountant calculates and accrues compensation for unused vacation. Therefore, only the time worked under a valid employment contract is included in the billing period.(See Article 77,140,127 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and clause 2 of the regulation approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on December 24, 2007 No. 922)
Example: Let's determine the calculation period if an employee quits and gets a job again. At LLC Management Company ROS, employee O.V. Romanov worked under an employment contract from January 1, 2013 to January 31, 2016. On February 1, 2017, Romanov resigns. The organization pays wages and compensation for unused vacation in the amount of 7 days. A week later, the employee decides to return to the organization. The manager hires an employee for the same position. Six months later, Romanov was given 13 days of annual paid leave. The calculation period in this situation will be the last six months when the employee of the organization was rehired. The manager hires an employee for the same position. Six months later, Romanov was given 13 days of annual paid leave. The calculation period in this situation will be the last six months when the employee of the organization was rehired.
How is the billing period determined if the company undergoes a reorganization?
The calculation period for calculating vacation pay includes the employee’s time of work in this organization before and after the reorganization. Since the employment contract with the employee continues to be valid. See 75TKRFExcluded time from the billing period
- days on a business trip, paid and unpaid leave;
- sick leave for temporary disability and pregnancy and childbirth;
- additional days off for caring for disabled children and children with disabilities;
- days of idle work of an employee (for reasons depending on the organization and beyond) and release with full or partial pay.
Example: Let's determine the billing period for vacation pay under the following conditions:
Sergeev M.N. For several years he has been working as a marketer at Cosmos LLC. The employee, according to the vacation schedule, goes on annual leave from July 15, 2017.
In 2016, the employee went on unpaid leave from November 10 to November 21.
From November 22 to November 30, 2016, Sergeev went on a business trip to Moscow.
During the period of business trip and illness, payments to the employee were made based on the average salary. The accountant excludes days on vacation and business trips from the calculation period (from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017).
Example: Let's determine the billing period for calculating vacation pay, under the following conditions:We exclude from this period the time periods during which the employee was sick. But holidays (from May 6 to May 9, 2017) are included in the billing period. When calculating vacation pay, the accountant included in the billing period:
- Lukina O.V. He has been working at Raduga LLC for two years as a financial director. Since June 28, 2017, the employee has been granted annual paid leave of 14 days.
- The employee was sick before and after the May holidays. Lukina provided two sick leave certificates indicating temporary incapacity for work.
- Sick leave from May 2 to May 5, 2017;
- Sick leave from May 10 to May 25, 2017.
- The period from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017 is the estimated period for calculating vacation pay.
from June 1, 2016 to May 1, 2017;
from May 6 to May 9, 2017;
from May 26 to May 31, 2017.
What to do if you need to exclude all time from the billing period
What to do when calculating the amount of vacation pay. Provided that the billing period consists of time that must be excluded from it. In this case, the calculation takes the period preceding the calculation period. See paragraph 6 of the regulation approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on December 24, 2007 No. 922. The period is taken as a time period of 12 months, which was before the excluded periods. See. clarifications given in the letter of the Ministry of Labor dated November 25, 2015 No. 14-1/B-972The calculation period is a time period that must be excluded.
Semenova A.O. Since April 3, 2013, he has been working at Zemlyanika LLC as a technical director. The employee goes on annual paid leave from April 12, 2017.
From July 20, 2015 to December 22, 2015, Semenova was on sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth.
From December 23, 2015 to April 11, 2017, the employee was on maternity leave for up to one and a half years.
The billing period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 is excluded.
- The employee did not work during the billing period.
- Ivanova L.M. has been working at KOR LLC since June 28, 2017 as a designer. From August 19, the employee writes a leave application for 14 days.
- Ivanova took unpaid leave from July 16 to August 4, 2017, and went on a business trip from June 28 to July 15, 2017.
- The calculation period for calculating vacation pay is from June 28 to July 31, 2017.
How to determine vacation pay for an employee if the pay period is in the month in which he was hired?
Let's determine the billing period for calculating vacation pay. An employee of an organization is granted leave during the month of employment. Manager Sokolov O.N. has been working at Ezhevika LLC since August 1, 2017. From August 15, 2017, the employer provides him with basic paid leave in advance. The calculation period for calculating vacation pay is considered to be the period from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017. Since Sokolov O.N. did not work in the organization during a given period of time, the accountant decides to include in the billing period the days in the month the vacation began. Therefore, the calculation period in this example will be the period from August 1 to August 14, 2017.Before an accountant calculates average earnings in order to accrue vacation pay to an employee, he must determine the calculation period for vacation. The duration of such a period is limited, and some periods are excluded from it. We will discuss in detail how to do this correctly in the article.
Calculation period for vacation
The length of the calculation period for vacation depends primarily on how long the employee has worked for the organization. But in any case, this period cannot be more than 1 year.
For example, an employee started working for the organization more than a year ago. The billing period will then be equal to 12 months before he goes on vacation. The month is taken into account as a calendar month, complete, from the 1st to the last day.
When an employee is going on vacation after working for less than 1 year, then the entire time that he worked in the organization is taken as the billing period.
And the period is included in the calculation as follows: from the first working day to the last day of the month that precedes the start of the vacation.
The organization also has the right to independently set the billing period. This needs to be written down in a local document of the organization, for example, in a collective agreement. For example, an employer can set a pay period of 6 months rather than 12 months. This is not prohibited by the Labor Code, but if the following condition is met: Vacation pay calculated on the basis of such a calculation period should not be less than calculated according to the general rules.
What to exclude from the billing period
The following days should be excluded from the calculation period when:
- The employee was paid the average salary. By such days I mean periods of paid vacation, business trips (with the exception of the period of feeding a child);
- The employee was on sick leave or maternity leave;
- The employee took leave at his own expense (without pay);
- The employee took additional paid time off to care for people with disabilities;
- The employee, for reasons beyond the control of the employer or the employee himself, did not work. For example, days of power outages;
- The employee was released from work.
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Example of defining a billing period
Accountant Petrova O.P. has been working at Continent LLC for four years. She wrote an application for paid leave due to her from November 6, 2017.
Determine the billing period:
Let's determine the days excluded from Petrova's billing period:
- The vacation period at your own expense is December 12 – December 25, 2016;
- Business trip period: April 1 – April 16, 2017;
When all days are excluded from the billing period
There are also frequent cases when all days need to be excluded from the billing period. In this case, the calculation period must be replaced by the one that precedes the excluded one.
The calculation also takes a period of a full 12 months.
Let's take a closer look at an example:
Accountant Petrova O.P. has been working at Continent LLC since July 24, 2017. Petrova wrote her leave application on November 6, 2017.
Since Petrova worked in the organization for less than a year before her leave, we take the following as the billing period:
The following days should be excluded from this period:
- Business trip days – July 24 – 31, 2017;
- Study leave – August 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017.
Since Petrova’s entire payroll period consists of excluded time, and the preceding payroll period Petrova has not yet worked in the organization, then to calculate vacation pay we will take the days of the month of going on vacation, that is:
If an employee extends his leave due to illness
When an employee on vacation falls ill, he is forced to extend it for the period of illness. In such a situation, sick time should be excluded from the calculation period. That is, initially, when calculating vacation pay, the billing period is calculated based on the employee’s time working in the organization. And then sick days are excluded from this period.
More details with an example:
The accountant of Continent LLC wrote an application for leave from October 17 to October 31, 2017. She was sick all the days of her vacation and rescheduled it for the period from November 1 to November 15, 2017. The billing period will be as follows:
From November 1, 2016 to October 16, 2017, while the days from October 17 to October 31, 2017 should be excluded from the calculation period.
If an employee quits and then returns
Sometimes fired employees return. But this does not mean that the calculation period can include the time that he worked before dismissal. Only those months that the employee worked after getting a new job will be taken into account. This follows from the fact that the employment contract with the employee upon dismissal is terminated and he is paid a settlement, which also contains compensation for unused vacation. This means that that time cannot be included in the calculation.
Calculation period for reorganization
If the company has undergone a reorganization, then the billing period should include the employee’s working time before the reorganization and the time after. This is due to the fact that the employment contract with the employee is not terminated during the reorganization. This means that his work was not interrupted; he worked and continues to work in the same organization.
Weekends and holidays in the billing period
Situations also arise when an employee, before or after the weekend, took a vacation at his own expense or was sick. But even in this case, there is no need to exclude weekends from the calculation.
The calculation does not include only sick days, business trips and other periods, but not weekends and holidays.
Let's look at an example:
Accountant Petrova O.P. has been working at Continent LLC for more than three years. She wrote an application for leave from February 10, 2017. Petrova’s pay period is determined based on the duration of work in the organization:
We exclude the following days from the calculation period:
- Vacation at your own expense – December 25 – 31, 2016;
- Sick leave – January 11 – 15, 2017.
Holidays from period 1 to period 10 are not excluded from the calculation, which means the calculation period will be as follows:
The legislative framework
| Legislative act | Content |
| Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation | "Calculation of average wages" |
| Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 922 of December 24, 2007 | “On the peculiarities of the procedure for calculating average wages” |
| Article 75 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation | “Labor relations when changing the owner of the organization’s property, changing the jurisdiction of the organization, its reorganization, etc.” |
| Article 114 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation | "Annual paid holidays" |
Answers to common questions
Question: Should we exclude the days when our employee was under arrest in the billing period?
Answer: Such days can be excluded only if the manager releases the employee from work for this time. If there was no actual release from work, then there is no need to exclude these days, since arrest is not included in the list of excluded periods.