Additional leave for working pensioners: is it allowed and how many days off can you take?

Can a working pensioner take additional days off at his own expense?

Yes maybe.
The right to leave for a working pensioner without pay is one of the benefits provided to those employees who continue to work after retirement. If, after reaching retirement age, a citizen of the Russian Federation continues to work, then labor legislation fully applies to him. In addition, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for certain categories of workers special guarantees and benefits. An example of such privileges is 2 weeks at their own expense for pensioners.

When answering the question whether it is possible for a working pensioner to take a vacation at his own expense, we must pay special attention to the fact that this right is defined by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation as mandatory, that is, independent of the will of the employer. In accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, any person has the right, for family reasons and other valid reasons, to receive permission to take time off for a specified period without pay. But time off based on retirement age has a certain feature: if the employer has the right to refuse any employee, then, according to Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, leave without pay for a pensioner must be provided upon request. In this sense, this right is preferential for a specific category of workers. But we must remember that the accounting department is obliged to recalculate the accrued wages taking into account the days not worked, so your salary will decrease in proportion to the length of the time off taken.

Registration procedure

The procedure for taking a vacation at your own expense begins with submitting an application , which is written in free form:

• in the upper right corner of the sheet the position and full name of the manager are indicated;
• Below is information about the employee himself (position, full name);
• further in the middle of the sheet is the word “Statement”;
• the text part looks like this: “I ask you to grant me leave without pay in the number of (leave period) days (the period (from __ to __) or a specific date is indicated)”;
• after that they put the date of drawing up the document, a handwritten signature and its transcript.

Also in the text of the statement it would not be superfluous to make a reference to paragraph 3, part 2 of Art. 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, so that the employer immediately determines the category of workers and takes into account that he has no right to refuse to provide leave in this case.

The legislation does not provide for any time period within which the employer must be notified of the intention to go on vacation at his own expense, therefore, by submitting the appropriate application, the employee can go on vacation even on the same day. But it is better to submit an application in advance, because subsequently the employer must issue an order and familiarize the employee with it - and this takes time.

Reference. Due to the obligation to provide additional leave at their own expense to pensioners, no approvals from the employer are required.

Therefore, after receiving an application from an employee, an order is immediately issued in the T-6 form, if the enterprise has not developed its own form. As a rule, the order states:

1. surname of the pensioner, position held;
2. the period for which the employee goes on leave without pay;
3. number of calendar days of rest.

The personnel service must enter this information into the employee’s personal card, because when using the established Art. 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation limits the duration of rest (14 days), subsequent leaves without pay will allow you to shift the working year for which annual paid leave is due.

When are these extra weeks available?

At any convenient time. Including adding it to the next annual vacation or breaking it into several parts. It should be noted, however, that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not approve rules and regulations according to which additional leave without pay (including for an employee receiving an old-age pension) will be provided during the specific period specified in the employee’s application. Thus, the issue of timing is subject to agreement with the employer.

Duration of additional leave

Paid additional leave for pensioners is provided in the same manner and on the same basis as for other categories of employees. Let's consider its duration depending on the type of work:

Some organizations provide local documents according to which certain categories of citizens may be granted paid vacation days for a longer period.

Additional leave without pay can be provided to a pensioner either together with the main leave or separately. It can also be divided into several parts and allotted vacation days can be used throughout the year. The duration of additional unpaid leave depends on the category to which the pensioner or other working citizen belongs:

When applying for such leave, you should keep in mind that when calculating the insurance period, it will not be taken into account in full, but only 14 days.

How to write an application?

A working pensioner is allowed to write an application for leave at his own expense in free form. Be sure to submit it in advance, we recommend several weeks in advance. Please indicate the following in your application:

• desired start date of the holiday;
• its duration;
• the motivation for this requirement.

In this case, it is enough to present a pension certificate to motivate the request.

The employer’s consent is formalized by an order (instruction) in form No. T-6, which the employee is familiarized with and signed.

Sample application for additional leave of a pensioner

Annual vacation at your own expense without pay

Failure to comply with the requirement will be a violation of labor legislation , which, if detected by regulatory authorities, may lead to adverse consequences for the employer in the form of a fine.

A pensioner can take such leave at absolutely any time, but without having time to use it during the working year, one should not naively believe that it will be transferred to the next year, because its accumulation is not provided for by law.

However, it is not at all necessary to use the entire duration of additional leave at your own expense at once. If desired, it can be divided into parts, because this is not prohibited by law. Moreover, the number of such parts and their duration are also not regulated anywhere, so such fragmentation is left to the pensioner himself.

It is also worth mentioning that recalling an employee from such leave is unacceptable, because providing it is the employer’s responsibility. However, if the pensioner himself wishes, such leave can be interrupted ahead of schedule. To do this, you must first submit an application.

Additional paid leave

Such leaves are provided to everyone as standard. The very fact that an employee is a pensioner is not a basis for providing him with an additional increase in vacation time.

But if he works:

• in the Far North,
• in harmful, dangerous conditions,
• at work of a special nature,
• with irregular working hours,

then on these grounds additional leave will be granted to him.

At their discretion, employers may establish other grounds for granting additional leave in collective agreements.

What is due to labor veterans?

Labor veterans are a category of workers whose legal status is regulated by a separate federal law. In particular, in Art. 7 of the Law “On Veterans” dated January 12, 1995 No. 5-FZ, this category of persons includes:

• 
  Having a Labor Veteran certificate.

• Awarded orders or medals of the USSR or the Russian Federation, or awarded honorary titles of the USSR or the Russian Federation, or awarded diplomas of the President of the Russian Federation or awarded letters of gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation.

Or those awarded departmental insignia for merit in labor (service) and long-term work (service) for at least 15 years in the relevant field of activity (sector of the economy) and having a labor (insurance) length of service taken into account for the assignment of a pension of at least 25 years for men and 20 years for women

And also having the length of service necessary to assign a pension for long service in calendar terms;

• Persons who began working as a minor during the Great Patriotic War and have a labor (insurance) experience of at least 40 years for men and 35 years for women.

Art. 22 of the same law establishes measures for the social protection of labor veterans.

Article 22 of the Federal Law of January 12, 1995 N 5-FZ “On Veterans”. Social support measures for labor veterans

Measures of social support for labor veterans, as well as citizens equated to them as of December 31, 2004, are determined by laws and other regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Before changes were made in 2004, this article described benefits in detail, including the rule of 30 days of annual unpaid leave, as well as the right to choose a convenient time for annual paid rest.

Read also:  Pensions for military pensioners from October 1, 2020. When can I expect my pension?

However, as of today, all that remains is the wording on the regulation of benefits for labor veterans by regional regulations, so before applying for additional leave, you should refer to local legislation.

Step-by-step instructions for registration

Without salary

1. The HR specialist (case manager) checks the relevance of all data in the application.
2. Register it in a special journal.
3. Sends the application to the manager for signing.
4. The leader imposes a resolution.
5. The HR specialist prepares the corresponding order.
6. The employee familiarizes himself with the order against his signature.

Paid holidays

The algorithm for providing additional paid days for rest is similar to the one given above. But the procedure does not end with familiarization with the order .

1. The personnel employee registers the application and forwards it to the manager for consideration.
2. The manager signs the application.
3. An order is issued assigning additional leave.
4. The HR officer, against signature, familiarizes the employee with the order and transfers it to the accounting department.
5. The accountant prepares calculations and pays vacation pay.

What special categories are entitled to special conditions?

veteran of labour

Until 2004, there was a rule in Russian legislation granting a labor veteran the right to additional unpaid leave of 30 days. This norm has now been abolished. And the employer refers to Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which means 14 days of vacation without pay.

A number of regions of the Russian Federation have laws for this category of citizens.

For example, in the Moscow region there is law No. 36/2006-OZ “On social support for certain categories of citizens in the Moscow region,” which establishes the right to unpaid additional leave in an amount not exceeding 35 days for labor veterans.

A similar law is in force in the Sverdlovsk region, but the Sakhalin region does not provide for this. Therefore, accurate information about whether there are regional standards must be found in the Center for Social Protection of the Population .

In this case, a labor veteran can simultaneously be:

• 
  working disabled people are entitled to additional leave of up to 60 days a year;

• a participant in the Great Patriotic War, who is required to provide up to 35 days a year.

Then, according to Part 3 of Article 13 of the Federal Law “On Veterans,” a working pensioner has the right, at his own discretion, to choose the basis on which additional rest is assigned. It is impossible to sum up two periods of non-working days for different reasons, so the larger one is selected.

Former military

Military pensioners discharged from military service upon reaching the age limit for military service are entitled to unpaid leave of 14 calendar days per year.

A working military pensioner can simultaneously claim additional days off on another basis:

• combat veteran - up to 35 days a year (more about this here);
• disabled person, including during combat operations – up to 60 days per year;
• Hero of Russia, Hero of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, full holder of the Order of Glory (military and labor) - up to 21 days annually;
• employee of a voluntary fire territorial unit - up to 10 days a year.

A military pensioner is given the longest period, since weekends cannot be summed up for two or more reasons.