When can order penalties for employees be applied?

The Labor Code specifies both the rights and obligations of employees and employers. Chapter four describes all the obligations that must be met by both parties to the employment relationship. However, what can the employer do if the employee does not comply with his obligations or breaks the regulations? What order penalties can it apply?

Order penalties in the Labor Code

Art. 108 of the Labor Code specifies order penalties that may be imposed by the employer in relation to the employee for non-compliance with employee obligations. These regulations indicate three types of penalties:

• reprimand,

• reprimand punishment,

• cash penalty.

The regulations describe in detail in which cases the above-mentioned order penalties can be applied.

The employer may impose the penalty of admonition and reprimand on the employee for failure by the employee to comply with the established organization and order in the work process, occupational health and safety regulations, fire regulations, as well as the adopted method of confirming the arrival and presence at work and justifying the absence from work.

Financial penalty for the employee

In turn, an employee may be fined for:

• non-compliance with health and safety regulations or fire regulations,

• leaving work without justification,

• showing up at work drunk,

• drinking alcohol while working.

Importantly, the penalty for one infringement, as well as for each day of unexcused absence, cannot be higher than the employee's one-day remuneration. Moreover, the sum of all fines cannot exceed 1/10 of the employee's remuneration for a given month.

Important! All revenues from fines imposed on employees should be allocated by the employer to improving the conditions of occupational health and safety.

Disciplinary dismissal

The most severe penalty an employee can receive is dismissal without notice, otherwise known as a disciplinary dismissal. Such dismissal is described in detail in the Labor Code and it may be applied only if the employee is at fault.

Art. 52. § 1. The employer may terminate the employment contract without notice due to the fault of the employee in the event of:

1) a serious breach by an employee of basic employee duties;

2) the employee commits a crime during the term of the employment contract which prevents him from being employed in the position he holds, if the crime is obvious or has been confirmed by a final judgment;

3) loss of rights necessary for the performance of work in the position held by the employee.

All the above-mentioned ordinal penalties have been included in the Labor Code to help employers respect the labor regulations and any other regulations set out in the workplace regulations.