Study leave for a second higher education: who is entitled to it and how is it paid if receiving a new diploma?

What is considered the second highest?

The current legislation clearly defines situations when higher education is considered second. In accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 69 of the Law of the Russian Federation of December 12, 2012 No. 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation,” higher education is considered second in the following cases:

Obtaining education in a bachelor's or specialist's degree program - by a person who already has a bachelor's, specialist or master's degree.
Receiving education in master's programs - by a person who has a specialist or master's degree.
Receiving education under residency and assistantship-internship programs - by a person who has already received a residency or assistantship-internship diploma in the past.
Obtaining education under scientific and pedagogical personnel programs - by a person who is a graduate student or candidate of science.

Payment for study leave

How is student leave paid? Vacation days to take exams are paid based on the calculation of average daily earnings , similar to regular vacation.

If you don’t know how paid vacation is calculated, you can familiarize yourself with the calculation methodology in the article “How to correctly calculate vacation pay in 2022.”

Let us remind you that a student who is an employee must receive his vacation pay no later than 3 days before the start of his vacation.

Payment for study leave is included in tax expenses and is subject to personal income tax and insurance contributions in the general manner.

The accounting entries for accrual and payment of student leave are as follows:

Debit 20 (23, 25, 26, 44) Credit 70 – payment for student leave has been accrued;
Debit 20 (23, 25, 26, 44) Credit 69 – calculation of insurance premiums from vacation pay;
Debit 70 Credit 68 – personal income tax withholding;
Debit 70 Credit 50, 51 – vacation pay was paid from the cash register or from the current account.

Is leaving for a session allowed at the company?

Combining work with study, an employee has a need to attend intermediate sessions.

This circumstance gives rise to many questions as to whether study leave is required and whether it is possible to apply for it while receiving a second higher education.

The answer to the question posed is negative, since study leave is provided only for those employees who are receiving higher education for the first time, with the exception of certain cases provided for by law (this will be discussed in more detail below).

At the same time, when leaving for a session, an employee can use part of his main vacation , having previously agreed on this issue with management.

You should know that training an employee who has a bachelor's degree in a master's program is regarded as a continuation of receiving his first higher education. In this regard, such a person has the right to go on study leave.

Legal basis for concluding a student agreement

In accordance with Article 177 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, guarantees and compensation related to the acquisition of education are provided if it is acquired for the first time.

However, these privileges can also be received by an employee who already has one higher education, subject to the following condition: the person must be sent to study by the employer. In this case, an appropriate employment or student agreement must be concluded between them. In all other cases, the employer has every right to refuse to grant the employee study leave .

Problems when getting leave

Often, working students who have entered universities for a second higher education receive an employer’s refusal to grant study leave, motivated approximately like this:

during the student’s absence, someone must perform his work duties, but there is no suitable candidate to replace him;
work in shifts or teams, so there is no opportunity to leave for a long time;
the second education received is in no way connected with the existing one and is not regarded as advanced training, therefore the employer is not interested in training the employee;
The university where the employee is studying does not have state accreditation, so a call to a session may be considered invalid from the point of view of the law.

An employer may refuse to grant study leave for a second higher education if he is interested in the employee, and training in a completely different profile will lead to his transfer to another job.

How is the amount calculated?

It should be noted that the amount of payment for the provided study leave when receiving a second higher education is calculated in the same manner as for regular study leave. So, the amount of study leave is determined as the product of the average daily earnings and the number of calendar days of vacation. The calculation of vacation pay can be reflected in the following formula:

Study leave = Average daily earnings * n , where n is the number of calendar days of study leave.

In order to determine the amount of an employee’s average daily earnings, it is necessary to divide his total wages for the last 12 months by the number of months in a year and by the average number of days in a year (29.3 according to Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Calculation example:

An employee of the organization must attend the next training session from 02/11/18 to 02/28/18 (18 calendar days). Over the past 12 months, his total salary was 420,000 rubles.

So, first you need to calculate the employee’s average daily earnings: 420,000 / 12 / 29.3 = 1194.5 rubles. The total amount of vacation pay for 18 days of study leave will be: 1194.5 * 18 = 21,501 rubles.

Duration of study leave

If a student employee receives a second higher education, the Ministry of Labor says that the employer is not obliged to pay him for legal leave for study (letter dated November 8, 2013 No. 14-1-187). However, you can meet the employee halfway and provide him with annual paid leave or additional leave, if such is specified in internal documents.

You can find out more about which categories of employees are entitled to additional leave in our material “Who is entitled to additional paid leave in 2021”.

How to determine the duration of study leave? As a general rule, the number of vacation days is indicated in the letter of invitation from the educational institution. However, not all days specified in this certificate are subject to payment. The duration of paid study leave is limited by Art. 173 – 176 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, an employee who is a 1st or 2nd year student receiving a master’s or bachelor’s degree (part-time or part-time study) has the right to paid 40 days . But in the following courses he is given 50 calendar days per academic year. During the period of passing the State Standards, he is given 4 months of vacation.

A full-time student has the right only to unpaid leave:
if taking the exam – 15 days a year;
for state exams and thesis defense – 4 months.

To be granted student leave, the student must write an application. How this is done can be found in the article “Granting study leave and applying for it.”

Documentary support of payment

General algorithm of actions when applying for study leave, as well as the corresponding payment:

First, an employee who is a student must collect the necessary package of documents, which includes:
Application – written in the name of the employer. The application must indicate the reason for going on leave, the name of the university, the duration of the study leave, make a link to the certificate - call (the first part of it must be attached to the application) and make a note about maintaining wages.
Once all the necessary documents are ready, they must be submitted to the organization’s human resources department.
Next, the HR department specialist, based on the documents presented, prepares an order for granting study leave in the unified T-6 form. The employee must familiarize himself with it against signature.

You can learn more about the conditions and rules for applying for study leave during distance learning in a separate material.

When to receive money?

Study leave must be paid to the employee 3 days before the start of study leave (Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the money can be issued to the employee’s salary card or through the accounting department of the employing organization. It all depends on the specific payment method used by the enterprise.

Thus, if the appropriate condition is met, the employee has the right to demand that the employer provide study leave when receiving a second higher education. The most important thing is to clearly know your rights and be able to accurately and timely remind your employer of them.

When can you count on vacation?

The employer himself sends for training

If the employer himself sends an employee for additional training, then they can enter into an agreement on this, which will stipulate all the necessary conditions.

A common practice is when an employer, sending an employee for training, takes on all the costs associated with this (payment of training costs, travel, accommodation, business trips). A vacation such as a business trip is issued and the employee is paid a salary for its period.

In return for such training, the employee undertakes not to resign for several years, and in the event of dismissal, to compensate the employer for the costs incurred for his education, on a proportional basis to the period not worked.

When using this scheme, admission to a university and registration of leave will consist of the following stages:

Concluding an agreement with the employer on sending for training.
Sending documents to an educational institution and enrollment in it.
Obtaining information about the period during which the training will take place and documentary notification of this to the employer.
Payment by the employer of the cost of studying at the university.
Calculation and issuance to the employee of funds necessary for his training, for example, payment of travel, accommodation and daily allowance (if training takes place in another city).
An employee’s report on the results of the training completed (results of tests and exams) and the funds spent (by providing receipts).

If there is extra money left, then it must be handed over to the cashier , and if a debt has arisen on the part of the employer (the money issued was not enough), then it is necessary to write a statement indicating the amount of funds spent in excess of the limit and the reason for the excess.

It should be noted that only employees who successfully complete the curriculum and successfully pass the final exams can count on tuition fees and student leave.

The employee studies on his own initiative to gain additional knowledge

The employee enters an educational institution and pays for the training himself in order to obtain additional knowledge and a diploma, which he needed to continue working with the same employer as before.

In this case, if an agreement has been concluded with the employer on the provision and payment of student leave when the employee receives a second education, or this point is provided for in the local acts of the enterprise, then the employee will receive both leave and payment.

The registration will take place as follows:

On the eve of the session, the employee writes an application for student leave and attaches a certificate of summons from the educational institution.
Based on these documents, the employer issues an order to grant the employee leave and informs the latter of this order.

If the employer refuses to conclude additional agreements regarding training and this is not provided for by any other acts of the organization, then he has every right to refuse to grant leave, even if he is interested in training the employee.