Unscheduled SOUT: in what cases and how it is carried out

In what cases is a special assessment carried out outside the plan?

In Art. 17 Federal Law dated December 28, 2013 No. 426-FZ indicates in which cases an unscheduled special assessment is carried out:

• creating new jobs and putting them into use;
• the use of new technologies in production, the introduction of new equipment that can affect the level of factors affecting employees that are harmful to their health;
• the use of new materials, etc., in activities that affect the health of the employee;
• the use of new personal protective equipment and protective equipment that can affect employees, causing harm and danger to their health.

An unscheduled special assessment of working conditions should be carried out in the presence of motivated proposals from the trade union to formalize an event outside the plan, including based on the employee’s comments and objections regarding the results of the special labor assessment carried out at his workplace. According to the law, an unscheduled special assessment should be carried out in the following cases (Article 17 of the Federal Law of December 28, 2013 No. 426-FZ):

• upon receipt by the company of a document from the State Tax Inspectorate on the execution of a special assessment outside the plan in connection with identified violations of the requirements of current legislation;
• in the event of an accident at work or the identification of an occupational disease, the causes of which were the influence on the employee of factors that are harmful and dangerous to his health.

IMPORTANT!

Unscheduled SOUT according to 426-FZ may not be carried out if the full name is changed. or the employer (individual entrepreneur, reorganization of the employer, legal entity) or changing the name of the workplace, if this does not entail the occurrence of grounds for issuing a special assessment outside the plan, provided for in paragraphs 3-5 and 7 of part 1 of Art. 17 of this law. The decision not to carry out the event is made by commission.

Question answer

For violations in the field of labor protection, depending on their severity, two types of liability are provided for the employer:

• administrative;
• criminal

1. Administrative liability (provided for violations that did not entail consequences in the form of causing serious harm to the employee(s) or his/her death.)

Previously, for violations in the field of occupational safety there was a general article with a single basis - violation of labor legislation and other regulations containing labor law norms. Now, in Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a gradation has been made on specific grounds. Let us indicate what types of punishments these are and the amount of fines provided for them: Violations of state regulatory requirements for labor protection (except for those types of violations that will be indicated below) entail a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of 2 to 5 thousand rubles . for individual entrepreneurs – from 2 to 5 thousand , for legal entities – from 50 to 80 thousand rubles . Violation by the employer of the established procedure for carrying out SOUT or failure to carry it out entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on officials - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles , on from 5 to 10 thousand rubles , on legal entities - from 60 to 80 thousand rubles. Admission of an employee to fulfill labor obligations without training on occupational safety issues , without undergoing mandatory and (or) periodic medical examinations, in the case of medical contraindications, without psychiatric examinations shall entail a fine on officials in the amount of 15 to 25 thousand rubles , for Individual entrepreneurs - from 15 to 25 thousand rubles , for legal entities - from 110 to 130 thousand rubles . For failure to provide workers with SIZ , a fine is provided for officials in the amount of 20 to 30 thousand rubles , for individual entrepreneurs - from 20 to 30 thousand rubles , for legal entities - from 130 to 150 thousand rubles . Violations of state regulatory requirements for labor protection by a person who has previously been subjected to administrative punishment for a similar offense entails a fine for the official in the amount of 30 to 40 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of 1 to 3 years, for an individual entrepreneur - from 30 to 40 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for a period of up to 90 days, for legal entities - from 100 to 200 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for a period of up to 90 days. The employer’s responsibility also increases with regard to the timely transfer of the results of the labor assessment system to the State Labor Inspectorate. In accordance with the changes to Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, for an official the fine will be from 20 to 50 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of 1 to 3 years, for individual entrepreneurs - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, for legal entities – from 100 to 200 thousand rubles.

2. Criminal liability (provided for violations resulting in serious harm to the employee(s) or in the event of the death of the employee(s)).

The employer may be involved in the event of serious harm to a person and in the event of death of employees. Previously, for causing grievous harm to a person, in accordance with Part 1 of Article 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, officials were imposed an administrative fine of up to 200 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages for a period of up to 18 months, or compulsory work for a period of up to 480 hours, or corrective or forced labor for up to 1 year; or imprisonment for up to 1 year. In accordance with the changes, the fine increases to 400 thousand rubles, the period for compulsory labor is set from 180 to 240 hours, the term of correctional labor is increased to 2 years, the terms of forced labor and imprisonment remain unchanged. For the same act that resulted in the death of a person through negligence as before, punishment is provided in the form of forced labor for up to 4 years with the right to deprivation of holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a period of up to 3 years. For the first time, this article introduces Part 3, which provides for types of punishment for offenses resulting in the death of 2 or more persons. In this case, the official is subject to forced labor for up to 5 years or imprisonment for the same period and with deprivation of the right to hold positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years. An agreement signed with an organization conducting a special assessment of working conditions will relieve the organization from fines and other sanctions in the event of an inspection by state supervisory authorities. A properly conducted special assessment of working conditions will not only relieve the employer from sanctions from the state, but will also create comfortable and safe working conditions for employees.

How to draw up an order to conduct an unscheduled SOUT

Having found out when an unscheduled special assessment is carried out according to Federal Law No. 426-FZ dated December 28, 2013, the company prepares an order to carry out the procedure. The order can be drawn up, guided by Appendix No. 5 of the Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 24, 2018 No. 834n. It states:

• company name;
• date and document number;
• grounds for conducting an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions;
• number of places where the procedure is performed;
• composition of the commission;
• the date of registration of the SOUT outside the plan;
• persons responsible for the safety of documents on SOUT;
• signatures of persons involved in the event.

ConsultantPlus experts examined whether an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions is carried out when changing the name of a position in the staffing table. Use these instructions for free.

Order of conduct

The procedure for conducting an unscheduled SOUT does not differ from the procedure for conducting a planned event. Looks like that:

1. The company issues an order to carry out the procedure, appoints a commission, draws up a list of places for evaluation, and enters into an agreement with the company conducting the event.
2. After completing the procedure and taking measurements, a report is drawn up.
3. The report on the implementation of the event is signed by all members of the commission and approved by its chairman no later than 30 days from the day it is sent to the employer by the organization conducting the procedure.
4. The company familiarizes employees with the results of the event registration at their workplaces against signature no later than 30 days from the date of approval of the report.
5. The company, within 3 working days from the date of approval of the report, notifies the company that carried out the procedure, sends a copy of the approved report by registered mail with return receipt requested or in the form of an electronic document with an enhanced qualified signature.
6. The employer, taking into account the conditions of the legislation of the Russian Federation on PD, organizes the posting of the results of the special assessment on its website within 30 days from the date of approval of the report.
7. The company submits a declaration that working conditions comply with labor protection conditions, in the form of Appendix No. 1 (Order of the Ministry of Labor dated 02/07/2014 No. 80n, the document becomes invalid as of 03/01/2022 due to the publication of Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated 06/17/2021 No. 406n) in GIT at its location in person or sends by post with a list of the contents and a receipt.

SOUTH during reorganization: when can it not be carried out?

The Ministry of Labor of Russia answered the question about conducting a special assessment of working conditions (SOUT) during the reorganization of the employer or its structural divisions, if new jobs were not introduced and working conditions at existing jobs did not change.

Unscheduled SOUT

As a general rule, planned SOUTH in the workplace is carried out at least once every five years (Part 4, Article 8 of Law No. 426-FZ). And unscheduled SOUT is carried out in cases and within the time limits specified in Part 1 of Article 17 of Law No. 426-FZ. These are, in particular:

• change in the technological process, replacement of production equipment, change in the composition of materials or raw materials used, personal and collective protective equipment, if as a result the working conditions in the workplace change;
• an industrial accident that occurred in the workplace not due to the fault of third parties or an identified occupational disease, the causes of which were the influence of harmful or dangerous production factors;
• commissioning of newly organized workplaces. In this case, an unscheduled SOUT is carried out at these workplaces within 12 months from the date of the start of the regular production process at these workplaces.

SOUT during reorganization

When reorganizing an employer or its structural divisions, the Ministry of Labor of Russia does not oblige to carry out an unscheduled special assessment provided that:

• no new jobs were introduced;
• working conditions at existing workplaces have not changed;
• there are no grounds for conducting an unscheduled special assessment specified in Part 1 of Article 17 of Law No. 426-FZ.

The Russian Ministry of Labor expressed a similar opinion earlier (letter dated June 16, 2015 No. 15-1/B-2425).

Relevant organizational changes at the employer, as well as the decision not to conduct an unscheduled special labor assessment must be made by the commission for conducting the special labor assessment and documented in a protocol.

Please note: non-conducting an unscheduled SOUT is permitted even if the staffing table, composition and names of structural units, names of jobs and professions (positions) of workers employed in these jobs change during the reorganization.

Familiarization with the results of the SOUT

The employer is obliged to familiarize the employee in writing with the results of carrying out special labor assessment at his workplace (part 2 of article 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, clause 4 of part 2 of article 4 of Law No. 426-FZ). Therefore, in the event that an unscheduled SOUTH work permit is not carried out during the reorganization, newly hired employees must be familiarized with the following, against signature on the SOUTH SOUTH card:

• with the results of a previously conducted special assessment at their workplace;
• with established compensation for work in harmful (dangerous) working conditions.

This is stated, among other things, in the letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated November 3, 2016 No. 15-1/OOG-3913.

Failure by the employer to fulfill the obligation to familiarize employees with the results of the Special Assessment and Assessment at their workplaces is considered a violation of the procedure for conducting the Assessment and Assessment and, when committed for the first time, entails:

• for officials - a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles;
• for employers - individual entrepreneurs - the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles;
• for employers - legal entities - the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 60,000 to 80,000 rubles.

Normative base

Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 15, 2020 No. 15-2/ОOG-3040 “On conducting training and special training conditions for workers who were returned from remote work to the office”
Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated 10.09.2017 No. 15-1/ОOG-2556 “On conducting unscheduled special assessment of working conditions in case of creation of a legal entity (registration of individual entrepreneurs)"

Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated November 2, 2017 No. 15-1/ОOG-2982 “On conducting an unscheduled special assessment of working conditions when relocating jobs”