27 December 2024
Employers often behave in bad faith and avoid the getting notifications from the employee about dismissals, reprimands and etc. The Court starts to admit this actions as abuse of right.
In 2024 the Supreme Court of Russian Federation accepted many decisions, in which it admitted employees’ actions in bad faith, for example in Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the RF in case № 4-KG23-92-K1, the court took the side of the employer. The employee was reduced, but then, was recovered in his job by Court’s decision. However, the employee did not start his work, because of the fact of every time sick leave or holidays, due to this, the employer sent to him the notification about his dismissal.
Three judicial instances admitted the dismissal illegal, but the Supreme Court took the different position. The court admitted the fact that the employee avoided of getting notifications and messages from the employer and communication with him. The Supreme Court admitted the employee was in bad faith and the dismissal was legal.
Besides, the Supreme Court accepted the new decision in this lawsuit and obligated the employee back bonus payments, because the employee knew that he could not receive them. Despite the fact that the Labor Code of Russian Federation did not admit provisions about deductions from the salary, the Supreme Court maintained that if the employee received the unreasonable gains, he must back them. In Determination in case No. 5-KG23-153-K2, the Supreme Court of the RF found that, the employee behaved in bad faith, he knew that these bonus payments were not for him, but despite this fact, he received them. The court obligated the employee to recover the amount more than 11 billion rubles of payments.
In our opinion, this practice shows that the bad faith of employee can be as in commission as in omission.
Moreover, in lawsuit № 303-ЭС24-7037 the Supreme Court founded that it is possible to admit the accident in a working place is the occupational because of illness. A driver was working without a rest 35 days and got sick. Due to this illness, he died. The Supreme Court decided that the employer did not provide rest and medical checkup to the employee.
Also, the Supreme Court informed that employers must pay more attention to recommendations from authorities in the sphere of labor protection. Employers should keep accounts about their capability to these recommendations or not.