How to draw up documents in the event of the death of an employee, how to correctly indicate the date of dismissal of an employee and to whom to pay a salary that an employee did not receive during his lifetime, experts will tell.

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Dismissal due to the death of an employee

The death of an employee always comes as a surprise not only to his family, but also to the employer. It is necessary to terminate the employment relationship, and the personnel service has to solve this problem. How to act in such a situation? What documents to issue? What put the date on the notice of resignation deceased worker? Who will receive a salary that the employee did not receive during his lifetime? Our article will help you not to get lost in a difficult situation.

What document will confirm the death of an employee

If an employee does not show up for work, try to find out the reason. An employee may be in the hospital, absenteeism without good reason, or missing. IN time sheet if the employee was absent for unexplained reasons, put down the absences.

You can recognize an employee as dead only if there is documentary evidence for this. Dismissal upon death of an employee may take place in the following situations:

• the employee has passed away, which is confirmed by the death certificate issued by the registry office;
• the court declared the employee dead or missing, and there is a court order about this.

Therefore, initially request a death certificate from relatives, employee representatives or in court in order to issue termination order. Note that in practice, often the organization does not need to request a document on its own. The relative of the deceased employee, as a rule, themselves are provided with all the necessary data.

But, if the relatives did not submit the document in a timely manner, contact them with a request for documentary confirmation of the fact of death.

In practice, the question often arises: which article regulates the issue of dismissal due to the death of an employee. We explain that this ground for terminating an employment contract is recognized as caused by reasons beyond the control of the parties. And such a dismissal is carried out on the basis of paragraph 6 of the first part of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Registration of dismissalon the death of an employee

So, if you are faced with the need to termination of the employment contract due to the death of an employee, it is necessary to act as follows.

1. Obtain an employee's death certificate from relatives. Based on this document, prepare personnel documents;

2. Issue a dismissal order and an employee's work book.

We note right away that upon dismissal due to the death of an employee, it will be necessary to draw up a standard set of documents. This:

• order on termination of the employment contract;
• work book of the deceased employee;
• personal card worker.

Sample letter of resignation due to the death of an employee

When a dismissal occurs due to death, the date of dismissal is important. Here it must be said that the date of dismissal will always be recognized as the day of death of the employee. You will get this information from the submitted death certificate.

It is quite obvious that on the very day of death dismissal order cannot be published. The employer learns about the fact of the death of an employee with a certain delay. Therefore, in this situation, the date of issue of the order will actually be later than the date of dismissal (date of death of the employee).

Order to terminate the employment contract (dismissal) due to the death of an employee

Attention! The order to terminate the employment contract must be issued on the day when it became known about the death of the employee. Make documents only if you have a document confirming this fact of death.

Therefore, once again, we draw your attention to the fact that in this situation, the date of dismissal due to the death of an employee indicated in the order will be earlier than the date of issuance of the order. Also, keep in mind that even If the death of the employee took place on a day off, it is the actual date reflected in the certificate that will be the day termination of an employment contract.

Example

The organization worked as a cashier-operator. The employee died in hospital on August 12, 2019 as a result of a traffic accident. The employee's relatives were only able to submit the death certificate to the employer on August 20, 2019. In such circumstances, the day of termination of the employment contract will be August 12, 2019, and the corresponding order must be issued on August 20, 2019.

But in the case of death, everything is not always clear. For example, a situation is possible when an employee is declared dead on the basis of a court decision. Most often, in this case, the date of death is determined directly in the court decision. However, this is not a mandatory rule. The court may not determine the date of death. The question arises: what date will the termination of the employment contract take place?

In this situation, it is necessary to formalize the dismissal on the day when the court decision on establishing the fact of the death of the employee enters into force. This conclusion follows from paragraph 3 of Article 45 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The termination order is issued according to the general rules. It refers to the relevant norm: paragraph six of the first part of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The order can be drawn up according to the unified form No. T-8. But, as you know, organizations have not been required to use unified forms for a long time. Therefore, if your organization has developed and approved its own samples, draw up a document in your own form.

Registration of the work book of the deceased employee

Here we note that the death of an employee is not a basis for refusing to make entries in work book. Upon dismissal on this basis, the work book is drawn up according to the general rules.

The only thing I would like to draw attention to is the incorrect use of the word “fired” in such a situation. Therefore, when making an entry in the work book, use the wording: " The employment contract was terminated due to the death of the employee, clause 6 of part 1 of article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation».

The entry procedure is as follows:

1. In column 1, enter the serial number of the entry;

2. In column 2, indicate the date of death of the employee, which is reflected in the death certificate;

3. Make the above entry about the termination of the employment contract;

Work book (fragment). Registration of dismissal of an employee due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties (in connection with the death of an employee)

It is quite obvious that in this situation the record of dismissal is certified only by the employer. It is necessary to affix the signature of the person responsible for maintaining work books and the seal of the company. Recall that under normal circumstances, the employee himself also certifies the record of dismissal with his signature.

To issue a dismissal in two steps, use the wizard for filling out a work book from System Kadra

Filling out a personal card

As well as in a standard situation, the employer reflects the fact of dismissal in the employee's personal card. Here it is also necessary to make a reference to clause 6 of part 1 of article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The line "Employee (personal signature)" remains blank.

To whom to pay the wages of a deceased employee

Most often, on the day of the death of an employee, the organization has funds that were not received by the deceased employee as wages. And the employer has a question about how to deal with this money.

Important! Article 141 of the Labor Code stipulates that the employer must pay wages not received by the employee to family members and dependents living with him.

In addition to the amount of lost wages, the employer must give the employee's relatives:

• compensation for unused vacation(provided that the employee did not have time to use all the vacation days due to him;
• temporary disability benefit. This allowance is paid if the employee was ill before his death and did not have time to receive the sick allowance due to him.

Note that the family members of an employee include spouse, parents and children. This rule is defined by Article 2 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, only the person who was an employee in a registered marriage is a spouse (Article 10 of the Family Code). In other words, the common-law spouse does not have the status of the employee's legal spouse.

In order to make the necessary payments to relatives, the employer must receive from them the following documents:

1. death certificate of the employee;
2. a statement written by a relative about the payment of amounts due to the employee;
3. passport or other document that certifies the identity of a family member;
4. a document that confirms the fact of kinship with the employee;
5. an extract from the house book, which confirms the fact of cohabitation with the employee.

After you receive all the necessary documents from a family member of the deceased employee, the accrued funds must be issued within a week. This is established by article 141 of the Labor Code.

We do not recommend transferring these funds to the employee's bank card after his death. The fact is that labor legislation directly establishes the procedure for the actions of the employer - the funds must be paid to the family members of the employee. And if you transfer funds to an employee's bank card, a dispute may arise with family members.

Issuance of a work book of a deceased employee

The work book of the employee must also be issued to his relatives. A person who applied for a work book of a deceased employee with a written application must confirm family relations with him. The work book can be handed out or sent by mail. If you issue a work permit, the relative must sign in the book of accounting for the movement of work books and indicate the date the document was received.

If work book the deceased employee, at the written request of a relative, was sent by mail, make notes in the work book movement book based on the postal receipt. Employment books and their duplicates, which were not received in the event of the death of an employee by his immediate family, are kept until demand by the employer.

Relatives of the deceased worker may also need other documents that are related to his work. Provide, upon written application no later than three working days:

• a copy of the order for employment, orders for transfers to another job, an order for termination of the employment contract;
• certificate of wages, accrued and actually paid insurance premiums for mandatory pension insurance, the period of work with this employer;
• a copy of the employment contract and other documents.

Get a receipt that confirms the issuance of documents. On the receipt, ask the employee's relative to indicate:

• his last name, first name and patronymic; passport data;
• details of the employee's death certificate;
• the fact of obtaining documents related to the work of the deceased.

Proceed to paperwork only after you receive the death certificate of the employee or a court order. Based on them, draw up a dismissal order, the date of which does not always coincide with the date of death. Issue the work book of the deceased employee and other documents related to his work, upon a written request from his relatives.

Last modified: January 2020

One of the situations of termination of an employment relationship may be dismissal due to the death of an employee. Since the risk of premature death cannot be ruled out at any age, and raising the retirement age only increases the likelihood of death of an employee, it is necessary to figure out how the TD is terminated with the deceased, and what amounts the employer must pay upon the death of the employee.

The generally accepted norm of the law regulating the process of registration of dismissal is given in Art. 83 of the labor code. However, if an employee dies, there are some nuances associated with the accruals and issuance of sums of money along with the personal documents of the deceased. In order to exclude unpleasant moments associated with the dismissal of an employee upon death, it is necessary to analyze the situation in detail in strict accordance with current legislation.

How to fire a deceased employee

The procedure for dismissing an employee in connection with death is determined by labor legislation (Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In particular, the death of an employed citizen is the basis for termination of the contract in accordance with the dismissal article, clause 6, part 1, art. 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Upon dismissal due to the death of an employee, in accordance with Art. 84.1, an order must be issued. If, as a general rule, a leaving person must familiarize himself with and sign the administrative document, then there is no one to sign the dismissal order due to death, which means that this obligation is removed from the employer, and only the signature of the head of the organization will be in the documents.

A similar rule applies to the execution of documents of a different kind - a work book, a card, etc.

Since it is impossible to obtain an application from the employee or his written consent to dismissal, the official notice of the fact of death will be the basis for formalizing the termination of employment relations:

1. Certificate from the registry office.
2. Court order recognizing the status of "deceased".

If the employee had no relatives, the employer himself is responsible for obtaining these documents, and if there is a family, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of relatives.

The scheme of actions for terminating an employment contract, with some adjustments, corresponds to the general procedure:

1. Issuance of an internal order.
2. Making entries in the work book and personal card.
3. Preparation of the final calculation.
4. The issuance of personal papers and settlements to one of the closest relatives who first turned to the management of the enterprise.

The legislation does not establish a special procedure for determining to whom specifically and in what proportions money should be paid for the deceased. Potential applicants for the inheritance, who applied after the final settlement with the employer, decide on their own the issue of recovering part of the funds, if there are legal grounds for a legal challenge. The employer is released from the obligation to decide the distribution of payments between applicants.

What date is the order

An important point will be the correct determination of the date that will appear in the dismissal documents. According to the general norm of the law, the termination of the contract occurs upon notification of the death of a person, with the dating of all documents by the day of death indicated in the submitted certificates.

Difficulties on what date to dismiss a deceased employee arise when the day of death falls on a non-working day, sick leave, during vacation. In such situations, one should proceed from the logic that it is not possible to extend the contract until the next working day or the end of the vacation if, judging by the documents, the person is already considered dead.

Thus, all personnel documents and calculations are made on the date indicated in the death certificate issued by the registry office, or on the day the court decision was issued.

An entry in the work book upon the death of an employee

When an order is issued, employees of the personnel department are required to carry out a further dismissal procedure with making an entry in the labor and entering information into a personal card.

If an employee dies, his documents and earned funds will be received by his relatives, or rather, the first one who applied. In the column with information about the admission / transfer / dismissal, the representative of the personnel department makes an entry about the termination of the contract on the occasion of the death of the employee, with reference as a legal basis to paragraph 6 of part 1 of Art. 83 TK.

All personnel records must be dated the day the order was issued, and all papers stored in the personnel department are being prepared for issuance. Upon completion of the preparation of papers, taking into account the death of an employee, the head or authorized person prepares documents for issuance to relatives. The basis for the transfer of personal papers will be a written statement from one of the next of kin, who will be the first to appear at the place of work of the deceased (paragraph 37 of the Rules from the RF PP No. 225 of April 16, 2003.

Sometimes relatives are slow to contact the employer, and there is no one to receive the personal papers of the deceased employee. In such cases, the issue of issuing documents is resolved upon personal request, with the provision of a receipt for receipt and confirmation of kinship. The fact is that the employer is obliged to keep such documents for a 75-year period.

personal income tax and insurance premiums

In the final settlement for the issuance of funds due to the deceased employee, it is assumed that there is no need to pay income tax. This fact is reflected in Art. 217 of the tax code. According to the norm of the law, personal income tax is not deductible for earned funds and other compensations (vacation pay, bonuses,).

Relatives will receive the full amount before taxes. Similarly, the issue of paying contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation or Social Insurance is resolved. In the event of a person's death, the need for deductions to off-budget funds disappears, and insurance premiums are not deducted from the last earnings.

What payments are due

The question of the correct calculation of payments that are due to relatives for a deceased person deserves special attention. The Labor Code prescribes that all funds due be paid to the first person who applies from among:

1. Parents.
2. Children.
3. Spouse/s.
4. Dependents under the care of the deceased.

This rule is established by art. 141 of the labor code. The period allotted for the presentation of the rights to payments and benefits is set at 4 months from the date of dismissal (or death), in accordance with Art. 1183 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. If no one applies for payment during this period, the right to claim wages and other accruals for the deceased is lost, and the money can be included in the general estate or remain with the employer.

To receive money from work, it is necessary to submit to the administration of the enterprise a letter of application, certifying a document, any certificate establishing a close relationship.

After receiving the appeal, the management is obliged to resolve the financial issue by paying all the due accruals within 1 week.

According to the current legislation, compensation to relatives includes the following types of deductions:

• Salary part.
• Surcharges and allowances due to the deceased.
• upon death of an employee.
• Disability pay.
• Premium part.
• If established by the collective agreement, material assistance. In the absence of such provisions, the head of the enterprise has the right to issue such a payment through a separate internal act.
• Burial allowance paid as part of Social Security assistance.

The company must pay the entire amount within 1 week after the relatives apply.

Payments in case of death of an employee at work

Sometimes death occurs not due to illness or accident, but as a result of accidents at work or in the course of the performance of official duties. If an employee dies at the workplace, the actions of the employer include the coordination of material payments within the framework of the provisions of Art. 184 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Relatives of the deceased at work are entitled to financial assistance in the following circumstances:

1. The person died as a result of an accident or an accident at work.
2. Death was a consequence of the development of an occupational disease.
3. Burial expenses.

The following types of compensation are additionally provided through the social insurance fund:

1. One-time assistance in the form of an insurance payment to the address of the insured or his heirs.
2. Regular allowances every month if the person is entitled to receive benefits in the event of the death of a relative or guardian.

Payments of a one-time nature must be received by relatives within two days after the establishment of the right to compensation by documentary evidence.

Regular deductions are due to relatives once a month, over a long period:

• children receive benefits until the age of 18;
• adult children under 23 years of age - until completion of studies at a university or other educational institution, subject to registration for full-time department;
• women and men who were dependents of the deceased, who have reached the age of pension, receive a lifetime payment;
• persons with disabilities - during the period of validity of the disability group;
• an adult member of the family who cares for minors or disabled dependents receives a monthly allowance until the children reach the age of 14 or improve their medical condition.

Termination of the contract and termination of labor relations with the deceased employee also needs to be properly executed and recorded, since the dismissal is followed by further payment to applicants by the deceased or deceased of all accruals required by law. Upon receiving notice of the death of an employee, authorized employees of the enterprise are required to complete the entire procedure for terminating the contract, which would also be due in the event of a simple departure of the employee to another employer.

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Unfortunately, such an unpleasant situation as the death of an employee can happen at every enterprise and in every organization. The personnel officer in this case should also focus on the competently deceased employee and other related documents. It is worth noting that dismissal due to the death of an employee is carried out according to a slightly different procedure than the usual dismissal at the request of an employee or administration.

The legislative framework

All issues that are related to regulate, as you know, the Labor Code. In Art. 83 states that the employment agreement may be terminated for reasons beyond the control of the parties. Such grounds, according to paragraph 6 of the same article, include the death of an employee.

How to apply for dismissal due to the death of an employee?

If we consider the general procedure for dismissal, then it happens like this:

The employee writes a statement (if he leaves work at his own request) or the employer sends a notification to the employee (if the employee quits at the initiative of the manager);

On the last working day, the employee receives a calculation, work book and other documents. Sometimes severance pay may also be paid.

As you understand, the deceased employee, of course, will not be able to perform all of the above actions. In connection with the death of an employee, the dismissal procedure is a little different.

Order or command?

It is more correct to issue the termination of a relationship with an employee by order of the T-8 form. The corresponding order must necessarily coincide with the date indicated in the death certificate. Since this document does not always arrive at the enterprise strictly on the day of the death of a person, many personnel workers do not know what to do. In this case, you can make an exception and carry out the dismissal due to death retroactively. Such action will not be considered a violation.

Labor book

After the issuance of the order, you still need to make the following. In this document, you must write the following: "The employment agreement was terminated due to circumstances that are beyond the control of the parties - in connection with the death of the employee." And then indicate the article according to which the dismissal is carried out in connection with the death of the employee, namely clause 6 of article 83. The document itself is transferred either personally into the hands of relatives on the basis of their application, or sent to the address indicated by the employee when applying for a job.

Payment of wages

If the employee did not have time to receive wages, then it should be issued to a person who was dependent on the deceased, or to his close relatives. At the same time, it does not give a definition of who is related to close relatives. However, this concept is specified by the Family Code. Close relatives are:

Children (including adopted children);

Spouses;

Parents (adoptives are also included).

It is also worth noting that when calculating payments to the deceased, it is impossible to withhold the amount for unworked vacations.

Legacy of a deceased employee

When paying the money due to the deceased, it is necessary to take into account not only labor, but also inheritance law. Thus, Article 1183 of the Civil Code says that all amounts that must be paid to an employee under an employment contract are transferred to his dependents or family members who lived with the deceased employee. There is no period in the Labor Code within which payments must be made, however, it is provided for in the Civil Code and is 4 months from the moment the inheritance was opened. That day would be the day the employee died. That is, it turns out that within 4 months after the death of an employee, the organization where he worked must make all the payments that are due to the deceased employee and issue them to interested parties.

As you can see, in order to properly process the dismissal of an employee who has died, it is necessary not only to know the articles of dismissal of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, but also to be aware of how to make an entry in the work book, write an appropriate order and pay the relatives of the deceased the sums due to him. If no one came for a work book, it must be stored in the personnel department separately from the documents of other employees for 2 years. If during this period it was not taken away, such a document is sent to the archive of the organization, where it will remain for 50 years. And only after that it can be eliminated.

Dismissal due to the death of an employee is a complex process, not so much legally as morally. But if such an unpleasant situation nevertheless occurs in your organization, you will already know how to terminate the employment relationship with the deceased employee in accordance with all the rules, without violating the law.

At any enterprise, sooner or later it may be necessary to issue a dismissal in connection with the death of an employee. It is believed that this happens quite rarely, but in practice - much more often than is commonly believed, especially in large enterprises, the number of employees of which is many hundreds. What should the manager do, what to write in the documents, and how does such a procedure generally take place? We will try to give an exhaustive answer to all these questions.

The legislative framework

You need to start understanding how to proceed, as in any issue related to labor relations, with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. What do the articles of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation say about dismissal due to death?

Article eighty-three provides for the possibility of terminating an employment contract for reasons beyond the control of the parties. Among such reasons, the death of an employee or the recognition of him as dead or missing is mentioned - this is mentioned in the sixth paragraph of the article.

Dismissal procedure

Before considering the features of how an employee is dismissed due to his death, it is necessary to understand how this procedure occurs in the general case. And it happens like this:

• the employee writes a statement (if the termination of the contract occurs on his initiative) or the employer sends a notification to the employee (if the employer is the initiator))
• an order or order is issued on the enterprise)
• on the last working day, the employee receives a full payment: he takes the money and documents due to him.

The documents include:

• certificate of average salary for the last year - which has recently become a mandatory requirement)
• work book with the corresponding entry.

Money refers to:

• current salary)
• premium accrued to date)
• all due allowances, incentive measures and similar amounts provided for in the wage system at the enterprise)
• compensation for unused days of calendar leave.

In some cases, a severance pay is also paid, most often in the amount of the average monthly earnings.

How to fire an employee due to death?

Of course, the deceased cannot perform the above procedure. How, then, is the termination of the working relationship carried out?

Application or notice

Of course, when the dismissal is made under the sixth paragraph of the eighty-third article, the employee cannot write a statement in any way, just as the manager cannot notify him in advance of the termination of cooperation. Therefore, this item, which is considered mandatory, if necessary, to dismiss due to death is not fulfilled, and this is not a violation of the law.

Order or order

First of all, it should be noted that it is more competent to issue any termination of labor relations with an order in the T-8 form, and not with an order. According to the law, the date of dismissal indicated in the order cannot be later than the last working day, and it must be signed earlier - in extreme cases, the date of signing the order may coincide with the last working day.

When a dismissal is made due to death, the date of dismissal is indicated by the number that is affixed to the death certificate - from that day the employment contract is considered terminated.

Since the certificate is not delivered to the enterprise on the day of death, the order is issued on the day the documents were handed over - that is, retroactively, which in this case is not a violation.

Employment history

Dismissal due to the death of an employee is carried out strictly according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation

On the basis of an order for the enterprise, an entry is made in the employee's documents: a work book and a personal card. The wording in this case is as follows: "The employment contract was terminated due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties, in connection with the death of the employee, paragraph 6 of the first part of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation."

The document itself is handed over to the relatives of the deceased at their request or sent to them by mail to the address that the employee indicated when applying for a job.

Payouts

Despite the fact that the employee was dismissed due to death, the issuance of the money due to him is still mandatory. Like documents, the money will be taken by the next of kin or people who are dependent on him. It can be:

• parents)
• children, including adopted children)
• spouses)
• guardians or adoptive parents.

According to the norms of the civil code, all payments to the relatives of the deceased must be made no later than four months from the date of opening of the inheritance, for which the officially announced date of death is taken.

We hope our article answered all the questions about how to fire an employee due to death.