Is it possible to send an employee to another office for a month and register it as a business trip? And a one-day trip to a neighboring branch is a business trip? Are there any time limits beyond which a business trip cannot last? Let’s look at it this question.
What the law says
In modern Russian legislation, business trips are regulated by two main documents: the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 13, 2008 N 749 “On the peculiarities of sending employees on business trips.” None of these documents mention the duration of the trip.
Paragraph 4 of Resolution N 749 emphasizes that the duration of an employee’s business trip is determined by the head of the enterprise. At the same time, he must take into account the volume, complexity and other features of the official assignment. Specific business trip limits are not specified by law.
The duration of the business trip must be agreed upon with the employee before the trip. If necessary, the period can be reduced (read in our blog how to recall an employee from a business trip) or increased during the business trip itself.
Minimum travel period
As stated above, neither the minimum nor the maximum duration of a business trip is specified by law. In practice, the minimum duration is 24 hours, but the employer can send the employee on a shorter business trip.
Example: you need to transport an important document to a branch in another city, which is 2 hours away by car. These documents cannot be sent by courier, and the manager carries them. The round trip plus the transfer of documents itself will take no more than 5 hours. Such a trip can be arranged as a business trip.
It should be taken into account that, according to paragraph 11 of Resolution No. 749, daily allowances are not paid for such a business trip. If a one-day business trip takes place abroad, daily allowances are paid, but in the amount of 50% of the standard.
For such a short-term business trip you need to prepare all the necessary documents: a report and a travel certificate.
Maximum travel period
The maximum time is also not limited by law. It is important that the deadline is clearly defined: the business trip cannot be unlimited.
Keep in mind that a long trip may raise questions from regulatory authorities: they may regard it as a transfer to work in another place. The Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 28, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/304 says that “in the case where most of the working time and most Employees perform part of the labor duties stipulated by the employment contract in a foreign country, the actual place of work of the employees will be in a foreign country and such employees cannot be considered to be on a business trip.”
If the labor inspector finds that the work assignment has been completed and the employee is still on a business trip, he may decide that the employee has been transferred to a new location. The same conclusion will be drawn if the task is formulated in such a way that its completion can last indefinitely. A transfer to another place of work disguised as a business trip is a gross violation of labor laws, for which the employer faces liability up to and including suspension of the company’s activities. If a violation is discovered by a tax inspector, you will have to pay fines.
