An employee has lied in his/her complaint to the State Labour Inspectorate. Can a disciplinary sanction be applied?

LEGAL DIGEST \ 19.05.2019

“If, in his/her complaint against the employer, an employee has stated facts that contradict reality, no disciplinary sanction can be applied to him/her”, notes the Federal Service for Labour and Employment.

Under article 192 of the Russian Labour Code, an employer can impose disciplinary liability on the employee if the latter has failed to perform or to duly perform his/her job duties.

For a repeated violation, the employee can have a disciplinary sanction imposed in the form of dismissal for the failure to perform job duties. The following conditions should be met for this purpose:

• the employee must have an unexpunged disciplinary sanction (an admonition or reprimand);
• the second or a new offence must be also formalized in accordance with legislation – it should be documented, explanations should be sought from the employee and the employee must familiarize himself/herself with the statement of disciplinary sanction;
• a dismissal order must be issued and the employee must familiarize himself/herself with it (if he/she refuses to do so, a statement should be drawn up to this effect and a corresponding note should be made in the order), and then a dismissal entry should be made in the work record book and the personal card of the employee.

Reporting inaccurate information, however, does not amount to improper performance of job duties. Therefore, no disciplinary sanction can be applied.

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