New rules on bonuses from September 1, 2025

According to the amendments to Art. 135 of the Labor Code, when establishing a bonus system in collective agreements, contracts, and internal regulations (LNA), the following must be defined:

• types of bonuses;
• their amounts, deadlines, grounds, and conditions for payment to employees, including consideration of:

• • the quality, efficiency, and duration of work;
  • the presence or absence of disciplinary sanctions;
  • other conditions.

Reduction of bonuses in case of disciplinary sanctions

From September 1, 2025, the rules on bonuses, including the procedure for reducing bonuses, are set out in Art. 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Law of 07.06.2025 No. 144-FZ).

The law was adopted following the initiative of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which, in its ruling of 15.06.2023 No. 32-P, pointed out the illegality of arbitrary reductions of wages or deprivation of incentive payments due to disciplinary sanctions for the entire duration of the sanction. The previous wording of Art. 135 of the Labor Code, which allowed employers to arbitrarily manipulate the amount of bonuses based on old sanctions, did not comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The new law is aimed at protecting employees’ rights from unjustified reductions in their income.

At the same time, please note that the employer may, but is not obliged, to establish in the LNA a provision for reducing bonuses in connection with disciplinary sanctions. When including such provisions in the bonus regulations, consider that the reduction will only be possible for the period in which the sanction existed, and the amount of reduction may not decrease the employee’s monthly salary by more than 20%. Note that the concept of “monthly salary” is not defined in this context. It will have to be specified in the LNA to avoid disputes about the amount of reduction.

For example, it may be specified that monthly salary includes base salary, allowances, regular work-related bonuses, etc. The calculation of the 20% limitation can be explained with an example: An employee has a base salary of 30,000 RUB and a monthly bonus of 30,000 RUB. His monthly salary therefore amounts to 60,000 RUB. In November, he received a reprimand, and the LNA contains a provision on reducing the bonus in case of a disciplinary sanction. His bonus can be reduced by a maximum of 12,000 RUB (20% of 60,000 RUB). Withholding the entire bonus would be unlawful.

What changes to make in the LNA

In collective agreements (employment agreements) and bonus regulations, it must now be clearly specified:

• what exactly the bonus is paid for (for example, “for achieving the sales plan” or “for meeting project deadlines”);
• the amount in which it is paid (fixed amount, percentage of base salary, etc.);
• under what conditions and how exactly it can be reduced, with mandatory reference to the period of the sanction (for example, “the bonus may be reduced if a disciplinary sanction was imposed during the settlement month”).

Vague formulations such as “the bonus is paid at the discretion of the employer” are no longer permissible. Now the wording must be specific, for example: “The bonus is paid for fulfilling the production plan, provided that there are no disciplinary sanctions in the settlement month.”

Thus, by September 1, the LNA on bonuses must include, among other things:

• a list of all types of bonuses related to remuneration;
• a detailed description of each type of bonus, including conditions for accrual and the calculation procedure;
• rules for establishing proportionality between the offense and the reduction of the bonus. For example, it is necessary to determine how to calculate if the performance indicators have been met, but the employee was punished for being late. The procedure for reducing quarterly, annual, and other bonuses in case of misconduct must also be described.