Tariff system of remuneration

The tariff system is a set of normative acts by which the differentiation and regulation of wages of various groups and categories of workers is carried out depending on the severity, complexity, intensity of labor and level of qualification, as well as the characteristics of the types of work, industries in which workers are employed.

The main elements that make up the tariff system are: tariff scales, tariff rates and tariff and qualification directories.

The tariff scale is a set of qualification categories and their corresponding tariff coefficients, with the help of which the size of tariff rates and salaries is determined, that is, the dependence of wages on the qualifications of employees, the complexity of the work performed and the level of management is established.

Tariff coefficients characterize the ratios of the qualification level of workers by category and show how many times the tariff rates of subsequent categories are higher than the rate of the first.

Tariff rates determine the amount of remuneration of an employee of the corresponding qualification category per unit of time – hour, day, month. On the basis of tariff coefficients and the tariff rate of the first category, tariff rates (salaries) are differentiated by category on the basis of the complexity of the work performed and the qualifications of employees. Accounting in wages of other factors of its differentiation – conditions, severity, intensity of labor, the significance of the sphere of its application, sectoral features, quantitative and qualitative results of individual and collective labor is carried out through other elements of the organization of wages. In relation to them, the tariff rate (salary), as payment for the norm of labor, is the basis for the formation of the entire salary.

According to Article 60 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, the republican wage rates are hourly and (or) monthly tariff rates and official salaries that determine the levels of remuneration for specific professional and qualification groups of employees of organizations financed from the budget and using state subsidies.

Republican wage tariffs are determined in accordance with the Unified Tariff Scale of Employees of the Republic of Belarus, the Unified Tariff and Qualification Directory of Works and Professions of Workers, the Qualification Directory of Positions of Managers, Specialists and Employees, approved in accordance with the established procedure, and the tariff rate of the first category established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.

Since January 1, 2003, the Unified Tariff Scale (UTS) has the following tariff categories (TR) and tariff coefficients (TC) (Table 5.2.):

Table 5.2 Resource requirements by component

The importance of tariff coefficients

The increase in the tariff coefficients of the ETC by category ranges is set in the following sizes: from 1 to 4 digits – 16%, from 4 to 6 digits – 10%, from 6 to 23 digits – 7%.

On the basis of the Unified Tariff Scale, differentiation of the minimum payment for ore is ensured depending on the following factors:

complexity of work (qualification) – within one profession, position; the content and nature of labor for workers, technical executors, heads of administrative and economic services, specialists, heads of associations, enterprises, institutions and organizations, functional and production units; general working conditions, the complexity of the products (provision of services), social and living conditions, work and rest regimes and other specific factors characteristic of the industry, types of activities.

Calculated in accordance with the Unified Tariff Scale of Employees of the Republic of Belarus and the tariff rate of the first category established by the Government, republican wage tariffs (monthly or hourly) are a guarantee of remuneration for employees of industries of appropriate qualifications financed from the budget and enjoying state subsidies.

For employees of production sectors, the Unified Tariff Scale consists of 23 tariff categories and has the same ratios of tariff coefficients as for public sector workers. Heads of enterprises are obliged to apply republican tariffs to differentiate the wages of employees as minimum guarantees of wages.

Tariff and qualification directories of works and professions of workers are systematized lists of works and professions of workers available at enterprises and organizations. They formulate the necessary qualification characteristics and requirements for workers performing work of varying content, degrees of complexity and profile of work, in terms of production skills, professional knowledge, methods of work, the ability to organize a workplace, as well as taking into account the nature of the responsibility that lies with the employee for the correct performance of work.

Tariff and qualification directories are designed to charge works and assign ranks to workers. With the help of tariff and qualification directories, workers are charged from the 1st to the 8th category, which makes it possible to assess the complexity of a particular profession with the same meter – the nominal value of the category.

Tariff and qualification requirements for employees are determined on the basis of the Qualification Directory of Employees’ Positions (CDS).

The mechanism of wage regulation in the conditions of market relations should be based on a combination of state and contractual regulation. The payroll regulatory system is shown in Figure 5.1.

One of the main tasks of state regulation is to establish the minimum wage, the tariff rate of the first category and tariff coefficients. Contractual regulation of wages includes the application of general, sectoral (tariff) agreements, collective and labor contracts.

The concept of the minimum wage is given in article 59 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Belarus as the State minimum mandatory amount of monetary or in-kind payments to an employee by the employer during the month for work under normal conditions, subject to the established duration of working hours and the observance of labor standards. The minimum wage does not include additional payments, allowances, bonuses and other compensatory and incentive payments. The size of the minimum wage is determined on the basis of the minimum consumer budget, which is the minimum set of material goods and services necessary to ensure the life of a person and preserve his health, and the subsistence budget is the value of the subsistence minimum.

The natural-material structure of the minimum consumer budget is formed by the normative method on the basis of the system of consumer baskets. Consumer basket – a set of goods and services vital for a person: food, clothing and footwear, underwear, household items, sanitation, hygiene, medicines, housing payment, utilities, household services, transport.

Remuneration of employees of enterprises is carried out in the manner determined by collective agreements and agreements, depending on the complexity and working conditions of these employees, their qualifications.

In connection with inflation caused by rising prices for consumer goods and services, wages are indexed. Indexation is carried out by the value of the consumer price index with adjustment for various parts of income according to the scale of standards established by the Government of the Republic of Belarus. This is done if the consumer price index, calculated on an accrual basis since the previous indexation, exceeds the five percent threshold.

Indexation of wages can be carried out in the form of a one-time revision of wages (rates, salaries).