Is it possible to send an employee for a month to another office and issue it as a business trip? And a one -day trip to a neighboring branch is a business trip? Are there any terms at all, longer than which the business trip cannot last? We will analyze this question.

What does the law say

In the modern Russian legislation, the business trip is regulated by two main documents: the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 13.10.2008 N 749 “On the features of the sending of workers on business trips”. The term of the business trip is not mentioned in any of these documents.

He emphasizes that the 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. The specific limits of business trips are not stipulated by law.

The term of the business trip is necessarily agreed with the employee before the trip. If necessary, the deadline can be reduced (read in our blog, how to withdraw an employee from a business trip) or increase during the business trip itself.

The minimum period of the business trip

As mentioned above, neither the minimum nor the maximum terms of business trips are indicated by law. In practice, the minimum duration is 24 hours, but the employer can also send an employee to a shorter business trip.

Example: It is necessary to transport an important document to a branch in another city, which is located 2 hours of road by car. You cannot send these documents with the courier, and the manager is lucky. A trip there and back plus the transfer of documents itself will take no more than 5 hours. Such a trip can be issued as a business trip.

It should be borne in mind that, according to paragraph 11 of Resolution N 749, per diem for such a business trip is not paid. If a one -day business trip will take place abroad, per diem is paid, but in the amount of 50% of the standard.

For such a short -term business trip, you need to draw up all the necessary documents: both the report and the travel certificate.

The maximum term for the business trip

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 can raise questions from the regulatory authorities: they can regard it as a transfer to work to another place. The letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 04.28.2010 No. 03-03-06/1/304 states that “in the event that most of the working time and most of the labor duties provided for by the employment contract, employees carry out the actual place of work of employees in a foreign state and such employees cannot be considered on a business trip.”

If the labor inspector finds that the official task was completed, and the employee is still on a business trip, he can decide that the employee was transferred to a new place. The same conclusion will be made if the task is formulated so that its implementation can last infinitely long. Transfer to another place of work, disguised as a business trip, is a gross violation of labor legislation, for which the employer is responsible for the suspension of the company’s activities. If the tax inspector finds a violation, you will have to pay fines.