ST 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1. Violation of labor protection requirements, committed by a person entrusted with the obligation to comply with them, if this entailed through negligence the infliction of serious harm to human health, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to four hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period up to eighteen months, or compulsory labor for a term of one hundred eighty to two hundred and forty hours, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to one year, or imprisonment for the same term with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities activities for a period of up to one year or without it.
2. An act provided for in the first part of this article, resulting in the death of a person through negligence, is punishable by forced labor for a term of up to four years or imprisonment for the same term with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it. .
3. An act provided for in the first part of this article, resulting through negligence in the death of two or more persons, is punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for the same period with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years. or without it.
Note : In this article, labor protection requirements are understood as state regulatory labor protection requirements contained in federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Commentary to Art. 143 Criminal Code
1. The victim can only be an employee who has an employment relationship with the employer (legal entity (organization) or individual) where labor protection requirements were violated. Causing harm to the health of other persons due to violation of labor protection requirements must be qualified under Art. 109, 118 or 293 of the Criminal Code.
2. The objective side is characterized by an act in the form of action or inaction, constituting a violation of the current labor protection requirements, including the rules of industrial sanitation and hygiene, special safety rules regarding minors, pregnant women, etc.
Responsibility under Art. 143 of the Criminal Code also occurs in the event of inaction of the head of the organization, the employer - individual entrepreneur to create, in cases established by law, a labor protection service, a full-time labor protection specialist or the appointment of an employee authorized in the field of labor protection, or inaction in developing appropriate instructions or ensuring proper control over the implementation of the rules safety precautions, other labor protection rules.
According to the note, labor protection requirements are state regulatory labor protection requirements contained in federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other regulatory legal acts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The criminal law is silent about the labor protection requirements established by local regulations, however, Art. 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation classifies local acts as sources of labor protection requirements. Thus, through the action of Art. 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, violation of these requirements is also criminally punishable.
3. The crime is considered completed from the moment the consequences occur in the form of serious harm to the victim’s health.
4. The subjective side is characterized by a careless form of guilt. Deliberate violation of relevant requirements should be qualified under the articles of Chapter. 16 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for committing an intentional crime against life and health.
5. Special subject: an employee who is in an employment relationship with an employer (a legal entity (organization) or an individual), who was duly assigned responsibilities for compliance with the relevant requirements, the head of an organization or the employer is an individual.
The actions of other persons who violated the relevant requirements, in the event of consequences in the form of serious harm to health or death of the victim, should be qualified under Art. 109, 118 CC.
Results
Criminal liability for violations of labor safety standards is established by the provisions of Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Law enforcement practice under this article is ambiguous. The key tasks of law enforcement agencies and courts when conducting cases on it are the correct qualification of the crime (taking into account the presence of articles on similar offenses in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), establishing the status of victims and the circle of suspects based on their work responsibilities, and determining the corpus delicti. Courts may mitigate punishment for violations in the field of labor protection or acquit the accused for assistance in the investigation and taking into account the personal characteristics of the defendants.
You can learn more about the application of criminal law in corporate legal relations in the articles:
- “Responsibility for disclosure of personal data under Art. 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" ;
- “What is the liability for non-payment of insurance premiums?”.
You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.
Second commentary to Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The direct object of the crime is the constitutional right of citizens to working conditions that meet safety and hygiene requirements (Part 3 of Article 37 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
2. The objective side of the crime provided for in Part 1 of the analyzed article consists of an action (inaction) - a violation of safety rules or other labor protection rules, if these actions (inaction) resulted in the infliction of serious harm to human health, and the causal relationship between these actions ( inaction) and the resulting consequences.
To recognize the presence of a crime in a person’s act, it is necessary to establish what specific safety rules or other labor protection rules were violated.
In accordance with the Note to Art. 143 of the Criminal Code, labor protection requirements are understood as state regulatory labor protection requirements contained in federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Safety rules, as well as other labor protection rules, are established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, as well as by the government, ministries and departments (both independently and in agreement with trade unions).
To qualify an act under Part 1 (or Part 2), the actual occurrence of the consequences specified therein is required.
When considering the case both under Part 1 and Part 2 of Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the court is obliged to carefully and comprehensively investigate the existence of a causal relationship between the named violations of labor protection rules and the resulting harmful consequences (see: Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 23, 1991 No. 1 “On judicial practice in cases of violation of labor protection rules and safety of mining, construction and other works” with the latest changes).
3. Subjects of the crime provided for in Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, are persons who, by virtue of their official position or by special order, are directly entrusted with the obligation to ensure compliance with labor protection rules in a certain area of work, as well as heads of enterprises and organizations, their deputies, chief engineers, chief specialists of enterprises, if they did not take measures to eliminate violations of labor safety rules known to them, or gave instructions that contradict these rules, or did not ensure compliance with certain rules.
4. The subjective side of the crime provided for in Art. 143 of the Criminal Code, is characterized by the careless attitude of the perpetrator (careless guilt both in the form of frivolity and in the form of negligence) to the onset of harmful consequences of violation of labor protection rules.
5. In part 2 of Art. 143 of the Criminal Code establishes liability for violation of labor safety rules resulting in the death of a person through negligence.
6. Part 3 establishes liability for an act provided for in Part 1 or Part 2 of this article which, through negligence, resulted in the death of two or more persons.
Related violations in labor relations: disclosure of personal data
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains several articles establishing criminal liability for the disclosure of personal data of employees by employers. Among them:
1. Art. 137, establishing penalties for interference in private life.
For unauthorized collection and distribution of any data about an employee, an official of the employer may be (if it is proven that he used his official position):
- fined 100–300 thousand rubles (or the amount of income for 1–2 years);
- disqualified for 2–5 years;
- forced to work for up to 4 years (possibly with disqualification for up to 5 years);
- arrested for 6 months;
- imprisoned for up to 4 years with disqualification for up to 5 years.
2. Art. 272 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, establishing penalties for illegal access to files.
These include those that contain the employee’s personal data. If the employer gained access to them using his official position and this led to blocking, deleting, copying or changing the information, then by court decision he may:
- fined up to 500 thousand rubles. (or salary for 3 years) and disqualified for up to 3 years;
- restricted in liberty for up to 4 years;
- forced to work or imprisoned for up to 5 years.
A law enforcement agency has the right to bring charges against the employer for actions qualified by the totality of acts that are provided for by the specified norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
However, in many cases the question is to detect signs of an offense that are characteristic exclusively of acts provided for in Art. 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Let's study them.
Who is responsible
Article 22 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation obliges the employer to bear responsibility for working conditions. A director or individual entrepreneur personally performs these functions or delegates powers to specially appointed persons. In any case, the manager controls and is aware of the activities of authorized employees. Art. 217 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation explains who and in what case is the organizer of labor protection measures and is subject to liability before the law for their non-compliance.
In the absence of an appropriate department (the number of the workforce is less than fifty people), duties can be performed by:
- Individual entrepreneur.
- Director.
- Accredited expert, organization - outsourcers in the field of labor protection.
- The manager has the right to consider the issue of creating a department with the appointment of its head or introducing the position of a safety engineer.
If the workforce of a private or state company is fifty people or more, then, according to the labor code, a labor protection service must be created.
The rules apply to everyone, regardless of their form of ownership. For a private enterprise, no differences from the established procedure are allowed.
Punishment options
Inspections by regulatory and supervisory authorities, for example, routine prosecutorial inspections, may reveal an industrial safety violation.
If the shortcomings were committed due to negligence or frivolity, and the consequences listed by the Criminal Code did not occur, then unscrupulous authorized persons are subject to other types of influence:
- Material.
- Disciplinary.
- Administrative.
In this case, the legislation provides for sanctions that are more lenient than when initiating a criminal case. Other employees are responsible for irresponsible behavior in the same manner.
If serious consequences occur, employees become accused of a crime - causing death by negligence, causing grievous harm to health by negligence. .
Important: the listed types of liability apply only when the act was committed unintentionally. If intent is detected, a different, more serious classification of the offense is applied.
Disciplinary action
The types and rules of application are established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
These include:
- dismissal;
- comment;
- rebuke.
Their use is possible only if clearly defined conditions are met:
- Obtaining an explanation from the offending employee.
- Compliance with the statute of limitations.
- One punishment for one offense.
If an employee does not agree with the manager’s decision, he has the right to file a complaint with the State Labor Inspectorate, the prosecutor’s office, or the court.
Material compensation
The concept and rules of application are fixed by the labor code.
Depending on the circumstances, financial liability applies:
- within the limits of salary. Collected when the employer needs to pay expenses to correct the consequences or compensate for damage caused to third parties;
- complete. Implemented if an employee has committed an administrative violation recorded by a government agency - a protocol on administrative violation has been drawn up.
The manager, taking into account the circumstances, may refuse to partially or fully recover damages from the offending employee.
Administrative violation
An unlawful act is committed through inaction or action. May entail:
- fine:
- suspension of activities for ninety days;
- disqualification for up to three years.
State regulatory bodies have the right to bring administrative liability.
