Internship at the workplace: what does the Labor Code of the Russian Federation oblige you to do?

The best learning comes from hands-on experience. In working conditions, such a period when theoretical knowledge and skills are “tested” in practice is called “internship”.

Is it mandatory for every employee?
How should an employer formalize this process correctly?
Is it possible to fire an employee due to unsatisfactory results of an internship?
Should I pay or not pay wages for this period?

Many participants in labor relations confuse the concept of internship with a probationary period and initial instruction. There are many nuances, they need to be clarified.

What is an on-the-job internship , the responsibility of which falls on the employer, and who should complete it?

What is the internship for?

The main point of an internship is that an employee learns directly in the process of his production activities. This period, when both study and activity occur simultaneously, helps the employee to practically master work skills in new conditions.

Question: Is it necessary to conduct an internship for electrical engineering personnel to develop individual internship programs (for each employee) depending on the level of professional education, work experience and profession (position) of the trainee, or is it sufficient to develop standard internship programs for each position (workplace) and approve them in the prescribed manner? View answer

Most often, the need for an internship is obvious in the following situations.

First job. Yesterday's student received theoretical training in his specialty, but he certainly lacks practical skills due to lack of experience. Under the guidance of an experienced mentor in real working conditions, practical training will take place quickly and effectively.
Harmful and dangerous conditions. If a person starts working under such working conditions, then he needs a period of supervision by experienced supervisors who will help him orient himself and avoid possible cases of work-related injuries and harm to health.
Change of workplace . If a person did not change employer, but only a position, for example, moved to another department, received other responsibilities, or even went for a promotion, he will need time to understand the new working conditions. An internship will provide this opportunity.

NOTE! An internship is necessary in any situation when a person starts a new job, regardless of his experience and theoretical training.

How to register an employee undergoing a probationary period

After management decides whether or not a probationary period is needed for a new employee, the internship must be registered. To do this in accordance with the provisions of current legislation, the following steps must be followed:

the head of the organization signs the regulations on the creation of the internship. It contains information about the terms, the powers vested in employees during the probationary period, how their activities are paid, etc.;
the applicant is interviewed;
if the parties reach an agreement, an employment contract is drawn up;
the new employee is working on a probationary period;
after completion of the specified period, the manager makes a decision on the candidate’s suitability for the position held. Next, the employee is either fired in accordance with the internship regulations or hired legally.

What does the law say about internships?

The provisions on employee internships are enshrined in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and related documents. The regulations set out the regulations for internships, as well as the categories of employees for whom this process is mandatory, including the responsibility of the employer. The internship procedure is defined in the following legislative acts:

Art. 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
Resolution No. 1-29 of the Ministry of Education of January 13, 2003;
Order No. 37 of Rostechnadzor dated January 29, 2007;
GOST 12.0.004-90 clause 7.2.4;
Letter RD-200-RSFSR-12-0071-86-12.

How to arrange occupational safety training in the form of an internship ?

Who passes and when

The current procedure for internship in labor protection says that it is carried out:

when a new employee starts working;
when transferred to another place within the enterprise with a change in position and/or job function performed;
to prepare for the possible replacement of a permanent employee during absence due to illness, vacation, or business trip.

This is the main contingent of those who undergo labor safety internships. At the same time, GOST 12.0.004-2015 does not clearly define those persons who must undergo an internship in labor protection.

Positive aspects of the internship for both parties

IMPORTANT! A sample workplace internship program from ConsultantPlus is available here

Practical activities under the guidance of a more experienced specialist are of great benefit to both sides of the labor process. Thanks to the internship, the employee :

acquires or improves practical work skills in his specialty;
can evaluate himself in the context of new working conditions;
clarifies the range of his immediate responsibilities and requirements for them;
joins the team, begins to build relationships with colleagues, superiors or subordinates;
gently adapts to new working conditions, schedule, workplace, routine requirements and discipline.

Advantages of an internship for an employer :

compliance with legislation regarding requirements for creating safe working conditions;
increasing employee efficiency by reinforcing theoretical training with practical skills;
increasing the level of training and qualifications of employees, and therefore their productivity;
reducing the risk of harm to health at work;
direct acquaintance with the employee’s work style, development of management strategy.

ATTENTION! The only negative aspect of an internship can be its incorrect organization, when the employee’s rights are violated or the process is carried out with violations, and therefore ineffective.

What is a staff internship?

Everyone has come across the concept of an internship at least once in their life. For the first time, we become interns while studying at a secondary specialized or higher educational institution during the internship period. As a rule, such an internship is not paid; all that the future specialist receives is invaluable experience.

The second and subsequent training occurs during the initial period of the applicant’s activity in the organization. Also, an on-the-job internship is possible when moving up the career ladder, if the new specialty involves radically different obligations from previous ones.

This is what happens in life, now we will look at how an internship should take place according to the law and what rights and responsibilities the applicant and the employer have.

Internship is a work activity that includes obtaining additional professional education in a certain specialty, as well as a way to apply one’s theoretical knowledge to prove competence to the management of the enterprise and future employment.

Let’s immediately highlight the main functions for the trainee:

Obtaining new professional skills;
Application of theoretical knowledge for the benefit of the organization;
Training;
The ability to assess one’s own abilities and correlate them with functions and tasks;
Possibility of employment based on the results.

The functions for the employer are the following:

Allows you to reduce the adaptation period;
Tests the abilities of the future employee and allows them to be correlated with his tasks and functions that he will perform;
Allows you to evaluate the theoretical knowledge of the trainee.

It is also necessary to emphasize the distinctive features of the internship:

Vocational training is limited in time;
Retraining as a type of work activity is paid according to the contract;
The amount of payment for preliminary training of an employee is less than the monthly salary for this position;
Must be documented;
An employee's internship is carried out according to a pre-developed on-the-job training program;
A potential employee is assigned a mentor who will supervise the execution of tasks by the trainee.

For whom an internship is inevitable?

The law talks about mandatory internships for certain categories of people just starting work. These include:

Young professionals;
employees who came to work in harmful and/or dangerous conditions;
operators of technological and/or industrial installations;
drivers of public transport (minibuses, trolleybuses, trams, buses).

IMPORTANT! For other categories of employees, the internship must be carried out in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which speaks of the need for the employer to provide training in safe labor practices and organize workplace safety briefings and internships. Many employers believe that in other cases an internship is not required, although this is not the case. The law only allows for a reduction in training time.

Goals

According to this document, training and internship in labor protection imply training in labor safety in the form of internship for a specific specialist in the workplace.

In general, any occupational safety internship program should aim to:

to obtain skills and abilities for independent safe performance of labor functions and responsibilities for the position held;
practical development of modern experience and effective organization of labor protection work.

The considered internship and testing of knowledge on labor protection can be carried out not only for specialists, workers and junior service personnel, but also for managers.

A slightly different procedure for conducting labor safety internships should be for management positions and specialists. The fact is that in this case the main goal is limited only to their practical mastery of modern experience and the effective organization of labor protection work.

In the latter case, conducting and organizing labor protection internships falls on the shoulders of:

superior officer;
or another internship supervisor appointed by the training organizer.

Features of the program

The internship program is individual for each category of employee, position, specialty, and qualification. It is developed by the internship supervisor (mentor appointed by order) and approved by superiors. The content of the program necessarily includes the following items:

the purpose of the internship;
requirements for the trainee;
the names of the documentation that he must study;
the duties that the intern will perform, his job description;
a set of training activities: familiarization with the workplace, the territory of the organization, study of work processes (according to competencies), etc.;
ensuring the acquisition of practical skills (taking into account labor protection);
test based on the results of the internship.

Each stage should have a specific time planned (in hours or shifts), which can be adjusted if necessary.

Internship application procedure

Practice is always documented. This is beneficial for both the intern and the company.

The employee benefits because he will have a guarantee of payment for his work, as well as the company’s honesty when deciding on his further employment. The enterprise, because otherwise it will break the law, which is fraught with negative consequences.

In addition, in the case of official registration, the organization will protect itself from possible claims from the trainee if he receives injuries due to his own negligence during the work process.

In order to officially register an applicant, you need to prepare the following documents:

Regulations on internship . This document regulates the process of personnel retraining and is approved by the head of the company.

Consists of the following structural elements:

General provisions, which indicate the main points in coordinating the preparation process;
Goals and objectives of training. General goals are indicated here, such as mastering the theoretical and practical foundations necessary to perform functions and tasks, familiarization with the company’s activities, its specifics, and others.
The procedure for conducting an internship.
Responsibility of the parties; the supervisor of the trainee is also indicated here.
Necessary tests and tests at the end of retraining, allowing you to assess the quality of the material learned during the internship.
Internship program. We talked about it earlier.
Internship order.
Order on admission to independent work. Issued after practice and passing the exam (if required). The order allows for independent professional activity.

Internship procedure

Conclusion of an employment contract: fixed-term with a student intern, regular with an internship clause for a transferred or newly hired employee.
Conducting initial briefing on occupational safety and health (with recording of its completion in the appropriate journal).
Appointment of a mentor-supervisor: an experienced employee who observes and provides training in practical skills.
The internship itself is work under the supervision and guidance of a mentor.
Test based on the results of the internship: performance testing can be in the form of an exam, test, survey, performance assessment, or other, provided for by the internal Regulations on the internship and its program for a specific position.
Admission to permanent independent work on a general basis, issuance of an internship certificate.

On what grounds is a probationary period established?

In most cases, the employer decides on the duration of the internship and its necessity independently. However, in some circumstances he does not have the right to assign a probationary period to a future employee. This happens if certain categories of residents apply for the position:

persons who have passed the competition to fill a vacant position;
women raising children under one and a half years old, or pregnant women;
a minor under 18 is applying for employment;
a citizen who has received higher or secondary vocational education in institutions that have confirmed state accreditation. In addition, the employer will not be able to refuse an applicant who is applying for a job for the first time after receiving an education diploma. There is one exception - if more than a year has passed since completion of training, a probationary period may be assigned;
specialists who have been transferred to a new position from another branch of the company do not undergo internships, in accordance with the current agreement between management;
employees whose employment contract is valid for no longer than 2 months.

Read also: Law on Administrative Supervision in 2020
As for other cases, the decision on the need and duration of the probationary period is made directly by the employer. We suggest downloading the internship law from the link below to familiarize yourself with the main provisions of the document.

Internship pitfalls

The most difficult aspect for interns who do not fully know their rights is that an unscrupulous employer may try to take advantage of their free labor by not paying them for the internship period and firing them at the end of it.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation clearly states that the internship period must be fully paid; moreover, mentoring activities are also subject to additional payment.

You can appeal this situation to the labor dispute commission, trade union organization, or contact government agencies, for example, the labor inspectorate.

Duration of on-the-job internship

From March 1, 2020, the duration of the tests has changed. Previously, according to Labor Law, internships could not last longer than two weeks (14 days), excluding weekends. Its minimum duration was only 3 days.

Now the probationary period for privates is determined by the head of the department in which the employee will work. If the person being hired has the skills, abilities and experience required for the specialty in performing duties in an identical position, the retraining time can range from 3 to 19 days, excluding weekends.

If the employee does not have the necessary qualifications or does not have similar experience in an identical position, then the period of his retraining will be from 1 to 6 months at the discretion of the head of the department.

In the event that an internship is required to obtain a managerial position, its time interval can vary from two weeks to one month, at the discretion of the company management.

Duration of internship for various categories of workers

For some specialists, internship in their specialty is a necessary element of entering the profession and is prescribed in the relevant regulatory documents. It is necessary, for example, for specialists involved in:

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Full and free access to the system for 2 days.

notarial and legal activities;
arbitration department;
driving passenger vehicles.

Internship in notarial affairs is determined by the “Fundamentals of legislation on notaries” dated February 11, 1993 No. 4462-1. In particular, Art. 19 of this act establishes that the internship is carried out for specialists who want to pass the qualification exam to obtain a notary license, and lasts 1 year. The duration can be reduced by decision of the Ministry of Justice together with the Federal Chamber of Notaries (but not more than six months).

The duration of the internship at the Bar is determined by Art. 28 of the Federal Law “On advocacy and the legal profession in the Russian Federation” dated May 31, 2002 No. 63-FZ and ranges from 1 year to 2 years. Internship in this field is required to become a lawyer.

The duration of the internship for becoming a member of a self-regulatory organization of insolvency practitioners is established by this organization taking into account clause 2 of Art. 20 of the Federal Law “On Bankruptcy” dated October 26, 2002 No. 127-FZ. This article defines a minimum internship period of 2 years, with the caveat that the duration may be increased by internal documents of the SRO.

With regard to the internship of drivers of passenger vehicles, the requirements of industry legislation apply - Regulations RD-200-RSFSR-12-0071-86-12 of the Ministry of Automobile Transport of the RSFSR 1986. The conditions for internship by such specialists are determined by sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the said document and range from 1 days to 1 month, depending on the vehicle the driver will drive and the category of his driving license.

Internship program: types and structure

The following types of internships are conventionally distinguished:

Labor safety practice is aimed at acquiring theoretical knowledge and practical skills by the competitor to ensure the safe implementation of his job responsibilities. That is, in the process of demonstrating labor safety rules, a potential employee must be explained how he should work so as not to get injured or injure others.

The duration of retraining depends on the degree of danger and complexity of the work. However, many managers neglect this type of employee training, making do with only brief instructions. It is not right.

According to the law, an internship in labor protection must be completed by:

All new employees;
Transferred to more hazardous activities;
Workers returning after a three-year break from work;
Graduates of colleges and universities.

The occupational safety internship program usually contains the following structural elements:

Occupational Safety and Health;
Fire safety;
Electrical safety;
Sanitary safety rules;
Road safety;
Safety in industry;
Personal safety equipment;
Actions of the employee in case of emergency;
Providing first aid.

If your enterprise is in no way connected with production and industry, then you can exclude this item from the program.

Internships by specialty - in this case, the program will depend on the work that the future employee will perform. They are appointed if the applicant does not have to deal with special equipment or complex types of work.

For example, a combine driver must undergo an internship to show his machine driving skills. This internship will be supervised by the internship supervisor or supervisor, who will evaluate the internship at the end of the internship.

An excellent example of an internship in a specialty is the process of graduating public transport drivers. Before a newly minted driver begins to follow his own route, he runs this route with a mentor - an experienced driver.

Structurally, the retraining program for specialties contains the following elements:

Theoretical part . It consists of reading to the applicant instructions containing the theoretical foundations of the work;
Practical part . Involves a demonstration of the applicant’s skills and abilities directly to the trainee’s supervisor;
Paperwork.