Will classroom management, notebook checking, and bonuses be paid to the teacher during the professional development period?

Question

How will teachers' monthly salaries be paid for the one-month period of professional development? It's said that the average salary is maintained, could you explain this?

There is talk that classroom management, checking notebooks, bonuses, etc. are not paid. For example, for January, I received significantly less than my previous salary. Our accountant doesn't go beyond the average salary.

Response

Clause 123 of the Regulation "On the Procedure for Organizing Continuous Professional Development of Employees of Preschool and School Educational Organizations," approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 867 of December 20, 2024, addresses the issue of maintaining the salaries of teachers involved in professional development.

According to this clause, during the period of final certification of students sent to professional development educational organizations for advanced training and independent advanced training, their position and average salary at their main place of work are retained, and the workload is distributed among other teaching staff.

Also, according to Article 370 of the Labor Code, if an employee is sent for retraining or advanced training, which is mandatory for both the employer and the employee, the employer is obliged to retain the employee's place of work (position) and average salary for the period of retraining or advanced training.

The issue of maintaining the employee's average salary is resolved in the collective agreement, an internal document adopted by the employer in agreement with the trade union committee, or by agreement of the parties to the employment contract.

The calculation of the average monthly salary is regulated by Article 257 of the Labor Code.

According to Article 257, all income in the form of wages actually paid by the employer, subject to taxation, provided for by tax legislation, is included in the amount of wages accrued to the employee for calculating the average wage.

In this case, amounts paid for classroom management, checking notebooks, and additional bonuses paid to pedagogical workers are also included in the taxable income category.

It should also be noted that clause 4 of Article 257 of the Labor Code clearly indicates what exactly is not taken into account when calculating the average wage.

That is, if the employee's average salary is retained in accordance with this article, the following amounts accrued during this period are deducted:

• the employee's average salary has been retained in accordance with the legislation, except for breaks for feeding a child, provided for in Article 407 of this Labor Code;

• the employee received temporary disability benefits or maternity benefits;

• the employee did not work due to downtime for reasons beyond the control of the employer and the employee;

• the employee is provided with additional paid rest days in accordance with Article 399 of this Code for the care of children with disabilities and persons with disabilities from childhood;

• the employee is released from unpaid or fully or partially retained wages in other cases established by law.

As we can see, among the circumstances that should not be taken into account when calculating an employee's average salary, payments for classroom management, checking notebooks, or additional bonuses paid to the employee are not provided for.

The conclusion is that payments for classroom management, checking notebooks, and additional bonuses paid to pedagogical workers should be taken into account when calculating the average salary even during the period when the pedagogical worker is in advanced training courses without leaving work.