Recently, Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 320n dated May 19, 2021 was published, which introduces a new procedure for maintaining paper work books, as well as a new form of work record.
At the same time, the current Instruction No. 69 dated October 10, 2003 will be cancelled.
The new rules will come into effect from September 1, 2022 and will be valid until September 1, 2027.
Let us note that the new order was presented for public discussion in January of this year. Then in March the project was changed. We wrote about this.
Meanwhile, the order already adopted differs from that draft. Therefore, this material contains an overview of the new rules that are registered with the Ministry of Justice.
And by the way, we found some oddities in the text.
The form of the work book and its insert are changing
The changes are insignificant. In particular, the number of spreads allocated for information about work and spreads to reflect awards is changing.
At the same time, you can safely use old work forms and inserts if the employer has a supply of them.
Previously, the Ministry of Labor explained that the new labor standards will be applied from 2023. However, the adopted Order makes no mention of this. It comes into force on September 1, 2022.
The rules for making entries about part-time jobs have been clarified
It will still be the primary employer who makes the record. But if an employee needs to make an entry about part-time work and he does not carry out labor activities, to make such an entry, he has the right to contact the employer for whom he previously carried out part-time work.
Entries about part-time employment and dismissal can be entered into the work book both in chronological order and in blocks (simultaneously about hiring and dismissal) after dismissal from each organization.
At the same time, a record of part-time work is also made in cases where part-time work took place before employment with the employer whose work is the main one for the employee.
The employee did not choose between paper and electronic work. How to act as a personnel officer
From 2022, workers decide whether an electronic work record book is important to them or whether a paper one is needed. In turn, from January 1, 2022, personnel officers guarantee either maintaining a paper and electronic work book simultaneously, or only its electronic version (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Each employer, before November 1, 2022, notified employees that by the end of 2022 they have the right to decide which is better: electronic or paper (Part 1, Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ, RF PP No. 887). However, many workers have still not submitted their applications, and companies are afraid of fines. As a result, in the new year 2022, electronic and paper labor systems are in effect simultaneously. The personnel officer has to decide:
- Is a statement about the method of maintaining a work record book an employee’s obligation or right?
- Is there any liability if this document is missing?
- Do I need to request a statement in 2022?
- Is it possible to switch from electronic labor to paper, and vice versa?
- paper or electronic work book – statement: how to write it correctly?
| The nuances of working with electronic labor and complex issues that arise in practice were discussed in our course. You will also learn how to avoid errors in reporting forms. |
Content
- Rights, obligations and responsibilities when submitting an application for a method of maintaining a work record book
- Actions of the personnel officer in 2022 if the employee does not submit an application
- Transition from paper to electronic labor in 2022
Rights, obligations and responsibilities when submitting an application for a method of maintaining a work record book
Until December 31, 2022, each employee could choose the method of maintaining a work record book. At the same time, the text of the Law states that the employee “submits” the application before the established date (Part 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ). Consequently, each employee is given the right to choose, but the obligation to do so is not expressly stated.
In addition, there is no clearly established liability if the employee does not submit an application. Experts from the Ministry of Labor admit that such an employee can be subject to disciplinary action. However, they do not indicate in what form this should be done (Letter of the Ministry of Labor dated February 12, 2022 No. 14-2/OOG-1202, hereinafter referred to as Letter No. 14-2/OOG-1202, Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, it is possible to bring an employee to disciplinary liability a month after the discovery of the offense and no later than six months from the moment it was committed (Parts 3 and 4 of Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In our case, the deadlines have expired: more than a year has passed since the employee should have submitted the application (Part 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ).
An administrative fine for an offense in the field of labor faces the employer who, by October 31, 2022, did not notify employees of the choice of method of maintaining a work record book (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, Part 1 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ, RF PP No. 887) . There are no other clarifications either in the Law or in judicial practice on this issue.
Actions of the personnel officer in 2022 if the employee does not submit an application
As we have seen, the choice - an electronic work book or a paper one - is the right and expression of the employee’s will, rather than his obligation (Part 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ). In turn, the company does not have a requirement to request this document from an employee, including in the new year 2022.
| Advice Do not frighten the employee with responsibility and do not rush to involve him in it. The law has changed recently. Remember, in the event of a dispute, the State Tax Inspectorate and the courts often take the position of the employee. Try not to exceed your authority and resolve the situation peacefully. |
If you are unable to reach an agreement with the employee, take a wait-and-see approach. As we found out, you will not be fined for the fact that the employee does not want to choose the method of maintaining the work record. If the employee has not submitted an application, this does not apply to incomplete information for the SZV-TD form (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Resolution of the Board of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 2019 No. 730p, hereinafter referred to as Resolution of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation No. 730p).
This is information that is not yet available. Perform your daily work duties accurately and on time, in particular, submitting information for the electronic book. Allow the employee to write a statement later when he is confident in his decision.
Transition from paper to electronic labor in 2022
Many believe that from January 1, 2022, the transition from a paper work book to an electronic one is permitted only for a certain category of workers (hereinafter referred to as the List). Among them are those who (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Part 6 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ):
- were unemployed at the end of 2022, but had already worked under an employment contract previously;
- were on sick leave or on long-term vacation;
- were suspended from work.
Such workers still have the right to choose: paper work or electronic.
However, PFR specialists explain that any employee has the right to switch to an electronic work book, even if he is not included in the List (PFR Letter No. S-4583-08/7697 dated February 26, 2022). Therefore, in 2022, the personnel officer can accept from the employee an application for maintaining a work book only in electronic form, after which he will make a paper entry about this, issue it to the employee and send information to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation in the form SZV-TD (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Resolution Pension Fund No. 730p).
Sample application
How to fill out the SZV-TD report and when to submit it, read the expert material.
Moreover, from January 1, 2022, the employer is indeed not obliged to accept applications for maintaining a work record book in paper form from employees not on the List (PFR Letter No. S-4583-08/7697). But until the employee submits an application to switch to an electronic format, the personnel officer will make entries in paper form (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Letter No. 14-2/OOG-1202).
| We remind you! The personnel officer is not obliged to again notify all of his employees about the right to choose between a paper and electronic work book. It makes sense to explain this right only to an employee from the List (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The remaining employees were either notified before the end of October 2020, or when finding employment in a new place from 2022, they should have already made their choice with the previous employer (RF PP No. 887). Note! If an employee has submitted an application to keep a work record book only in electronic form, the law does not provide for a return to paper form. |
Share this article:
The rules for correcting entries in the work book were not completed
In sections of the work book containing information about work or information about awards, crossing out inaccurate or incorrect entries is not allowed. This rule will exist now, and it was the same before.
But, surprisingly, in the new order after this phrase there is the following paragraph:
In the same manner, a record of dismissal or transfer to another permanent job is invalidated if the dismissal or transfer is recognized as illegal by the employer, the control and supervisory body, the labor dispute resolution body or the court and reinstatement to the previous job or the wording of the reason for dismissal is changed.
A reasonable question arises: in what order? After all, no order is described.
And the whole point is that between these two paragraphs there should be one more (it was in the project). Here he is:
For example, if it is necessary to change a specific employment record in the “Job Details” section, after the corresponding last record in this section, the subsequent serial number and the date the record was made are indicated, in column 3 the entry is made: “The record with such and such a number is invalid.” After this, the correct entry is made: “Accepted in such and such a profession (position)” from such and such a date and in column 4 the date and number of the order (instruction) or other decision of the employer, the entry from which was incorrectly entered into the work book, is repeated, or the date and number of the order (instruction) or other decision of the employer, on the basis of which the correct entry is made.
But this paragraph was not included in the Order of the Ministry of Labor.
Filling out a work book: general rules
From 09/01/2021, the basic requirements and procedure for filling out work books are set out in the Rules for maintaining and storing work books, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated 05/19/2021 No. 320n (hereinafter referred to as the Rules).
New sample work books must be used from 01/01/2023. Whether it is necessary to exchange old workers for new ones and what to do with the old-style forms unused by 2023, read here.
What exactly is important for a company to know?
1. The work book must record any changes in the employee’s career status (promoted in job position, transferred to another department/department, given awards, etc.).
2. Entries in the work book must be in Russian. However, if where the organization operates (for example, in a national republic), in addition to Russian, another language is additionally accepted, then in the work book you can also make a duplicate record of the facts of the specialist’s biography in this language (clause 6 of the Rules).
3. It is necessary to ensure that certain technical and design requirements are met. Thus, all facts of the work history must be reflected in the book without any abbreviations, in a strict chronological sequence with continuous numbering, dates in all sections must be written in Arabic numerals (day and month - two digits, year - four digits). It is recommended to make entries carefully, using light-resistant ink (paste, paint, gel) in black, blue or purple and without any abbreviations. It is not allowed to write “pr.” instead of “order”, “order” instead of “order”, “trans.” instead of "translated". Also, records can be made in whole or in part using technical means by transferring dyes (printed) or in the form of a stamp (seal) (clause 3 of the Rules).
The rules for recording voluntary resignation are changing.
According to the new rules, in case of dismissal, it will be necessary to indicate not only the article and paragraph, but also part of it.
In addition, there will now be no discrepancies regarding the wording of the notice of dismissal. The fact is that the current rules, on the one hand, indicate that the wording of the records must correspond to the wording of the Labor Code, and on the other hand, the specific wording of dismissal under clause 3 of Art. 77, which does not correspond to the one stated in the Labor Code.
Because of this, HR officers are at a loss as to what to write: “dismissed at his own request” or “the employment contract was terminated at the initiative of the employee.”
By the way, we conducted a survey on this topic. The leading wording is from the Labor Code.
So, in the new rules, the example of voluntary dismissal was completely removed. Although this phrase was in the project.
