About work books: rules for accounting, maintenance and storage

What is a work book for?

The main function is quite obvious: in the Russian Federation, a work book serves as the main evidence of a citizen’s length of service (both labor and insurance), without which it is impossible to register a pension and accrue social insurance benefits. Document required:

• to reflect data on all changes in the employee’s activities, transfers and positions held;
• to record information about the reasons for dismissal from work;
• to record awards.

This is very important information, which can subsequently be reflected only in a single copy (during the liquidation of an enterprise, for example). Therefore, the employer must ensure that the document form is filled out correctly and responsibly by qualified employees.

HR CALENDAR

In accordance with Art. 2 of the Federal Law of December 16, 2019 No. 439-FZ “On amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation regarding the formation of information about labor activity in electronic form,” we provide a list of actions (diagram) that must be performed in connection with the transition to electronic work books.

Rules for maintaining and registration, who prepares

The procedure for maintaining work books has changed since 09/01/2021. From this date, it is no longer necessary for the employee to familiarize himself with a record of the work performed in his personal card, and information about the time of training in advanced training courses is not entered. The form of the book for recording the movement of labor books, established by the Decree of the Ministry of Labor dated October 10, 2003 No. 69, is no longer mandatory. The employer has the right to develop its own form. New work books come into effect from 01/01/2023, the old ones remain valid. Production is carried out by various printing organizations. At the request of the employee, registration of part-time work is made at the place of main work. But if there is no main job, then the entry can be made at the place where the employee worked part-time. Entries on part-time employment, transfer and dismissal are made both in chronological order and in blocks after dismissal for each company. All entries are made only by the employer. In connection with the changes, the instructions for maintaining a work book in 2022 have the following features:

On the issue of reproducing recordings using “dye transfer,” the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation provided clarification in a letter dated June 29, 2021 No. 14-6/OOG-5976, indicating that they mean technical means—a printer.

ConsultantPlus experts discussed how to keep a work record book in paper form. Use these instructions for free.

Title page: filling rules

Strictly established rules for maintaining work books and entries in them also apply to the design of the title page. It is filled out by the first employer, and the correctness of the information entered is certified by the employee’s signature.

Information indicated on the title page:

• last name, first name and patronymic in full accordance with the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation. If the surname changes during work, a correction is made, the old surname is crossed out;
• Date of Birth;
• education data is entered on the basis of the education document provided by the employee. If a citizen receives additional education, information about him is entered without any corrections to old data;
• specialty is indicated in the nominative case;
• Date of completion;
• signature of the person responsible for filling out with a transcript, signature of the owner.

The new forms of books have an increased volume of the “Information about the work” section and a reduced volume of the “Information about the award” - 14 and 7 spreads, respectively. In the previous edition, the number of both was 10. New rules for maintaining work record inserts in 2021 change the number of spreads: 12 and 5 instead of 9 and 8, respectively. The organization's seal is affixed if available. Changes in this part were made to bring the document into compliance with current legislation due to the possibility of a legal entity acting without a seal.

Maintaining a work section

Algorithm of actions, general rules:

1. First of all, in the third column the name of the organization is indicated - both full and abbreviated, or a stamp of the enterprise is affixed.
2. Then below in the first column is the serial number of the entry, in the second - the date of reception of the employee.
3. The third column records that the citizen has been accepted into the department or division for the corresponding position.
4. The fourth column must indicate the date of recording the information and the order data.

When transferring to another organization, information about dismissal is first entered, then about admission to another company. When transferring within an enterprise, information about the transfer is simply recorded with data listed according to the above algorithm, only the third column contains information about the transfer to a new position (permanent transfer).

When registering a dismissal, special attention should be paid to filling out the third column. It is filled out in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and has a link to the corresponding article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. When registering a dismissal, all previously made records are certified by the person responsible at the enterprise, and the seal of the organization is affixed, if any.

Maintaining the awards section

Information is entered according to an established algorithm in the designated place. The section is maintained according to general rules. First, the full and abbreviated name of the company is written, below, in the first column, the entry number is written, in the third column it is deciphered for what the citizen is awarded and what the reward is. An indication of the award order is mandatory.

Legislative regulation of the issue

The maintenance of work books and entries in them, as well as the storage of these documents, is regulated by several legislative acts:

• Labor Code, where Article 66 is devoted to this issue;
• Government Decree on maintaining labor records No. 225 dated April 16, 2003;
• Instructions for filling out work books (developed by Decree of the Ministry of Labor No. dated 10.10.2003).

Since 2003, the procedure for maintaining labor books in the Russian Federation has practically not changed, since over the course of 15 years only minor and few amendments have been made to these regulations.

How and where should TCs be stored?

The rules for maintaining and storing work books are established by the legislator; the employer’s task is not limited to filling it out correctly; ensuring the safety of this document is extremely important. The employer draws up an order on where the work books are stored; it additionally indicates the responsible person: position and full name. It is not prohibited to issue two separate orders. The mandatory form of the order is not established by law.

It has been established that work books must be stored in a specially designated safe place. Usually a tray or box in an iron cabinet or safe is selected for this. In accordance with clause 40 of the order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated May 19, 2021 No. 320n, the employer maintains two separate journals. The first is to register work book forms indicating the series and number. The second records books accepted from newly hired workers. The forms of both journals are not established. The employer has the right to develop its own version for application.

Copy of TC: rules for issuing

A copy of the work record is required for submission to the authorized bodies in order to confirm the length of service. A properly certified copy is a document indicating the citizen’s employment. From the new order No. 320n dated May 19, 2021, it is clear which document regulates the maintenance of work books - Appendix No. 2 to the order “Procedure for maintaining and storing work books.” According to this application, to obtain a copy you need:

1. Make copies of all document pages containing entries.
2. Certify by an authorized employee of the organization.
3. Sign with the head of the HR department. For internal documents, write “correctly”, indicate the date of completion, the sheets are endorsed by the person in charge, and an indication of his position and a seal or stamp are required.
4. On copies for other organizations, it is necessary to indicate the storage location of the original.

Duplicate: filling rules

A duplicate is a document that has the same validity as the lost original. In fact, this is a re-issued work book. It is issued in accordance with the rules for maintaining and registering work books. With the introduction of new rules from 09/01/2021, a statement of loss is submitted at the place of work where the last entry was made in the work book. In the previous edition, the general rules for maintaining, storing and recording work books required applying to the last place of work. The innovation is enshrined in clause 27 of the procedure established by order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated May 19, 2021 No. 320n.

If a citizen has already worked in another organization, then the duplicate in the third column indicates data on the length of service prior to joining this organization. They are presented in general form; length of service is calculated without indicating the position and company if it is confirmed by relevant documents. Then the length of service is deciphered on the basis of written evidence about the activities performed, indicating the name of the employing organization, dates of hiring, dismissal, transfer, names of position and department, qualifications and profession, specialty. The fourth column indicates the documents provided.

If there is data on a transfer within the organization, this is also recorded. Then the date of dismissal is indicated in the second column, and the reason in the third. If the forms provided by the employee do not contain all the required data, only those that are available are entered. HR department specialists must make copies of certificates and return the originals to the citizen. The employer, to the extent possible, assists in obtaining evidence of length of service.

Instructions on the procedure for maintaining work books: entering information about the employee himself

Information about the employee is entered into the work book by his first employer. But since from 2022 new work books can be exclusively electronic, in terms of paper work books, employers only have the obligation to keep information about the employee up to date. Here's what this information is:

• Full name of the specialist, his date of birth;
• education received (for example, higher education), qualifications assigned, specialization, etc.

All of the above information was entered into the employee’s book by his first employer, certified by the signatures of the employee (on page 1) and the company representative, as well as the employer’s seal, if available.

In the future, changes in information about the employee (for example, if the last name or education have changed) in the work book are also made by the employer, and a link to documents confirming the relevance of the newly entered information is required.

For a sample of making an entry in the work book starting from September 1, 2022 about a change in the employee’s surname and for a sample change (addition) in the work book of an entry about new education, profession, specialty, see ConsultantPlus. Trial access to the system can be obtained for free.

Insert in TC

The insert is drawn up according to the specified instructions on maintaining and compiling work books. The process by which the registration, maintenance and storage of work books and their inserts is carried out is similar, and general rules apply to it. The insert is filled out when there is no space left in the main form (it must be taken into account that entering information about work in the section intended for information about awards is not allowed). It has the same legal force as the main document, but is invalid without the main form. A note on the design of the insert must be contained in the main document. The stamp “Insert issued” is placed, its series and number are indicated. As of September 1, 2021, the requirement that the insert be sewn into the work book is no longer required.