According to the new rules, for all citizens of the Russian Federation who are employed for the first time after January 1, 2021, it is mandatory to have not a paper, but only an electronic work record book (ETK) , these are the requirements of clause 8 of Art. 2 of the Federal Law of December 16, 2019 No. 439-FZ (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 439-FZ).
If an employee was employed before this law came into force, the citizen has the right to refuse to switch to the ETC, and the employer is obliged to continue maintaining paperwork for such an employee. If it is necessary to issue a duplicate, for example, if the work document is lost or damaged, it will be issued on a new form. This rule will come into force on September 1. In this case, you should pay attention to the list of information that must be included in the duplicate. The full list is contained in clause 28 of the Procedure for maintaining and storing work books, approved by the commented order (hereinafter referred to as Procedure No. 320n).
Innovations in the rules for filling out an employee’s work book
The changes affected certain issues of filling out an employee’s work book. We will consider each case in more detail below.
Remote employee
According to the updated rules for filling out a work report, it is permissible to enter information about the work activities of an employee working remotely. For this purpose, an employee working remotely is required to provide the employer with a work book. In this case, it is permissible to send the work report by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
Stamps and seals acceptable in labor
According to the current rules for filling out a work report, entries in it can only be made by hand, using black, blue or purple ink. Starting from September 1, 2021, it will be allowed to make entries in an employee’s work record using “technical means by transferring dyes or in the form of a stamp (seal).”
Deadlines for making entries in the labor record
The innovations will also affect the timing of making entries in the employee’s work book. In case of hiring, transfer to another job, qualification, upon presentation of an award, it will be necessary to make an appropriate entry no later than 5 working days .
The need to certify the dismissal record
If an employee is dismissed, information about this is entered into the work book on the day the employment contract is terminated. According to the innovations, in the event of termination of an employment contract with an employee, the dismissal record is certified by the signature exclusively of the employer or his representative, who is entrusted with the responsibility for filling out work books. A seal is required if it is available, but the signature of the dismissed employee will not be required.
Innovations in the design of the insert for the labor document
At the time of issue of each new insert, a note about this is made in the work book itself by affixing a stamp with the inscription “Insert Issued”, as well as indicating the series and number of this insert.
Part-time work
In the case when an employee works part-time, an entry about this is made in the work book by the “main” employer on the basis of a document that confirms the employee’s part-time work ( Part 5 of Article 66 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation ).
According to the provisions of order No. 320n, if necessary, such an entry can be made, even if the employee is not currently working part-time, but previously this was the case. To do this, the employee must contact the employer for whom he previously worked part-time.
Making entries about hiring, transfer and dismissal part-time can be entered into the labor record, both in chronological order and in “blocks”, i.e. simultaneously on hiring and dismissal based on the termination of the employment relationship.
Prospects for an insert for an electronic work record book
Until 2021, a work book, issued in the form of a paper document, was the only possible option for reflecting information about work and awards for it. Since 2021, it has become mandatory to accumulate data entered into the work book in electronic form in a database stored in the Pension Fund (Article 66.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Law dated December 16, 2019 No. 439-FZ “On Amendments...”).
The presence of an electronic database allows you to avoid entering information about your work activity into a paper document, since the necessary information can be obtained from it at any time - and not only in paper form, but also electronically. However, the paper work book continues to be relevant because:
- It remains a source of information about work that took place before 2020. The information base records only data characterizing it as of January 1, 2020 (clause 1.7 of Appendix No. 2 to the Resolution of the Board of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 2019 No. 730p). If an employee refuses to keep a work book on paper, an entry about this is made in it (clause 3 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ) and its registration is terminated. The employee will have to keep the book with him.
- An employee has the right to make a choice in favor of maintaining a paper document (Clause 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ). In this case, it will continue to be processed (in parallel with the accumulation of electronic data) either until the employee completes his labor activity (clause 4 of article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ), or until he makes a decision to switch to the electronic version (clause 5 of article 2 of Law No. 439-FZ). A work record book that continues to be kept on paper may require an insert.
Transfer of an employee to ETC
According to the legislation in force in the Russian Federation, in the event of an employee voluntarily switching to an electronic version of the work book, the employer is obliged to return the work book to the employee on paper. However, previously the deadline for fulfilling this obligation was not stipulated by law. The return period for paper work varied from 1 to 3 days.
According to the new procedure, the paper work book of an employee who has switched to the ETC must be returned to him no later than 3 working days from the date of submission of the application.
IMPORTANT! Currently, persons who are eligible to apply for a transition to the ETC are:
- at the time of December 31, 2021, they were on regular leave, on sick leave, were suspended from work with their jobs retained, and therefore could not timely submit an application for the transition to an electronic version of the labor
- at the time of December 31, 2021 did not have an employment relationship
The procedure for keeping records of work books
According to the innovations, the requirement for the mandatory maintenance of a receipt and expenditure book for accounting for paper work books of employees is abolished. In particular, the book for recording the movement of labor books in the form that was previously approved by the Ministry of Labor in Resolution No. 69 of October 10, 2003 is also being abolished.
However, this does not exempt the employer from maintaining such accounting documents as:
- accounting of work book forms and inserts in it;
- accounting of work books and inserts in them.
It is noted that the development of a journal form for this accounting documentation is the responsibility of the employer himself. The numbering of such accounting journals is mandatory; in addition, they must also be laced, as well as certified by the signature of management and the seal of the company.
What object should a work book be taken into account as?
This issue is not regulated by law and remains controversial to this day. In our opinion, the following approach is correct:
- The work book is accepted for accounting as a strict reporting form (SRF), since it is legally recognized as such in the period between the moment of its acquisition from the supplier and the moment of registration for the employee (clause 42 of the Rules).
- From the moment the form is issued for an employee, the employee’s debt for the work book issued to him becomes the object of accounting. Subsequently, the accounting reflects the operation to repay the debt (or the fact of its inclusion in expenses).
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At the same time, the financial department (letter of the Ministry of Finance dated May 19, 2017 No. 03-03-06/1/30818) considers this issue as follows:
- work books should be taken into account with the allocation of VAT (that is, as goods and materials);
- when compensation is collected, non-operating income arises, and when compensation is not provided, a gratuitous sale occurs.
In other words, within the framework of the scheme proposed by the Ministry of Finance, it is planned to keep records of work books using account 41.
At the same time, in earlier clarifications, for example in letter dated June 10, 2009 No. 03-01-15/6-305, the Ministry of Finance cites completely different theses - that:
- work books are purchased by the employer not for the purpose of selling to employees;
- Providing a work book to an employee is not a service.
Taking into account the contradictory positions of officials, the enterprise needs to independently assess all possible risks and choose the optimal accounting scheme, which must be enshrined in the accounting policy. However, our opinion is that a work book is not a product, and now we will tell you why.
The procedure for confirming an employee’s work experience in case of loss of his work book
Innovations to the procedure for filling out and maintaining work books provide new rules for such situations as confirmation of an employee’s length of service if he loses his work book . In the provisions of the law commented on in this article, the following information appeared, emphasizing the employer’s obligations to the employee in confirming the latter’s work experience. That is, in simple terms, in the case when an employee needs to confirm his work experience, and the work book is lost, the employer is obliged to provide such an employee with full assistance in obtaining documents that can unconditionally confirm that the employee has the work experience that was obtained employee before the employee joined the current employer. However, the employer is obliged to provide such assistance only if the loss or loss (destruction) of the work record book occurred through the fault of the employer himself.
The nuances of purchasing an insert for a work record book
The question of who should buy the work record and the work book insert is of interest to both the personnel department employees and the workers themselves. Although the costs for this are small, many companies are very principled in this regard. You can find different opinions on specialized forums. According to the law, it is the employer who is responsible for maintaining this enhanced reporting form, but whether he is obliged to buy this document for employees is worth figuring out.
The need to purchase an insert
A work book is an employee’s document, which confirms his work experience. Inside it there are sections (certain pages) for entering data about the job: date of acceptance, position, reasons for hiring. Separately, there are columns for entering notes regarding awards and incentives.
Important! The responsibility for maintaining the employee’s work book, namely making entries regarding acceptance, transfer, dismissal, falls on the employer.
You need to enter data regarding the cold if it exceeds 5 days. Taking this into account, the place in the labor document for providing the necessary information may run out. You cannot use other sections (award, encouragement) to indicate “accepted,” “transferred,” or “dismissed.” As a result, there is a need to purchase an insert, which is needed to record data regarding the length of service.
This is a form with the same lines and columns as in the employee’s work book. It is pasted into the workbook. An insert that is not filed with the labor document has no legal force, even if entries are made in it and there are seals. When it is sewn into the labor force, it becomes an integral part of it. The numbering of entries in the insert continues, rather than starting from the beginning.
In order to confirm the presence of the insert, its number and series are written on the title page of the work in the upper right corner. Such a mark can be entered by hand by an authorized person of the company. It is allowed to put a standard 10 x 25 mm stamp with the insert data. Sewing the insert is necessary not only when there is no space for notes regarding length of service, but also when there is no space to indicate new awards.
Prohibitions
There are a number of prohibited actions if an employee’s employment has ended, including:
- You cannot enter data that does not correspond to the section. Previously, personnel officers practiced crossing out the entry “information about awards” and simply entering data about the length of service in this section. But such actions contradict the rules for maintaining the Labor Code, because any crossings out or corrections are unacceptable.
- The establishment of a new labor record is prohibited only for the reasons that the old one is covered with writing. There are inserts for this.
- Paste in a blank sheet of paper lined by hand. This is a violation of the law, since in this case it will not be possible to indicate the insert number, because it simply does not exist. Even for a single recording you need to sew in an insert.
Purchase
According to the law, the employer is responsible for entering data and maintaining labor records while the employee is on the company’s staff. In this case, the question arises: who should buy the insert and work book? The regulations clearly state that the employer purchases the forms in question for the employee. Including if the employment has not yet been established, that is, the employee gets a first job after completing his studies.
Since purchasing something is an expense, it is quite logical for employees to be indignant if they try to charge them the cost of forms. After all, the law clearly states who should buy an additional insert for the work book. Here we need clarification, although the purchase of forms and additions to them is the responsibility of the employer, according to the law, he has the right to deduct the cost of such a purchase from his salary - this is legal. The employee is required to pay the cost of the forms, despite the fact that the employer purchased them.
The financial issue regarding the purchase of labor and liners is especially relevant for beginning entrepreneurs, because any costs can be critical for their profit.
Cases when the employer pays
But the answer to the question of who should buy an additional insert for the work book is not as clear-cut as it seems. There are cases when it is the employer who needs to spend money on this, without the right to recover from the employee. There are only 2 such situations:
- If the form that the employee bought (paid for) is damaged by the employer, including a HR specialist. In this case, this means not only damage to the form itself, but also clerical errors/errors when filling out the title page. This also applies to the situation of incorrectly maintaining the form.
- If an emergency occurred that led to a massive loss of forms. In this case, both books and inserts will be lost, since they are an integral part of the document. Then a duplicate is issued with the official registration of all records. It is the employer who bears the costs of its production.
There are no other options when the employer needs to pay for the purchase of a book or insert on his own, and his actions regarding deducting the money spent from his salary are completely legal.
The procedure for obtaining a work permit
How you can purchase a work book is of interest mainly to those who are getting a job for the first time and do not yet have such a document. The law states that the employer is required to provide the employee with this form; subsequently, he can deduct the cost from his salary. But a potential employee can buy a work book himself and present it in a package of documents when applying for employment.
In the first case, a company with hired employees enters into an agreement with the manufacturer of books and receives them in the required quantity on a regular basis. Such forms always comply with legal requirements; they have a serial number by which authenticity can be verified. Also, any problems with the legalization of the form are completely excluded, because its purchase is carried out according to accounts and is completely legal.
You can purchase this document yourself at an office supply store that sells similar products. But forms appeared on the public market relatively recently; previously they could only be purchased with a power of attorney from the employer. It doesn’t always make sense to buy the work yourself, because the forms may be illegal: without a number or have incorrectly lined fields. In this case, you will have to pay twice, because they cannot be used to enter information about your experience.
Conclusion
The work book has a limited number of fields for entering information about work experience. If a person often changes jobs, then it is not strange that there are no lines left. At the moment when the personnel officer discovers that there is no space for the next entry, he sews in an insert of the established pattern and in accordance with the rules.
