The work book is damaged, what should I do? How to prepare personnel documents when changing your last name

When concluding an employment contract, the future employee, in accordance with Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, presents a mandatory package of documents:

passport or other identity document;

work book (except for cases when an employment contract is concluded for the first time or an employee starts working on a part-time basis);

insurance certificate of state pension insurance;

military registration documents - for those liable for military service and persons subject to conscription for military service;

a document on education, qualifications or special knowledge - when applying for a job that requires special knowledge or special training.

But suppose it turns out that the employee does not have a work book. But not because he gets his first job with you, but because, for example, he lost it. What should a HR specialist do? He will have to get the employee a new work book, because after the October amendments an additional paragraph was added to Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, directly indicating this.

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This norm causes many difficulties for personnel officers. The fact is that it is not clear what this “new” work book will be - a duplicate or a full-fledged document. Let's figure it out.

How will we draw up a work book?

Before amendments were made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, we were all guided by the rules for drawing up work books established in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 16, 2003 No. 225 “On work books”.

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That is, the following order was previously established. The work book was issued only to the employee hired first . If the work book was damaged or lost, then in accordance with the established procedure the employee was given duplicate work book.

Now the employer is obliged to issue a new work book for the employee if it is damaged or lost. With the introduction of this requirement, a number of problems arose. The only condition that is established in this case is that the employee must write a statement indicating the reasons for the lack of a work book when hired.

Guilty actions

If the previous employer made an entry in your employee’s work book about the termination of the employment contract at the employer’s initiative due to the employee’s guilty actions, then, perhaps, when he hires you, he will say that he has lost his work book. And you will no longer be able to send it to your last employer to get a duplicate. You will have to get him a new work book.

In addition, previously, when registering a duplicate, the previous employer would have made an entry in the work book about the reason for terminating the employment contract with the employee. This means that employees are no longer afraid of making an entry in the work book about the termination of the employment contract due to their guilty actions. Moreover, due to the fact that Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data” of January 21, 2007 came into force, the employer finally lost the opportunity to request information about the employee from his last (or any other) employer.

Thus, the only option for the employer to protect himself in this situation is to ask the employee to provide references from previous jobs. At the same time, the employer should not forget that providing a recommendation is the right, and not the obligation, of the applicant when applying for employment. The employer, even if the employee refuses to provide recommendations, will not be able to refuse to hire the employee on this basis.

Disqualification

A similar situation arises if an employee has an entry made in his work book about his disqualification from a certain job position. The employee will come to you, as the next employer, with a statement about the loss of his work book.

At the same time, in order to protect against illegal hiring of an employee who was disqualified by a court decision and whose work record was not entered, the employer not only can, but is obliged to conduct a disqualification check when hiring.

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The information contained in the register of disqualified persons is open for review. Interested persons have the right to receive, for a fee, information from the register of disqualified persons in the form of extracts about specific disqualified persons.

When an employee has several work books

Suppose a candidate “finds” a work book and comes to you with several copies to choose from. Indeed, from Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that, on the basis of a written application, an employee can draw up a new work book at each new place of work.

Which one should you accept and which one should you write in? It is advisable to make an entry in one of the presented work books. But you will still have to accept all work books, since according to the entries made in the work book, the employer will need to calculate the length of service to pay for sick leave. Moreover, if it turns out that the length of service will overlap in several work books, then to calculate the length of service the employer will take into account only one period (Article 16 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ, clause 8 of the order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated February 6, 2006 No. 91).

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Upon termination of the contract, the employer will be obliged to return all work books taken from the employee for storage under his signature.

...and several main jobs

Workers can now actually have several main places of work, drawing up work books at each workplace based on an application. How will the following employers calculate the length of service, since they will need to make comparisons and not take into account the periods of overlap of length of service again, was described above.

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With the amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation adopted in October 2006 and changes in legislation on the payment of sick leave, based on the calculation of the insurance period, the importance of the work book has increased, but at the same time it has ceased to exist in a single copy! These changes pose many questions for practicing specialists, which the legislator intends to resolve in the coming years by abolishing the institution of a work book in principle. But until the work book is actually abandoned as a document confirming the employee’s work experience, it is necessary to somehow get out of the difficult situations in which many personnel officers now find themselves. The author told how to deal with the most common of them.

Advise the employee If the organization in which the employee worked no longer exists, and it has not transferred personnel documents to the archive, you can apply to the court at the place of residence with an application to establish the length of service. To do this, you need to find at least two colleagues from your previous work who will confirm work in that organization during a specific period. From authoritative sources N.Z. Kovyazin, Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia “It is possible to make entries about an employee’s work experience in a duplicate work book only on the basis of documents confirming the employment relationship. Such documents include: extracts from orders for employment and dismissal, personal accounts, pay slips.

How can I restore my work record through a pension fund?

After leaving Blesk LLC on June 30, 2010, I did not work anywhere. I confirm my work experience before joining Blesk LLC with the attached documents: 1.

Certificate from Zarya LLC about work as an economist in the period from March 17, 1997 to March 16, 1998 dated September 15, 2010 N 31. 2. A copy of the order for employment at Vesna JSC for the position of leading economist in the planning department dated 04/01/1998 N 10k.

How to restore a lost or damaged work book

• 1 General document recovery scheme
  • 1.1 The work book is damaged
  • 1.2 The work record book was lost by the employer
  • 1.3 Restoring seniority in a liquidated organization

As we know, no one is immune from troubles. Even the most attentive citizen can become a victim of a pickpocket who, along with all the money, will also steal documents.

The absence or damage of a work book is an unpleasant situation, since without proof of work experience you will not be able to get the desired job or receive a pension. Therefore, you need to know how to restore a work book that has been lost or damaged.

The phrase “employment restoration” itself, according to lawyers, is not very correct. It is impossible to restore it legally, since only a duplicate is created.

Consequences of losing a work book

Info

What to do if you are not working at the moment, and what is your last workplace? If you have already concluded an employment contract with the employer at your new place of work, then your application should be addressed to him. If not, or you are unemployed at the time of discovery of your loss, then you need to contact your previous employer.

He has no right to refuse you, and the restoration of a lost work book is quite possible. Restoration or duplicate? Even if you purchase a form and just reproduce the entries that were once entered into your work book on completely legal grounds, it will not be entirely legal.

Attention

And no one has yet canceled responsibility for falsifying documents and their use. Therefore, if you lose your work book, you should know that it cannot be restored in any case.

Restoring the work record

When concluding an employment contract, the future employee, in accordance with Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, presents a mandatory package of documents:

• passport or other identity document;
• work book (except for cases when an employment contract is concluded for the first time or an employee starts working on a part-time basis);
• insurance certificate of state pension insurance;
• military registration documents - for those liable for military service and persons subject to conscription for military service;
• a document on education, qualifications or special knowledge - when applying for a job that requires special knowledge or special training.

But suppose it turns out that the employee does not have a work book. But not because he gets his first job with you, but because, for example, he lost it.

Free access for 3 days!

Unfortunately, even this way the long process of obtaining a duplicate cannot be avoided. Restoring seniority in a liquidated organization There are often cases when it turns out that there is no place to confirm seniority - the company no longer exists.
If such a situation arises, you need to send a corresponding request to the archival institution. This is where all the documentation of liquidated organizations is stored.

If information about the employee is available, he will soon be issued a certificate of work experience in this company. If the necessary information is not in the archive, then you need to go to court:

1. An application is submitted to establish the fact of work in the organization.
2. Testimony of at least 2 witnesses will be required to confirm the fact of work in the liquidated company.

But before filing a claim, you should make sure that the company has actually been liquidated and has not, for example, undergone a merger or renaming.

How to restore a work record

In what cases is it necessary to issue a duplicate to an employee? These are situations when the work book: - was lost (including as a result of an emergency) by a former employee who has not yet found a new job; — was lost by the employer, including as a result of an emergency; - has become unusable (burnt, torn, stained, etc.). The rules for confirming an employee’s length of service and issuing a duplicate book in each of the above cases have their own characteristics.
If the book is lost by a former employee A former employee who has not yet found a new job may contact you with a request to issue him a duplicate work book in connection with its loss. And you are obliged to issue him a duplicate work book no later than 15 days from the date he submits the application. Issuing a duplicate to replace a lost work book involves restoring all the records contained in it.

We issue a duplicate of the work book

I ask you to establish the length of service of the following employees of Crocus LLC: 1) Ivan Ivanovich Baranov, born in 1975; 2) Olga Nikolaevna Smolina, born in 1970; 3) Tatyana Petrovna Sokolova, born in 1980. I request that Irina Nikolaevna Savelyeva, an accountant at Crocus LLC, be included in the commission.

Appendix: Certificate of the Office of the State Fire Service for the Tambov Region dated 08/11/2010 N 188. General Director of Crocus LLC Volkov I.I. Volkov Print September 11, 2010 If such a permanent commission has not been created in your region, then you need to address your application to establish the length of service of employees to the labor authority of your constituent entity of the Russian Federation (in different regions it is called differently, for example in Moscow it is Department of Labor and Employment), supplementing it with a request to create such a commission.

Duplicate work book

In the first case, a commission is convened, which includes several representatives of the executive branch, representatives of the employer itself and the trade union. This commission draws up an act indicating the periods and terms of work, position and total length of service of the employee.
Then the employee is given a completed duplicate of the work book. But here, as in previous cases, you will need to provide documentary evidence. Witness testimony may be used as confirmation. But if the employer claims that he simply lost the document, and restoring the work record is simply not possible, the employee may well hold him accountable for violating labor laws. For such a negligent attitude, the manager may pay a considerable fine. In this case, it is advisable to contact not only the labor inspectorate, but also the district prosecutor's office.

What to do if the work book is damaged

This should contain information about the total work experience up to the moment of joining the service of the last employer. The work book is damaged. But if for one reason or another the work book has become unusable, how to restore this document? According to the law, the employee also has the right to demand that the manager issue him a duplicate document. In this case, all records from the damaged work record are transferred to the duplicate.

But this is provided that they are all readable. And if some cannot be read, then the facts of the work history must be confirmed. In a damaged document, on the very first sheet, a corresponding note is made “a duplicate has been issued.”

Its series and number are also indicated. The work book is lost by the employer. There are often cases when the employer himself loses the employee’s work book. This happens due to either emergencies or negligence.

A work record book is a serious document that reflects the entire track record of an employee from the first place of work to the present. Despite the talk about the abolition of work books, this document still has legal force and is very valuable in the practice of labor relations. Therefore, the loss of a work record book is fraught with negative consequences in future employment and when applying for a well-deserved retirement.

The circumstances of such a loss may vary:

• theft)
  • loss by employer)
  • loss by employee)
• loss in emergency circumstances (fire, flooding, revenge of a former employer, etc.).

But whatever the reasons for the loss, in no case should it be left without immediate action. Otherwise, after some time it will be difficult to do this.

There are legal mechanisms to restore this document. You need to resort to them.

Contact your employer

The law prescribes that, upon discovering that a work record book is missing, a citizen must immediately contact the employer at his last place of work with a statement of loss. Moreover, this must be done in writing. What to do if you are not working at the moment, and what is your last workplace?

If you have already concluded an employment contract with the employer at your new place of work, then your application should be addressed to him. If not, or you are unemployed at the time of discovery of your loss, then you need to contact your previous employer. He has no right to refuse you, and the restoration of a lost work book is quite possible.

Restoration or duplicate?

Even if you purchase a form and just reproduce the entries that were once entered into your work book on completely legal grounds, it will not be entirely legal. And no one has yet canceled responsibility for falsifying documents and their use.

Therefore, if you lose your work book, you should know that it cannot be restored in any case. But any employer is obliged to officially issue you a duplicate of it. In addition, this procedure is completely legal; the resulting document can be safely presented both during employment and to the Pension Fund.

Obtaining a duplicate work book

By law, the employer is obliged to issue a duplicate work book even to a former employee of the organization within 15 days from the date of filing the application. It does not matter whether the book is completely lost or exists, but in a damaged condition (burnt, stained or torn). A duplicate of the book must include complete information about the employee’s work activity and incentives (awards) from his last place of work. The basis for making these entries are the original documents:

1. orders for personnel)
2. employment contracts)
3. personal accounts or payroll statements)
4. information about length of service before registration in the pension insurance system (Pension Fund document))
5. extracts from the personal account of the insured person (also from the Pension Fund))
6. clarifying information.

Another duplicate of the work book must contain records of previous work activity, made on the basis of documents provided by the employee (personnel orders, employment contracts, etc.). Information about incentives (awards) can also be entered if supporting documents are available. But if these documents are not fully submitted, then the total work experience in other organizations (years, months, days) is recorded in the work book without specifying periods of work, job titles and employers.

In the process of issuing a duplicate work book, depending on the reasons for its loss, the actions of the employer and the owner of the book may differ.

What to do if the work book is damaged?

It happens that the work book is not lost, but its appearance does not allow it to be considered a full-fledged document. If it is burned, stained or torn, the employee also has the right to demand the issuance of a duplicate. In this case, unlike duplicating a lost book, indicating only the total length of work experience will not be enough.

All entries that are not damaged and are easy to read must be transferred to the duplicate of the damaged work book. For difficult to read records, a confirmation procedure with the documents specified above is provided. A damaged work book is not destroyed; it is the basis for making the majority of entries in a duplicate. On its title page, an entry is made that a duplicate has been issued in place of this document, and the series and number of the new work book are indicated.

The question may arise: if the entries in a damaged book are readable, is it necessary to issue a duplicate of it? Yes, because if you continue to make entries in a torn or stained work book, then sooner or later you will have to face troubles. The employee will either be refused employment somewhere, or such a document will not be accepted for granting a pension.

What to do if your employer has lost your work record?

An employer’s loss of a work book is possible for two reasons:

1. as a result of emergency circumstances (fires, natural disasters, flooding))
2. as a result of the negligence of employees or the malicious intent of the employer.

For the first case, the rules provide for the creation of a special commission to investigate the circumstances of the loss. In addition to representatives of the employer, trade union organization and labor collective, it must include an employee of the executive authority at the location of the organization. The result of the work of this commission will be an act on the basis of which a duplicate of the book is issued.

For the second case, the law provides for penalties and administrative liability for employers and officials who caused the loss. If the employer simply claims the loss of his work record, then it is worth contacting the local labor inspectorate or prosecutor's office, and then possibly going to court. But this most likely will not return the work book to you, and you will have to issue a duplicate of it in the prescribed manner.

What if the former employer no longer exists?

It happens when you are preparing a duplicate work record book that you discover that the organization in which you once worked has already been liquidated. “This means that you have nowhere to get supporting documents for making entries in the book. How to be in this case?

First, you need to find out that your employer has actually been liquidated and has not changed its name as a result of reorganization or some other change. This could happen due to its merger with another enterprise, entry as a division into a larger structure, or, conversely, a division. If this is the case, then the new organization, being the legal successor of the old one, will issue you with all the necessary documents.

If it turns out that your company still does not exist, then you need to submit a request to the archive, where liquidated organizations must submit their documents, including those regarding personnel. The archival certificate will serve as the basis for making the necessary entries in the work book. If the necessary information is not available in the archival institution, you will have to apply to the court for recognition of the fact of work in this organization, involving at least two witnesses.

production of forms and provision of them to employers, approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2003 N 225 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules)). Often an accountant is responsible for preparing the duplicate, so we will tell you how to do this.

A former employee who has not yet found a new job may contact you with a request to issue him a duplicate book due to its loss.

How to write off a damaged work book

Responsibility for the safety and registration of the employment contract lies with the employer until the employee is dismissed and handed over to him. If the work book forms are filled out incorrectly or damaged, you must draw up a corresponding act on their write-off and destroy the forms.

What to do if the work book is damaged

In the future, after the employee submits a duplicate book to the personnel service, a record of employment must be made. Rationale: Clause 33 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 16, 2003 N 225 “On work books” (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 225) states that if the book (insert) has become unusable (burnt, torn, dirty etc.

What to do if an employee’s work record book has become unusable?

P.S. It is the employee’s fault that the work book is damaged. If the work book is lost or has become unusable, a duplicate is issued to the employee.

An employee who has lost his work record must report this at his last place of work.

In response, the employer is obliged to issue a duplicate to the employee no later than 15 days from the date of submission of the application.

How to restore a damaged work book

In the future, to protect yourself, you should keep a photocopy of your employment record at home, which should be updated every time you change jobs, having it certified by the head of the HR department. But if there is no photocopy, but it is lost, you need to do the following.

On the other hand, it is a document that officially confirms your work experience.

We all have to get a job (we’re talking about official employment), and in old age we have to go apply for a pension.

Therefore, the question of how to restore it if it is lost or hopelessly damaged is far from idle. None of us can be insured against the loss of personal documents.

How to restore a work book in case of loss or damage?

This fact could be of a private nature, i.e.

the loss or damage occurred alone or the event was widespread - all or most of the documents were lost or damaged as a result of a natural disaster (fire, flood, etc.) or a violation of storage rules. In the first case, the employer, restoring the book, himself sends the necessary requests to the relevant organizations, in the second, a commission is created to restore the documents.

From this date, if there is false information about a company in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, tax authorities will forcibly exclude this company from the register.

As of August 6, 2019, amendments to PBU 1/2008 “Accounting Policies of Organizations” come into force. Thus, in particular, it has been established that in cases where federal standards do not provide for a method of accounting for a specific issue, a company can develop its own method.

1. Ask the employee to write an application for the issuance of a duplicate work book and provide documents confirming periods of work with previous employers (employment contracts, copies of orders for hiring and dismissal, certificates, a damaged work book, if the entries in it are readable), etc.

32 Rules of conduct. If the previous employer is liquidated. an employee can apply for information about the periods of his work to the state or municipal archive.

What to do if an employer deliberately spoils the work book with incorrect entries, and can he be held accountable for this?

In such a situation, you can demand that you be given a duplicate Labor Code, based on instructions for filling out work books.

The loss of a work record book by an employer can bring many unpleasant consequences, so the employer needs to know how to act wisely in this unpleasant situation.

There are no special instructions and procedures for restoring this document in the Labor Code or any other regulatory act; there are only significant instructions and articles that should definitely be followed when restoring a work record book.

What laws govern the storage of labor records?

A work book is an official document that includes all records of work in certain places of a citizen of the Russian Federation. A work record book can tell an employer quite a lot about its owner: important information about the employee’s experience and qualifications, the duration of his work. A dismissal record can speak volumes about the integrity and responsibility of an employee.

The main regulatory documents that establish the procedure for maintaining, storing and restoring work books are:

1. Labor Code (Article 66 “Labor book”). It states that the employer is obliged to obtain a work book for anyone who has worked for him for more than 5 days, and must enter all information about the hiring, transfer or dismissal of his employee. But there is no complete information in the Code about how to restore or what to do if a document is lost.
2. Government Decree No. 225 of 04/16/2003 (last edition dated 03/25/2013) “On work books” with “Rules for maintaining and storing work books...”.
3. Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia No. 69 of October 10, 2003 (last edition dated October 31, 2016) “On approval of the Instructions for filling out work books.” It contains important instructions on how to correctly enter all information into a duplicate.

Was the book lost?

There are situations when an employee of the HR department looks for a work book for a long time and worries about it, but it is found after some time.

This is not always the fault of the HR manager or another company employee. The book is quite likely to end up in the employee’s home, and the personnel officer may not even think about checking the employee’s personal file, where there is a receipt stating that he temporarily took it, for example, in order to apply for a pension.

• You need to collect as much information about the book as possible. In the book of accounting and movements of work books, you can see the date and its number upon admission, and look at the books of other employees who got a job on that day.
• It is also recommended to look into the employee’s personal file; perhaps there is his receipt stating that he temporarily took the document or did not have it in his hands at the time of hiring (if it was lost or the first appointment, the personnel officer could simply forget to draw up the document), etc. d.
• It is necessary to find out whether the employee changed his last name before joining the company or already while working in it, and check whether the work book is in the safe under the old last name.

We issue a duplicate

If after a few days the book is still not found, it is better to immediately begin processing its duplicate.

Attention! According to Art. 31 of Chapter 3 of the Decree “On Work Books”, the employer is obliged to issue it within 15 days from the date of receipt.

Several scenarios are possible:

1. Situation, if the employee has not worked anywhere before this moment or worked unofficially, is the simplest. The personnel officer draws up a duplicate based on the data from the employment order and other documents of his organization. You can read how to correctly make all the entries in Art. 7 “Features of filling out a duplicate work book” of the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor. Do not forget to provide supporting certificates to the employee; they will be very useful to him when applying for a pension.
2. If the employee has previously worked in different companies- a more complex situation. Here it is important not to lose a friendly relationship with a colleague, because in order to issue a duplicate, information from all previous places of work will be required. Many companies may refuse to send such certificates by mail, insisting that the employee come to them in person or the organization makes an official request to their company (the preparation of a duplicate may take a long time).
3. The most unpleasant option if the old enterprise no longer exists. But the situation is not so tragic, although the restoration of labor will take much longer than in the two previous cases. When a company is reorganized or merged with another, all documents must be kept in the new company. Any organization in the process of its liquidation is obliged to deposit all personnel and accounting documents in the state archive. You can make a request to the state archive at the place of the company’s past existence. If there is no response or the papers have not been saved, you can contact the Pension Fund with the same request. True, this option is only suitable if the employee worked at this enterprise relatively recently, since registration of insured persons in the compulsory pension insurance system was introduced not so long ago.

Employer's liability for loss of employment

Chapter VIII of Government Resolution No. 225 “On Work Books” states that the legal obligation to keep a work book during the period of work rests entirely with the employer. He is legally liable for failure to comply with this regulation.

To restore justice, an employee can resort to the help of the Labor Inspectorate or go to court:

1. If the employer, for various reasons, delays issuing the work book (by law he is obliged to give it back on the day of dismissal) and the victim does not have the opportunity to work in the new organization, then in accordance with Art. 234 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the former employer must finance all the hours of work missed due to this situation.
2. If an employee was forced to independently restore a lost book due to the fault of the employer, then he has reason to claim full compensation for all monetary expenses (travel to another city, costs of purchasing forms, photocopies of papers, consultation with a lawyer, collection of certificates, etc.) .
3. In the case where the employee also suffered moral damage, then, according to Art. 237 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, he has the opportunity to receive monetary compensation if he can confirm the fact of these episodes.

The law provides for quite effective administrative penalties:

• According to paragraph 1. Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Violation of labor legislation”, a fine of 1 thousand to 5 thousand rubles is imposed on a small company (without the formation of a legal entity), and on a legal entity - from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles.
• If an employer or his authorized person repeatedly fails to comply with labor legislation, then, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, an official of a small company (without forming a legal entity) is subject to a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 rubles, or the authorized person is disqualified for a period of 1 up to 3 years. For a legal entity - from 50,000 to 70,000 rubles or disqualification of an authorized person for a period of 1 to 3 years.

Important! Violation of standards for storing work records in accordance with Art. 13.20. “Violation of the rules for storing archival documents” entails a penalty in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles.

Of course, the employer or his authorized person is unlikely to go to prison for losing a work book, but in case of gross and flagrant violations, he can be brought to criminal liability:

• if the employer intentionally tore, threw out or damaged the work book (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 325 “Theft or damage to documents...”);
• the employer did not try to prevent a situation that resulted in a massive loss of documents or created unsuitable conditions for their safety (Article 293 “Negligence” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• the employer stated rudely that he did not intend to give the employee his document (Article 140 “Refusal to provide information to a citizen”).

conclusions

• The labor inspectorate and the court most often take the employee’s position in this situation, so try not to escalate the conflict to this.
• You can always come to an agreement. In extreme cases, it is better to formalize the dismissal by agreement of the parties and pay him monetary compensation. This will protect the employer from further claims and fines from the Labor Inspectorate.