The work book is one of the most important documents involved in formalizing the relationship between the employer and the employee. The norms for handling it are determined at the level of federal legal acts. The rules of maintaining a work book are an example of fairly strict legislation. What is their specificity?
General facts about keeping work books
The main legislative source governing the rules for maintaining work books is the 225th Decree of the Government of Russia, issued on April 16, 2003. It consistently sets out all the nuances regarding the correct handling of this document. Consider the general facts about the maintenance of labor books, which are contained in the Decree.
This legal act establishes that the workbook is the main document that reflects information about the activities and seniority of a citizen. The Resolution says that employers are required to keep work books (as well as continue maintaining existing ones) for each employee who has worked in the organization for more than 5 days (provided that this work is the main one).
It can be noted that in those rather rare cases when the employer is an individual, the workbook does not start - this is prohibited by law.
Key information that is reflected in the workbook: personal data about the employee, the nature of the work he performs, information about transitions between different employers, facts about awards for various achievements. Any disciplinary action does not fit into the document, unless it is dismissal.
Workbooks are filled out in Russian, and in the national Russian republics it is possible to use local languages that have the status of the state.
Book design
We can begin to study the rules of maintaining a work book with items that reflect the particularities of filling out a document. We list the most important facts regarding this process:
- if the employee is hired for the first time, the employing company must issue a workbook for him within a week after the person begins his career ;
- information about the employee is entered into the document in question on the basis of a passport or other source of identification recognized by law;
- data on the education received by the employee, as well as on his specialties, professions are taken from diplomas and other documents confirming qualifications;
As soon as the workbook is completed, the employer undertakes to conduct it correctly. But in fact, all that a company can do with a work book is to make entries in it and make adjustments. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to make entries in the appropriate document.
Record
The rules of the workbook suggest that all entries in it (for example, concerning transfers, facts about qualifications, dismissals, awards, etc.) are made on the basis of an order, which must be signed by a competent person from the senior staff of the employing company. Entry into the workbook of information should be carried out without the use of abbreviations. Entries must be accompanied by a serial number. Whenever the personnel service of the company adjusts the employee’s work book, she must notify him of the changes to the signature.
If the information about the dismissal is to be entered into the document, then the wording must fully comply with those provided for in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws. If an employment contract is terminated in accordance with Article 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then in the workbook it is necessary to refer to the necessary paragraph from its 1st part. If a person resigns on the basis of the provisions of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then the document also needs to reflect the language provided for by law. If the employment contract is terminated due to circumstances independent of the employer and employee, then the reference should be to the provisions of article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
If the employee wishes, then the workbook may contain information regarding part-time work (including dismissal from it). But for this, the employee must provide a document to the personnel service that confirms his employment relationship with another employer.
Among other popular records, which provide for the rules of maintaining a work book, are information on military service (as well as on work in internal affairs bodies and other state and law enforcement agencies). Also, information reflecting the fact that employees underwent advanced training courses can be entered into the document.
In the workbook, as we noted above, information about the employee's awards is recorded due to his labor achievements. This may be information on state awards, on honorary titles, on the delivery of letters, badges, diplomas and other types of incentives, which are provided for by the laws of the Russian Federation and local legal acts of employers.
Changes and corrections
The rules for maintaining the work book also allow amendments and corrections to this document. How should they be made? If we are talking about changing the name, date of birth, information about education, then the actions of the personnel service should be confirmed by documents related to the updated facts.
If it so happens that the personnel officer was mistaken when making an entry in the workbook, then this can be corrected. At the same time, the personnel service can also make the corresponding adjustment at a new job, if it has at its disposal a confirmation document from the previous employer.
If we are talking about corrections in sections reflecting facts about work or awards, then incorrect data cannot be crossed out: notes should be made that they are invalid, and the correct information is entered nearby.
A scenario is possible in which the organization that made a mistake in registering the work book changed its legal status. In this case, adjustments to the document should be made by the company, which became the assignee of the company. When an organization is liquidated, a new employer makes changes to the workbook. A similar scenario is if the employer is an individual entrepreneur who has liquidated his status.
Issuing a duplicate workbook
Consider another important aspect, which include the rules of maintaining work books. The 225th Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation permits the issuance of duplicates thereof. In this case, there may be several reasons for carrying out this procedure. We will study the key ones that contain the rules for maintaining a work book. What should an employee do if, for example, he accidentally loses an appropriate document?
First of all, you need to inform the employer about this fact. By law, a company must issue a duplicate workbook in this case within 15 days. By filling out this document, the employer must enter in it information reflecting the length of service (which is documented), as well as information about the awards.
It is possible to issue a duplicate instead of the current work book, which contains an invalid entry about the dismissal or the fact of transfer to another place of work. In this case, the new version of the document will contain all the necessary data, except for incorrect data.
The rules for maintaining and storing labor books suggest that the employer must ensure their integrity, prevent damage, and must not lose the relevant documents. But it happens that, for various reasons, a company still violates one of these rules. For example, because of an emergency. If it so happened that labor books in large numbers were lost by the employer, then the length of service of employees fixed in them is established by a special commission. It consists of competent representatives of employing companies, various trade union organizations and other authorized structures.
The commission examines the documents that the employee has - certificates or, for example, those that are relevant to the activities of the union - tickets, registration cards, and settlement books. If the employee does not have the appropriate sources, then the facts that he worked for such and such a company can be confirmed on the basis of the testimony of two or more people who were once colleagues for the person. After the work of the commission, duplicate documents drawn up in the prescribed manner are issued to employees. It is also possible to connect ships to the process of establishing the length of service.
Issuing a book upon dismissal
There are several regulations, one way or another correlating with the Decree, which establishes the rules for maintaining the work book. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, the employer is obliged to give the employee the appropriate document in his hands after leaving. How is this done in practice?
In the process of dismissal, the entries that the employer's personnel service entered into the employee’s workbook should be certified in the prescribed manner. Also, the employee must sign his signature. If the information in the workbook was entered not only in Russian, then the wording is also verified in another language.
Decoration liners
The workbook may also be accompanied by a leaflet drawn up in the established manner. It has unique identifiers - a series and a number. It is used if the workbook contains all or related to any section of the page, as a result of which there is nowhere to enter new information.
The insert is maintained in accordance with the same rules as the work book, and without this document it is not valid. Whenever the personnel service draws up an insert, it is necessary to put a stamp reflecting this fact in the workbook.
Book storage
The 225th Resolution reflects not only the basic rules of maintaining a work book. How to store these documents, as well as keep records of them, is also described there. It can be noted that the employer must conduct appropriate procedures not only with respect to the current work books and inserts, but also the forms.
To ensure the correct accounting of documents, the company must have several documents:
- a receipt book, which records information on the forms of workbooks and inserts;
- a book of accounting for the movement of documents.
The forms of the relevant documents are determined in normative acts issued by the executive authorities of the Russian Federation. Regarding the receipt book, it should include information on all procedures that reflect the receipt or expenditure of the forms in question. When accounting, it is necessary to indicate the series and number of each document. In the book of accounting for the movement of books and the inserts attached to them, it is necessary to register documents that are accepted from employees entering the work, as well as workbooks and inserts supplementing them. Upon dismissal, an employee of the company signs in both books.
Forms of workbooks and inserts are subject to storage as strict reporting documents. They are issued only to competent employees of the company upon request. A specialist of the appropriate profile should provide to his accounting department a report on how things are with the number of forms, about the amount of money received for workbooks and inserts.
Aspects of the manufacture and acquisition of work books
The workbook is the most important document, and therefore it is produced in the manner that is approved at the level of official authorities. Forms of work books, as well as inserts have appropriate security features. The employer company itself must acquire the types of documents in question, but at the same time, it has the right to assume compensation for the relevant costs from the employees.
Workbooks in Russia: the evolution of legislation
Interesting facts are reflected in the evolution of legislation establishing rules for maintaining work books. Russia is a state with frequently changing laws in many areas. According to many lawyers, the field of labor law and related industries is a vivid example of this.
First of all, we note that the rules for maintaining a work book until 2003 and those that are established now, were regulated by fundamentally different regulatory acts. Despite the fact that by 2003, modern Russian statehood had completely taken place, Soviet laws were in force in the sphere of regulating the turnover of workbooks. So, the procedure for filling out the relevant documents was regulated by decree No. 656 of September 6, 1973, issued by the USSR Council of Ministers, as well as the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions jointly “On Workbooks of Workers and Employees”. In accordance with this source of law, an Instruction was also issued, according to which the accounting of workbooks at Soviet enterprises was to be carried out. This document was approved, in turn, by the Decree of the USSR State Committee for Labor. One of the most accessible resources, with the help of which you can find the Soviet rules for maintaining a work book for reference, is “Consultant”. But this document is found in other reference and legal systems.
What interesting facts do Soviet rules of labor books contain? Has Russia changed them much? In principle, many of the provisions of a legal act published in the USSR were similar to those that we observe in modern legislation. For example, one of the provisions of the Soviet document says that employees should familiarize themselves with the facts of any changes to the workbook or the insert in it. Approximately the same formulations, as we noted above, contain the rules for maintaining labor books in 2014.
Also among the norms that are similar in nature to modern ones is the provision that with each entry in the workbook reflecting the fact of a person being hired, dismissed or transferred to another place of performing labor duties, the personnel department should familiarize the employee with signature.
At the same time, at the level of the provisions indicated by us, there are also significant differences between the Soviet and Russian approaches to maintaining workbooks. So, for example, in legal acts published in the USSR, it was said that the employee must put signatures certifying those other adjustments in the document in special forms. While the rules for maintaining labor books in 2014 assume that a person can also sign in the labor book itself.
Version Differences
Another most important historical aspect, reflecting the specifics of Russian workbooks, is that they are produced in different series. Now there are 5 of them. The very first episode was released the following year after the new rules for maintaining labor books of the Russian standard were introduced, replacing Soviet norms. The series received the TC index. Compared to previous versions of the workbooks, the form has slightly decreased and changed color.
The TC series is characterized by several degrees of protection. So, for example, on all pages of workbooks there is a phrase “Labor Book” visible in ultraviolet rays , as well as watermarks in the form of the abbreviation TC. The sheets of documents of the new series are sewn using the Bicolor thread, which consists of two colors.
As we noted above, since 2004 5 series of work books have been published. In 2004-2005 - TK, in the 2006 - 2007s another gray was used - TK - I, from 2008 to June 2010 - the next, TK - II, then - TK - III, which was valid until 2012. In 2013, the latest series of workbooks - TK - IV.
What is its practical significance? The fact is that the affiliation of the workbook of a particular series can affect, for example, the determination of its authenticity. If the 2012 series document contains data, even if all the rules for maintaining the work book of 2010 are followed, then it will be invalid. Perhaps the employer simply could not trace the correspondence of the year of issue of the book to the moment when it was filled out, but the legislator can interpret this as a fake of a document. You can also note the fact that employers are required to make sure that the workbooks brought by employees from previous enterprises are genuine - and not only by checking the consistency of the information reflected in the document with the year of release of its series.