Restoring a work book if an employee loses it - sample and step-by-step instructions

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Published: 08/05/2016

Reading time: 8 min

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Based on the work record book, the length of the employee’s work experience is determined. Its duplicate is issued by the employer based on a written application from the employee.

Filling out the restored work book is carried out on the basis of documents containing a link to the concluded employment contract and orders of the manager.

If the person responsible for the loss of the book is the employee, then he will have to collect documents confirming his work experience.

A work book is the only document with which an employee can confirm his work experience. It contains all the data about a person’s work activity, so it must be filled out and stored carefully. In addition, restoring a lost work book is a rather labor-intensive process.

Is it possible to get a new book if the old one is lost?
Which is better: restore or get a new one?
What does a restored work record look like?
Step-by-step recovery instructions

Restoring an employment contract that was lost by both the employee and the employer

Please tell me, the employee has been working in the company since 2012. In January 2021, he was transferred to another department for another position (with his consent, of course) and then, when filling out the documents, it turned out that both parties had lost their employment contract (neither the employer nor the employee) only had additional agreements to it. Here the question arises: how to draw up an additional agreement if there is no employment contract itself. After reading articles on the Internet (after all, there is not a word in the labor code about restoring a lost employment contract), I came to the conclusion: I am making a new employment contract (or rather, in a new edition, since the edition of the employment contract has changed since 2012), I am making the actual date of the contract (i.e. February 1), I write down the date of admission in the employment contract, when the employee started work (based on the entry in the work book and the hiring order), the number of the employment contract (as was the previous one), but all the conditions, i.e. position, I state the current wages. And I make an additional point that the employment contract was issued in replacement of the lost contract by both parties and that the terms of this employment contract come into force from the moment it is signed.

I did it, went to a lawyer for advice, and he told me that this was not right. Make a new version of the employment contract, but the date of the contract and hiring will all be from 2012 and the conditions will also be from 2012.

and now I don’t know what to do and what’s right..

Those. What you have done now is that you, for the organization of your employer, have created a situation where he can be brought to administrative responsibility:

This is important to know: Basic provisions of the employment contract

For violation of labor legislation, the employer bears administrative responsibility under Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

An employment contract that is not formalized in writing is considered concluded if the employee began work with the knowledge or on behalf of the employer or his authorized representative. When an employee is actually admitted to work, the employer is obliged to draw up an employment contract with him in writing no later than three working days from the date of the employee’s actual admission to work, and if relations related to the use of personal labor arose on the basis of a civil law contract, but were subsequently recognized as labor relations - no later than three working days from the date of recognition of these relations as labor relations, unless otherwise established by the court, Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Yes, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for the option that the TD will be lost, both the first and second copies, because This cannot and should not happen. If we also take into account that a document containing personal data , then the employer is also responsible for this.

The way you did it is an option, because... the result is the execution of an employment contract, but the result is bringing the employer to administrative liability, because the dates will be those that you described.

And of course, if you set the current date, then the TD number will in no way be the same as the one assigned in 2012, because The numbering of documents is new for each calendar year, for example, 1, 2, 3.

So, what the lawyer told you was correct, if you avoid having your employer brought to trial for violating the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, then it is better not to advertise this situation, because this is simply a restoration of the TD, and therefore the date 2012, the date of admission 2012, all the conditions, as they were written down in 2012, these conditions can be easily restored using Sample TD for the position of the same name, or from the 1C program.

And what you did , yes it could be - the current date of the conclusion of the TD, the date of acceptance 2012, the registration number, because. the date of conclusion of the TD is current 2021, then it must be registered in the Registration Journal 2021, and the conditions are not 2021, but those that were in 2012 (wages, work and rest hours, etc.).

But, if you did this, it would not mean that the TD was lost, but it would mean that the TD was not drawn up in writing, a violation of Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

And if I did exactly as you did, but with my adjustments to the dates, conditions, and registration number, then first I would draw up an Act on the Loss of the Employment Contract in order to somehow mitigate the situation for the inspection authorities.

You were thinking in the right direction, almost.

But, the HR officer’s task is also to be a buffer between the Employer-Employee, the Employer-Inspecting Authorities.

So, do as the lawyer told you - draw up the 2012 TD as if it never disappeared.

Viktoriya Kochetkova, expert

March 4, 22:47, 7 months ago Rating: 5

The rating of the appeal is determined by the activity of the discussion: the number of comments and approvals (likes).

The Tak-Tak-Tak Foundation is a member of the Global Network of Investigative Journalism

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:

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.
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...”.
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.

How to restore records?

As a rule, the document is restored at the last place of work. The employee must write an application requesting a duplicate. But restoring previous records is much more difficult. To do this, you must have documents that will confirm the fact of work in certain organizations, and also contain information about the period of work.

If the employer has lost the employee’s work book, then he must assume the responsibility for restoring it. If he refuses, the injured worker has the right to demand compensation. To do this, he needs to contact the labor inspectorate.

Sometimes it is enough for an employee to simply threaten management in order for his request to be granted. Often, organizations try by all means to avoid inspections and resolve the issue peacefully.

An employee has the right to receive a work book upon dismissal. If this did not happen due to the fault of the employer, it also makes sense to file a complaint with the relevant authorities. In this case, you can demand compensation, which is calculated based on average earnings and accrued for each day of delay in issuing a work book.

If a work book is lost due to the fault of an employee, then he must submit an application to the head of the organization from his last place of work with a request to restore the document. A duplicate must be issued to him no later than fifteen days from the date of submission of the application.

To make it easier to restore the work book, it is advisable for the owner to have a photocopy of all pages of this document at home.

The owner lost his work book

In the event that an employee is not sure of the employer’s good faith, he has the right to send an application by mail with notification. In this case, the employer will be obliged to act in accordance with the law. Otherwise he will have to bear responsibility.

If the work book is correctly restored, all entries must be entered on the basis of supporting documents. If it is impossible to duplicate each entry, then the total length of service is written in total, indicating the number of years, months and days. No abbreviations are used in the work book.

If it is not possible to prove the total length of service due to the lack of documentary evidence, then only the information that is confirmed is entered. Employers are required to facilitate, to the best of their ability, the obtaining of a duplicate and the prompt restoration of all records.

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.

This is important to know: How to cancel an additional agreement to an employment contract

First of all, it is recommended to give the HR department a few days to search for:

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:

The 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.
If the employee has previously worked in different companies , the situation is more complicated. 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).
The most unpleasant option is 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 suitable only 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.

Authorities restoring the work record other than the employer

The optimal recovery option is that actions through the last employer are not always possible. If an enterprise is liquidated and excluded from the state register, where can the work book be restored? The path through the archives and searches for the legal successor takes a lot of time.

Pension Fund

The Pension Fund of the Russian Federation can only confirm the payment of pension contributions by employers to a specific citizen, starting in 2002, when the personification of payments began, broken down for each employee. The insurance period is confirmed from this date, and information on accumulated pension points is also collected.

Filling out a duplicate through the Pension Fund is impossible, since the Pension Fund does not have data regarding:

the position of a citizen;
transfers and movements within the enterprise;
reasons for termination of the individual agreement;
information about distinctions and rewards.

However, the information available in the tablets makes it in some situations impractical to restore a work book after loss. If the employee began working in the period from 2002 and confirmation of length of service for subsequent employment is not important for the employee in terms of positions held and career growth, then the subsequent employer will issue a form according to the rules for new documents. When assigning a pension, length of service that is not documented will not be lost, since the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation has information about transfers made for wages.

Multifunctional Center

It is possible to restore a lost form through the MFC. To apply, you must first make an appointment. Based on a copy of the work record, if available, the multifunctional center will restore the lost book. However, in the event of liquidation of employers, you will have to visit the archive on the direction of specialists.

A request to the archive is made in the form of a statement in any form indicating:

the name of the archival institution in the dative case and the applicant’s full name in the genitive;
the requested period of activity;
the essence and purpose of obtaining information;
contact details of the person applying.

There is no approved sample of an archival certificate developed for restoring a work record book. Based on the provided certificates and responses from employers, the MFC carries out registration. The advantage of this method is to minimize citizen visits to institutions in person.

Applying to court to restore employment

It is possible to restore the work record through the court. To do this, a corresponding claim is filed with the court, indicating information regarding the length of service and a list of former employers. The court conducts its own investigation and contacts interested persons who can give testimony.

Despite its reliability, the method has disadvantages such as:

payment of legal costs in the amount established by the court;
the duration of the consideration of the case;
negative impression on interested parties upon receipt of a subpoena.