Issuance of a work book upon dismissal according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: terms, at your own request

The dismissal process is always unpleasant and requires clear action. When is a work book issued upon dismissal of an employee? A special point is the issuance of a work book upon dismissal according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, since all basic data about the employee is included in this document. The employer is obliged to issue the document and has no right to withhold it to the detriment of the former employee. Sometimes it happens that the manager threatens that he will not give the book back, or the employee refuses to pick it up himself because he does not agree with the dismissal.

Dismissal implies the termination of all employment relations between the employee and the company and its management. The employee has the right to pick up his things and documents and finish his work in this organization.

The work book contains the entire history of a person’s working period; it will be needed in the future to calculate the length of service in the Pension Fund. Until the employment relationship ends, the employer must keep it, and upon termination of the employment contract, he must issue the document without hindrance on the last working day.

When is a work book issued upon dismissal of an employee? We will learn more from the material below.

Legislative regulations on the work book

The sample work book is legally established. The rules according to which work books are maintained, stored and issued are regulated by federal executive authorities, which are authorized to do so by the Government of the Russian Federation.

The legislative basis for handling work books is contained in the following acts:

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2003 No. 225 “On work books” contains the rules for maintaining and storing this document, as well as samples of the necessary forms, features of their production and distribution among employers;
Art. 66 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation prescribes the use of the above-mentioned Rules No. 255 to resolve issues related to work books;
Art. 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation speaks of the obligatory presence of a labor contract for concluding an agreement between an employee and an employer;
Art. 80 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, dedicated to the issues of dismissal at the request of the employee, directly contains the rule on the issuance of employment and other documents related to his work on the last day in the service of the resigning employee upon presentation of a written application by the latter;
Art. 140 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation insists on the need for final settlement with the employee on the day of his dismissal, including regarding documents belonging to him, including the work book;
Art. 234 covers the responsibility of the employer in the event of a violation of the employee’s right to new employment, which is impossible without a work book, if it was not issued to the dismissed person on time, and Art. 237 speaks of the possibility of compensation for moral damage for such a violation.

When and for what period?

The law does not clearly define the deadline for issuing a work book. But the Labor Code, namely Article 62, states that the employer must hand over to the employee all the necessary documents, including a work book upon his request, not only in case of dismissal, but simply in case of any need.

If there is a situation of dismissal, then in accordance with Article 84.1, the work book is issued on the last day of work of the citizen.

An employee’s last day of work is the last day to perform his or her job functions before immediate dismissal. Unfortunately, many employers, taking advantage of citizens’ ignorance of the deadlines, deliberately extend them, not wanting to involve accountants or thereby preventing the fired person from quickly finding a new job.

Sometimes, through no fault of the employer, it is impossible to transfer the work book directly into the hands of the dismissed person, and then the issue of deadlines will be regulated not by Article 62 of the Labor Code, but by 84.1, which talks about the possibility of notifying the employee, sending the document by mail, and so on. This paragraph does not specify the time frame for receiving an important document.

How long is a work book kept after dismissal if it is not taken away?

According to Article 84.1 of the code regulating the rights of workers, the work permit must be issued to the employee no later than the last day he performs his labor function at the place of work. But sometimes the reason for not receiving a work book is not the actions of the employer, but the employee himself.

Often on HR forums you can come across the question of what to do if an employee refuses to appear for his document or does not respond to notifications at all?

It doesn’t matter whether the employee worked for an organization, an individual entrepreneur, and so on. The most important thing is that in accordance with the Government Decree “On Work Books”, the employer or personnel officer is obliged to keep this important document until the employee picks it up.

That is, it is not possible to dispose of labor according to the law.

What to do if an employee does not pick up his work book after dismissal - read here.

What happens to the work record upon dismissal?

Legislative acts require the issuance of a work book with an entry on the termination of the employment contract to the dismissed employee on his last working day with this employer.

In some cases provided for by law, the date of dismissal is not considered the last day spent in service, but another date. This is possible if, for example, before dismissal, an employee was given previously unused vacation, after which he will be considered dismissed. In this situation, the last working day before the vacation will become the day of calculation and issuance of the work book, while the date of dismissal will be the last vacation day.

Entries made in the work book

The employer is obliged to issue the employee a work book that is properly executed. Upon dismissal, it is worth checking the following points of completion for compliance with the Rules for maintaining and storing work books:

each entry made in the book during the time of work for this employer must be certified by the signature of the superiors (responsible person);
Each signature must bear the seal of the organization or its human resources department;
The signature of the employee must also be present (except in cases where the book is not issued to him or he refuses to receive it);
records are formulated in the form prescribed by law;
the last entry should be a record of dismissal from this organization;
if the book was kept not only in the state language, but also in the regional one (of a republic that is part of the Russian Federation), then both texts must be certified accordingly.

This is also important to know:
How dismissal occurs on a day off: a detailed description

Responsibility of the employer for untimely transfer of the work book

So, the employer is obliged to issue a work book when dismissing an employee on the last working day or send documents in other ways if the dismissed person was not at the workplace.

In case of delay in issuing a document or making incorrect entries, the employer bears full responsibility. He is also obliged to compensate the employee for days of delay for a document not received in the amount of average earnings (Article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The new day of dismissal is confirmed by an order, on the basis of which another entry must be made in the book. The previous entry is considered invalid.

IMPORTANT! Incorrect information in the document can be challenged by the employee in court.

But even if the employer does not refuse to make corrections, it may still be liable, including a claim for financial damages, if the employee was denied employment. Compensation is also provided in cases of illegal dismissal or transfer to another position without obtaining the consent of the citizen (Article 234 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

The employer will also be held liable if he refuses to provide information to employees. This applies not only to the issuance of the document itself, but also copies. In these situations, management may face criminal liability based on the provisions of Art. 140 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Punishment may include large fines or a ban on holding certain positions.

For information on how to build a personnel policy, including regarding the collection and storage of necessary documentation, see the article “Procedure for maintaining personnel records at an enterprise.”

NOTE! Issuing a document late without valid reasons is fraught with a fine for the organization in the amount of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles, as well as suspension of activities for up to 90 days. For entrepreneurs, the fine amount will be from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles. For repeated illegal actions of a similar nature, fines may be increased to 70,000 rubles. for legal entities and up to 20,000 rubles. for individual entrepreneurs (clauses 1, 4, article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

But under some circumstances, responsibility for the delay in issuing a work book is removed from the employer. This happens if the last working day does not coincide with the day of dismissal. For example, when dismissing a woman who is on maternity leave, it is not always possible to hand over a document to her on the same day due to her absence from the workplace. The same applies to persons who have committed truancy. In such cases, the document must be sent to the employee no later than 3 days after his application.

The procedure for issuing a work book upon dismissal of an employee according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation

An employer does not have the right to release a former subordinate with a book in which the appropriate entries have not been made. According to Art. 66 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, he is obliged to make entries related to changes in the position or personal data of the employee. Without this information, there will be no point in the book itself and its storage at the workplace. Also, in the absence of this information, problems may arise with the calculation and accrual of the employee’s pension.

The procedure for dismissal and receipt of a book is as follows:

Drawing up a statement to a subordinate if he resigns of his own free will.
If the dismissal occurs at the initiative of the manager, then a special act is drawn up.
The management is obliged to read the application and approve the employee’s decision.
After writing the application, a two-week work period must follow.
On the last working day in the work record book, the manager or an authorized person (usually a personnel employee) makes an entry and endorses it with his signature and company seal.
The employee can receive his document along with all payments due upon dismissal.

So, a record of dismissal is made in the work book on the last working day (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 16, 2003 No. 225). It should contain the following points:

Serial number of the record.
Date of dismissal in the format dd.mm.yyyy.
Grounds for termination of the contract. We remember that words are written in full, without using any abbreviations. A reference to the number, paragraph, part of the article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is required.
Order details without abbreviations.
Signatures of the authorized employee or manager and the dismissed employee. The company's seal certifying the entry made.

Until an entry is made into the employment record, it cannot be issued to the dismissed employee.

Procedure for making entries

Having a work book when concluding a contract at the main place of work is mandatory (Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, within the first 3 days after employment, the employee is obliged to submit it to the company’s human resources department or to an authorized person appointed to be responsible for maintaining and storing work books by a separate order.

This is also important to know:
the day of dismissal is considered a working day or not

During the working period, records of incentives and penalties are made in the personnel work books in accordance with the norms of Article 66 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. When an employment contract is terminated, a final entry on the termination of the contract with the employee is made in the document. Accordingly, on the last working day, personnel officers are required to hand over a work book to the employee. After receiving it, the dismissed person should make sure that it is filled out correctly, namely:

All entries made must be certified by the signature of the head of the company or his deputy.
Each entry is accompanied by an imprint of the seal of the HR department or the general seal of the organization.
Records are formulated in accordance with legal norms.
The last one is the entry about the dismissal of the employee with reference to the corresponding article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
In work books kept in two languages (Russian and national, predominant in the region), each entry is certified with seals.

Incorrect wording in the work book can lead to staff claims against the company. If a dismissed employee goes to court with a complaint against the employer, the latter will have to correct incorrect records, as well as compensate for moral and material damage to the offended employee.

Dates for issuing the book

According to Art. 84.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a work book upon dismissal is issued on the employee’s last working day. There are situations when an employee does not go to work on the day of dismissal, for example, if he got sick or refused to come and pick up his work package that day.

In this case, a notice is sent to the dismissed employee with a request to pick up the document or agree to send the book by mail. From the moment the notification is sent, the manager ceases to be responsible for the delay of the book.

If the employee, having received the notice, applied for a work book, the employer must return it no later than 3 working days.

The document can be sent to the dismissed employee by mail if he has given his consent and written an application for forwarding the document.

In the event of the death of an employee, his relatives can receive a work permit by providing documents to confirm the relationship. If no one applies for the book, then the manager is obliged to keep it until required.

Design rules

Regardless of the reasons and the initiator of the termination of industrial relations, the personnel service of the organization or replacement persons is entrusted with the obligation to issue all documents on the last day of cooperation. The registration of a work book upon dismissal and delivery to a person is regulated by Article 84.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Filling out is carried out on the basis of an issued order, in accordance with which data is entered into the columns of the form:

Serial number of the record. Continuous numbering is indicated; in order to avoid violations, it is necessary to check the availability of entered data on the reception, movement of an employee within the enterprise, renaming of an organization or structural unit.
Date of termination of the concluded agreement. The last day of work is set in accordance with the application and the issued order.
Reason for dismissal. A work book is filled out on the basis of an article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation with reference to the number and wording.
Information about the order. Enter information about the order number and date of preparation.

Before issuing, you should check the presence of signatures and the organization's seal. Who signs the work book when dismissing an employee depends on the organization of personnel document flow at the enterprise.

It could be:

the head of a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur with employees;
head of the HR department or HR director;
an authorized representative of the personnel service, who is assigned the duty of maintaining document flow.

The fact of transfer is recorded by a bilateral act of issuing a work book to the employee or by a signature in the journal confirming receipt. Otherwise, the employer will have difficulties in case of loss without the fault of the personnel officers.

The employer is required to maintain documentation for each hired team member who has worked for five days. If the employee has his first place of business, the organization is obliged to open a form and enter information: personal data, education, diploma qualifications, period of study.

When delay is possible

The reason for non-delivery of a book may be:

absence of the employee himself on the last working day (at the time of termination of the contract);
reluctance of the employer (there are often cases when management forces a former employee to work a few more days in such an illegal way);
a controversial situation regarding the date of termination of the contract or the reason that served as the basis for this action on the part of the management of the enterprise or organization - the employee himself does not want to receive the document.

This is also important to know:
Should sick leave be paid after dismissal?

In the latter case, employers are required to notify the employee in writing of the termination of the contract and ask him to appear at the enterprise or organization to receive the book against signature.

You can also ask in writing for permission to send the book by mail.

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It should be noted that failure to issue a document due to the fault of the enterprise is an administrative violation.

If a former employee has submitted a written request for the issuance of this document, his request must be satisfied within three working days.

Negligence on the part of the employer may result in the inability of a former employee to get a new job. Consequently, he has the right to file a claim in court for unlawful actions of the personnel service and the manager himself.

Issue methods

There are two main ways to issue a work book:

handing over to the personnel department of an enterprise or organization;
forwarding via post office.

If there are no objections from the former employee, he independently

takes the document along with accrued cash payments. In this case, a receipt is left in the HR department confirming the fact of transfer of the book.

Any conflict situation in this matter may lead to refusal to receive the document by the employee. There is a need to draw up a corresponding act, which is signed by two witnesses and then filed in the personal file of the dismissed employee.

Postal forwarding is the best choice if the employee cannot come to the enterprise for a valid reason. For example, on his last working day he is in another city or in a hospital. In this case, the employer has the right to request (in writing) permission to send the book by mail.

Having received the employee’s consent, also written, the HR department sends a copy of the document. It is necessary to take into account that deportation outside the country (to another state) of this document is not carried out in accordance with current legislation.

The original remains for storage at the main office of the organization or enterprise (placed in the archive). As soon as the former employee appears in person to receive the document, it will be issued based on his written request within the next three days. The document is stored in the archive for 50 years, after which unclaimed work books are destroyed.

You will learn how to calculate your average daily earnings in this article. Are you not getting unemployment benefits this year? Find out the reason!

Read about the benefits and benefits for a labor veteran by following the link.

Who can get a work book

Usually, upon dismissal, the work book is given directly to the employee. In practice, there are circumstances permitted by law when the book can be:

issued to the person who received a power of attorney from the employee to receive the document;
given to a relative of the dismissed person;
sent by mail;
preserved by the employer in the manner prescribed by law.

Features of personal issuance

The procedure for obtaining a work record book is more labor-intensive for the employer than for the person resigning. It consists of several stages.

Filling. It must be fully completed by the day of dismissal, and consists of two important procedures:
entering the wording of dismissal.
Obtaining the employee’s signature in the required column of the personal card (indicating that he received the book in hand).

The employee did not receive the book, what to do?

If on the day of dismissal an employee does not show up to the HR department or his workplace or refuses to receive a work book, the employer needs to insure himself. The situation cannot be left to chance, otherwise a lawsuit may be filed due to the delay in issuing the work permit. The employer must:

draw up an act stating that the work book has not been issued to the employee (indicate the reason);
send the employee a written notification of the need to obtain a work book or agree to send it by mail.

Work book – by mail

Such an important document can only be forwarded with the written consent of its owner, that is, the employee. Such consent may be expressed:

in advance, when the employee asks in writing to send him his work report to the specified address due to the impossibility of appearing for it in person on time;
in response to a notice sent by the employer.

When will the book be given to relatives?

Close people of an employee can receive his work book only in one very sad case - dismissal due to death. To do this you need:

make an entry in the book about the termination of the employment relationship;
make sure of close family ties with the deceased, confirmed by documents (passport, marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.);
receive a receipt from a relative for receipt of the work permit (in a simple form).

With the written consent of relatives, you can use postal services.

Responsibility of the organization

If the management of the organization has forgotten that issuing a work book upon dismissal is its direct responsibility, then it is obliged to reimburse wages for the entire period of such delay. In this case, even the date of termination of the contract is postponed. The new day of termination of the employment contract is the actual day the documents are issued. To properly document this event, the employer is required to issue a new order and make a new entry. The previous entry in the book about the date of termination of the contract becomes invalid. A similar procedure applies if an erroneous entry is made or an incorrect reason for dismissal.

This is important to know: Dismissal under a student agreement

Issuance of a work book by proxy

A work book, like many other documents, can be issued not only personally, but also to an authorized person, if the relevant powers are properly formalized. This implies the proper execution of a power of attorney - a document delegating certain powers, in this case, obtaining a work book, to a specified person. This happens in cases, for example, when an employee is physically unable to pick up a document.

This is also important to know:
Probation period: Articles 70, 71 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation

The power of attorney must be written in the form prescribed by law and certified by a notary.

Important! A power of attorney may be considered invalid if it does not bear the date of its preparation.

Without a date, it is impossible to determine whether a document has legal force. If the power of attorney is written without indicating its validity period, it is considered to be 1 year.

A properly executed power of attorney must contain the following information:

The date of creation, as well as the place of drawing up, so that it is clear where and how the power of attorney will operate when its terms of office expire.
Entered passport details of the owner and labor. Initials, date of birth and place of residence must be indicated without errors. This point is strictly checked when issuing a work book at the place of work.
Data of the authorized person according to his passport. The information will also be checked, and the company will make a record of who exactly took the former employee’s work book.
Powers of a trustee. It is important to indicate what it has the right to, for example: check the presence of all the necessary entries in the document, take the work book with you, collect the salary, etc.
Sample signature of the person who will act on behalf of the former worker.
The principal must sign this document to certify its authenticity.

After receiving the work book, the attorney must write a receipt to the HR department employee or other authorized person confirming receipt of the document.

Not all employers agree to issue employment documents by power of attorney, since the law does not specify such a method in relation to this type of document. You can refer to Art. 185 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which specifies the general provisions on the power of attorney. If you cannot obtain the consent of the manager, then you can agree to receive the work book by mail.

Issue rules

The procedure and rules for transferring a work book to an employee upon dismissal:

Before issuing a work permit, it is necessary to make a note about the dismissal with reference to the article (Article 84 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Registration is carried out on the last working day in the work book.
After this, you need to make a note in the employee’s personal file (form T - 2).
The employee must read the information and endorse the document (this means consent).
If an employee fails to appear, an appropriate entry is made in the documents. Then the citizen is notified by mail about the need to obtain documents from the place of employment.
The employee is issued a work book with a note about the issue being made in the work book movement journal. The employee confirms the fact of issue by signing in the journal.

The work book must be filled out in accordance with regulatory documents without blots or errors. If an error is made, then each correction must be certified by the manager.

Notification by mail of the need to pick up a work book excludes the possibility of an employee claiming compensation for forced absences.

Example of a power of attorney

POWER OF ATTORNEY to receive a work record book

Yekaterinburg city

the eleventh of February two thousand seventeen

I, Antonina Rostislavovna Perestukina, born on October 14, 1978, passport 20 11 No. 452678, issued by the Department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Moscow Region in Pushkino on July 14, 2000, living at the address: Ekaterinburg, st. Academician Postovsky, 18, apt. 134, by this power of attorney

I AUTHORIZE

Maxim Anatolyevich Zheleznyakov, born on August 18, 1980, passport 20 11 No. 967389, issued by the Department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Moscow Region in Kolomna on January 29, 2004, residing at the address: Ekaterinburg, st. Bauman, 24, apt. 91:

obtain from the HR department of the limited liability company “Felicita” (Ekaterinburg, Vasily Eremina St., 12, office 2) the work book that belongs to me;
ensure proper execution and entry of records formulated in accordance with the law;
perform other necessary actions related to this instruction.

This power of attorney has been issued for a period of three months without the right of substitution.

Principal /Prestukina/ Perestukina Antonina Rostislavovna

On February eleventh, two thousand and seventeen, this power of attorney was certified by me, Anton Stepanovich Dobrodeev, a notary of the city of Yekaterinburg. This power of attorney was signed by the principal in my presence. Personality gr. Perestukina A.R. established, capacity verified.

Notary /Dobrodeev/ A.S.Dobrodeev

M.P.

Receipt for receipt of work book

This document is written on behalf of the employee who received the book. There is also no strict form of compilation - both written and printed versions are suitable. The main thing is that the employee’s signature appears below the text. In the text, he should indicate that on the day of dismissal (sets a specific date) he received a Labor Code, and also that he has no claims against the employer.

Receipt for receipt of work book

I, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, received my work book from PJSC Gazprom on the day of dismissal, December 21, 2021. I have no complaints against the employer.

This is also important to know:
Dismissal of a financially responsible person at his own request

December 21, 2021 Ivanov I.I.

This document is stored in the archive in the employee’s personal file.

Also, a receipt for receipt must be written by the relatives of the deceased employee who came to pick up his work book. However, a receipt alone is not enough for the employer to issue them a work permit. It is also necessary to provide documents confirming the relationship with the deceased employee.

Consequences of incorrect registration of a work book

Due to incorrectly issued inserts and work books, an employee may encounter the following problems and difficulties:

If an incorrect reason for dismissal is indicated in the work book, the employee may face difficulties in finding a new job. A situation may arise in which an employee cannot verify employment in a position.
A serious consequence of errors in the work book may be the inability to prove your true work experience when the time comes to apply for a pension. In practice, there are many cases when. The pension fund refused to pay pensions to citizens only on the grounds that some of the data entered in the work book did not correspond to the employee’s passport data, from which it follows that this work book belonged to another person.
The most common situation is when the employee’s full name differs slightly from the entry in the passport, for example, in the name Natalya, instead of “b”, the letter “i” is indicated. To confirm that the work book belongs to this particular employee, he will have to obtain numerous archival certificates, but most often people restore the right to a pension through the court.

Errors in filling out work books spell problems not only for the employees themselves, but also for their employers, as well as for personnel department employees who are responsible for the procedure for maintaining books. Negligence of officials is punishable by law with administrative liability:

In case of violation of labor legislation, the employer will be subject to a huge administrative fine, the amount of which can range from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. The fine may be replaced by suspension of the organization's activities for a period of 2 months.
If the employer delays issuing a work book to an employee upon dismissal, the employer is responsible for paying the employee compensation for each day of unjustified delay. Delay due to untimely correction of errors in records is also considered such.

You should pay attention to the following detail: it has already been said that when issuing a work book for an employee for the first time, the employer charges the employee a fee for its purchase. However, there are cases when it is prohibited to charge a fee:

In cases of mass loss of work records, for example, in the event of disasters or any other emergency.
If the work book was damaged due to the fault of the employer.
If, due to the negligence of personnel service employees, the work book was initially filled out incorrectly.

Application for issuance of labor

It is not necessary to write this document. The employer is obliged to issue a work permit without any statements written on behalf of the employee.

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However, drawing up an application for the issuance of a work book may be required in the following cases:

The employee is not resigning, but simply wants to receive his or her employment certificate in order to provide it, for example, to the Pension Fund or bank when applying for a loan.
After dismissal, an employee wants to receive a document by post, so he draws up an application to transfer the work book by mail. There is no established form for such a statement. In its most simplified form, it may look like this: “I give my consent to send the work book by mail.” Be sure to indicate the date of compilation and your signature with a transcript at the end. If you want the letter to be sent to a different address from which you will be sending the application, do not forget to clarify this point and the new address.
A former employee writes a statement of claim to the court for the issuance of a work record book because the employer does not give it up voluntarily.

You need to file a lawsuit after you have tried to resolve the conflict with your employer out of court, but were refused. It is desirable that this fact can be confirmed (after all, the defendant can simply state that you did not come for the document and it is not his fault). Since the employer himself will not write you a written refusal, since this is a clear violation of the law, and most likely he knows about it, we recommend sending a registered letter to the address of the institution with a request to issue a work book. By providing the court with a copy of this application and notification of receipt, you will prove to the judge that you made attempts to take away the work.

Issue options

There are several ways to transfer documents to an employee who is resigning.

Receipt in person by employee

In the vast majority of cases, when an employee resigns, he independently receives a work book.

You cannot make notes about the issue in the book itself, but you must make a receipt.

Full name is written on the receipt. the person resigning, passport details, as well as a list of documents issued to him. They also make an entry in the citizen’s personal file about dismissal and issue a document, which is certified by the signature of the person resigning.

The employee’s last working day is considered the day of dismissal (Article 77 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). It is established by law that on this day the employer finally pays the citizen, transfers to him all the required documents (Article 62 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), in addition to situations prescribed by law (for example, vacation followed by dismissal). The date of dismissal will be the final day of vacation.

If the person resigning refuses to hand over the work book, an act should be drawn up indicating the fact of the refusal and the basis. This document is signed by members of the workforce, including representatives of the trade union (if any).

Receipt by proxy

Sometimes an employee, due to his circumstances, cannot independently obtain a technical certificate. For this purpose, the law provides for the right to issue a work book by proxy upon dismissal. The power of attorney must be correctly drawn up and notarized. Basic information that a power of attorney must contain:

reliable data of the guarantor and authorized person (full name, passport details, registration address);
the period for which the power of attorney is issued;
subject of the power of attorney (acceptance and certification of the principal’s documents);
signatures of the authorized representative and the principal.

The power of attorney is issued in free form or on a special form. The method of transferring a work book by proxy is also used in the situation of the death of an employed citizen. Relatives have the right to receive it on receipt.

If it is not possible to receive documents in person, and if the enterprise has the written consent of a relative, the documents are sent by mail.

Forwarding by mail

In the event that the resigned employee was unable to pick up the work book, the work book can be issued upon dismissal by mail.

To do this, a notification is made to the previously dismissed employee about the need to pick up the work book.

In this case, the employee can give his written consent to the shipment by notifying the employer by return letter with a written consent attached.

The employer sends a written notice to the place of registration or to the last, reliably established address of the actual residence of the resigned employee. The employee must notify the employer of receipt of the notice by telephone or letter.

The right to send documents by mail is regulated by Government Decree No. 725 of September 26, 2000 “Rules for the provision of postal services.” For these purposes, registered letters are used.

Responsibility for delay in issuing labor

There are unscrupulous employers who do not comply with the law, who blackmail their subordinates, intimidate them by not issuing a work book, and retain an important document without having any rights. These actions will lead to the fact that the resigning citizen will lose the document in which his length of service is recorded. He may also have difficulty finding a new job.

An employee who has suffered from such actions has the right to file a lawsuit against the employer, which may include the very fact of threats on his part regarding the withholding of a document without good reason. Upon consideration of the complaint, the manager will be forced to return the document with the relevant records. In addition, it may be recognized that the dismissal was outside the scope of the law if the employee did not leave his position of his own free will. Then he will be reinstated to work in the company where he was registered. The manager will have to compensate the employee for material and moral damage, as well as reimburse all legal expenses if the court makes such a decision.

Attention! If the employer delays issuing the work permit for a long time, then administrative liability is established by law.

The longer the manager delays issuing the document, the more he will have to pay. According to Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offences, the fine can be set in the following amounts:

Officials - 1000-5000 rubles.
Entrepreneurs without legal entity formation - 1000-5000 rubles. or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
Legal entities - 30,000-50,000 rubles. or suspension of activities for 90 days.

General rules for issuing a work permit to a dismissed employee

A work book is
a personal document in which employment records are made. This document is created upon first employment, stored in the personnel department and handed over at the end of the employment contract.

On the day an employee leaves the enterprise, the employer is obliged to issue him a work book. The day of dismissal is considered the last day at work. If an employee has written an application for leave with subsequent dismissal, then the issuance of a labor document is carried out on the last day of leave.

Such rules are not always followed. There are cases that the head of an enterprise delays the issuance, citing the fact that the work and position have not been handed over. This is wrong, administrative liability is provided for violations.

There are certain nuances according to which the employer does not issue a document on the day of dismissal:

If the last working day does not coincide with the day of termination of the employment contract.
If the employee was absent from the workplace without good reason for 4 hours or missed a full day of work.
If the employment contract of a resigning woman is forced to be extended due to pregnancy, until the end of her term.

Limitation period for cases of issuing a work book and compensation for delay

The period during which a citizen must apply to court for protection of violated labor rights is calculated according to the following rules:

The total period is 3 months (paragraph 1 of Article 392 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
The period begins from the moment when the employee learned or should have learned about the violation of his rights.
In cases related to dismissal, the period is 1 month and must be calculated from the date of dismissal or the date of delivery of the work book (paragraph 2 of Article 392 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
For demands to pay wages and other payments due to an employee, the period for filing a lawsuit is 1 year. This wording of the law has long provoked controversy regarding which paragraph should be applied when considering cases on the issuance of labor and payment of compensation for delay, and, as a result, opposite decisions of the courts. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation put an end to the disputes in its ruling dated May 23, 2016 No. 18-KG16-21, stating that the statute of limitations should be calculated from the date of dismissal of the worker (that is, from the moment he learns about the violation of his rights).

What to do if the employer does not give the work book

At your choice, you can apply for protection of your rights to the following authorities:

Labour Inspectorate. You can file a complaint:
- Personally to the inspection;
on the website onlineinspection.rf

Your complaint must be investigated and a written response must be provided within 30 days. If the complaint is satisfied, a fine will be imposed on the employer, and you will be given a book. If you receive a refusal, you can try to appeal it to the senior inspector or go further to the prosecutor’s office or court.

Prosecutor's office. The form of the application will be slightly different from the complaint to the labor inspectorate.
Court. It is advisable to send a statement of claim to the court when you have tried to restore the violated rights through the above authorities, since filing with them is free (and in court you will have to pay a state fee), the complaint is considered in a shorter period of time (within 30 days, and the hearing on your case may be appointed only after 30 days - it all depends on the workload of the court).

Vacation and dismissal

What to do if an employee has a vacation followed by dismissal? The issuance of a work book usually occurs directly on the day the employee returns from legal rest.

For this reason, many personnel refuse to receive the document being studied at all. You can't do that. If we are talking about dismissal after a vacation, then the employer is obliged to issue a “work certificate” on the day the subordinate leaves after a vacation. It is prohibited to send the document by mail - only personal receipt is possible.

Often in this situation, employees find another way out. They write an application for the issuance of a work book in advance. Upon dismissal in this case, the employee will have the document. But he will still have to come to the employer so that he enters all the necessary data about the period of work in the company. Occasionally, the boss may agree and make a concession - enter all the information in advance and issue a “labor” upon application before the vacation. But this is not entirely legal.

Results

The procedure for registering the dismissal of employees includes the mandatory issuance of relevant documentation, including a work book. The timely issuance of a work book upon dismissal with correctly entered entries is certified by the signature of the employee. Responsibility for further storage of the document is removed from the employer.

If it is not possible to transfer the work book, you must request permission in writing from the dismissed employee for postal forwarding.
In some cases, it is possible to transfer the document to authorized persons. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

conclusions

The answer to the question: “when should you hand over your work book upon dismissal” will be as follows:

The employer must return the work book on the last working day.
You can issue a document in three ways: by hand, by mail (with the consent of the employee) and by power of attorney (with the consent of the employer).
If the employee did not pick up the work permit, then it is necessary to send him a notification by mail asking him to pick up the document.
Any unreasonable delay in issuing a work permit that causes material or moral harm to a former employee may result in fines.

Compensation for late issuance of labor

Based on Article 234 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, in the event of failure to issue a work book on the day of dismissal, the consequences for the employer arise in the form of an obligation to pay for lost earnings, since the citizen is deprived of the opportunity to find a job.

Forced absenteeism

The time interval between the last working day and the actual date when the citizen received a work book is considered forced absenteeism and is subject to monetary compensation calculated based on average earnings in accordance with Article 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Courts equate the procedure for calculating average earnings with a period of forced downtime. This legal position is enshrined in clause 62 of Resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces No. 2 of March 17, 2004, concerning issues of labor legislation.

Evidence base

Where should I go if they don’t give me my work book upon dismissal or it was issued with a significant delay in time? The registration of forced absenteeism is determined by the courts. However, courts take into account evidence of attempted employment by considering the following issues:

How did the lack of a document affect the possibility of employment? Part 5 of Article 85 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation directly states that there is no connection between the loss of the form and the conclusion of a new contract.
Who exactly did the citizen contact regarding employment and is there a written explanation of the reasons for refusal?
Did you personally find out from your former employer when the work book should be returned upon dismissal and what attempts were made to return it?

If a citizen does not have documentary evidence of the reason for the refusal, then the courts consider the application to be unfounded, equating it with an unwillingness to work and receive compensation at the expense of the former enterprise.