How to restore a work book if it is lost?

Procedure

To restore the TC you will need the following papers:

• An empty TC and an insert for it, if necessary.
• Employment contracts from previous places of work.
• Orders of dismissal, appointment of an employee, etc.
• Certificate from the Pension Fund of Russia.

It’s good if a person has a copy of his work record. It is required to be certified by the HR department each time you change jobs.

The first step to restore a document is to draw up an application to the employer. The law does not provide clear instructions on how to prepare this application. It is drawn up in free form. Sent to the HR department of the last place of work. The new work book is issued by the employer on the basis of documents provided by the employee. You can confirm your activities and length of service using employment contracts and appointment orders. You can obtain documents from your previous places of work. To confirm your work experience you will need a certificate from the Pension Fund.

IMPORTANT! To confirm your experience, you will need original documents.

ATTENTION! A person can take care to simplify the recovery up front. To do this, you will need a copy of the work book, certified in accordance with all the rules. If the document is certified, the entries from the copy are simply transferred to a new book. The employee will not have to run around to their former places of work. This is the best option, since, with a lot of experience, not all records can be restored. Some jobs may simply no longer exist, as companies tend to close.

Consequences of losing a work book

A work record book, like any paper document, can be lost or irretrievably damaged.
This does not mean at all that in such a situation the employee loses all information about his work experience. The law regulates the possibility of issuing a duplicate, and the instructions for filling out indicate how to restore entries in the work book if lost or damaged. It is quite possible to restore this important document. Another thing is that sometimes it is quite difficult. IMPORTANT!

From 09/01/2021, new Rules for maintaining and storing work books, producing forms and providing them to employers, approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 320n dated 05/19/2021, are in effect. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2003 No. 225, which approved the previously existing rules, has become invalid.

The original document on experience cannot be restored, but its owner has the right to receive a duplicate, which will include all or almost all the information that was in the original. For those who have been working since 2000, there is no question of how to restore length of service if a work record book is lost - all information about it is stored in the Pension Fund, where information for assigning a pension is generated even before the introduction of electronic work records (ELR). With the introduction of the ETC, the problem of data recovery is losing relevance, but is still in demand among those who decide to save paper documents.

Restoring a book through the Pension Fund of Russia

Restoring a document through the Pension Fund is the easiest option. This is a free and quick procedure. Let's look at the recovery steps:

1. Drawing up an application for restoration of the Labor Code.
2. Submitting an application in person or by registered mail.
3. After 10 days, the Pension Fund sends a response indicating the period of the employee’s work, his length of service and the companies in which the person worked.

IMPORTANT! Restoration through the Pension Fund is a method that has limitations. Personal records in the fund began to be kept relatively recently, and therefore not all data can be obtained this way. In particular, the Pension Fund stores information only for the last five years.

The work book was lost by the employee

When a person is employed, his personnel documentation is stored in the organization, and the personnel officer is responsible for it. However, by virtue of the provisions of Article 62 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen has the right to ask for a work book to be issued to him in order to apply for a pension and apply to the Pension Fund. In addition, sometimes HR specialists themselves violate instructions and hand out technical documents at personal request for other matters, violating the instructions. In such situations, citizens lose documents or render them unusable. Here is an algorithm for what to do if the work book is damaged or lost:

• the person is obliged to immediately notify his management about this;
• write an application for data recovery and issuance of a duplicate;
• the employer reviews the application and issues a duplicate within 15 days.

The most important point in this process is to complete this application correctly. This does not present any difficulties, since the application is written in free text form addressed to the head of the employer’s organization. Here is an example text:

The simplest situation arises if such an employee did not work anywhere else before joining the company. In this case, the information will be restored to him and a duplicate will be issued based on the original data that the HR department has at its disposal. Then the work record is restored according to the following algorithm:

Step 1. A person pays for or purchases a blank form on his own (if the loss occurred through his fault without the participation of the employer).

Step 2. The HR department fills out a form on which the word “duplicate” is written by hand or in the form of a stamp in the upper right corner of the first page. The citizen’s data is entered in strict accordance with his passport, and data about his specialty is entered on the basis of an education document (diploma, certificate, etc.). Even if the surname on the old form was corrected on the basis of the marriage certificate, the current surname is entered into the new document, and no marks are made about its change.

Step 3. The HR department enters into a new form information known to it about the work, including permanent transfers, and about the dismissal of the citizen. These entries are made on the basis of the employment contract, additional agreements to it and the information entered in the personal card of the T-2 form.

Step 4. The HR specialist fills out the section on awards and incentives. Entries are made only on the basis of documents stored in the organization (orders, instructions, etc.). Step 5. Records are not certified by the employer's seal while the citizen continues to work in the organization.

If the book that was lost or damaged contained information about work experience in other organizations, then restoring the work book becomes more difficult. Information about the work must be entered into the restored form only on the basis of supporting documents.

If the old form is not lost, but only damaged, but the entries are readable, then it is allowed to use it as a supporting document and record the length of service based on the previous information. In this case, the names of the old employing organizations are not indicated, but a general entry of the following type is made:

“The total work experience is 10 years 7 months 14 days.”

After this entry, the name of the company in which the citizen is employed is entered, and then all records are made about his experience in it, as explained above.

The personnel officer is obliged to help his employee restore as much information as possible about his work experience: formulate requests to the organizations that were the previous places of work of such a citizen, with a request to send the necessary information. Another situation is what to do if the employer has lost the employee’s work book or it was lost as a result of an emergency. In this case, the employee is not required to write an application for its reinstatement. The procedure for restoring and issuing a new form in this case is no different.

Restoration through the state archive

This method is relevant in the following circumstances:

1. Previous places of work are closed.
2. The Pension Fund does not have the required information.

In all other situations, it makes sense to use other methods, since restoration through an archive is a labor-intensive procedure. To obtain the required information, you must submit a written request. However, you need to be prepared for the fact that the answer will not come soon.

IMPORTANT! If an employee worked on a rotational basis, then requests must be sent to regional archives.

Where to get a certificate

Where can I apply for a certificate if the company is located in another region or has been liquidated?

If the enterprise is located in another region, there is no need to go to the place where the organization was located to obtain a certificate of periods of work. Pension Fund specialists will provide you with assistance in requesting the necessary documents on length of service or salary certificates, if necessary. To do this, you need to contact customer service with a statement.

If the enterprise is liquidated, but it still has a legal successor, certificates of experience and earnings must be issued by the legal successor.

If there is no successor, then the necessary documents must be searched in the archives. Which archive should you contact? Pension Fund specialists will also provide you with this information.

When contacting an archival institution, the applicant receives a response in the form of an archival certificate, less often an archival extract or a copy of a document. The archival certificate confirming work experience includes data for the time for which information is available in the archive documents: the exact name of the position held by the citizen and the period of his work are given. Orders on personnel, on main activities, personal accounts and other documents are used as documents confirming insurance experience.

Loss of document by employer

If the work book was lost by the employer, then it is he who bears the responsibility for restoration. For example, if there is a massive loss of books, the employer collects a commission to determine the length of service of all employees. It includes only non-interested persons:

• employees of other departments;
• trade union members;
• representatives of the executive branch.

If exact information about the employee’s place of work is not available, the information must be confirmed by two witnesses. Based on the results of the work performed, a report is drawn up. Paragraph 34 of the Ordinance mentioned earlier indicates the use of the act in restoration.

The law does not contain precise instructions regarding actions to be taken if an employer loses a document. If a large number of books are lost, the organization may be fined for improper storage under the Code of Administrative Offenses. If a company has lost a document and therefore cannot issue it when an employee is dismissed, the latter may request compensation.

ATTENTION! If the document of one employee is lost, the employer takes standard actions: contacts the Pension Fund, a state fund.

Why is it necessary to restore the shopping center?

A document containing records of a citizen’s work experience is stored in the organization where he is employed. According to the law, the TC is kept in the hands of only unemployed citizens, who will have to restore it themselves in the event of damage or loss. A person working remotely has the right to keep TC at home if he has agreed on this with the management of an organization located in another city or even region.

What happens to this document? It can:

• lose the employee himself;
• lose the organization's HR department;
• lose a government body or service (for example, the Pension Fund);
• render any person unusable as a result of mechanical or other damage.

In addition, documents are lost or damaged as a result of a mass emergency. This situation is separately regulated by law, and restoring the Labor Code in such a situation is often much easier than in an individual case. In any case, the law directly states whether it is necessary to restore a work book if lost - yes, since this is the main document for employment.

IMPORTANT!

An alternative is to switch to an electronic form of storing information about experience, which is available to anyone at any time.

Employee actions

If an employee has suspicions that the employer lost the document intentionally, he can contact the Labor Inspectorate. It makes sense to go to court only if the employee is sure that the organization deliberately lost the document. You can go to the court under the following circumstances:

• The employer refuses to restore the book without explanation.
• The employer denies the fact of employing the citizen.

The court obliges the company to take care of issuing a duplicate.

ATTENTION! The court is a last resort, since the measure involves wasting time and drawing up a claim. There is no need to pay a fee, since cases related to the Labor Code are not subject to fees.

How to formulate a statement, features of the document

If you are reading this article, then you are probably faced with the task of drawing up a statement about the loss of your work book. Before providing you with a detailed description of the document, we will give some general information that is relevant to all such papers.

1. First, keep in mind that almost any application today can be written in any form (with the exception of those submitted to government agencies - where you usually need to fill out unified forms). Of course, if the employer requires you to formulate an application using the template he provides, you should use this method.
2. Secondly, a regular sheet of paper of any format convenient for you is suitable for the document - preferably A4 or A5. The application can be written manually or typed on a computer, but it is advisable to immediately check with the personnel department which option they need - printed forms are not accepted everywhere. If you have made an electronic text, you need to print it out in any case - this is necessary so that you can put your signature on it.
3. Make the application in two copies - give one of them to the employer’s representative, keep the second for yourself, having previously secured a mark on it that you have received a copy. In the future, such a precaution may help you - for example, if an employee of the HR department states that there was no statement about the loss of employment and refuses to issue a duplicate.

Features of filling out a duplicate TC

The duplicate contains information about the total length of service in years, months and days. Specific places of work are not indicated. Only the last place of work is registered. This registration is relevant if the employee has not provided documents confirming his other places of work.

A stamp is placed on the title page of the document indicating that the book is a duplicate. You can read more about registering a duplicate work book if it is lost by following the link in this sentence.

The ease of restoring a work record depends on the specific case. If the previous employer continues its activities, and the Pension Fund has all the required data, then the procedure is relatively simple. Things get more complicated in cases where the data cannot be obtained or the former employer has been liquidated. The employee will have to go to court. During the time until a duplicate is received, it will be quite problematic to get a job. Therefore, you need to take care of receiving the document in advance. Neither the employee nor the employer should delay this.

Legislative norms for restoring information about experience

The possibility of restoring a book is determined by the rules for its maintenance and storage, but the procedure for entering information into a duplicate and the requirements for its execution are given in the Instructions for filling out the Labor Code, approved by a new order of the Ministry of Labor. This legal act is the alpha and omega both for personnel workers and various government bodies, and for a person who does not know what to do if his work book is lost, but he needs to get a job - the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in this case there are no recommendations does not give.