Two Employment Record Books: What Should the Employee and HR Manager Do?-Publication

Where does the employee’s second employment record book come from and is it legal? Should the employee present it to the employer and if so, what should the HR manager do with it? Which of the employment record books shall be used to calculate the retirement benefit? Rjob has prepared answers to all the questions concerning the second employment record book.

Where does the second employment record book come from?

One of the most popular questions asked on the State Labour Inspectorate’s website (OnlineInspektsia) almost every month concerns the steps that should be taken if an employee presents a second employment record book. This situation is very common due to the fact that for many years, it was considered virtually normal for an employee to have two employment record books for desirable and undesirable records, in order to have two employments, or to secure a more generous retirement benefit.
At times, an employment record book simply gets lost, for instance, when moving. In this case, an employee will submit a request for a duplicate and take his own effort to restore the data from the old document, for instance, by contacting his former employers. If an employment record book was lost by the employer, it will restore the data and make a duplicate through its own effort. Meanwhile, the old document may be found unexpectedly and an employee may end up with two employment record books.
Nuria Arkhipova
Director for Development, SLG Agency for Efficient HR Management
Yet another reason for a person to open a second employment record book is work experience in positions that the employee cannot boast of or that can bewilder the future employer. For instance, a TV editor on a good channel is made redundant, fails to find a job in this line, and runs out of money. And he takes the job of a shop assistant. Ultimately he catches a break – he is offered a dream job. Obviously, he is unwilling to show his employment record book with the shop record in his new job. And the employee decides to “lose” his old employment record book and makes a duplicate.
Fired with cause – “lose” the employment record book!
One of the most popular reasons for intentional “loss” of the employment record book is getting fired with cause, including the causes set forth in Clauses 3, 5, 6, 7, 7.1, 8, 9, 10, 11, Part 1, Article 81 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation. According to Dmitry Yastrebov, Chief Research Adviser of the Capital Legal Services, the list of the most “unwanted” records includes employee’s unsuitability for the position, repeated failure by the employee to perform his employment duties, disciplinary sanction, one-time serious failure by the employee to perform his employment duties (absence from work, showing up under influence, or embezzlement), presentation of fake documents by the employee during execution of the labour contract. An employee with a record of this sort will have trouble trying or even unable to find a new job. This makes employees declare an employment record book lost or claim that they have never had an employment record book, as they were employed under contractor agreements, rather than under labour contracts.
Double-dealing with two employment record books
Article 60.1 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation officially provides the right to be employed by two entities; meanwhile, one of such entities should be the primary employer, while the other – a part-time employer. But even in this case, there is no need for the second employment record book.
Yulia Zhizherina
Employment Law Adviser, Russian School of Management:
The employment law does not provide an employee with the possibility of having two employment record books. Even if an employee has two employers, data on both of them must be entered in a single employment record book. In accordance with Article 66 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, an employee must hand over his employment record book to the primary employer to be kept thereby.
The problem is that the second employment will necessarily be a part-time job implying that the salary will be only a half of the full-time job. All too many would be unhappy about it and therefore, will open additional employment record books for each official employment.
“An employee will take an extra job as a primary employment in order not to lose money,” says Dmitry Yastrebov. However, the employment law provides employers with the lawful opportunity to pay extra money to part-time employees, set a relevant bonus, or apply an individual compensation plan using a labour contract.”
Another potential problem may occur when the employer is unhappy about its employee’s second job, particularly if the employee works for competitors. But in theory, it is possible to be employed with two employment record books virtually in conformity with the law.
“A violation is a situation when both jobs are hazardous. In theory, employment under two employment record books is possible in ordinary cases. Even firing an employee with cause in case the deception is revealed may be difficult, as the availability of two documents may be explained and there is no rule setting out liability for such violations,” says Nuria Arkhipova.
Is it legal to have two employment record books?
If an employee’s employment record book is lost or destroyed, the employer will make a new one that may include the employee’s employment history. If at some point, the old employment record book is found, the relevant employee will have every right to keep it, but will not be entitled to use it. Legal problems arise when financial issues are at stake.

Alexey Karabaev
Lawyer, Chairman of KLG
If you get a childcare allowance under an employment record book and concurrently get a job under another, you may face a claim for excess amounts obtained or may even be prosecuted for fraud.
What is the employer’s liability in case its employee has two employment record books?

Even if the employer is unaware of the fact that its employee has two or multiple employment record books, it may get in trouble in case of inspection or face penalties.
Nuria Arkhipova
Director for Development, SLG Agency for Efficient HR Management
Thus, for instance, problems may arise, if an inspection reveals instances of illegal part-time employment. To avoid consequences, the employer should dismiss the employee immediately. Meanwhile, it would be advisable to make the relevant adjustments, as the employee’s sickness benefits and leave allowances were paid based on the assumption that the employee had a single job, while they had to be paid according to Article 282 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation on part-time employment. Yet another intricacy that an employer has to remember: if an employee obtains a tax preference (certain categories of citizens are entitled to the so called tax deduction) in two jobs, this also entails criminal liability, since Article 218 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation provides for the tax deduction only for one employment.
Can you dismiss an employee if he has multiple employment record books?
As per Clause 11, Article 81 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation, an employee may be fired for presenting fake documents during execution of the labour contract. An invalid employment record book, when the relevant employee has another one, is treated as deception of the employer and forgery.
Not all employers are that judgemental. Dismissal is an extreme measure, rarely applied in practice. If an employer is totally happy with an employee, it doesn’t really matter how many employment record books he has.

What should an HR manager do with two employment record books?

It should be remembered that the law does not allow to transfer information from an employment record book into another one. Article 65 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation states that the employee must provide the employer with an employment record book. If he fails to do it due to the loss of the old employment record book, a duplicate shall be made for him. The same requirement is set out in the rules for maintaining and keeping employment record books and for processing blank employment record books and providing employers with them as adopted in Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 225 dated 16 April 2003 and in the guideline for completing employment record books approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation No. 69 dated 10 October 2003. Let the employee make his own decision regarding the employment record book that he shall present for employment. You should not accept both employment record books from the employee for the avoidance of misunderstanding.

Olga Abashnikova
Methodology Expert, BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
If an employee presents an original employment record book and a duplicate, you should definitely select the duplicate. The word “duplicate” in the employment record book denotes that the original employment record book is deemed lost, i. e. invalid.

There is no straight answer to the question concerning the treatment of employees with two employment record books. Such an employee may be a highly-qualified professional and in the meantime, a daydreamer. Older people are more careful about their employment record books, as they realise that they will need them to secure their retirement benefit. Young people do not care about this yet.
Which of the employment record books will be used to calculate the retirement and insurance benefits?
When it is time to calculate the retirement benefit, an employee will need to provide a package of original documents, including the employment record book. But how can we make sure which of them is valid? Officially, the Pension Fund will not accept multiple employment record books, and therefore, one of them will have to be selected, for instance, the one with longer service.
But financial problems may occur earlier, if an employee with two employment record books wants to have a sick leave or a childcare leave. The thing is that the length of pensionable service affects the amount of the temporary disability benefit. For instance, if an employee has served for a period exceeding 8 years, the employer will pay a temporary disability benefit at the rate of 100 % of his average pay. If the length of service is between 5 and 8 years, the benefit will not exceed 80% of the average pay, and in the instances under 5 years – 60%. Past experience suggests that the employer is entitled to count the entire length of service specified in all the employee’s employment record books. However, certain periods of the employment history may be “doubled”, as employees would often make a new employment record book for a new employer, even though they already have the original employment record book. A specific period may be counted only once when calculating the length of service.
It may be true that during the “tumultuous 1990s,” it was practicable to be employed by several entities on half-legal basis, but today, this practice may be more troublesome than beneficial. If an employment record book has really been lost, you should make a duplicate as soon as practicable. Otherwise, you should rather ask your employer or lawyer for assistance with this problem prior to incurring criminal liability.

Source: rjob.ru