A new law effective January 1, 2020 (No. 439-FZ*) allows employees to choose for an electronic format of the labour book (= the mandatory registration of an employee’s labour history), instead of the paper format.
As a result employers are obliged to notify their employees of changes to the maintenance procedure for labour books and of the right to opt for the paper or electronic format. This must be done by the employer no later than 30 June 2020. Employees then have the right to make their choice until December 31, 2020 by means of submitting the relevant application form. Notification failure will result in the administrative liability of the employer up to 50.000 Rub (about 725 euro) according item 1 Clause 5.27 Code of administrative offences.
Additionally, the employer has to notify the Pension fund of the choice made by employees in their application. Failure to fulfil such obligation will result in administrative liability of the employer in accordance with the draft Law No 748758-7 dated 08.07.2019.
In addition to a notification requirement, the employer must bring local regulations on maintenance of the labour books into accordance with the Law.
We will be happy to inform you about requirements in more detail or help you draft the relevant applications and procedures.
* Federal Law of 16-12-19 No 439-FZ “on amendments to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation with regard to the generation of information on labour activity in electronic format”.
** Draft “On amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on administrative offenses regarding the establishment of administrative responsibility for violation by the employer of the deadlines for the submission of information on labour activity or for the submission of incomplete and (or) inaccurate information”.
