Is it possible to have two work books at the same time: is it legal, possible liability

The work record allows the employer to understand where and how the applicant worked, and to draw conclusions about the accumulated experience and professionalism.

But sometimes employees want to have two work books so that they can use the second form at their discretion, for example, for part-time employment. This question often arises before those who want to hide some facts of their own work history, for example, an unflattering record of dismissal under an article. Let's look at how realistic this is to implement.

Is it possible for an individual to have two work books at the same time?

general information

The labor record is a register that is opened to each employee by his first employer and contains information about his work experience. Based on its data, the full length of service is calculated for assigning a pension to the employee when he reaches a certain age established by regulations.

It belongs to the BSO, due to the importance of the information reflected in it. In this regard, it has a unique serial number and must be stored according to the rules defined by law.

Attention! All labor records are entered in chronological order. If an error is made in it, then corrections in the register are made in accordance with the approved instructions.

Also, the labor certificate is confirmation that an individual has work experience in a certain profession. Information about awards, together with data about work, can confirm on paper the employee’s words about his qualifications, professionalism, etc.

How many work records are allowed?

The law establishes that an individual must have a work permit. But there is no direct prohibition on him having several of them. However, when asked whether it is possible to have two work books at the same time, practice shows that it is not.

The main role of labor is in confirming the length of service for calculating a pension. Therefore, only one such register will be accepted for consideration.

Data from the second book can be transferred to the main document, but to do this you will need to go through a certain procedure, which involves collecting certificates from employers where the second work record was presented.

Currently, employers periodically send all information about the work of their employees to the Pension Fund of Russia. Therefore, gradually the need for labor to accrue length of service is reduced to nothing. Over time, it is planned to switch to electronic labor.

However, in employment, its importance is still great. And if the employer finds out that an employee has several of them, this fact may make him suspicious of this person.

Attention! Space in the work book for making entries may be running out. Then a new register opens, but it is already called an insert to the main document.

https://youtu.be/qkmoiaKami0

Registration of a second work permit for a foreigner

Taking into account the immigration of foreigners, the question of whether it is possible for a citizen of another state to have two work books is especially acute. The main document, which was issued in a foreign country, is often not accepted by the personnel service. The rules for filling out are significantly different, so it is much easier to create a new version of the standard established in the Russian Federation.

Attention! The exception is books issued by enterprises to residents of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and other republics of the former USSR. Then you can make entries directly into them. The rules for their maintenance and storage are practically no different from those adopted in Russia. Therefore, there is no need to start a second one.

When might a second copy be needed?

Second and subsequent labor records often appear to workers because the first copy is considered lost or they are trying to hide the information contained in the first register.

When applying for several jobs

Nowadays, many workers take on multiple jobs to supplement their income. When employed in a second position, the employee’s first is considered the main one, and the second is considered a part-time job.

However, employers may refuse to hire if they learn that the employee already has a job. This is due to the fact that such an individual may have problems with time for work, and he must be provided with leave in the same time periods as the first employer.

For this purpose, when applying for a second job, so as not to be refused, a new employee can give his other job, in which there will be no open period of work.

It is important for this person to understand that when sick leave occurs or if he wants to go on vacation at the same time as his first job, problems will arise.

Attention! When applying for a job with a second employer, employees may try to hide the professions in which they previously worked or the presence of negative records. Therefore, they prefer to open a new register, citing the loss of the previous one.

If the main document is lost

No one is insured, so the first copy of the work book may be lost.

The employee restores or creates a new copy of the work permit. But after a certain time, his first job comes.

All of them are official documents.

In this case, the employee can transfer information from one to another and in the future use only one. However, no one is stopping him, for various reasons, from using both the original workbook and a duplicate, that is, so that his work is carried out using 2 workbooks at the same time.

When the book starts

A work book is issued to a person at the moment he is employed for the first time. The issuance of the form is not affected by the employee’s age or specialization. Organizations are required to purchase blank forms at their own expense and provide them in strict accordance with the developed instructions.

A work book should be created for the first time for employees who have worked for at least five days in the organization. The form is filled out based on the personal documents provided by the employees, namely passports and education diplomas. The form is considered a document of strict accountability, and therefore is issued only against signature, with the obligatory entry of information about its issuance into the journal for recording the movement of work books.

A new employee who has worked the first five days must complete the document within a week. The form itself requires the signature of the owner on the first page. His signature is also placed in the issue journal. The employer reports for each completed form to the inspection authorities.

Is it possible for foreign employees to have 2 work books?

Legislation determines that if a citizen of another state goes to work in Russia, then his employment record (if any) cannot be used.

In this situation, a new register should be opened for this employee, into which data about his work in the territory of our state will be entered. Therefore, the rules of law to the question of whether it is possible to have a second work book give a positive answer.

Attention! An exception to these rules exists for citizens of states that were previously part of the USSR. If, when working on the territory of Russia, he presents a labor document of the USSR standard, then he must make entries in it on a general basis.

Second work record for other reasons

Often, people think about the possibility of starting two books about work not only when combining different types of work. These are the cases:

Citizens also get an additional work book when changing professions, when they do not want the new employer to find out about previous work adventures.
Example: a person, at the very beginning of his working career, worked as a cleaner or a waiter in a canteen, and after receiving a higher education, he decided to get a job based on the qualifications he received, to get a more prestigious job.
Those who have lost it or cannot get one are also trying to get a second one.
The need to return a work book to a dismissed employee is enshrined in law, but in reality this is not always the case.
The law indicates that you can open a second book if, at your new place of work, the employee writes a statement about its loss (loss). The HR department forwards this application to the appropriate departments. Only then will the employee avoid the problems associated with this.
The second labor may appear when the first one was lost and then found.

Is there responsibility?

Problems at work

The current law does not provide for liability for the fact that the employee will have two valid and absolutely reliable work books, and the entries in them should not match. Therefore, if the work is reliable, but it does not show any periods of work, it cannot be said that it is not legal, and there should be no consequences.

If an employee has provided a work report with false records, this is considered to be deliberately providing false information during employment. For such an act, he can be fired after the appropriate court decision is made.

Important! In addition, the employee may be subject to administrative liability, which includes a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles.

An employee can keep his job if the court finds that false entries in the employment record were made without his knowledge. Then the employer must issue him a new document based on certificates from all previous places of work.

Criminal liability

As already noted, it is not prohibited by law to have two books, but they must be absolutely reliable. There should be no fictitious information in any of them.

However, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for punishment for forgery or forgery of documents (Articles 159, 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Those. The entries in the books should not match, they should not be fictitious. You cannot have and use two books with absolutely identical information “just in case.”

Attention! Fraud with documents is punishable by a fine in the amount of 120 thousand rubles to imprisonment for 2 years. For forgery of documents - arrest for up to 6 months or imprisonment for 2 years.

Such liability will occur only if the employer identifies the fact of falsification and reports it to law enforcement agencies.

Responsibility

As practice shows, a lot of people work with two documents on work experience. Often, employees use the opportunity provided by law to write a statement about the loss of a work book and start a new one at another place of work. Sometimes such actions are fraudulent. Example: an employee, while on paid leave to care for a minor child under 3 years old at her first job, gets a job in another company.

When opening 2 books about work, problems with tax structures are fraught. The very fact of registering labor documents obliges the employer’s representatives to submit information about employees to the Federal Tax Service and pay taxes on them.

It will not be possible to refrain from paying established taxes by using two labor documents. If it is discovered that there are two books, their owner will not face any formal liability. But there are examples when a fine was imposed for the fact of the existence of two books on labor.

If you have two books, the record of work experience in this case is carried out using both documents, and it will be difficult to prove its legitimacy. When conducting active work, this problem does not particularly bother citizens, but misunderstandings with the law will arise closer to retirement age.

https://youtu.be/FDyMcUcINMg

Nuances of calculating length of service and benefits

The work book is the main document that confirms periods of work in the organization. On the one hand, the regulations do not contain permission for an employee to have two such documents open.

On the other hand, no responsibility is provided for whether an employee can have several work books at the same time, just as there is no indication that the second document automatically becomes invalid.

Thus, the law does not directly prohibit taking into account length of service to determine benefits for both work books.

In this case, each is subject to general requirements for filling out the document:

All entries must be made in accordance with labor laws;
All records must be reliable and reflect the actual facts of work in organizations.

If the employer doubts the veracity of the information from the additional work book, he may ask to provide:

Copies of employment agreements;
Certificates from previous places of work;
Copies of orders for hiring and dismissal.

Attention! If a decision is made about the reliability of all the data, then you can use information from both books when determining the insurance period.

Legislative regulation

The law obliges employers to require a work record when applying for employment, and applicants for positions to provide it. This requirement is set out in Article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Article 66 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation spells out the functions of this document and how it should be maintained and stored. Please note that the employer is fully responsible for storing the form from the moment the citizen is employed until the day of dismissal. If the form is lost, the employer may be subject to both administrative and criminal liability. But during breaks between jobs, it is kept by the owner himself, who is not subject to penalties for its damage or loss.

The work book is such an important document that its production and issuance is strictly supervised by the state. Blank forms cannot be purchased anywhere; they can only be purchased by organizations under certain conditions. The form of the document is regulated by Rules No. 225 of April 16, 2003. They describe the format, size, number of pages, cover color, numbering rules and assigning a unique number, and much more.

The Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation has developed Instructions for maintaining this document No. 69 dated October 10, 2003, which all employers are required to adhere to. It also spells out the rules for the initial issuance of the form.

Two work books for one person: pros and cons

The ability to have two work books has both its advantages and disadvantages.

The most important advantage of drawing up a second document is the ability to hide dismissal from a previous job under a negative article and not spoil the main book.

Also, thanks to another document, it is possible to remove from the work experience periods when the employee, due to the lack of suitable vacancies, performed duties outside his specialty in small companies. For example, he worked as an auxiliary worker, a cleaner, etc.

Important! The negative point is that administrative or criminal penalties may be applied to the employee if it turns out that the document was falsified. In addition, the length of service from only one book will be submitted to the Pension Fund, and the experience drawn up in another document will be lost.

Possible problems of having two books

The absence of a formal prohibition does not give a positive answer to the question of whether it is possible to open a second work book, because subsequently the employee will have difficulties with government agencies. Before purchasing a second copy to provide to a potential employer, it is recommended that you read them carefully:

Tax authority. When applying to the Federal Tax Service for a deduction, you will need to provide a copy of your employment record. If you do this using two documents at once, the employee will certainly be accused of abuse of rights and will be held accountable, for example, a fine will be issued.
Educational institution. When using vacation to pass a session, it is paid for only one place; in the second you should take it “at your own expense.” If it is paid twice, it is considered fraudulent.
Pension Fund. This document serves as proof of the availability of the necessary insurance experience for additional accruals. Without it, an old-age pension will not be issued. But the years may not be counted, since both options cannot be provided. You have to choose the most profitable one for yourself.
Social insurance. It is possible to have 2 work books, but this will certainly entail problems when calculating compensation from the Social Insurance Fund for a period of temporary disability or when going on maternity leave. It is unacceptable to receive payments required by law both at your main place and as a part-time worker.

The simultaneous use of 2 work books is not a violation, and therefore does not entail administrative or criminal liability. But if such abuse is detected, the accuracy of the information specified in the document is checked to eliminate the possibility of fraud.

Actions in case of erroneous certification of the second document

A second work book is created if the original was lost and a duplicate, for some reason, cannot be obtained. It is formalized by the enterprise in accordance with all the rules. But if the document is subsequently found, then the person has two valid options in his hands. In this case, it is necessary to contact the employer with a written statement, in which to report the finding and ask to take into account the length of service when calculating bonuses and compensation for sick leave. You cannot use the book to get a part-time job.

https://youtu.be/r_8kRB7tpyY