Electronic Labor Books Law Effective January 1, 2020

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Uliana Kozeychuk, Attorney - Littler United States

On December 16, 2019, President Putin signed Federal Act No. 436-F3 mandating employers to maintain electronic “labor books” (along with the hard copies) for every employee’s work history, effective January 1, 2020. Moreover, by June 30, 2020, employers must notify all employees about an option to discontinue hard copy labor book. Only those employees who submit a written application can have the hard copy labor book discontinued, but employees hired for the first time after December 31, 2020, will have only electronic books with no hard copy book option. As a result of this new law, the Pension Fund is implementing the new Form C3B-TD to be used for reporting employees’ data to the Pension Fund, such as hire and termination dates. The first report will be due by February 15, 2020, to report any data for January and to report employees who applied for electronic labor books. The Ministry of Labor is also implementing the new Form CTD-R, for employers to provide data to employees who switch to electronic labor books, to be made available upon termination or request.

Electronic Records

Trend

Author: Uliana Kozeychuk, Attorney - Littler United States

Aside from a recent Federal Act No. 436-F3 mandating employers to maintain electronic “labor books” (employees’ work history) for all of their employees, recent Russian legislation indicates a trend towards electronic record keeping. For instance, proposed changes to Russia Labor Code section 67 would allow electronic formation of employment contracts if the related electronic exchanges meet certain requirements. Conversely, proposed amendments to Labor Code sections 15.1-15.3 would give employees a right to refuse to exchange legally significant communications electronically.