20.08.2019
0
869
3 min.
The right to work implies the opportunity to work for a wide range of employers. The relationship between the parties to the work process is fixed in writing, in the form of an agreement. One copy remains in the personnel department and one is given to the specialist hired on staff. When receiving a document in their hands, citizens often wonder whether the employment contract is stamped, since papers supported by the organization’s stamp are considered legally significant.
Using a seal on an employment contract in practice
In accordance with the law, the organization's seal must be affixed to:
- On documents serving as evidence of the rights of third parties;
- On papers recording facts directly related to the disposal of financial amounts;
- On other documents where it is necessary to verify the signature of an official.
This list also makes no mention of the need to affix a seal on the employment contract. Despite this, in most cases, in practice, it is placed on all documents, including not only the agreement between the employee and the employer, but also the amendments attached to it.
Is the organization's seal required when notifying an employee about layoffs?
Important: Based on the notification received, the employee will make a decision whether to continue serving, taking into account the conditions proposed by the employer, or to refuse. If the answer is negative, the employee is subject to dismissal, since the employee’s refusal is grounds for termination of the employment contract between the parties. However, the law provides for certain cases when an employee is obliged to carry out labor activities, taking into account changes to the original agreement, even against his own will:
- In cases where we are talking about using an employee to prevent the consequences of natural or man-made disasters;
- In cases related to production downtime.
Important! The period during which a mandatory temporary transfer of an employee can be carried out without his consent cannot exceed 1 month.
Opinion of lawyers and auditors on the use of seal
Lawyers recommend that employers put a stamp on the employment contract so that the employee or his representative does not have questions about the legality of the signature. This especially applies to situations when it is not entered by the head of the company, but by another authorized person (for example, the head of the personnel department).
Some auditors also make a comment when there is no seal on employment contracts. In this case, we are not talking about the obligation of the employer established by current legislation, but a legal custom in the field of labor law. A serious violation is the use of a “simple” seal (for example, the personnel department), and not the company seal.
Articles on the topic (click to view)
- What to do if the employer does not give the employment contract
- What is the difference between a collective agreement and an employment contract?
- Apprenticeship contract with an enterprise employee: sample 2021
- Terms of remuneration in an employment contract: sample 2021
- Go on maternity leave from the labor exchange
- Notice of extension of a fixed-term employment contract: sample 2021
- Notice of termination of a fixed-term employment contract: sample 2021
The company seal has a round shape; it indicates the company name of the organization and its location. In some cases, the imprint contains an abbreviated name of a legal entity, a trademark, or other means used for individualization.
“Simple” seals include seals of personnel and other departments of the organization. They can be made in the shape of a corner, triangle, etc.
Watch a video that will tell you whether a seal is needed on the contract
Conditions for the mandatory presence of a seal on documents
There is a dual opinion here. If we rely on the legislative framework of the Russian Federation, then a seal must be affixed to financial documents, documents establishing the rights of the parties, and other documents where it is necessary to confirm the signature of an authorized person with a seal.
However, most employers still stamp most documents, including the employment contract. They do this primarily to reassure the employee, as well as to minimize the possibility of fraudulent activities and various labor disputes, since the seal in these cases is an additional confirmation of the signature of the authorized person of the organization.
This is not prohibited by law, and when checking an organization’s documentation, employees of auditing companies will not be able to consider the presence of a seal on such documents a violation.
However, there are some subtleties here too, since organizations have a number of seals.
Stamping on the employment order and copies of personnel documents
The employment order is issued by the employer after the parties have signed the employment contract. It refers to internal administrative documents, so it is also not stamped.
This is important to know: Notice of extension of a fixed-term employment contract: sample 2021
Thus, an employment contract is valid even if there is no seal certifying the signature of the employer’s representative. If it is used when concluding an agreement with an employee, then it is necessary to affix a round seal.
Is the organization's seal required?
Still, this situation should be corrected to avoid problems in the future.
If the location of the company where the first seal was to be placed is unknown, lawyers recommend contacting the city archives staff.
All information about the organization you are looking for is stored here.
Therefore, you can request a copy of the order for the employee’s employment in this organization or go to court with a request to establish the fact that the person was an employee of this company.
After establishing the location of the company, when contacting the director, the latter should not refuse high-quality and proper registration of the work book.
Moreover, the first page is legally affixed with the seal of the company, not the HR department.
The seal of the organization in the employment contract is also mandatory in cases where its presence is directly stated in the text of this document.
For example, if the employment contract states: “This employment contract comes into force after it is signed by both parties from the day the official’s signature is certified with the employer’s seal.”
And even though in this case the employer’s seal in the employment contract in 2021 can be regarded as one of the traditions that has developed in the field of labor law, it should not be neglected.
The procedure for affixing a seal does not present any particular difficulties, but it will help to avoid unnecessary questions regarding the preparation of one of the main personnel documents.
Is there a stamp on the employment contract?
The Labor Code regulates the legal issues of concluding contracts and establishes that this document must be drawn up in two copies. According to Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, each copy must have two signatures - the employee and the employer. From the moment the agreement is signed by both parties, it comes into full force.
The legislation regarding the conclusion of contracts does not stipulate the need for a seal. Is a seal required on an employment contract if this fact is not regulated by the Labor Code?
On certification of entries made in the work book
The legal basis on this issue is contained in the Rules for maintaining and storing work books, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 16, 2003 No. 225 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). Paragraph 35 of the Rules states that upon dismissal of an employee (termination of an employment contract), all entries made in his work record book while working for a given employer are certified by the signature of the employer or the person responsible for maintaining work records, the seal of the employer and the signature of the employee himself.
Important
According to legislators, it will not be a violation to have a personnel service seal in the work book, that is, another seal of the employer, which will not entail a violation of the employee’s rights.
Let us recall that similar explanations were given by Rostrud officials in letters No. 2607-6-1 dated November 24, 2008 and No. 1450-6-1 dated November 22, 2012. The initial position of legislators was that the use of the seal of the personnel department in work books is unacceptable. This was due to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 1, 2008 No. 132, which amended certain wordings of the Rules and excluded the direct possibility of using the seal of the personnel department. Then, the position of legislators changed somewhat. A formal approach to the application of the norm enshrined in paragraph 35 of the Rules, in their opinion, can significantly complicate the employer’s performance of its duties when dismissing an employee. In particular, the preparation of documents upon dismissal of an employee may be delayed due to the absence of the employer’s seal in the personnel department, which will entail a delay in the issuance of a work book on the day of dismissal and a violation of the employee’s rights.
It is worth noting that the current legislation does not contain regulations regulating the operation of main and additional seals. Therefore, the employer himself has the right to determine the procedure for using seals by approving the relevant local regulations. The main thing in this matter is that the seal complies with the requirements of current legislation and contains key information about the employer.
Using printing in documentation
A stamp is a mechanical device that makes an impression with the details of an organization. The purpose of the imprint is to certify the signature affixed by the manager. The seal is stored in organizations in special places, and a limited number of persons have access to it.
There is documentation that is not considered fully completed if it does not have the company’s seal on it.
Such documentation includes:
- Forms that grant certain rights to third parties.
- Papers that have a financial purpose.
- Other forms that contain the signature of the head of the enterprise and require certification of its authenticity.
Based on these criteria, it is easy to see that most documents do not require an imprint, but legal entities try to make the most of the available imprint in order to further protect themselves and the organization from possible falsification.
Mandatory details of the employment contract
An employment contract is a special form of document that establishes the legal relationship between the two parties to cooperation. It is concluded when hiring a new employee. The agreement must take into account the smallest details, therefore, although the legislation does not have developed forms for writing them, it regulates the information that should be included in it.
Expert opinion
Polyakov Pyotr Borisovich
Lawyer with 6 years of experience. Specialization: civil law. More than 3 years of experience in drafting contracts.
Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation contains an exhaustive list of what must be stipulated in the contract. It also indicates what the approximate type of document should be, namely how the preamble and the final part of the form are drawn up.
The completeness of the points and their content depends on what kind of agreements were reached by the parties, but there are some points that cannot be avoided. These include information about the parties to future cooperation, the date of signing the agreement, details of the employee and employer.
Parties' details
Each contract must begin with clarification of information about who exactly enters into the employment relationship.
This is important to know: Irregular working hours in an employment contract: sample 2021
Employment agreements always involve two sides of interaction:
- An individual, namely an employee hired for a position. The preamble contains his last name, first name and patronymic in Russian; information is taken from the passport for correctness.
- Entity. Since the organization itself cannot represent its interests, a person is always appointed who is entrusted with this mission. Usually this is the head or general director of the enterprise. When specifying information about him, you should write his position, then the name of the organization and only then his full name.
Please note that it is unacceptable to enter the information of the organization rather than the manager in the “employer” column.
Document information
Information about the employee and employer must be supported by documents. For an individual, the identification document is a passport. The passport can be of the Russian Federation or another state. The agreement includes information about what document identifies the employee, its series and number, when and by whom it was issued.
It is also important for the employer's representative to provide documentary evidence of his authority. It can be expressed in two documents:
- Charter of the enterprise.
- A power of attorney issued to the manager to perform functions.
If the organization’s Charter states that all representative functions are performed by the director, then the agreement provides a reference to this document. If you have a power of attorney, you must indicate its number and expiration date. Be careful, it is not the date of issuance of the power of attorney that is stated, but the expiration date of its term.
Taxpayer identification number
A taxpayer identification number is a convenient tool for systematizing tax payments and the ability to track the history of their implementation. For legal entities, obtaining a TIN is a necessity that they cannot do without, which is why each organization has this individual number.
An individual may, at his discretion, contact the tax department at his place of registration and receive his TIN absolutely free of charge. Since this measure is not mandatory, not all taxpayers bothered to receive it.
Therefore, for an organization, the TIN must be indicated, and for an individual, only if it is available.
Place and date of conclusion
Another mandatory point is to indicate the place and date of the contract. The place means the city in which the enterprise is located; it should not be specified in more detail; there are other clauses in the agreement for this.
Without indicating the date of signing the document, the contract will generally be considered void, so do not forget about this small nuance. The date is the day on which the agreement is signed by the parties. However, the date may not always precede the start of work; in some cases, the contract is signed after the employee has begun to perform his duties. The Labor Code allows you to draw up an agreement after the employee has started working, but no later than three working days from the moment he assumes his direct duties.
Contracts cannot be concluded in the past; the date must always correspond to real time.
It is important to know: What is the minimum period for which an employment contract can be concluded?
Signatures of the parties
The document must be completed by signing; it is this action that puts it into effect and makes it official.
To register the place of signatures of the accepted employee and employer, it is customary to write down detailed addresses of the parties. For an organization, a legal address is indicated, and for an individual, two masses can be registered at once - registration and actual residence, provided that he does not live at his place of registration. Contact numbers are also indicated here. Detailed details of the organization may be specified. Below this information are the full names of the parties, next to which they affix their signatures.
Information about the parties to the agreement and the documents on the basis of which they act
Information about these parties is a mandatory item. Here the full name of the employed employee, the name of the employing organization, the full name and position of the person signing the contract on his behalf are indicated.
If the employer is an individual entrepreneur, his status and full name are indicated; if an individual - full name. It is not necessary to indicate the employee’s passport details in the preamble of the contract if they are indicated in the section with the details of the parties. It is necessary to indicate information about the document on the basis of which the employer acts.
Don't know your rights? Subscribe to the People's Adviser newsletter. Free, one minute to read, once a week.
If the employer is a company, such documents are:
- for the head of the organization - the charter;
- for another employee - a power of attorney (indicate its number, if any, date of issue, expiration date).
Signing employment contracts is a representation (Chapter 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). You cannot sign this type of document on the basis of an order to replace a manager or simply on the basis that his job responsibilities include such a function. A power of attorney is required.
For individual entrepreneurs and individuals, passport data and TIN are indicated.
Is a stamp required in an employment contract?
Do agreements need to be stamped? This issue has been resolved unequivocally - no, the employer does not have such an obligation. None of the legislation establishes mandatory conditions that would oblige the employer to affix his signature to employment agreements with seals. But at the same time, this norm has been adopted tacitly and is observed by the majority of legal entities. The presence of a seal does not violate any legal norms, but is an additional confirmation that the manager’s signature is valid. That is why most contracts are drawn up using a round seal.
But affixing a seal of a different type, for example, a personnel seal, which is intended to certify internal documentation, will be a gross violation of the law.
