Good day to all visitors to the business blog “My Business”. Today we will look at a fairly popular question from both entrepreneurs and employees of various organizations - “How to draw up/receive a certificate of employment?”
A certificate of employment is a very popular document. You will definitely need knowledge on how to correctly compose it and give it to the employee. In turn, this information will also be useful to the employees of any organizations, since this document is required by various organizations - both private and public, in some cases - international: banks for issuing loans, kindergartens, MFCs, judicial authorities and others. If you receive a visa, be prepared to provide the consulate with a certificate from your place of work.
There is no specific form for the certificate, but there are certain rules for its preparation. Let's go through it point by point with all the subtleties.
Sample certificate of employment
Let's start with a sample certificate. At the moment, 2021, there is no exact form for drawing up a certificate; it is drawn up in free form at the request of an employee of the organization.
The certificate form looks like this:
As mentioned above, this certificate does not have a specific type, but it should definitely contain the following data:
- Name and details of the organization that issued the certificate;
- Text of the certificate - data confirmed by the employer;
- Date of preparation of the certificate;
- Director's signature;
According to the first point, the basic data of the organization is entered into the certificate - its name, OGRN, legal address of the organization and telephone number for contact. This data is indicated in the help header on the right or in the center.
If the employee accurately indicated the place where the certificate was provided in the application for the certificate, it is reflected in the text of the certificate. In some cases, the employer may write the line: “The certificate was issued at the place of request.”
It is not necessary to put the organization's seal on the certificate. Starting in 2021, all legal entities were exempted from the obligation to certify documents with seals.
A sample certificate of employment can be found on our website (doc format):
General structure information
General structure of a certificate of employment
Presentation at the place of demand is the main reason why a certificate is required. The content can be anything, if we talk about reflecting information related to a particular employee. The main thing is to make it clear why the certificate was created in the first place.
There are a number of standard criteria that are important, although they cannot be called official:
- One of the mandatory requirements is the presence of full details of the company, including addresses, telephone numbers, and OGRN numbers.
- Details are most often located at the very top, on the right side.
- The central part of the page includes the title of the document.
- The next important component is a text block dedicated to the employee. Here is his full name along with his position and monthly salary, length of service in the company. After this, it is necessary to record that the certificate is presented at a specific location of the requirements.
- Below is the full name and position of the manager. They must be accompanied by a signature and seal of the organization.
This structure is universal enough to be used in different fields of activity. Only sometimes it is necessary to adapt individual points, depending on the specific conditions associated with the design.
Do they check employment certificates?
Very often situations arise when a person who is not officially registered in an organization requests this certificate from his friend for the purposes he needs. This situation may arise if a person does not officially work anywhere, but he needs such a certificate for his own purposes, for example, obtaining a loan from a bank or applying for a visa.
An individual entrepreneur or a legal entity can make a false certificate for any person, but let’s consider the possible consequences of these actions.
In the case of obtaining a visa, the embassy requires the provision of this certificate. Upon submission of a certificate, the embassy usually does not check the information in the certificate. Although the embassy still has the right to request information from social and pension funds. If the certificate seems suspicious to them, first of all, the embassy will contact the organization by phone and clarify information about the employee.
It turns out that certificates from the place of work are checked, but they do it selectively.
The procedure for checking a certificate through funds is quite labor-intensive and voluminous work, while the number of all incoming certificates is quite large. Organizations requesting data simply cannot check all certificates for accuracy.
But is it worth the risk? Let's consider possible options for providing fake certificates.
Examples of using a certificate of employment
There are a variety of employment certificates required in different circumstances. The essence of the document is not so much to show a person’s income as to indicate the duration of the relationship with the employer, the position held and the experience accumulated at the enterprise.
The document is in demand in various areas of life, but more often the cases are limited:
- visa registration;
- preparation for trial;
- coordinating the opening of a sheet of temporary disability or maternity leave after moving to a new job;
- registration of child benefits from the budget.
Additionally, you may need a certificate of employment to present at your place of study in order to confirm your work experience or the presence of a place of professional activity. How exactly the certificate will be issued largely depends on the circumstances of the registration.
Certificate from the place of work to the court
Clarifying the status of the parties to a lawsuit can become significant when the court has to decide on the assignment of payments or penalties. Most often, a document is required when determining alimony payments, based on the presence or absence of official employment of a person.
In such a certificate, it is important to indicate personal information - full name, stable income, position, length of service. The court accepts for consideration documents certified by the signature of the head and seal.
To the embassy for a visa
When drawing up a document to obtain a visa permit, it is important to familiarize yourself with the requirements of the embassy. In addition to indicating whether the visa applicant has a job and labor income, such a document indicates data on the amount of salary, income, and length of service.
It is important for visa department employees to make sure that a foreign tourist who intends to visit another country has sufficient savings or income.
When writing a certificate for the consulate, it is important to indicate that the document was drawn up for presentation in a specific institution, and that after returning home the employee will resume working within the same enterprise.
To facilitate the process, many consulates prepare their own templates, which clearly indicate what should be indicated and how.
For social payments
A certificate may be required by social security authorities to ensure that the second parent of the newborn is not receiving benefits. The document is drawn up in accordance with the procedure for assigning benefits according to Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 1012n dated December 23, 2009.
Although there is no special form for social security, in addition to general information from the employer, it is recommended to supplement it with specific information depending on the situation. For example, when agreeing on maternity payments, the text is supplemented with a phrase about unused leave by the child’s other parent.
When agreeing on permission to work during the self-isolation regime
A separate form appeared in the spring of 2021 due to the need to obtain permission to enter the workplace. Although the restrictions were later lifted and the requirement was abolished, it is possible that the need for re-entry will arise later.
A certificate of employment was issued for presentation to government officials if a company employee is forced to go to work during the isolation period in accordance with the issued permit from the authorities.
Responsibility for providing fake certificates
As we wrote above, in most cases the information in the certificate of employment is not checked. Even if they call the organization and it turns out that this employee is not listed there, you are denied the right to receive the service that you tried to obtain with the help of this certificate.
The organization that issued the false certificate falls under Article No. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: “Forgery, production or sale of counterfeit documents, state awards, stamps, seals, forms.”
The organization that issued a false certificate falls under paragraph 1 of this article:
1. Forgery of a certificate or other official document granting rights or exempting from obligations for the purpose of its use, or the sale of such a document, as well as the production for the same purposes or sale of counterfeit state awards of the Russian Federation, the RSFSR, the USSR, stamps, seals, forms - shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for a term of up to six months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years. (as amended by Federal Laws dated December 27, 2009 N 377-FZ, dated March 7, 2011 N 26-FZ, dated December 7, 2011 N 420-FZ).
A person who receives and uses a fake certificate may also be held responsible for his actions; paragraph 3 of the same article will apply to him:
3. Using a knowingly forged document is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for up to six months. (as amended by Federal Laws dated December 8, 2003 N 162-FZ, dated March 7, 2011 N 26-FZ, dated December 7, 2011 N 420-FZ).
As we can see, the responsibility is quite serious. This applies to particularly severe cases. In any case, a legal entity risks receiving large fines as an administrative penalty. A certificate of employment is a document like any other, and falsifying documents is illegal.
Certificate from place of work for visa
Quite often, a certificate is required when applying for a visa. The Schengen countries pay special attention to the “quality of tourists”. The Schengen visa includes 26 countries, and to obtain such a visa, a tourist needs to prove his wealth and integrity. The main evidence of these factors will be a certificate from the place of work.
The certificate in this case is drawn up, as usual, according to the template described above. The only point you need to pay attention to is that the certificate must reflect the employee’s salary and length of service.
There are a number of recommendations that will help in obtaining a Schengen visa. It is advisable to draw up a certificate for submission to the consulate on the company’s letterhead and clearly state inside that this certificate has been issued for submission to the consulate of such and such a country. It is also worth noting in the certificate that the employee to whom this certificate was issued does not risk losing his job while traveling and can return to work upon return.
These recommendations are positively received by consulates and have a positive impact on the decision to issue a visa.
An example of a certificate of employment drawn up according to the recommendations:
Samples of certificates from workplaces: what options exist?
A certificate from work can be useful in various circumstances:
- registration of state child care benefits;
- receiving sick leave or maternity leave at the main place of work;
- if necessary, present it to the judge;
- if a visa is issued.
Depending on the specific purpose pursued when drawing up the document, the structure and composition of the certificates may differ from each other.
Upon receipt of a visa
An employee’s length of service along with salary is mandatory information that must be provided by a citizen receiving a Schengen visa. The main thing is to adhere to certain rules:
- It is preferable to use English when compiling. The certificate itself is printed on the organization’s letterhead.
- The certificate provides an additional guarantee that after returning to the country the employee will continue to work at his main place.
- Sometimes, instead of the certificate itself or together with it, a certificate in form 2-NDFL is presented.
From previous workplace
Why do you need a certificate from your previous place of employment?
Typically, this option is drawn up if the employee has just started performing his duties in a new place, but at the same time he needs sick leave or maternity leave. This requirement is also mandatory for those employees who, at the time of receiving rest, have too little experience for calculations using the general rules.
When making calculations, accountants need to obtain information about what earnings were for the average billing period. Most often it is 730 days before illness or the need to go on vacation. Information regarding general experience is also required. If a person resigns, then it is at this moment that a certificate from the previous place of work is issued.
How to get a certificate from your place of work?
In a small organization, it is usually enough to verbally ask your superiors for this certificate. In large organizations, this requires a written statement or report from the employee. In the application, the employee indicates the purpose of obtaining this certificate and the organization to which it is required to be submitted. The employee also indicates the necessary data that needs to be confirmed by the employer. This may simply be the fact that the employee officially works in this organization, or it may be the salary or length of service.
From the point of view of the law, the employee has the right not to inform the employer about the purpose of requesting this certificate and the organization to which it is required to be provided. Also, by law, the employer does not have the right to refuse to provide such a certificate to the employee. If the employer refuses to provide data on work activity, the employee has the right to go to court. The certificate is issued within three days from the date of its request.
An employee has the right to request a certificate even after dismissal if he needs to confirm the fact of his work activity during a certain period of time. The organization must store information about its employees in its archive, and based on this information, draw up and issue a certificate.
The validity period of this certificate is set by the organization that requested this document. In different cases, the validity period may vary significantly.
Certificate from the place of work in judicial records management
The court also often requests a certificate of employment. The certificate serves as confirmation of the person’s employment or provides information on income. In many cases, the defendant is required to confirm this data, for example, to collect debts, assign alimony, etc.
There are also no requirements for a certificate of employment to be submitted to the court. The certificate is drawn up according to the templates described above. Don’t forget to indicate the employee’s salary, position, and length of service in the organization.
Mandatory fields in the certificate will also be the details of the organization that issued it and the signature of the director.
