How to Correct Errors in a Paper and Electronic Employment Record

To correct an error in an employment record, an employer must first determine where it occurred: in the employee’s personal details, a work entry, an electronic entry after digitization, or reported contribution data. Each case has its own procedure. Gather documents that confirm the correct information, contact the authorized employer or the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU), and check both the paper and electronic records after the correction.

The end of the five-year transition to electronic recordkeeping on June 10, 2026, does not mean that paper employment record books must be destroyed or that work periods not digitized have automatically been lost. The PFU continues to accept documents after that date. The paper book must be kept, and employers remain obliged to make the entries required by law when an employee requests them.

What to check before making a correction

For employers in Ukraine, electronic employment recordkeeping is governed by Article 48 of the Labor Code of Ukraine. Information is stored in the Register of Insured Persons of the State Register of Compulsory State Social Insurance. The paper book, employment activity records in the register, and data used to calculate insurance service are linked, but each must be checked separately.

The paper book contains entries about hiring, permanent transfers, and dismissal. The electronic employment record shows employment activity information entered in the register. Register data are used to calculate insurance service, and for periods whose data have not been entered, the rules and conditions under the legislation in force at the time apply. Therefore, correcting a job title in the paper book does not by itself correct reporting of the unified contribution for compulsory state social insurance (USC).

As a practical step, make a short list of discrepancies: entry number, incorrect information, correct information, supporting document, and person responsible for the correction. This helps ensure the review covers the electronic record too if the error has already been entered there.

What to do after the transition to electronic recordkeeping ends

Law of Ukraine No. 1217-IX of February 5, 2021 took effect on June 10, 2021, and provided a five-year period for entering missing information into the register. After this work is completed, employment record books held by employers are to be given to employees personally, against signature. The law does not provide for destroying them because of digitization.

Under Article 48 of the Labor Code, the employee keeps the paper book. At the employee’s request, the employer enters information about hiring, transfers, dismissal, incentives, and awards for success at work. If a person is taking up employment for the first time and asks for a book to be issued, the employer must do so no later than five days after hiring.

The PFU explains that it continues to accept and process documents after June 10, 2026, and that failing to digitize a record by that date does not result in the loss of insurance service. The end of the transition period does not cancel employment rights or original documents. However, a missing or disputed period must be substantiated, and the processing outcome should be checked.

Who is authorized to correct paper entries

Under paragraph 2.6 of the Instruction on the Procedure for Maintaining Employee Employment Record Books, approved by Order No. 58 of July 29, 1993, incorrect or inaccurate work entries are corrected by the employer that made them. The employer at the new place of work must provide the employee with the necessary assistance. It can help prepare a request and obtain documents, but the last place of work is not, by itself, authorized to rewrite all entries made by previous employers.

Personal details on the title page are subject to a separate rule: paragraph 2.13 provides for changes to be made at the last place of work. Before contacting anyone, determine whether the issue concerns the identity of the person who owns the book or information about that person’s work.

If the company that made the incorrect entry has been liquidated, paragraph 2.8 establishes the following sequence: the legal successor; if there is none, the higher-level organization to which the company was subordinate; and, if that organization does not exist, the relevant state archive specified in the paragraph. The current employer should not make a correction on its own simply because the employee could not find the former HR department.

In a request to a previous employer or archive, it is useful to state the company’s name during the employment period, the job title, approximate dates of employment, the number of the incorrect entry, and any known details of the relevant orders. Ask for a certified extract, a copy of the order, or an archival certificate with supporting documents. Keep the request and reply, including any notice that documents are unavailable.

How to correct personal details on the title page

Paragraph 2.13 of Instruction No. 58 allows the surname, first name, patronymic, and date of birth to be changed on the basis of official documents, such as a passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, or name-change certificate. The employer must establish the correct details and the documentary link to the previous information. An employee’s verbal explanation is not enough.

1. The employee provides the book and documents confirming the correct or changed details. To organize the process, it is useful to accept a written request specifying what needs to be changed.
2. An authorized person checks the documents and draws a single line through the relevant old information on the title page, leaving it readable.
3. The person writes the correct information next to it.
4. On the inside of the cover, the person states the supporting document, its number, and its date.
5. The person ensures the change is certified as required by paragraph 2.13: its text provides for the signature of the head of the company or the HR department’s seal.

The employee’s signature does not replace certification of the change by the employer. The book owner’s signature at the time of initial issuance, provided for in paragraph 2.12, relates to a different action. Before scanning the corrected book, check that the old and new details, document particulars, and certification are legible.

Also check the employee’s personal details in the Register of Insured Persons. Correcting the title page does not mean that those details have already been changed in the register. Changes made by subparagraph 5 of paragraph 15 of Section I of Law No. 1217-IX provide for current personal data to be changed at the insured person’s request, under the procedure established by the PFU. If the surname, first name, patronymic, or date of birth in the register is incorrect, the employee should contact the PFU about submitting that request and documents confirming the correct details.

If discrepancies in a first name, patronymic, or surname make it impossible to confirm that a document belongs to the employee, do not make a correction based on an assumption. Paragraph 26 of Procedure No. 637 provides for establishing in court that a document confirming employment service belongs to a person. This is a separate way to establish that the document relates to the employee; it does not guarantee that any claimed period will automatically be credited.

How to correct an entry about hiring, transfer, or dismissal

Paragraph 2.10 of Instruction No. 58 prohibits crossing out incorrect entries in the sections “Work Information,” “Awards Information,” and “Incentives Information.” Do not erase the text or cover it with correction fluid: the previous entry must remain readable. Make the correction as the next entry, with its own sequence number.

First compare the book with the original order or directive. Under paragraph 2.9, the corrected information must fully match that document. If the order has been lost or does not match the work actually performed, the Instruction allows other documents confirming work not recorded in the book. Witness testimony cannot be used as grounds for correcting entries already made.

1. Enter the next sequence number in column 1.
2. Enter the date of the correction in column 2.
3. In column 3, write “Entry No. … is invalid” and provide the correct wording. If correcting the reason for dismissal, reproduce the wording prescribed by law and cite the relevant article and paragraph, as required by paragraphs 2.3 and 2.26 of Instruction No. 58.
4. In column 4, state the supporting document. If the error occurred when information was copied from a correct order, repeat its date and number under paragraph 2.10. If you use other supporting documents because the order was lost or does not match the work actually performed under paragraph 2.9, state the particulars of those documents. In the case of reinstatement or a change to the wording of the reason for dismissal, cite the relevant new order.
5. Check that all columns match the supporting document and properly formalize the entries, including certification of dismissal entries under paragraph 4.1 of the Instruction.

Illustrative example: correcting a job title

All dates, numbers, and circumstances in this example are fictional. Under an order dated August 31, 2020, No. 24-k, an employee was hired as a non-food goods sales assistant effective September 1, 2020. Entry No. 12 incorrectly stated the job title as storekeeper. The employer discovered the error on October 14, 2026; in this example, no entries were made after No. 12.

In this example, the order is correct, so its original particulars are repeated in column 4. The correction date does not change the date of hiring. If the legal basis itself has changed, for example after a dismissal has been found unlawful, paragraph 2.10 provides for citing the order on reinstatement or changing the wording of the reason for dismissal.

What to do about a missing entry or numbering error

If an entry about a permanent transfer is entirely missing, there is no previous entry to invalidate. Find the order and check the date and details of the transfer. Instruction No. 58 does not establish a separate universal wording such as “Entry omitted,” so it should not be presented as a mandatory legal requirement.

A practical approach is to add the information supported by documents in the next available space, using the next number and clearly stating the actual transfer date and order particulars. Do not insert text between old lines or change the order date retroactively. If the omission is discovered after dismissal or among entries by other employers, it is advisable to agree on how to record it with the employer responsible for the omission and consult the territorial PFU body about how the information will subsequently appear in the register.

If only a sequence number is missing, first make sure that no employment event has been omitted. The Instruction does not provide a separate procedure for this kind of gap, so do not renumber the entire book. If incorrect numbering makes it unclear which entry is being corrected, also identify its date, contents, and supporting document in the request.

How to correct an error in the electronic employment record

Start by comparing the electronic information with the paper book and other submitted documents. According to the PFU’s explanation, in the personal account on the web portal, open “Електронна трудова книжка” (Electronic Employment Record), go to “Дані ЕТК” (electronic employment record data), then the “Відцифрована ЕТК” (Digitized Employment Record) tab. Check dates, employers, job titles, order details, and whether all periods are included.

If the PFU made an error while processing the documents

When the submitted documents are correct but the electronic entry does not match them, the employee should submit a request through “Комунікації з ПФУ” → “Звернення” (PFU Communications → Requests). There is no need to change a correct paper entry to match an electronic error. It is useful to attach a scan of the relevant page of the book to the request.

In the request, state your surname, first name, and patronymic, your taxpayer registration number, and the number and date of the earlier digitization request, if known. Separately describe the incorrect electronic value and the correct information in the paper document. For example, the request can directly compare the two dates and identify the page showing the correct one.

Keep the request number and check its status in “Мої звернення” (My Requests). After receiving a response, reopen the employment activity information and check the specific discrepancy. Submitting a request does not itself confirm that the data have already been corrected.

If the employee or employer submitted incorrect information

Paragraph 6 of Procedure No. 11-1 provides for resubmitting information when incorrect or inaccurate entries about work periods are corrected for insurance service periods after July 1, 2000, or when an incorrect or inaccurate electronic entry was created in the account. For resubmission, provide the title page and the pages with changes. If the paper book is also incorrect, first obtain a proper paper correction and the grounds for it.

Information may be submitted by the employee or the contribution payer. Paragraph 4 of the Procedure allows the employee to apply in person to a territorial PFU body; submission through the web portal requires an electronic signature based on a qualified certificate. The contribution payer submits information directly or through a representative to whom the head has delegated authority.

If the register is missing information about current HR events, including hiring, permanent transfer, dismissal, reinstatement, or suspension and resumption of an employment contract, paragraph 8 of Procedure No. 11-1 provides for the contribution payer to submit it by creating the relevant electronic entry. Therefore, correcting only a historical scan of the book is not enough for current recordkeeping.

How to prepare scans for submission

Paragraph 5 of Procedure No. 11-1 requires color scans made from original documents. For an initial submission, they must cover every page of the book containing entries, in chronological order, include the document margins, and make the form’s series and number readable. The recommended resolution is 300 dots per inch; file formats are jpg or pdf, and each file must be no larger than 1 MB.

Before sending, open each file and check that dates, numbers, signatures, and seals are legible. For resubmission, use the title page and pages with changes, as paragraph 6 provides. Do not edit an image in a way that makes it differ from the original document.

What to do if the problem is with reporting or contributions

If the hiring date and employment period are shown correctly, but earnings or accrued or paid USC data are missing or incorrect, refer the matter to an accountant. Employment activity data and contribution data are held in different parts of the electronic account card under changes introduced by Law No. 1217-IX. A scan of the employment record book does not replace correction of the employer’s reports.

As a practical step, check the specific months: compare payroll accrual documents, submitted reports, confirmation that they were accepted, and payment documents. If the reporting information is incorrect, the employer must correct the relevant report under the procedure applicable to its type and period. If the discrepancy concerns payment or how a payment was recorded, the cause must be investigated separately.

After the corrections are processed, the employee should check the register information again. An entry about work in the paper book does not by itself prove that all contribution data for every month are correct. At the same time, the absence of a period from the screen is not a reason to assume, without checking, that it has been definitively lost.

How to confirm an employment period if the employer or documents are unavailable

To confirm service for pension purposes, apply the Procedure approved by Resolution No. 637 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated August 12, 1993. Under paragraphs 1 and 3, when the book or required entries are missing or incorrect, evidence may include register data, certificates, extracts from orders, personal accounts, payroll records, written employment contracts and agreements with proof of performance, and other documents about work periods.

If the documents listed in paragraph 3 are unavailable, that paragraph allows employment to be confirmed using trade union membership cards, but only for periods for which membership fee payments are recorded. Documents used to confirm employment activity must be signed by officials and certified with a seal, if one is available, under paragraph 23.

First collect documents from the legal successor and the archive. If no information is available, keep the written replies and submit the available materials to the PFU to determine how to confirm the period. An archival certificate or another proper document may be grounds for confirming a period even when a standard correction from a former employer cannot be obtained.

The PFU may confirm service through witness testimony under the conditions in paragraphs 17–18 of Procedure No. 637, although witness testimony cannot be used to correct an existing paper entry. If documents are missing and cannot be obtained because of a natural disaster, accident, catastrophe, or other emergency, paragraph 17 requires at least two witnesses who knew the applicant through working together at the same company or in the same system. If the reason is liquidation of the company or a lack of archival records for other reasons, under paragraph 18 those witnesses must also have documents proving their own work during the period they confirm for the applicant.

The second paragraph of paragraph 18 extends this procedure to cases where documents are unavailable and the employer or its legal successor is or was located in a temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, in the area of an anti-terrorist operation or measures to ensure national security and defense, or on the territory of a community in an area of hostilities or under temporary occupation, encirclement, or blockade.

It also covers the cases specified there in which property or documents were damaged or destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage; the damage or destruction must be documented. These cases also require at least two witnesses who worked with the applicant and have documents proving their own work during the relevant period. If witnesses confirm periods of different lengths, paragraph 25 counts only the time confirmed by at least two witnesses.

Separately, paragraph 17-1 provides a special procedure for crediting service when a book contains corrected, unreliable, or inaccurate entries about work at companies or their legal successors in temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol. The employee should submit the available materials to the PFU and state these circumstances.

If the book lacks information needed for a preferential pension or a pension for years of service, paragraph 20 provides for a clarifying certificate from the employer or its legal successor. It must state the periods, job title, nature of the work, applicable list, and supporting primary documents. For employers in territories specified in the second paragraph of paragraph 18, register data may be used for confirmation. If there is no legal successor or archives were destroyed because of hostilities, a separate procedure established by the PFU applies; contact its territorial body with the available documents.

When a duplicate employment record book is needed

A duplicate is issued, among other cases, when the book has been lost or is no longer usable. Under paragraph 5.1 of Instruction No. 58, the employee reports the loss to the employer at the last place of work. The duplicate is issued no later than 15 days after the request, or within another period if the case is complicated; the word “Дублікат” (Duplicate) is written in the upper-right corner of the first page.

Previous periods are transferred on the basis of documents under paragraphs 5.2–5.3. First, state the total service before employment with this employer that is confirmed by documents, then list the individual periods that are confirmed. If a document contains only partial information, enter only that information in the duplicate. The employer must assist the employee in obtaining documents about previous employment.

If the book has been burned, torn, or stained and is unusable, paragraph 5.5 provides for the words “Замість видано дублікат” (Duplicate issued in place of original) to be written on the first page and for the original to be returned to its owner. If the company loses the book, paragraph 6.1 provides for the duplicate to be issued without charging the employee for it. Separately, paragraph 2.10 allows a duplicate to be issued at the employee’s request without an entry about a dismissal or transfer that was later declared invalid.

If the book is inaccessible because of an emergency provided for by the Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine or an anti-terrorist operation in the area where the person worked, paragraph 5.6 allows a duplicate to be issued at the new place of work. The employee submits a request and written information about the relevant circumstances from the emergency response headquarters or the Anti-Terrorist Center at the Security Service of Ukraine. This paragraph does not define the mere existence of martial law as a separate, universal ground.

If access to the original is restored, entries in the duplicate about employment periods are transferred to the employment record book. The first page of the duplicate is marked “Дублікат анульовано” (Duplicate canceled), certified with the seal of the employer at the last place of work, and the duplicate is returned to the employee.

How to keep documents and check the outcome

For each correction, it is useful to keep a separate file containing the employee’s request, supporting document, scan before correction, scan after correction, proof of submission to the PFU, and the reply received. Name files so that the employee, document, and date the copy was made are clear. Do not overwrite the original scan with the corrected file, since the original helps show the sequence of actions.

Access to these materials should be limited to employees who handle HR records, payroll calculations, or represent the employer before the PFU. Do not place scans of passports and employment record books in general work chats or open folders. The employee should keep the paper original and documents confirming the changes.

Finish by checking three outcomes: the paper entry is properly completed, the electronic information matches the documents, and any discrepancies in reporting and contributions, if there were any, have been handled separately. If an issue remains unresolved, record which documents are missing, where a request was submitted, and what response was received. This gives the employee and employer a concrete basis for the next request.

Official sources

• Labor Code of Ukraine of December 10, 1971, No. 322-VIII — Article 48: electronic recordkeeping and paper books at the employee’s request.
• Instruction on the Procedure for Maintaining Employee Employment Record Books, approved by Order No. 58 of July 29, 1993 — paragraphs 2.6–2.14, 4.1, 5.1–5.3, 5.5–5.6, 6.1: authority, documents, corrections, and duplicates.
• Law of Ukraine of February 5, 2021, No. 1217-IX, “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Employee Employment Activity Recordkeeping in Electronic Form” — Section I, paragraphs 6 and 15; Section II, paragraphs 1–3: register data, insurance service, and transition period.
• Procedure for Submitting Information about the Employment Activity of an Employee, Individual Entrepreneur, or Self-Employed Individual in Electronic Form, approved by PFU Board Resolution No. 11-1 of March 12, 2021 — paragraphs 3–8: submission, scanning, resubmission, and missing employment information.
• Procedure for Confirming Existing Employment Service for Pension Purposes in the Absence of an Employment Record Book or Relevant Entries in It, approved by Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 637 of August 12, 1993 — paragraphs 1–3, 17–18, 20, 23–26: documents, witnesses, special cases, and establishing that a document relates to the applicant.
• PFU explanation, “How to Correct an Error in an Electronic Employment Record Made During Digitization” — checking information, submitting requests about technical errors, and document acceptance after June 10, 2026.