Lost your work record book? Your length of service can still be confirmed: Ukraine has changed the rules

It will now be easier for Ukrainians to confirm their length of service for pension purposes if their work record book is lost, damaged, or missing necessary entries. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a new procedure that primarily involves verifying data through state electronic registries.

The changes are especially important for people who lost documents due to hostilities or occupation, and for those whose enterprises and archives remained in temporarily occupied territories.

First, length of service will be checked in electronic registries

The main change is that the paper work record book no longer has to be the only initial document.

According to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Pension Fund will primarily use information from state electronic registries.

If the necessary information is not there, the work record book and other documents may be taken into account. The list of documents allowed to confirm periods of work has been expanded.

If no documents remain at all, witnesses will help

For people whose necessary documents have not been preserved, another option is provided.

Length of service can be confirmed by testimony of at least two witnesses who worked together with the person during the relevant period.

Moreover, the applicant will not necessarily have to search for former colleagues entirely on their own: the Pension Fund must help find people who can confirm joint work.

Thus, losing a work record book or destruction of an enterprise archive should not by itself deprive a person of the opportunity to prove the years worked.

A separate procedure is provided for those affected by the war

The Cabinet of Ministers has separately singled out people who worked at enterprises in temporarily occupied territories or in combat areas.

A special procedure is also provided for cases when documents were destroyed due to the war.

The government explains the changes by the need to prevent a situation where a person loses the right to a pension only because it is physically impossible to obtain a certificate from a previous place of work.

Why this decision appeared now

The principle of simplified confirmation of length of service appeared earlier. In the spring of 2026, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law that provided for the use of electronic registries, other documents, and testimony of at least two witnesses in the absence of a work record book.

Kurs wrote about this decision of parliament.

The new decision of the Cabinet of Ministers continues this reform and establishes a practical procedure for confirming length of service, including for people whose documents cannot be restored in the usual way.

What should a person without a work record book do?

Now the logic of confirming length of service looks sequential.

First, the Pension Fund checks information in state electronic registries. If the necessary information is not there, the work record book and other documents from the expanded list are used.

If the documents are absent or not preserved, in prescribed cases the period of work can be confirmed by testimony of at least two former colleagues.

For people who worked in occupied territories, in combat zones, or lost documents due to the war, a separate procedure for accounting length of service is provided.

Thus, the absence of a paper work record book should no longer automatically turn into a problem that a person is forced to solve only by searching through old archives or a former employer.

Based on materials: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.