It may seem strange that the first employment books were intended not for working people, but specifically for ‘non-working elements’. This was because first and foremost the Soviet authorities were concerned to observe the principle of the universal obligation to work. It was assumed that the victorious proletariat would observe this principle, but that the ‘non-working people’ would need to be put under special control. According to the Decree, this included the following categories:
1 those who lived on money not earned from labour, such as rental income or interest from capital;
2 people engaging in hired labour in order to make a profit;
3 members of the boards of corporations, companies or any kind of association, as well as the directors of such companies;
4 private traders, stockbrokers or any trading or commercial agents;
5 freelancers, if they are not performing any function deemed useful for society;
6 all those who do not have a clearly defined occupation, such as former army officers, cadets from military schools and colleges, former barristers and their assistants, private lawyers and other people in this category.14
All of the above categories were obliged to have an employment book, in which at least once a month details were entered about how they had carried out the ‘social work and obligations’ they had been given (this might be clearing the streets of snow, chopping wood or such like). Those who were not engaged in socially useful work had to report to the militia every week, where a mark would be made in the allotted place in the employment record.
Because the employment book had the status of the basic document for ‘non-working people’, if someone did not have one it was not possible to move about the country nor, more importantly, receive ration cards. In the prevailing conditions, this threatened them with starvation.15 In Article 5 of the Decree, it states, ‘Only on production of an employment book … do the non-working elements have the right to move or to travel, both on the territory of the Soviet Republic and within the confines of each settlement; and the right to receive ration cards.’16 In Article 8 it underlines once more that the employment book is their basic, and indeed only, legitimate personal document: ‘The employment book must be shown whenever an identity document is demanded.’ The Decree ends with an indication of the punishment that will follow should a non-valid identity document be produced: ‘People who fall into the category outlined in Article 1 and who are not entitled by the terms of this Decree to receive an employment book in exchange for a passport, or who produce false information about themselves or their activities, are liable to a fine of up to 10,000 roubles or a prison term of up to six months.’17 Paradoxically, ‘reliable evidence’ could be supported only by the old documents, which had been declared to be no longer valid.
‘The temporary work certificate for the bourgeoisie’ (as the employment book for non-working people was described on the form) included the following details about the bearer:
1 Name, patronymic, surname
2 Occupation before the Revolution
3 Title or rank before the Revolution
4 Property status
5 Age or date of birth
6 Place of birth
7 Place of permanent residence
8 Marital status
9 People listed in the employment certificate
10 Liability for compulsory service in the Red Army
11 On the basis of which documents the employment certificate was issued
12 By whom it was issued
13 Type of work assigned to the person.
Furthermore, there was a place on the form for registration of place of residence, monthly comments on how the work was carried out, and weekly observations about work attendance. It is not difficult to see that the collection of details in this unique document were meant to satisfy all the essential demands: not only to confirm the person’s identity and serve as a particular type of employment book, but also to guarantee that the regime could keep the holder under close observation. It is indicative that top of the list are those details that make up the ‘social status’ of the holder (occupation before the Revolution; title or rank before the Revolution; property status).
In December 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) passed the ‘Code of Labour Laws’, under which ‘every worker is obliged to have an employment book, in which will be entered observations about the work they have done and any awards or grants they have received’.18 The ‘Rules on employment books’ were added as an appendix to Article 80 of the Code. This referred to ‘normal’ employment books for genuine workers. They showed: surname, name and patronymic; date of birth; name and address of the trade union to which the worker belonged; and the category under which the trade union was placed for the payment of dues. The employment book was issued from the age of sixteen years, and if the worker left the job, they retained it.19 The type of information requested indicates that the draft was prepared without the participation of the NKVD. It is significantly different from what was demanded of the non-workers, most notably because of the lack of any information about their social status. There is also nothing in the Rules to say that the employment record replaces the passport and becomes the identity document.
Nonetheless, the idea that the employment book should act also as an identity document remained in force. This was supposed to happen with the introduction of the employment book in Moscow and Petrograd.20 The first point in the Decree of 25 June 1919 declared:
All citizens of the RSFSR who have reached sixteen years of age must have an employment book, which confirms the holder’s participation in the process of production, serves as an identity document within the boundaries of the RSFSR, and gives the right to receive ration cards and the right to social benefits in the event of the loss of the ability to work or unemployment.
Note 1: Soldiers and sailors of the Red Army and Navy must have the same employment books as everyone else.
Note 2: Children who, according to the birth certificate or document issued by the registry office, are under sixteen years of age are entered into their mother’s employment book. If they have no mother, they are entered into the father’s book. If they have neither parent, they will be entered into the book of whoever is their guardian.
Note 3: In the event of the bearer moving to a place where employment books have yet to be issued, the book will serve solely as an identity document.21
Judging by Article 14 of the Decree, it should have been followed up by the instruction, ‘on the order of introducing employment books to take the place of passports and other identity documents’. However, even in Moscow and Petrograd the introduction of the employment book as an identity document came up against organizational difficulties and was not fully implemented. What was more, implementing the idea of the universal obligation to work was impossible without registration of all those who came under this obligation, and the authorities found themselves having to do battle with so-called ‘labour desertion’.
In a Resolution of the IX Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (RCP(B)), which took place in March–April 1920, the situation was summed up thus:
In view of the fact that a significant number of workers, in search of better food provisions … are leaving their workplace and travelling from one place to another … the Congress sees as one of the urgent tasks of the Soviet authorities … to carry out a planned, systematic, thorough and strict battle against labour desertion, in particular by publishing lists of deserters who have been punished; by creating teams of deserters for penal work; and finally, imprisoning them in a concentration camp.22
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