It is no secret that employees perform their duties within the scope of job descriptions. This document allows the employee to clearly understand the scope of their job responsibilities; to argue the inconsistency of the task with the duties of the position. At the same time, the employer can use job descriptions to put moral pressure on employees who are not in a hurry to perform their duties, apply disciplinary measures or argue that the employee is not suitable for the position, and so on. The State Labor Service has explained the importance of job descriptions for an accountant and the responsibility of the employer in case of absence of such document.
Job descriptions for everyone
A job description is a document that regulates the functional responsibilities and rights of employees, the requirements for their education and qualifications for positions that exist in the staffing list. The instruction is aimed at the position, not at a specific employee, it is impersonal.
Job description is both a tool of disciplinary influence on the employee and their protection. However, there are many enterprises (especially small ones) where job descriptions are absent or standard, purely formal. The law does not prohibit deviations from the standard instructions and partially redistribute the responsibilities of employees among others.
Lack of job description is a violation of labor law. Each employee should be familiar with their employment duties with signed acknowledgement.
Job description of accountant
Both enterprises and sole proprietors, if they have employees and formalize an employment relationship with an accountant must have job description of accountant. Sole proprietors must have rules of internal labor regulations, staffing and issue orders on personnel issues. Regardless of whether it is an enterprise or a sole proprietorship, the employer must explain to the employees their rights and responsibilities (Part 1 of Article 29 of the Labor Code of Ukraine; hereinafter – the Labor Code). This exact rule interprets the mandatory presence of job descriptions for employees.
The job description of an accountant is compiled on the basis of the National Classification of Occupations (order of The State Committee for Technical Regulation and Consumer Policy No. 327 of July 28, 2010), where you can find a list of correct job titles (occupations); Handbook of qualification characteristics of occupations of employees ДК 003:2010 (order of the Ministry of Labor No. 336 of December 29, 2004), where you can find a sample of standard job descriptions for each profession.
To compile job descriptions for accountants, you can refer to Part 7 of Art. 8 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine’ No. 996 of July 16, 1999, which defines the responsibilities of the chief accountant. In addition to these regulations, the rules of internal labor regulations, charter or other internal documents of the company may be required, if they define certain responsibilities to be performed by an accountant or other employee.
Job descriptions should be developed by the head of the enterprise with the involvement of the head of the personnel department, as well as the heads of relevant departments, such as the chief accountant.
For lack of job description, a fine is provided in accordance with Art. 265 of the Labor Code, which is 1 minimum wage (from September 1, 2020 – UAH 5,000). In this case, it can be imposed for each missing job description for the positions of the staffing list.
