Natalia SLIPCHENKO,
Senior specialist in HR record management
Payroll Sector, BDO LLC
On January 5, 2023, the new Procedure for Organizing and Maintaining Military Registration of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists (hereinafter - Procedure 1487), which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on December 30, 2022, came into force. The Procedure provides for a significant strengthening of control over registration, data exchange between various authorities, registries, and employers of persons subject to military registration. In addition, the Procedure 1487 requires the declaration of digitalization of several processes, such as the creation of the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists.
As a result, the enhanced control over the military registration of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists in practice will be introduced, as well as more efficient data exchange between various authorities, registries and employers will be provided.
To comply with the new rules on registration of long-term foreign business trips in entities, which provide for the deregistration of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists, businesses will have to comply with the new requirements in case of a business trip lasting more than three months.
The planned digitalization of many processes related to the military registration will allow for more efficient and faster documentation and data exchange between different authorities.
Below is a summary of the main innovations included in the Procedure 1487.
Hiring persons liable for military service
According to the updated Procedure 1487, an employer may hire persons liable for military service only after they provide their military registration documents, namely:
- for conscripts aged 16 to 27, this is a certificate of assignment to a recruiting station;
- for persons liable for military service - a military ID or a temporary certificate of a person liable for military service;
- for reservists, this document is a military ID.
Before hiring, an employer must check the relevance of the information provided and make sure that the candidate is on the military account. If a candidate cannot provide a military registration document, the employer cannot hire him/her in accordance with the requirements of the Procedure 1487. In such a case, the employer can only advise the candidate to contact the relevant authorities (RC and SS) at the place of registration to obtain or update his/her military registration document. And then, only after submitting such a document, can the employer consider hiring such a candidate.
Another innovation is that from now on, potential employees will be able to submit their military registration documents through the Diia app. This means that soon the necessary information will be available electronically, which greatly simplifies the process of providing military registration documents when hiring. However, this feature has not yet been implemented.
Although the new Procedure provides for clarification of the procedure for verifying the availability of a military registration document, some practical issues remain unresolved. It is unclear whether it is necessary to check the correctness and accuracy of the data in the military registration documents or only their availability. It is also unclear what further steps the employer should take in case of inaccuracies in the documents or lack of data on registration.
Since some of the rules set forth in the Procedure 1487 are new to us, many questions arise about their application. However, these specific issues will only be resolved when the Procedure 1487 is applied in practice.
Furthermore, when concluding a gig contract with a gig specialist by a resident of Diia City, the question arises of the need to verify the availability of his/her military registration document. When concluding an employment contract with a citizen, he or she is subject to the labor legislation, in accordance with Article 24 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, which provides for the submission of the relevant military registration document.
However, in case of concluding a gig contract with a gig specialist, according to Articles 17-23 of the Law of Ukraine “On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine” dated 15.07.2021 No. 1667, and the Civil Code of Ukraine, there is no need to submit a military registration document. On the other hand, when concluding an employment contract with a gig specialist, it is necessary to check the availability of a military registration document in accordance with Article 24 of the Labor Code of Ukraine.
In respect of individuals who perform work or provide services under civil law contracts, they are not subject to military registration at the company, as they are not hired employees. A sole proprietor may keep military records at own discretion, but this is not mandatory under the current legislation. If a sole proprietor decides to keep military records, he/she must comply with the established rules and regulations provided for in the Procedure 1487.
Maintaining personal military records at the company
Previously, maintaining of military records at the companies was less regulated, but with the introduction of the Procedure 1487, a more detailed description of the procedure appeared. Starting from January 5, 2023, the approach to military registration documentation was changed. The new procedure does not provide for the maintenance of personal cards according to the standard form of primary registration No. P-2 “Personal Card of an Employee”, but instead requires the maintenance of personal military registration lists and relevant files.
The personal military registration lists are kept in paper or electronic form and contain information on persons liable for military service who are reserved for the period of the mobilization and wartime. If an entity uses an electronic form of the register, after filling out the lists, they must be printed and signed by the manager and the person responsible for maintaining military records. This must be done annually by January 25 (as of January 1). After that, the lists, together with the statement of operational accounting of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists, are registered in the office of the registrar. For this purpose, a separate journal can be created, or they are registered as internal documents. It is worth noting that personal military registration lists are compiled separately for four groups, namely:
- persons liable for military service (reservists) of the officer corps;
- persons liable for military service (reservists) holding the rank of private, sergeant or warrant officers;
- women liable for military service and reservists;
- conscripts.
A separate file is formed for each group of personal military registration, which should contain copies of military registration documents of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists. Copies of military registration documents of persons who have not reached the age limit for being in reserve and have been excluded from the military registration by district (city) RC and SS are kept separately.
According to the new Procedure 1487, military registration of women with a medical or pharmaceutical specialty is mandatory. Women who have received a medical or pharmaceutical degree and were not registered for military service before the approval of the Procedure 1487 may be employed as non-conscripts until the end of 2026 (clause 51 of the Procedure 1487). Other female employees may be registered in accordance with their specialty and/or profession if they are related to the relevant military specialty, the list of which is approved by the Ministry of Defense.
Responsibility and assignment of duties for keeping military records
The responsibility for organizing military registration at companies lies with their CEOs.
Responsibility for maintaining military records is assigned to HR employees, such as a military registration inspector who specializes in the military registration. However, if the company does not have a separate position of a military registration inspector in its staffing table, the responsibility for military registration may be assigned to a person responsible for the registration of employees at the company, such as HR manager, HR inspector, etc., but only if the number of persons on the military register does not exceed 500. For performing such additional duties, the responsible person may be paid an additional charge of up to 50% of his/her salary.
Generally, a separate position of a military registration inspector is introduced into the staffing table based on the number of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists on the military registration (as of January 1 of the current year) working at the company, namely:
- from 501 to 2000 conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists — one person (position);
- from 2001 to 4000 conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists — two persons (positions);
- from 4001 to 7000 conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists — three persons (positions), and for each subsequent 1 to 3000 conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists — one person (position) additionally.
The Procedure 1487 provides for one more innovation regarding the requirements for the qualifications of a person responsible for maintaining military records. From now on, persons responsible for the military registration must have the necessary qualifications defined for a military registration inspector in accordance with the national classifier of professions DK 003:2010 “Classifier of professions”. Clause 11 of the Procedure 1487. The name of the profession “Military registration inspector” (code 3439) refers to the section “Specialists”. However, no sectoral State Classifier of Professions contains an official qualification characteristic for this profession, and no relevant professional standard has been developed.
The section “Specialists” contains professions that require an educational qualification of the initial level (short cycle) of higher education or, in some cases, the first level of higher education (bachelor’s degree), and do not require work experience. Such persons are required to take further education courses at least once every five years.
Persons responsible for keeping military records can improve their skills in educational institutions that provide relevant training under programs approved by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have appropriate licenses to conduct qualification courses under relevant training programs. Every two years, the institutions so licensed agree on training programs with the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Institutions that do not have the appropriate licenses are not entitled to conduct qualification courses for persons responsible for the military registration.
Since the provision on the need for advanced training appeared in the Procedure No. 1487 only this year, companies should decide on taking the courses by October 1, 2023. This also applies to educational institutions that are licensed to conduct such courses. In other words, it is expected that the lists of such institutions and training programs will be published closer to October this year.
Military registration measures to be taken by the company
The Procedure No. 1487 defines the list of measures to be taken by entities in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 37, namely:
- When hiring, the company must check the availability of the military registration documents.
- Maintain personal military registration lists and operational records.
- Within seven days from the date of issuance of the order, inform the relevant RC and SS about the appointment and dismissal of managers and persons responsible for maintaining military records; about the hiring and dismissal of conscripts, persons liable for military service (reservists); and send notifications about changes in the accounting data of conscripts and persons liable for military service on a monthly basis by the 5th day of the following month (in which the changes occurred).
- Interact with the relevant RC and SS to reconcile the data of the personal military registration lists,
- Since the entry into force of the Procedure No. 1487, employers have been obliged to serve employees (conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists) with summonses to appear at the RC and SS if such summons is received by the company together with an order.
- Timely prepare documents for reservations for persons liable for military service.
- Other measures provided for by the Procedure No. 1487.
The procedure for sending notifications to RC and SS is not clearly defined; as such, it is unclear whether it is required to be sent by mail or submitted manually. In practice, most RC and SS insist on sending it by mail.
New rules for business trips of employees liable for military service
If it is needed to arrange an overseas business trip for more than three months, in addition to the usual list of documents required for traveling abroad, conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists must first be deregistered from the military register. This means that the employee must personally appear at the relevant RC and SS to be deregistered from the military register. In addition, they must submit a package of documents confirming their travel abroad.
However, if the duration of the business trip is less than three months, deregistration is not required.
Liability for violation of the rules of the military registration by citizens and violation of the legislation on defense, mobilization preparation and mobilization by entities
A Ukrainian citizen liable for military service is liable for violation of the rules of the military registration/evasion of registration:
- Administrative liability. Part 2 of Article 210 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provides for a fine of UAH 850 to 1700 for violation of the military registration rules by conscripts, persons liable for military service, and reservists.
- Criminal liability. Part 1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for liability for evasion of the military registration or training (special) sessions in the form of a fine of UAH 5100 to 8500 or correctional labor for up to 1 year.
In order to bring a person to criminal liability for violation of the rules of the military registration/evasion of registration, a certain procedure must be followed, in particular, the head of the RC and SS must issue an official warning to the person to stop evading military registration.
Part 2 of Article 210-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine provides for the administrative liability for violation of the legislation on defense, mobilization preparation and mobilization for officials:
- UAH 3400 to UAH 5100 for the first violation;
- UAH 5100 to 8500 for repeated violations.