HR records in Ukraine in 2026: what documents an employer must keep

The author of the article: Philipp Orlov

Modified date: 30 October 2026

HR records in Ukraine are the documents an employer uses to formalise hiring, leave, transfers and dismissals, plus the notices about them sent to the tax office. For a Ukrainian limited liability company (TOV) they are mandatory from the first employee, even if the only person on staff is the director.

Below we cover which documents you need in 2026, who keeps them, how to file the hiring notice and what to do if it contains an error. We also list the fines of the State Labour Service (Derzhpratsi) and explain how to set up HR records from scratch. If you run the company from abroad, note what usually surprises foreign owners. The tax office must be notified before the first working day, every employee needs a personnel file, and the employer handles military registration.

What HR records are and what they include

In Ukraine, HR records cover everything that happens with an employee from the first to the last working day:

• orders on hiring, leave, transfers and dismissal;
• a notice to the tax office about hiring;
• personnel files for employees;
• a leave schedule and a working time sheet;
• military registration of employees who are registered with the territorial recruitment centre (TCC).

For a TOV and other legal entities, the contents of a personnel file are set by the Rules for Organising Record Keeping, approved by Ministry of Justice Order No. 1000/5. They apply regardless of the form of ownership. A sole proprietor (FOP) who hires staff is not directly covered by these Rules, but still needs orders, notices to the tax office and an employment contract. How a sole proprietor hires the first employee is explained in our article how a FOP can hire an employee.

Who keeps HR records and who is responsible

The records can be kept by an HR officer, an accountant, the director or an outside company. Either way, the employer stays responsible for the documents. Derzhpratsi fines the company, and administrative fines are imposed personally on the responsible official.

The head of the company is responsible for military registration. He or she appoints a responsible person by order, and the records themselves are kept by the HR department or by whoever keeps the employee records. What military registration includes and its deadlines are described on the page military registration at a company.

In small Ukrainian companies, HR records are most often kept by the same accountant who calculates salaries. This is convenient, because one person prepares both the leave order and the holiday pay, so the deadlines stay in line.

Mandatory HR documents in 2026

Form P-2 (the employee's personal card) is now at the employer's discretion. The KZpP does not directly require job descriptions, but they are recommended for managers, specialists and office staff.

A written employment contract is mandatory in the cases listed in Art. 24 KZpP, for example when the employer is a FOP, the work is remote, the employee is under 18 or the employee asks for it. Under martial law the parties decide on the form of the contract (Art. 2 of Law No. 2136-IX), but in the cases from Art. 24 it is still better to sign it in writing. When an employment contract works better and when a civil law contract or a FOP is the better choice, see the article employment contract, civil law contract or FOP.

Hiring: procedure and deadlines

1. The employee submits a passport, taxpayer ID (RNOKPP), the work record book if they have one, or data from the register of insured persons.
2. The employer issues a hiring order.
3. Before the first working day, the employer files a notice with the tax office.
4. The employee reads and acknowledges the order, the working conditions and the internal regulations.
5. For employees liable for military service, the employer checks the e-VOD, the electronic military registration document from the Reserve+ app, and notifies the TCC within 7 days of the order date.

What you cannot ask for. Asking for information about the registered place of residence is prohibited (KZpP, Art. 25(1)). An ID card that expired during martial law, and a booklet passport without a photo pasted in at age 25 or 45, remain valid until 30 days after martial law ends (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1202), so you cannot demand a new document. A certificate from the main place of work is not needed for a part-time employee either.

The e-VOD of an employee liable for military service must be generated in Reserve+ no earlier than 72 hours before hiring.

Hiring notice: how to file it and fix an error

The notice is filed before the employee starts work as a separate document, not as part of regular reporting. Many foreign owners expect to report a new hire later with payroll, but in Ukraine the tax office must know before the person starts. The form is J3001005 for a legal entity and F3001005 for a FOP (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 413). There is no separate deadline counted "after the order". The order must come first, and the notice must be filed before the first working day.

• For the director no notice is filed, because the tax office treats the data in the Unified State Register (YEDR) as the notice.
• An error is fixed with a pair of documents, a cancelling notice and a new initial notice. This counts as a correction, not as two late filings.
• For civil law contracts Resolution No. 413 does not require a notice.

Filed the notice late? Derzhpratsi usually treats this as letting someone work without formal employment. However, there is court practice holding that a late notice alone, with the order issued on time, does not prove the employee was allowed to work without formal employment. It is better not to get into a dispute and file on time.

Leave and dismissal: which documents

Leave. The leave order is issued before the leave starts, and holiday pay is also paid before the leave starts. The leave schedule is agreed for the year.

Dismissal. On the day of dismissal the employee receives a copy of the order (KZpP, Art. 47), is paid all amounts due and gets written information on exactly what was calculated. There is no separate notice to the tax office about a dismissal. It is shown in the monthly tax return.

Holiday pay, compensation for unused leave and the final settlement on dismissal are calculated by the payroll accountant - see payroll and HR records in Ukraine.

How to set up HR records from scratch

1. Approve the internal labour regulations.
2. Check that orders and tax office notices exist for everyone who already works for you.
3. Open personnel files and put applications, copies of documents and orders in them.
4. Draw up a leave schedule for the year and keep a time sheet.
5. Appoint a person responsible for military registration and notify the TCC.
6. Set the salary payment dates in an order or in the collective agreement.
7. Keep a calendar of deadlines for notices, leave and reporting.

If records were kept before but with gaps, start with step 2, because an employee without a notice to the tax office is the most expensive mistake.

Derzhpratsi fines and inspections in 2026

Fines are imposed under Art. 265 KZpP. For the first case of letting someone work without formal employment, legal entities and FOPs on the simplified tax system (single tax groups 1-3) get a warning without a fine. Separately, the official is personally liable under Art. 41 of the Code of Administrative Offences (KUpAP).

There are no scheduled Derzhpratsi inspections right now. Unscheduled ones do happen, for example after an employee complaint. How they work and what inspectors check is covered in the article on Derzhpratsi inspections in 2026.

Outsourcing HR records

You can hand all HR records over to an outside accountant, including orders, tax office notices, personnel files, the leave schedule and the time sheet, together with payroll. The company keeps the signatures of the director and employees and the decisions on whom to hire and dismiss.

Full HR records together with military registration cost from UAH 2,000 per employee per month. Payroll with HR orders only costs from UAH 1,500. Details are on the page outsourced HR records.