HR administration and personnel records in Ukraine
HR administration seems secondary until the labour inspectorate arrives or a dispute with an employee arises. MK Audit has kept HR records for NGOs, charitable foundations, donor projects, LLCs and representative offices of foreign companies in Kyiv and across Ukraine since 2000. We take over the preparation and execution of all HR documents in line with Ukrainian legislation, and the manager gets documents in order and protection from penalties.
We usually run HR administration together with payroll, so orders, timesheets and calculations do not contradict each other. For NGOs we register employees by project and prepare the documents donors ask for during a grant audit: contracts, timesheets, job descriptions.
What HR administration is and how it differs from HR management
HR administration is the documentary side of employment: processing hires, transfers, leave and dismissals, keeping timesheets and military registration records, answering requests from state bodies and storing personnel files. HR management deals with recruiting, onboarding and motivating people, while administration makes sure every personnel decision is documented correctly and on time. This is the part most often outsourced: it is prescribed by law, it demands attention to detail, and it does not depend on whether the company has an HR manager.
What is included
- Hiring: employment contracts, orders, notification to the tax office before work starts, personnel cards, familiarisation with internal documents.
- Staffing table, job descriptions, internal labour regulations, remuneration policy.
- Changes in working conditions, transfers, combined duties, part-time arrangements, remote and home-based work.
- Timesheets, leave schedules, processing of annual, additional and social leave, and unpaid leave.
- Electronic sick leave: verification, entry in the timesheet, transfer of data for calculation.
- Business trips, work on weekends and public holidays, overtime.
- Bonuses, disciplinary sanctions, internal investigations.
- Dismissals and redundancies, observing notice periods and payment deadlines.
- Civil-law contracts with individuals, with checks that they do not show signs of employment relationships.
- Military registration of employees: lists, notifications to the recruitment centre, the responsible officer, replies to requests.
- Support during labour inspections and employment disputes together with the firm’s lawyers.
Depending on the state of your documents, the work can be one-off or ongoing.
| Format | What we do | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| HR audit and clean-up | Review of existing documents, list of deficiencies, restoration of missing orders and contracts. More: personnel audit | Organisations facing an inspection, a donor audit or a change of manager |
| Ongoing HR administration | Processing of all HR events every month, timesheets, leave, sick leave, military registration | Organisations without an in-house HR officer |
| HR together with payroll | HR administration plus payroll calculation and reporting | NGOs, LLCs and representative offices that outsource the function entirely |
| HR within full bookkeeping | HR as part of accounting services | Organisations that outsource their accounting entirely |
Who needs it
- NGOs and charitable foundations where employees work on several projects and donors require confirmation of working time.
- Donor projects and representative offices of international organisations that hire staff in Ukraine and must comply with Ukrainian labour law.
- LLCs where HR is handled by an accountant or office manager without the relevant experience.
- Representative offices of foreign companies where the manager is not always in Ukraine and documents must be processed remotely.
- Managers who want to be sure a labour inspection will not end in penalties.
Military registration obligations of an employer in 2026
This is the part of HR administration where mistakes cost the most. An employer must keep military registration records for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists, appoint a responsible officer, maintain the lists, and notify the territorial recruitment centre within seven days of hiring or dismissing such an employee. From 13 August 2026 the notification is filed electronically through the Diia portal, with the paper route kept as a fallback. We maintain the lists, prepare the notifications and the replies to requests, and tell the manager exactly what has to be signed and when. Military registration can also be outsourced on its own, if the rest of the HR work is handled by your own staff.
Remote work and employees abroad
Since 2022 part of the workforce in many organisations has been working from other cities and other countries. For them remote work is formalised: a supplementary agreement or an order, the method of recording working time, and the rules for communication and reporting. The employment contract, the salary and the taxes remain Ukrainian. Where an employee lives abroad for more than six months, obligations may arise for both the employee and the employer in that country; we flag such cases and, where needed, bring in the DFK International member firm in the relevant country.
How the work goes
- Request and proposal. You tell us the headcount and the state of your HR documents. We send a commercial proposal within 1 day.
- Contract and checklist. We sign a contract with a confidentiality undertaking and hand over the list of documents to be transferred.
- Execution. We review the existing documents, restore the missing ones, and then process all HR events at the manager’s request.
- Result and support. You receive personnel files in order, and a specialist answers questions on labour law.
Documents you will need
- charter and the order appointing the manager;
- staffing table, remuneration policy, internal labour regulations;
- employment contracts, orders and personnel cards of current employees;
- timesheets and leave schedules for the current year;
- civil-law contracts with individuals;
- employee lists for military registration;
- for NGOs: the list of projects and the allocation of employees to them.
Timing
An HR audit and clean-up of documents takes one to three weeks depending on headcount. Ongoing service starts from the month following the signing of the contract; documents for HR events are prepared within one to two working days of the request.
What HR outsourcing costs
The fee depends on headcount, staff turnover, the number of projects in an NGO, whether military registration is in scope, and whether we run payroll at the same time. We prepare a proposal once we have reviewed the assignment: leave a request in the form below, reply within 1 working day.
How much payroll and HR records cost
From UAH 400 per employee a month
The starting price per employee. The total depends on headcount, sick leave and holidays, civil contracts and whether HR and military records are included. The amount is set in the contract for an agreed scope.
Do you handle military registration of employees?
Yes. We keep lists of employees liable for military service, prepare notifications to the recruitment centre on hiring and dismissal within the seven day deadline, draft replies to requests, and advise the manager on the employer’s obligations.
Who signs the HR documents?
We prepare the documents; the head of the organisation or an authorised person signs them. Document exchange can be arranged electronically with a qualified electronic signature.
What if there are no HR documents for past years?
We first carry out an HR audit, list what is missing and restore the documents that can be restored. From then on we keep the records from a clean slate.
How does this differ from what an HR agency does?
An HR agency finds and assesses people. We formalise the employment relationship with those you have already hired and take responsibility for the documents meeting the law. The two services complement each other rather than replace each other.
Can we outsource military registration only?
Yes. It is a separate block: appointing the responsible officer, keeping the lists, notifications to the recruitment centre and replies to requests. The rest of the HR documents can stay with your own staff.
Do you help with employee disputes?
Yes. Our HR specialists work together with the firm’s lawyers: we prepare documents, support negotiations and represent the organisation before the labour inspectorate and in court.
HR records for an employer with employees in Ukraine: what is mandatory?
An employment contract with every employee, a hiring notice to the tax office before work starts, timesheets, leave and dismissal orders, a leave schedule, personnel cards and, for those liable for service, military registration. The requirements and the labour inspectorate fines are the same as for companies.
What does turnkey HR administration include?
Hiring, transfers and dismissals, orders and contracts, the staffing table, timesheets, leave schedule and records, sick leave, personnel cards, military registration, replies to labour inspectorate and employee requests. HR administration usually comes together with payroll under one agreement.