Complex questions and situations related to qualification requirements for the position of accountant

What is the purpose of certification of accountants?

Testing the professional knowledge of accounting employees can be carried out for the following purposes:

• confirmation of the qualifications of specialists;
• formation of a personnel reserve to fill leadership positions;
• review of official salaries and other types of remuneration;
• ensuring the requirements of current legislation.

It's no coincidence that compliance is listed at the end of the list. The fact is that the law provides for certification only for certain categories of specialists. And accountants, incl. the main ones are very rarely subject to mandatory certification. More about this in the next section

https://youtu.be/gLASmh3_lrc

What else you need to know about preparing and conducting certification

You can prepare for the exam in several ways:

• take a full-time course at an accredited training center;
• take a distance course at an accredited training center;
• prepare yourself.

After you have chosen the training method that is suitable for you, you must become a full member of the IPB RF. To do this, you need to write an application, attach documents confirming your qualifications, and pay the entrance fee.

It is possible to take the exam at the territorial IPB or at an accredited training center.

The exam takes place in 2 stages:

1. Interim certification at the center where you studied.

2. Electronic testing on the IPB RF website. You receive the login details for the site from the accredited center where the training took place, or from the IPB representative office.

Testing for a chief accountant may include about 48 questions, for an accountant - 24 questions.

During the exam, you are allowed to use regulations and reporting forms.

Certification of a chief accountant - mandatory or not?

The main document regulating the legal relationship between an employee and an employer, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, does not contain any mention of mandatory certification of accounting specialists. The Code prescribes mandatory qualification testing only for teachers and researchers.

But in addition to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, certification is also provided for by other regulations that regulate certain areas of activity. For example, this applies to rescuers and specialists working with dangerous objects. It is clear that the mentioned categories of workers are also not related to accounting.

However, mandatory certification of accounting specialists still exists. But it applies only to civil servants (Article 48 of Law No. 79-FZ dated July 27, 2004). Therefore, if the chief accountant (or ordinary accountant) of a budget organization has the status of a civil servant, then he must undergo certification, like all his colleagues.

As for commercial companies, certification of accounting employees is not mandatory and is entirely at the discretion of the employer.

Qualification requirements for accountants of categories 1 and 2

What to expect

The main reason for progress in this area is the Law on independent assessment of qualifications dated July 3, 2016 No. 238-FZ. It will come into effect in 2017. Also see: Independent Worker Assessment: What You Need to Know. Let us reassure you right away: it does not provide for mandatory certification of accountants. And in general it is built on a voluntary basis. A person can undergo certification as an accountant only of his own free will or at the request of his employer.

Since 2020, independent assessment centers have been preparing professional certification of accountants. This phrase also hides the fact that they charge money for their services in training and certifying professional accountants.

At the same time, the organization that sent the accountant for professional certification will be able to take into account the corresponding costs. And if the accountant decides to undergo certification himself, he is guaranteed an income tax deduction. In addition, on the appointed day, the accountant will be released from work with pay for the entire time.

The Accounting Law does not require that an accountant/chief accountant be certified.

How to conduct certification

If the management of an organization decides to introduce a certification mechanism, then first of all it is necessary to develop an appropriate regulation.

Russian legislation does not have a unified regulation for certification in commercial companies. Therefore, businessmen have the right to develop it themselves. As a basis, we can take Resolution of the USSR State Committee for Labor No. 267 of 10/05/1973.

The certification regulations must include the following information:

• categories of workers subject to certification;
• frequency of inspections;
• composition of the commission;
• procedure (interview, tests, etc.);
• criteria for evaluation;
• certification results.

If ordinary employees are checked, the commission usually includes the head of the department. But what if the chief accountant passes the qualification test? After all, by default he should be the most competent employee of the company in his field.

What should the chief accountant know?

If the organization has a financial director or another similar representative of the “economic” top management, then you can involve him in the certification of the chief accountant. If there is no such manager, then it is advisable to use the services of an external consultant, for example, an auditor.

How to obtain a professional accountant certificate

After passing the exam, the Presidential Council of the IPB RF makes a decision to issue certificates based on the results obtained.

If the results are positive, you receive a certificate, and information about it is entered into the Unified Register.

The register gives the employer the right to collect data about the employee: when he became a member of the IPB RF, when he last underwent advanced training. Information about this is stored for 5 years.

If the exam is not passed, the applicant has the right to retake it 2 times. This must occur within 3 months of the date of the 1st test.

The certificate is issued for 3 years. After this, if you paid your membership fees to the IPB RF on time and improved your qualifications in accordance with the requirements, the certificate will be extended for another 3 years and so on. You do not need to take the exams again every time you renew your certificate.

Decisions based on the results of certification

Based on the results of the audit, one of the following conclusions can be drawn for each employee:

1. Corresponds to the position held.
2. Recommended for promotion or transfer to the personnel reserve.
3. Doesn't suit the position.

In the latter case, the employee may be dismissed under clause 3 of Art. 81 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

But here it is necessary to take into account a number of restrictions:

1. The procedure for conducting certification must be agreed upon with the representative body of employees.
2. Dismissal is possible only if the employer does not have open vacancies that match the employee’s qualifications.
3. For certain categories of employees, dismissal based on the results of certification is impossible in principle, regardless of its results. This applies, for example, to pregnant women or single mothers (Article 261 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Why do you need a professional accountant certificate?

In recent years, the work of an accountant has become significantly more complicated. And this is primarily due to the large number of changes in legislation, which can be quite difficult to keep track of.

And even more so, the employer has such a problem. When hiring an accountant, he wants to be sure of his professionalism. It is at such moments that a certificate of a professional accountant and membership in the IPA of the Russian Federation are a guarantee of the high level of the hired specialist.

Also, one should not forget that in order to renew the validity of the certificate, it is necessary to improve one’s qualifications (pass 40 hours of training annually), which undoubtedly increases the level of confidence in the accountant.

It is no secret that many people have a desire to go and work abroad. And if you want to find a job in your specialty in a new place, you will simply need the IPB RF certificate. The IPB is a full member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), so to get a job abroad you will need to know the national language and take a course in local taxation.

Certification of accountants in 2020: latest changes

It was said above that commercial organizations can independently develop criteria for evaluating specialists. However, many of them prefer not to reinvent the wheel, but to be guided by the current professional standard “Accountant” (Order of the Ministry of Labor dated February 21, 2019 No. 103n).

The latest version of the standard has new qualification levels for chief accountants: seventh and eighth. Employees at the highest levels must be able to prepare consolidated statements, know IFRS, have financial analysis, etc.

What an accountant should know and be able to do today

Nuances of certification for suitability for the position held

The programs are constantly updated taking into account changes in laws and regulations.

Training regulations:

Our advantages:

• highly qualified teachers;
• individual counseling;
• preparation of abstracts of educational material on electronic media;
• depth of study of each topic;
• assistance in preparing for the exam;
• preparation for testing;
• provision of the necessary package of documents before the start of classes by e-mail;
• providing electronic access to educational and methodological literature.

Samples of documents issued by the Institute of Professional Accountants and Auditors of Russia upon completion of training

Last update: 07/09/2018 Responsible for information: Gorina Irina Nikolaevna, educational and methodological center for the training of professional accountants and auditors, director (tel. 37-59-47)

Attention!

Training schedule in 2018–2019:

1st group - from September 17, 2020;

2nd group - from February 11, 2020;

3rd group - from September 16, 2020

Responsibility for non-compliance with professional standards

According to Art. 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the use of professional standards is mandatory if this is established for this category of employers by the current regulatory act. Because Commercial companies do not have an obligation to organize certification of accountants, so a businessman cannot be punished for failure to carry it out.

However, in one case, the professional standard “Accountant” should also be applied by commercial organizations: we are talking about hiring a chief accountant. If the employer belongs to the categories listed in paragraph 4 of Art. 7 of Law No. 402-FZ (OJSC, financial companies, etc.), then he has the right to hire a chief accountant only if the candidate meets the requirements of the standard for education and experience.

For violations in this case, Art. 5.27 of the Administrative Code, which provides for a fine of up to 70 thousand rubles for legal entities.

How to prepare

Of course, the accountant’s experience and knowledge alone may not be enough to successfully pass the certification, so it is necessary to prepare for it in advance.

To do this you should use:

• approved textbooks on accounting activities, both in standard and electronic format;
• teaching aids;
• tests and assignments for independent work;
• methodological publications on auditing and accounting topics.

Practical exercises, which in total should take up a third of the total preparation time, will also not hurt. This could be an internship at an audit, consulting or accounting firm. For that. To pass the certification with positive results, you should devote a sufficient amount of time and perseverance to the preparation.

Certification and efficiency of the accounting service

Of course, regular checking of the qualifications of specialists increases the efficiency of the accounting department. But the certification does not provide a complete guarantee that work in the field of accounting is organized optimally.

Too many factors need to be taken into account in order to properly build an accounting system in a company. This includes personnel selection, labor regulation, distribution of functions, automation and much more. Of course, it is theoretically possible to complete this quest and create an effective accounting service. But in practice, many businessmen fail to solve such a problem.

After all, many obstacles appear on the way to the goal: from a banal lack of funds to a lack of understanding of management and the human factor at the level of ordinary employees. The best solution to untie the knot of accumulated problems is to transfer accounting to a specialized team.

1C-WiseAdvice experts take on both the management of individual areas and the creation of an integrated accounting service

Results

Obtaining a professional accountant certificate is not mandatory in our country.
Perhaps, working in a small company, the knowledge that you have will be enough for you. But if you are full of ambition and do not want to rest on your laurels, and also do not want anyone to doubt your knowledge and professionalism, then a chartered professional accountant is what you need. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Full and free access to the system for 2 days.

Complex questions and situations related to qualification requirements for the position of accountant

Used legal acts:

§ Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus;

§ Code of the Republic of Belarus on Education;

§ Law of the Republic of Belarus dated July 12, 2013 No. 57-Z “On Accounting and Reporting” (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Accounting);

§ Issue 1 of the Unified Qualification Directory of Employee Positions (ECSD) “Employee Positions for All Types of Activities”, approved by Decree of the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Belarus dated December 30, 1999 No. 159 (as amended by the Decree of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated February 10, 2020 . No. 7) (hereinafter referred to as issue 1 of the ECSD

);

§ General provisions of the Unified Qualification Directory of Employee Positions, approved by Decree of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated January 2, 2012 No. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the General Provisions of the ECSD).

General points (qualification requirements for accounting positions)

Law on Accounting

requirements for chief accountants are established separately (Table 1).

Table 1

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT ESTABLISHED BY THE LAW ON ACCOUNTING

In issue 1 of ECSD

taking into account the latest changes and additions

To occupy the position of chief accountant

(with the exception of a socially significant organization)
you need: higher education in specialties
1-25 01 04 “Finance and Credit”, 1-25 01 07 “Economics and Enterprise Management”, 1-25 01 08 “Accounting, Analysis and Audit ( in areas)", 1-25 01 11 "Audit and Revision" or
secondary specialized
education in specialties 2-25 01 31 "Finance", 2-25 01 32 "Banking", 2-25 01 34 "Insurance", 2-25 01 35 “Accounting, analysis and control.”

Issue 1 of the ECSD does not regulate the qualification requirements for the position of chief accountant of an insurance organization, bank and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, because they are established by special legislation. In addition to the requirements set out in the Accounting Law, Issue 1 of the ECSD specifies in which cases only higher education is needed (this is the chief accountant of a socially significant organization (except for a bank, non-banking financial institution), and in which secondary specialized education is also acceptable education, and also established the profiles (directions) of education that are necessary to occupy accounting positions.

To occupy the position of an accountant you need:
higher education in specialties
1-25 01 04 “Finance and Credit”, 1-25 01 07 “Economics and Enterprise Management”, 1-25 01 08 “Accounting, Analysis and Audit (in areas) ", 1-25 01 11 "Audit and Revision" or
secondary specialized
education in specialties 2-25 01 31 "Finance", 2-25 01 32 "Banking", 2-25 01 34 "Insurance", 2-25 01 35 “Accounting, analysis and control” without any requirements for work experience. From January 15, 2018, for individual specialties and groups of specialties, education is acceptable subject to mastering the content of the educational program for retraining of managers and specialists in the group of specialties 25 03 “Accounting and control”.

Situations when hiring (transferring) to the position of accountant

When hiring for positions of chief accountants and accountants, the main questions in practice arise about the possibility of hiring for such positions by way of exception and assessing candidates’ documents for compliance with their qualification requirements (for example, if they have a diploma of higher (secondary specialized) education in a specialty, not meets the qualification requirements, but there is retraining, accounting courses, etc.).

General points about hiring by exception

In accordance with clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ECSD, as an exception, the employer may appoint (hire) persons, education and (or) work experience

which does not meet the requirements stipulated by the qualification characteristics of the relevant position,
unless otherwise provided by law
. This may take into account: the level and profile (direction) of the employee’s education, his specialty and qualifications; availability of a master's degree in the relevant specialty (qualification); special knowledge and business qualities; work experience in the relevant area of ​​activity; proactive and creative attitude to work and other factors.

In addition, according to part five of clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD, the presence of an employee’s diploma of higher (specialized secondary) education in a specialty that does not meet the qualification requirements, implies, as a rule, the need for him to master the content of the educational retraining program for executives and specialists with higher education. (secondary specialized) education, in accordance with the profile (direction) of education, specialty, which are indicated in the section “Qualification requirements”.

That is, admission by exception is possible if the candidate does not have the required experience, or education, or both. Clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ECSD provides possible examples of the conditions for applying exceptions. In terms of education, we take into account the provisions of part five of clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD on the need for retraining.

However, when it comes to accountants, things are not so simple.

Firstly, the requirements for chief accountants are provided for by law, or more precisely by the Law on Accounting. Consequently, the provisions of clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ECSD do not apply to such requirements. That is, it is impossible to hire a person to the position of chief accountant who does not have a higher or secondary specialized education, which, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, grants the right to work as an accountant, and has at least three years of work experience as an accountant.

A separate question here is the profile (specialty) of education, in other words, if the candidate has a higher or secondary specialized education, work experience, but does not have the diploma specialty required according to Issue 1 of the ECSD. Let us note in advance that the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus in this situation addresses the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus for clarification (primarily in relation to chief accountants)

.

Secondly, formally, exceptions (clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ECSD) should be applied to accountants.

If the profile of education is wrong (using the example of the position of chief accountant)

To assess the admissibility of a candidate’s qualifications for accounting positions, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the answer to the question posted in the “Question-Answer – Labor and Remuneration” section on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus

Question

Is it possible to work in the position of “chief accountant” if you have an education in the specialty “World Economy” (specialty code 1-25 01 03) and retraining on the basis of higher education in the specialty “Accounting and control in business activities” (specialty code – 1- 25 03 88), work experience related to accounting and preparation of accounting and financial statements 4 years?

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, answering this question, first pointed out (quoted) the qualification requirements for the position of chief accountant contained in the Accounting Law and in Issue 1 of the ECSD.

Then she drew attention to the possibility of hiring for a position as an exception in accordance with clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ECSD and the possibility of retraining in accordance with clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD if the employee’s diploma of higher education in the specialty does not meet the qualification requirements.

However, pointing out that taking into account the norms of clause 15 of the General Provisions of the ECSD, the qualification requirements were approved at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus and that, in accordance with sub-clause. 3.11, 4.32 of the Regulations on the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated October 31, 2001 No. 1585, the implementation of a unified state policy in the field of accounting and reporting, state regulation of accounting and reporting is included in the competence of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus, then the solution to this issue falls within the competence of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus

.

Currently, on the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus there is only one answer somewhat close to the question. Thus, in the heading “The most specific questions” in the subheading “On the Law of July 12, 2013 “On Accounting and Reporting” ( ) contains the following question:

Does retraining in the specialty “Accounting, Analysis, Audit” on the basis of higher technical education meet the requirements of clause 3 of Art. 8 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated July 12, 2013 “On Accounting and Reporting” on the presence of higher or secondary specialized education, which, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, grants the right to work as an accountant?

Ministry of Finance: according to paragraph 3 of Art. 8 of the Law on Accounting, a person is appointed to the position of chief accountant of an organization (with the exception of a socially significant organization, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus) who meets, among other things, the requirements for having a higher or secondary specialized education, which grants the right to work in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus by profession as an accountant, and work experience as an accountant for at least three years. In accordance with paragraph 30 of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated July 15, 2011 No. 954 “On certain issues of additional education for adults,” mastering the content of educational retraining programs for executives and specialists with higher and (or) secondary specialized education does not allow

higher or secondary specialized education in the specialty of retraining.

Let us note that the Ministry of Finance does not directly answer the question of whether it complies or not. But from the content of the answer we can conclude that no, because retraining does not provide a diploma in the specialty. It is important to compare this with the norms of clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD.

Let us also draw attention to the fact that in the situation with the question posted on the website of the Ministry of Finance, the person has a non-core (technical) education. That is, for persons who do not have an economic (accounting) education, retraining, according to the Ministry of Finance, does not give the right to work as an accountant; they need a diploma of higher or secondary specialized education.

With regard to persons who have an economic or accounting education, but do not have a profile (direction) of education in accordance with the qualification requirements, the question remains open. All that can be recommended at this stage is to make a request only to the Ministry of Finance and not to accept for the time being the positions of chief accountants of persons who do not have education in the profiles (directions) of education that meet the qualification requirements.

In relation to accountants, according to the author, there is formally no reason not to apply the rules of clause 12 of the General Provisions, because qualification requirements are provided for them only in the ENSD, and there are no other rules in them (other than in relation to clause 12 of the General Provisions of the ENSD).

If there are only courses

It is often believed in practice that the necessary preparation (discussed in paragraph 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD) is passing, incl. "accounting" courses. According to paragraph 10 of Art. 242 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Education, an educational program of training courses (lectures, thematic seminars, workshops, trainings, officer courses and other types of training courses) is an educational program aimed at satisfying cognitive

needs
in a certain area of ​​professional activity or area of ​​knowledge.
At the same time, the educational program for retraining executives and specialists with secondary specialized education is an educational program aimed at assigning a new qualification at the level of secondary specialized education (clause 4 of Article 242 of the Education Code), based on the results of successful completion of which a diploma is issued on retraining at the level of secondary specialized education (subclause 2.9, clause 2, article 98 of the Education Code). That is, training courses are not retraining and, therefore, are not the basis for applying the rules of clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD. In addition, as discussed above, the very application of this paragraph in relation to accountants raises questions.

Questions related to the possibility of continuing work if the employee does not meet qualification requirements

Many employees were hired as accountants a long time ago, many work with secondary specialized education and even with the so-called. "accounting courses" Taking into account the recent tightening of qualification requirements for accounting positions, questions constantly arise about the legality of continuing labor relations with such employees in such positions, about their admission to certification of specialists and the decision that should be made based on the results of certification, about contract extension, etc. .

The labor legislation does not contain a special basis for dismissal in connection with the “tightening” of qualification requirements in the ECSD Labor Code and other acts. In such a situation, they usually pay attention to such grounds for dismissal as clause 3 of Art. 42 Labor Code and clause 7 of Art. 44 TK. A comparison and brief description of these bases are given in Table 2.

table 2

COMPARISON AND BRIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BASES

DISMISSALS UNDER CLAUSE 3 OF ART. 42 TK I P. 7 ART. 44 TK

The inadequacy of an employee for the position held due to insufficient qualifications that prevents the continuation of this work (clause 3 of Article 42 of the Labor Code) is the basis for the dismissal of the employee at the initiative of the employer in the absence of the employee’s fault, i.e. when the circumstances of dismissal are not related to violation of labor discipline and are not caused by the employee’s guilty behavior.

According to Art. 1 TC qualification is the level of general and special training of an employee, confirmed by the types of documents established by law (certificate, diploma, certificate, etc.).

Let us note that one of the main responsibilities of the employee provided for in paragraph 4 of Art. 53 of the Labor Code is to ensure compliance with established requirements for the quality of products manufactured, work performed, services provided, prevention of defects in work, compliance with technological discipline.

This obligation, on the other hand, therefore, is the right of the employer to demand from the employee the proper quality of performance of the work specified in the employment agreement (contract), in accordance with established requirements, and compliance with technological discipline.

Insufficient qualifications of an employee may be expressed in his lack of necessary knowledge and skills that preclude the possibility of properly performing the duties of his position (specific job).

In this case, we draw attention to paragraph 30 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus dated March 29, 2001 No. 2 “On some issues of the application of labor legislation by courts,” according to which the courts were instructed that they must keep in mind that termination of employment agreement based on the lack of special education, if according to the law it is not a mandatory condition when concluding an employment contract

, unacceptable.

But the key significance when applying paragraph 3 of Art. 42 of the Labor Code is not even the presence of education, which is required by law when hiring, but the fact that the employee (in this case, the chief accountant, for which exceptions are currently not applied in most cases) in good faith

(i.e.
innocent
) attitude towards the performance of the work assigned to him, it

is performed
poorly due to his lack of the necessary knowledge and skills for the work performed (position held)
, which is confirmed by objective data.

That is, for dismissal under clause 3 of Art. 42 of the Labor Code, it is necessary to additionally confirm that the chief accountant, who does not have the necessary education in accordance with current legislation, cannot cope with the work assigned to him.

As a rule, such confirmation occurs based on the results of certification carried out on the basis of the Model Regulations on the certification of managers and specialists of organizations, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated May 25, 2010 No. 784.

In addition, for dismissal under clause 3 of Art. 42 of the Labor Code is required to comply with the guarantees established by Art. 43 Labor Code, as well as guarantees for certain categories of workers

Thus, the application in the case under consideration of paragraph 3 of Art. 42 of the Labor Code is of a limited nature (in relation to certain categories of workers) and is actually not associated with changes in labor legislation (with the introduction of more stringent qualification requirements in terms of specialization).

Dismissal under clause 7 of Art. 44 of the Labor Code, in contrast to dismissal under paragraph 3 of Art. 42 of the Labor Code is not the right of the employer, but his responsibility.

The difficulty of applying the grounds for dismissal provided for in paragraph 7 of Art. 44 of the Labor Code, consists in understanding “the restrictions established by law on engaging in certain types of activities that prevent the continuation of work.”

As a rule, dismissal on this basis is applied when an employee is required to have a right or special education, which is mandatory (without exceptions) for carrying out certain activities (occupying certain positions (professions). For example, having a driver’s license to work as a car driver, having qualifications categories for occupying positions of paramedical personnel in private healthcare organizations (which is related to licensing requirements), etc. That is, to a certain extent, these are the rights of admission to work, and accordingly their deprivation (loss, absence) is grounds for dismissal under paragraph. 7 Article 44 Labor Code.

Thus, tightening qualification requirements for accounting positions in itself does not provide grounds for the employer to dismiss accountants under clause 3 of Art. 42 TK. Applications of paragraph 7 of Art. 44 of the Labor Code, as the practice of recent months has shown, did not happen in this case.

Consequently, recent changes in qualification requirements should not be an obstacle to continuing labor relations with accountants.

For information

In this case, one should not confuse the continuation of the employment relationship with hiring. For example, renewing a contract is a continuation of the employment relationship.

Questions related to the assignment of qualification categories

The general provisions of the ECSD provide for 2 grounds for assigning a qualification category as an exception:

1

. Excluding work experience. According to the first part of clause 20 of the General Provisions of the ECSD, a specialist who does not have the required work experience provided for by the qualification characteristics of the relevant position can be assigned a qualification category by the employer as an exception, taking into account the recommendations of the certification commission, which may take into account whether the specialist has a master’s degree in the relevant specialty (qualifications), work experience in the relevant field of activity, incl. in leadership positions.

Controversial point:

Some experts believe that even the absence of the required education (usually in the wrong profile or direction) may be an exception if it is provided for by the employer’s legal regulations. According to the author, this position is not based on legal norms:

- firstly, in contrast to hiring by way of exception, assignment of a qualification category by way of exception is possible only in the absence of the necessary (required) work experience (cf. clause 12 and part 1 of clause 20 of the General Provisions of the ECSD), but not no education;

— secondly, according to clause 18 of the General Provisions of the ECSD, specialists who have the education required by the qualification characteristics

and length of service in relevant positions;

— thirdly, see part five, clause 9 of the General Provisions of the ECSD.

Thus, in the author’s opinion, there are no legal grounds for this type of exception not to take into account the employee’s education.

For example, if an accountant has a higher economic education in statistics, then assigning him, say, the first qualification category is unlawful, unless he develops and implements effective measures to save and rationally use fuel, energy and material resources or undergoes retraining in the group specialties 25 03 “Accounting and control”.

Recent changes to the qualification requirements for the position of accountant (see Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated January 4, 2020 No. 3 “On amendments to the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Belarus dated December 30, 1999 No. 159”) have essentially been removed the question of the admissibility of retraining in the group of specialties 25 03 “Accounting and control” for individual specialties and groups of specialties (taking into account the diverging opinions of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection on the applicability of retraining, in the absence of education, directly indicated in the qualification requirements).

2

. Regardless of work experience and education, the employee has developed and implemented effective measures to save and rationally use fuel, energy and material resources (see parts 2 and 3 of clause 20 of the General Provisions of the ECSD).

In this case, the conditions and procedure for assigning qualification categories as an exception, as well as the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of a specialist’s work, are determined by the employer by local regulatory legal act.

Who is usually assigned qualification categories as an exception?

As practice shows, most often recently, as an exception, they try to assign a qualification category to young specialists, as well as specialists for whose positions the qualification requirements have been strengthened (for example, for accountant positions).

Question

The employee has been working as an accountant for 7 years, has a diploma of secondary specialized education in the specialty “Industrial and Civil Construction” and a certificate from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus under the “training” program for the profession “Accounting” at the Charitable Foundation of the Belarusian State Economic University, awarded the qualification “accountant” (one-year courses).

Is she eligible for an upgrade?

Regarding the assignment of qualification categories, clause 20 of the General Provisions of the ECSD provides for 2 exceptions:

— in the absence of the required work experience provided for by the qualification characteristics of the relevant position, the employer can assign a qualification category as an exception, taking into account the recommendations of the certification commission, which may take into account whether the specialist has a master’s degree in the relevant specialty (qualification), work experience in the relevant field of activity , incl. in leadership positions;

- as an exception, the employer has the right to assign a qualification category also taking into account the development and implementation of effective measures for saving and rational use of fuel, energy and material resources.

That is, as a general rule, the education required in the qualification characteristics for the corresponding qualification category (its direction) is necessary, incl. taking into account retraining in the group of specialties 25 03 “Accounting and control”

. An exception formally in this case may be taking into account the development and implementation by the employee of effective measures to save and rationally use fuel, energy and material resources.

Assignment of qualification categories taking into account the candidate's education, again formally, is possible only as an exception, taking into account the development and implementation of effective measures to save and rationally use fuel, energy and material resources.

[1]See Instructions on the procedure for confirming the professional suitability of managers, their deputies, chief accountants of insurance organizations, insurance brokers, as well as heads of separate divisions of insurance organizations, insurance brokers, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus dated February 7, 2002 No. 17.

[2] Regulations on the procedure for distribution, redistribution, assignment to work, subsequent assignment to work of graduates who have received postgraduate, higher, secondary specialized or vocational education, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated June 22, 2011 No. 821 “On some issues of distribution, redistribution, assignment to work, subsequent assignment to work of graduates, reimbursement of funds spent by the state on their training and targeted training of specialists, workers, and employees (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on Distribution).

Vladimir Eduardovich SAMOSEYKO,

Lawyer