Since July 1, 2016, issues of regulation of professional standards are regulated by the provisions of Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Until now, many organizations and individual entrepreneurs do not know how to work with them. When do they make it necessary to rewrite internal personnel documentation? Do staffing schedules and job descriptions need to be adjusted? What to do if it turns out that the education of employees does not meet accepted standards? Is it necessary to retrain employees and send them to advanced training courses? And, most importantly, who controls all this? Unions? Labor inspectorates? Let's figure it out.
Why are professional standards needed?
A professional standard is the name of an important fundamental document that contains a description of the following standards:
- Labor functions of the employee in accordance with his qualifications and position.
- Requirements for his experience and knowledge.
Thus, we can say that professional standards include a description of the qualitative level of qualifications of an employee, which he must meet in order to rightfully take his place on the staff of any company, regardless of the type of its activity (Article 195.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Download “Professional Accountant Standard”.
All professional standards are approximately the same and have a single structure (according to the order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated April 12, 2013 No. 147n “On approval of the Layout of the Professional Standard”).
Unlike specialized reference books on qualifications, professional standards give a clearer idea of the work functions of workers, which have absolutely accurate and detailed descriptions. Perhaps, over time, professional standards will completely replace qualification reference books as documentation that is more in line with the requirements of the current time.
Also see “Independent assessment of employee qualifications: what you need to know.”
Who shouldn't evade professional standards?
Since July 1, 2016, the use of standards has been declared an indispensable condition for all entrepreneurs, as required by the Labor Code or other documents. That is, when hiring an employee for whose field of activity the professional standard has already been approved, the employer must certainly use it, and not the qualification reference book. If the required standard for a given profession has not yet been adopted, you can still use the qualification directory.
When the positions in the EKS and in the professional standard are the same, preference should be given to the professional standard as a more modern option.
What specific requirements for an employee (according to standards or according to the Unified Social Standard) the employer will be guided by must be specified in its local legal acts.
NOTE! If the type of professional activity provides for certain benefits (for example, early retirement, payment of compensation for harm, etc.) or restrictions, then such a position must be named in strict accordance with the professional standard or EKS, if such a standard does not yet exist.
Professional standards and their scope of use
These standards may be applied and taken into account for the following purposes:
- to organize training and certification of employees;
- policy formation when staffing an enterprise with highly qualified personnel;
- organization of management processes;
- establishing internal tariffs for work performed;
- facilitating the classification of tariff categories;
- developing your own systems for paying working hours, taking into account the specifics of work at a particular enterprise.
Are professional standards mandatory for implementation or are they only intended to facilitate the organization of an enterprise and production? Should the employer (company owner) follow them unquestioningly, taking them as step-by-step instructions? Or does he have the right to choose the area and order of their application? Let's try to figure out these questions.
Where is it better to look for the job title - in professional standards or reference books
Wherever is more convenient for you.
If you open the professional standard, you can find the job titles recommended by the standard (see below)
as well as job titles from directories.
This is convenient if a professional standard has already been developed for your position, specialty or profession, and you were able to find it.
In the sense that you guessed that “foreman” should be looked for in the professional standard “Organizer of construction work”, and “secretary” - in the professional standard “Specialist in organizational and documentation support for organization management”.
If it is inconvenient for you to search for a job title in a professional standard, or the professional standard you need has not yet been developed, or you want to expand the search for the job title you need, use the EKS, ETKS and OKDTPR directories.
EKS - Unified Qualification Directory of Positions of Managers, Specialists and Other Employees).
ETKS - Unified Tariff and Qualification Directory of Works and Professions of Workers).
OKDTPR - All-Russian classifier of workers' professions, employee positions and tariff categories.
These are valid documents - the law establishes the employer’s right to independently decide what to use - professional standards or reference books.
Mandatory application of standards
Paragraph three of part 2 of Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation talks about the mandatory nature of professional standards. In particular, this provision mentions such an important document as an employment contract. Thus, if the receipt by an employee of an enterprise of special benefits, compensation or restrictions is directly related to the performance of duties inherent in a particular position, then the employer is obliged to be guided by reference books on qualifications or state professional standards.
EXAMPLE
Citizen "P" by nature of service is involved in particularly harmful and difficult work. A benefit and compensation for citizens engaged in such activities is early retirement. This means that after leaving for a well-deserved rest, an employee can count on receiving the benefits due to him, his position must be spelled out in the employment contract exactly as it is listed in the directory or professional standard. At the slightest discrepancy, the employee risks losing his legal privileges.
Therefore, it is very important to take such nuances into account and correctly draw up and fill out all the necessary documentation. If a mistake is made and this comes to light (for example, at the request of the employee himself or as a result of an ongoing audit of the enterprise), then the company’s management may be held accountable.
The Administrative Code in the 4th part of Article 5.27 provides for punishment for such criminal negligence - a large fine. Its size may vary:
- from 50 to 100,000 rubles – for an organization;
- from 10 to 20,000 – for officials;
- from 5 to 10,000 – for private entrepreneurs.
Which, however, does not relieve the former or current employee from subsequent problems with receiving all the benefits and compensation due to him for the past period.
Categories
On July 1, 2016, the norm of Art. 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which, in cases where regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation establish requirements for the qualifications necessary for an employee to perform a certain job function, professional standards (hereinafter referred to as professional standards) in terms of these requirements are mandatory for use by employers. In this regard, the question of practical interest for personnel officers is in relation to which categories of workers and by which regulations the qualification requirements are established.
Paragraph 3, part 2, art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes that a labor function is work in a position in accordance with the staffing table or by profession; the specialty and/or qualification may also be indicated; or the labor function is indicated as a specific type of work assigned to the employee.
Further, it contains a rule establishing the relationship between the names of positions, professions or specialties and qualification requirements for them and the names and requirements specified in qualification reference books approved in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation, or the corresponding provisions of professional standards.
This dependence arises in cases where, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws, the of compensation and benefits or the presence of restrictions positions , professions , specialties (hereinafter referred to as positions) . In such cases, the names of positions and qualification requirements for them must correspond to the names and requirements specified in qualification reference books, or the relevant provisions of professional standards .
In this regard, personnel officers are faced with the problem of determining whether the following have been established for a particular position:
- compensation;
- privileges;
- restrictions.
And if so, to what extent should professional standards be applied in this case: fully or partially?
The answer to the second part of the question (about the limits of application of professional standards) is available in the legislation:
Extract from the Labor Code of the Russian Federation
Article 195.3. The procedure for applying professional standards
If[1] this Code, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation establish requirements for the qualifications necessary for an employee to perform a certain job function, professional standards in relation to these requirements are mandatory for application by employers.
Characteristics of qualifications , which are contained in professional standards and the mandatory use of which is not established in accordance with part one of this article , are used by employers as the basis for determining the requirements for the qualifications of workers taking into account the characteristics of the labor functions performed by employees, determined by the technologies used and the adopted organization of production and labor .
[…]
as well as in official explanations:
Extraction
from the letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated April 4, 2016 No. 14-0/10/13-2253
Information from the Russian Ministry of Labor on the application of professional standards
[…]
The mandatory application of the requirements of professional standards is established for the cases provided for in Articles 57 and 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation , and does not depend on the form of ownership of the organization or the status of the employer.
According to Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, professional standards are mandatory for application by employers in terms of the requirements they contain for the qualifications necessary for an employee to perform a certain labor function, provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. Thus, only in terms of the requirements established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation , the requirements of the professional standard are mandatory.
[…]
In another letter, the Russian Ministry of Labor also emphasizes the transnormative and limited nature of the mandatory application of professional standards:
Extraction
from the letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated 04/05/2016 No. 14-2/B-299
About the application of professional standards
According to Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, professional standards are mandatory for application by employers in terms of the requirements they contain for the qualifications necessary for an employee to perform a certain labor function, provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. Thus, only in terms of the requirements established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, the requirements of the professional standard are mandatory.
[…]
In other cases, these requirements are advisory in nature..
[…]
So, paragraph 3, part 2, art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes the mandatory nature of professional standards only insofar as they relate to the names of positions/professions/specialties and qualification requirements for them and only for those cases where the provision of compensation , benefits or the presence of restrictions by regulatory legal acts (hereinafter referred to as NLA) .
Consequently, you and I, colleagues, “only” have to figure out what regulatory documents establish such a connection.
RELATIONSHIP OF POSITION AND MODES OF WORKING TIME AND REST TIME
Resolution No. 877 of December 10, 2002 “On the peculiarities of the working time and rest time regime for certain categories of workers with a special nature of work” (as amended on September 4, 2012; hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 877)) the Government of the Russian Federation, referring to Art. 100 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, established that the features of the working time and rest time regime for certain categories of workers with a special nature of work are determined by the relevant federal executive authorities in agreement with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and in the absence of a corresponding federal executive body - the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation.
Also, Resolution No. 877 ordered the above-listed federal executive authorities to approve, before April 1, 2003, regulations defining the specifics of the working hours and rest periods of such workers. Of course, the order was not fulfilled within this period, but in 2003–2016. Many ministries and departments have nevertheless approved provisions on the peculiarities of working hours and rest time for employees of subordinate organizations that have a special nature of work. Accordingly, the provisions of professional standards that coincide with the norms of such legal acts are mandatory (although it should be noted that there is not always a direct connection between benefits and restrictions on working time and rest time with specific positions).
OTHER CATEGORIES OF EMPLOYEES FOR WHICH COMPENSATIONS, BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS ARE ESTABLISHED
Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated July 12, 1999 No. 22 “On establishing the length of the working week for civil aviation crew members” has not lost force and is currently being applied, according to which special working conditions are established for civil aviation crew members - pilots, navigators , flight engineers, flight mechanics, flight radio operators, flight operators.
Experts in the field of labor law[2] also include other categories of workers as employees who have special working conditions, for example:
- general practitioners (family doctors) and nurses working with them (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 30, 1998 No. 1588 “On establishing for general practitioners (family doctors) and nurses of general practitioners (family doctors) an annual additional paid 3- daily leave for continuous work in these positions");
- workers who have a multi-shift work schedule (Resolution of the Council of Ministers and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions dated July 2, 1990 No. 647 “On increasing the duration of vacations for workers in the coal, shale, mining industries and certain basic sectors of the national economy”);
- employees of territorial bodies of the Chechen Republic, as well as employees sent to the Chechen Republic, the terms of remuneration and the provision of additional benefits for whom are established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 31, 1994 No. 1440 (as amended on January 14, 2002), etc.
Employees with special working conditions can also include those workers whose work is directly related to the movement of vehicles.
According to Part 1 of Art. 329 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the list of works, professions, positions directly related to driving vehicles or controlling the movement of vehicles is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, taking into account the opinion of the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations (approved on January 19, 2008 by Resolution No. 16).
According to Part 2 of Art. 329 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the specifics of the regime of working time and rest time, working conditions of certain categories of workers, whose work is directly related to the movement of vehicles, are established by the federal executive body exercising the functions of developing state policy and legal regulation in the field of transport, taking into account the opinion relevant all-Russian trade union and all-Russian association of employers. These features cannot worsen the situation of workers in comparison with those established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Here we more often see a direct connection between the name of the position and benefits or restrictions.
And finally, we bring to your attention a table that shows legal regulations that establish the connection between the position of employees and the qualification requirements for them[3]. Accordingly, the use of professional standards in terms of coincidence with these legal regulations is also mandatory.
[1] Here and further in the extracts it is emphasized by the author.
[2] See, for example: Komissarova T. Yu. Additional vacations: to whom, for what and how much? // Remuneration: accounting and taxation. 2014. No. 2. P. 44–52; Commentary on the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (item-by-item) (5th edition, corrected, revised and expanded) (edited by Yu. P. Orlovsky) (“CONTRACT”, “INFRA-M”, 2009); Kolbasov V.V. Vacations. M.: GrossMedia, ROSBUKH, 2013.
[3] It should be noted that this information is not exhaustive, since the process of lawmaking does not stand still - the list of categories of workers for whom qualification requirements are established is constantly expanding.
Requirements for employees to comply with professional standards
Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation regulates the use of professional standards by employers. It provides a brief but succinct definition of an employee’s qualifications. And it is explained that if the requirements for the qualifications of a worker are legally defined, then the application of the standards becomes the indisputable responsibility of the employer, and not his right.
To make it clearer, let’s look at this point using the example of the professional standard for accountants in 2021. So, in accordance with Part 4 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting,” the chief accountant who came to get a job (for example, in an OJSC or an insurance organization) must meet the following requirements:
- Higher education.
- Work experience in the specialty "Accounting" or "Audit" - at least 3 years out of the last five.
But is it necessary to present these requirements if an accountant gets a job in a regular LLC? What if the potential chief accountant does not have a higher education, but has valuable experience and a good track record? Let's look at the professional standard "Accountant". It follows from this that a person can be hired as an accountant with both higher and secondary education.
Therefore, we believe that higher education is mandatory for an accountant only if he plans to work in organizations included in the list given in Part 4 of Article 7 of Law No. 402-FZ (for example, in an OJSC). If not, then it will be enough to have secondary education and work experience, which are prescribed in the professional standard.
General provisions of professional standards for personnel specialists
The document in question provides a definition of the concept of “qualification level”. According to the professional standard, this is a generalized set of requirements for the level of education of an employee, for his knowledge, skills and abilities. The higher the level of qualification of an employee, the more complex and even more prestigious his functions and responsibilities.
Professional standards for personnel workers establish three levels of qualifications for employees:
- The fifth level of qualification involves independent performance of work to resolve various practical problems that require a qualitative analysis of the situation. A personnel officer with the fifth qualification level is required to deal with document flow for personnel records, as well as the hiring and dismissal of employees. Secondary vocational education required.
- A specialist with the sixth qualification level is engaged in determining the tasks of his own work or the work of his subordinates. He is involved in the administration of document flow, organizing employee certification, conducting work internships, bonuses, corporate policy, monitoring its implementation, etc. Higher and additional specialized education is required.
- The seventh level of qualification involves the identification of special strategies, as well as the development of innovative management activities. As a rule, this qualification level applies to managers and directors of human resources departments.
Thus, the main functions and categories of personnel officers are secured by the above professional standards. Various local acts written in accordance with the main document - such as job descriptions and staffing schedules - will also become mandatory for employees.
Improvement of employee qualifications
The employer has the right to send employees of his enterprise to retraining and advanced training courses. In accordance with Article 196 of the Labor Code, this is his right, but not his obligation. That is, he can make this decision at his own discretion, based on considerations of the feasibility of such training. Most often - to raise the company’s status in the market, its prestige and the qualifications of workers involved in work processes.
In serious and large companies, the employer and owner of the company are interested in a high level of training of employees. To verify and confirm it, international professional standards of internal auditing can be used.
Professional development
The bill establishes a requirement for mandatory completion of advanced training courses. This is necessary in order to maintain professional expertise and keep up with changing trends.
The document requires employers to conduct periodic qualification tests to establish the true knowledge of employees. The information obtained from testing will give an idea of what skills employees lack and what can be done to improve their knowledge.
All employees must meet current professional standards. To comply with the law you must:
- develop a program that allows employees to gain the necessary experience;
- decide on methods for achieving goals;
- establish a time period during which employees must improve their qualifications;
- conduct final testing after completion of the educational program.
Employees will strive to learn new knowledge if they feel motivated to do so. Employers are recommended to develop a reward system. Most often, one of the following schemes is used:
- cash bonus, which is awarded at the end of the month. Its size may depend on the implementation of the labor plan;
- other incentive payments;
- additional time off is assigned;
- The motivation for the team is often to host a corporate event. This encourages employees to carry out the plan set by management;
- Other incentive methods may be used at the discretion of management.
Read also: Law on the collection of dead wood
Practice shows the effectiveness of bonus systems in improving labor statistics.
Controversial point: is it necessary to study?
There are still disputes and different opinions regarding the above provisions. Some experts refer to Article 195.3 of the Labor Code (its first part), others to the same article in its second part, finding in them some discrepancies and inaccuracies that allow for a double interpretation of their meaning.
As a result, some believe that it is mandatory to apply professional standards, while others believe that they are only advisory in nature. However, both of them agree that if mandatory requirements for the qualifications of employees in a certain specialty are not established by law, then they can only be advisory in nature for the employer and nothing more. Moreover, the latter has the right to use them at his own discretion, setting more stringent or, conversely, softer requirements for employees than required by the standard.
The workers themselves also react ambiguously to professional standards. Many of them express fears that the education they received at various courses will be only formal in nature. And this was invented by legislators for only one purpose – to once again empty their wallets. After all, at the moment there is no clear definition in the law of who will pay for all this.
How to bring positions into line with professional standards?
Not every employer is required to strictly follow professional standards.
Want to know the answer to this question? Get free access to K+ and go to the material.
To transition the company to professional standards, a working group is created, whose primary responsibilities include finding out whether all the necessary professional standards have been adopted that can be correlated with the types of professional activities at the enterprise.
To do this, you should compare all the positions listed in the staffing table in terms of the job function performed with already approved professional standards. It is worth deciding which professional standard the description of a particular position may fall under. It may be necessary to study several professional standards that are similar in content in order to choose the one most suitable for the description of the existing position at the enterprise.
To make such a comparison, it is worth first of all paying attention to studying the main purpose of professional activity, which is necessarily given as part of the general information of any professional standard - this can be clearly seen in the layout of the professional standard, approved by order of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated April 12, 2013 No. 147n. The description of the goal recorded in the professional standard should be compared with the goal of working in a specific position prescribed in the corresponding job description of the enterprise.
In the layout, you should also look at the information located in the column under the heading “Group of occupations” - it will serve as an additional pointer when searching for a professional standard that matches the job description.
At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the title of the position according to the professional standard may not coincide exactly with the title of the position provided for at the enterprise. Therefore, if a suitable professional standard was not found by its exact name, one should not assume that no suitable professional standard is provided for a position existing in the staffing table.
An example of using professional standards for advisory purposes
Let us assume that the current legislation does not impose strict requirements for the qualifications of specialists in certain professions. Let, in our case, for clarity, it be “HR Specialist”. Therefore, the professional standards for personnel officers approved for 2020 can be applied to this position. But use them only by taking them as a basis to facilitate the preparation of documentation.
For example, taking the professional standard as a certain template, you can:
- correctly identify job titles;
- functions related to the execution of the workflow;
- set reasonable requirements for their qualifications, experience, and education.
That is, this document, in fact, acts as a foundation that allows the employer to find support points when building natural work processes in a team.
Download the text of the law on professional standards
You can download the law on professional standards from the following link. The current version of the bill contains information about all changes in legal documents that are related to the establishment of qualification standards.
We also suggest downloading the Labor Code, since it reflects the basic information about the procedure for establishing professional standards. In addition, the current version contains information about employment issues, the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers, the nuances of processing sick leave and paid leave, etc.
Federal Law 122 also provides for amendments to the law “On Education in the Russian Federation”. Therefore, specialists should study this legal document. It specifies aspects related to obtaining vocational education. Separately, it is worth noting the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which describes cases of non-compliance with legislative norms and the liability provided for various violations.
Professional activity in Russia is determined not only by the job responsibilities of employees, but also by their qualifications. The Law on Professional Standards establishes different criteria for assessing the skills of employees and provides for administrative penalties for non-compliance with the standards.
Questions of application of Art. 195.3 Labor Code of the Russian Federation
All discrepancies and interpretations of Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation are associated with its relative novelty. A lot of questions arise regarding the scope of its application. Moreover, it is still not installed:
- a unified method for introducing professional standards into enterprises (plan, etc.);
- a measure of responsibility for the employer and employees who have been working in their companies for a long time, if the latter are not currently able to meet professional standards.
And it is not at all clear what to do with new potential employees who are just planning to come to work for the enterprise. The labor market is now crowded, but not everything is so simple. This does not mean at all that there is no shortage of valuable personnel. It is not always the case that a new employee with a higher education is able to replace an old one who has only a secondary vocational education behind him, but has enormous experience.
Officials of the Russian Ministry of Labor constantly receive various questions regarding the application of professional standards. Here are some questions and answers to them.
Strict adherence to professional standards
Question: Is there a need to strictly follow the requirements of approved professional standards?
Answer: Yes. The employer must keep in mind that he is obliged to strictly follow the requirements when hiring a person if we are talking about issues regulated by Articles 57 part 2 and 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In other cases, all requirements are purely advisory in nature.
Mandatory professional standards in private organizations
Question: Is compliance with professional standards mandatory for private organizations? Or are they designed to streamline the work of state and municipal companies and enterprises?
Answer: Yes, definitely. The law is the same for everyone, regardless of the form of ownership and status of the enterprise and its owner.
Differences in the professional standard and qualification reference book
Question: What should you do if different requirements are specified for the same profession in the qualifications directory and in the professional standard? Which of these two documents should be used in such cases?
Answer: The right to choose in this case belongs to the employer.
Dismissal of employees
Question: Is it possible to fire an employee if it suddenly turns out that he does not meet the requirements of the professional standard? For example, does he not have a higher education and the necessary work experience, which have become mandatory under the new rules?
Answer: No, the introduction of new professional standards cannot be grounds for dismissal of previously hired employees. Employees can be dismissed only based on the results of the certification process.
Changes in job responsibilities
Question: Should workers' responsibilities automatically change with the introduction of a new occupational standard?
Answer: No, there is no automatic change in responsibilities in this case.
Changes in employment contracts
Question: Does the law oblige employers to begin rewriting employment contracts and job descriptions for their employees once the new standards come into force?
Answer: Yes, but only if the requirements of professional standards are mandatory applicable to a specific position.
Tuition payment
Question: Who should pay for advanced training and retraining courses for employees if required by the employer?
Answer: The law cannot clearly answer this question. It is necessary to decide based on the content of other internal legal documents. Raise the employment contract, various agreements, collective agreements. The employer does not have a direct obligation to pay for the professional education of employees.
Transfer to a higher position
Question: Does the employer have the right to appoint to a position a person who, according to the terms of the professional standard, does not meet it?
Answer: The employer has the right to do this. In particular, the employer can create a certification commission. She may decide that the person recommended has sufficient experience, is responsible in carrying out his duties and is fully capable of performing them. And then the employee can be transferred to a higher position.
Amendments to the Labor Code
According to the current legislation, from 2021 a new edition of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is provided. The changes affected several articles and subsections of the document.
Article No. 195.1
The section contains information about the qualifications of employees and current professional standards. The law defines qualifications as the totality of knowledge, experience and skills of an employee. Professional standards represent an assessment of knowledge. Confirmation of qualifications is necessary for the employee to properly perform his duties.
Article No. 195.2
The following article defines the procedure for establishing professional standards. Power rests with the federal government, but approval must be made by a tripartite commission on social and labor relations.
Article No. 195.3
The current edition specifies the procedure for applying qualification standards. These powers are also vested in the government and the tripartite commission. According to the legislative act, the requirements for the following organizations are determined:
- Russian non-state funds;
- government agencies and corporations;
- municipal departments.
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Responsibility for ignoring the requirements of professional standards
Approved professional standards are very important in the social sphere. Responsibility for their failure to comply is provided for in cases where they are mandatory. Or if they are not mandatory, but the employer voluntarily accepted the obligation to follow their requirements. For example, by reflecting this decision in the company’s local regulations.
If an employer is obliged to comply with professional standards, but does not do so, then he may be held accountable on the basis of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Labor inspectorates will hold employers accountable.
Also see video on the topic of professional standards
Read also
08.06.2018
About the application of professional standards
The legislation states that professional standards must be applied in a timely manner in the following situations:
- it is necessary to conduct certification or recertification of employees;
- there is a need for personnel management;
- job descriptions are developed;
- a high-quality personnel policy is being formed;
- the work is rated;
- employees are assigned tariff categories;
- it is necessary to organize training or retraining of employees;
- There is a need to establish a timely remuneration system.
Many employers ask a simple, but at the same time very important question: where are the approved professional standards located? The Ministry of Labor promptly posts the necessary documentation on its official website. It is there that there is a special register containing all the new professional standards. It is very important to check any such documents on official resources. This is especially true for employees of any organizations: employers often offer to work under a local act that does not comply with the regulatory requirements of the law. However, local acts that have obvious inconsistencies and violations should not be confused with job descriptions, which may be drawn up under the influence of the professional standard, but do not fully comply with it.
Are professional standards required for application? If the requirements for the qualification level of workers are established in the Labor Code, then yes. The law provides penalties for employers who refuse to implement relevant regulations in their organization. According to Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offences, it is worth highlighting the following types of punishments:
- issuing a warning to the manager - but only for the first violation;
- for heads of organizations - a fine of 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles;
- for officials - a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles;
- a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles for managers of enterprises registered as individual entrepreneurs.
What can be said about the employees themselves, about those people for whom professional standards are mandatory? If changes have been made to the law and the provisions of the relevant documentation have changed, then the employee, of course, is not fired. He just needs to undergo re-certification or receive additional education. However, if such a task turned out to be beyond his strength, then dismissal would be completely legal.
Consequences for the employee when introducing professional standards
Work on the documented implementation of professional standards has been completed. What are the next steps? Should an employer automatically fire employees who do not match their experience and education? Partial answers to these questions are contained in the following excerpt from the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated November 14, 2018 No. 41-P “In the case of verifying the constitutionality of Article 46 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” in connection with the complaint of citizen I.V. Seregina."
Consequently, both the purpose of introducing professional standards, in particular in the field of education, and their purpose in the mechanism of legal regulation did not imply the dismissal from work of persons who do not fully meet the qualification requirements for education, but who successfully fulfill their job duties
, including educators preschool educational organizations.
The decision on the continuation of professional activity should be carried out taking into account the ongoing nature of the labor relationship on the basis of an assessment of the employee’s ability to perform the work assigned to him carried out during certification
.
In its decision, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation referred to the position of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation, outlined in the letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated April 22, 2016 N 14-3/B-381. This letter defines the conditions under which a positive assessment of an employee by the certification commission can be given.
Thus, when applying qualification reference books and professional standards, persons who do not have special training or work experience established in the section “Qualification Requirements”, but have sufficient practical experience and perform their job duties efficiently and in full
, on the recommendation of the certification commission are appointed to appropriate positions in the same way as persons with special training and work experience.
Letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated 06.06.2017 No. 14-2/10/B-4361 “On the implementation of professional standards and bringing the names of positions in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Law of December 29, 2012 N 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation” also defines possible cases of violations during the implementation of professional standards.
The introduction of a professional standard also cannot be the basis for changing the terms of a concluded employment contract at the initiative of the employer
in accordance with Art. 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Changing the terms of the employment contract determined by the parties, including transfer to another job, is allowed only by agreement of the parties to the employment contract, with the exception of cases provided for in Art. 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Elimination of discrepancies in terms of employee education is possible through training (vocational education and vocational training) and additional professional education of workers (Article 196 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, the decision to send them to study is made by the employer on the terms and in the manner determined by the collective agreement, agreements, and employment contract. In some cases (Part 4 of Article 196 of the Labor Code), the employer is obliged to send its employees (for example, persons engaged in teaching activities) to training.
An intermediate step before sending workers to study can be an independent assessment of workers' qualifications - a procedure for confirming the compliance of the applicant's qualifications with the provisions of the professional standard and qualification reference book.
The employee can also present to the employer the result of the qualification assessment; in accordance with it, the employee can plan a future professional career, and the employer can organize employee training
, inclusion of employees in the personnel reserve, etc. (information from the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated April 21, 2017 “Answers to frequently asked questions on the implementation of the Federal Law of July 3, 2021 No. 238-FZ “On independent assessment of qualifications”).
What is a professional standard
The content of the professional standard is disclosed in Article 195.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
This is a qualitative characteristic of the level of knowledge, abilities, skills and professional experience of an employee, which is necessary to carry out a certain type of professional activity. To this it is also necessary to add the presence of completed basic education and additional training.
In simple words, a professional standard is the capabilities and skills used in professional activities, the skill of an employee, and not a functional description of his formal position.
Thus, the professional standard “Human Resources Management Specialist”, approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor dated October 6, 2015 No. 691n, contains a description of labor functions, for example, maintaining organizational and administrative documentation for personnel.
To perform this particular job function, the employee must have a secondary vocational education; his responsibility will include the processing and analysis of personnel documentation received by him, for which, according to the professional standard, he must be able to keep records and register documents in information systems and on tangible media, which , in turn, will require from him knowledge of technology, methods and techniques for analyzing and systematizing documents and information.
That is, the professional standard is actually an interconnected descriptive structure of knowledge, skills and abilities of workers to perform very specific job functions.
Olga Kosets,
President of the Municipal Organization for Support and Protection of Small and Medium Businesses “Business People”, owner of the Sofiano clothing production
— After the Russian Federation joined the World Trade Organization, we are going through certain stages of standardization and bringing it to a common denominator in accordance with international requirements. Voluntary certification of classifications is no exception. But, in essence, we need both professional standards and certification for the development of industrial sectors of the economy, for its stabilization as a result of moving away from carbon policy. Over the past 25 years, blue-collar jobs have been unpopular and unfashionable among young people. We have raised a whole generation of lawyers, accountants and financiers of dubious qualifications and low professional level. At the same time, among entrepreneurs engaged in the light industry, there is high competition for production process technologists, designers or ordinary seamstresses. Redistribution of human resources is required to create a national system of certified specialists.
EXAMPLE FROM JUDICIAL PRACTICE
The person filed a claim with the educational institution for reinstatement. As part of the dispute, the question arose whether the plaintiff had the right to work as a labor protection specialist. Federal law establishes that performing work as a labor protection specialist requires special knowledge or work experience. The requirements for education and work experience when filling the position of occupational safety specialist are contained in the order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated 08/04/2014 No. 524n, which approved the professional standard “Occupational Safety and Health Specialist”. According to the professional standard, an employee is required to have a higher professional education or professional retraining. The plaintiff did not meet these requirements of the professional standard. The 40-hour occupational safety training that he completed is not the implementation of advanced training programs and professional retraining programs. Due to the fact that the plaintiff did not meet the qualification requirements, the court decided that the defendant had grounds to dismiss the plaintiff (Appeal ruling of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court dated October 13, 2017 in case No. 33-17516/2017).
ORIGINAL SOURCE
Extra-budgetary funds, state or municipal institutions, unitary enterprises, as well as state corporations, companies and business entities, more than fifty percent of the shares (shares) in the authorized capital of which are state-owned or municipally owned can introduce professional standards gradually, until January 1, 2021.
— Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 27, 2016 No. 584.
What to do if legal qualification requirements are established?
There is no ready-made list of positions for which professional standards are required. Therefore, the company must first study the regulations that regulate the qualification requirements for the position, establish compensation, benefits or restrictions. Then make a list of positions and professions for which professional standards are mandatory. If it turns out that the legislator has established requirements for the qualifications of your employees, then you, as an employer, must apply (implement) them. For example, professions and positions whose qualifications must correspond to the professional standard include: lawyer (Article 9 of the Federal Law of May 31, 2002 No. 63-FZ “On advocacy and the legal profession in the Russian Federation”), cadastral engineer (Part 2 of Art. 29 of the Law of July 24, 2007 No. 221-FZ “On cadastral activities”), private detective, security guard (Article 6, 11.1, 15.1 of the Law of the Russian Federation of March 11, 1992 No. 2487-1 “On private detective and security activities in the Russian Federation"), teachers (Article 46 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation”).
As for accountants, the professional standard “Accountant”, which was approved by Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 22, 2014 No. 1061n, is not mandatory for all persons in this profession. And only for chief accountants or other officials who are entrusted with accounting, who work in open joint-stock companies (with the exception of credit organizations), insurance organizations and non-state pension funds, joint-stock investment funds, management companies of mutual investment funds, and in other economic entities , the securities of which are admitted to circulation at organized auctions (with the exception of credit organizations), in the management bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, the management bodies of state territorial extra-budgetary funds (Part 4 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting accounting").
And the professional standard “specialist in the field of labor protection,” which was established by Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated August 4, 2014 No. 524n “On approval of the professional standard “Specialist in the field of labor protection,” is mandatory for all specialists in the field of labor protection. This is indicated by Article 217 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The professional standard specifies what education and work experience an employee who fills such a position should have.
Mandatory professional standards require:
- names of positions (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)
- qualification requirements (Article 57, 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
The remaining provisions of professional standards are not mandatory for application (Part 1 of Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
The professional standard must be implemented as follows:
- -check local regulations for compliance with professional standards;
- -make changes to them, if necessary; as well as in job descriptions and employment contracts;
- -check compliance of employee qualifications with the requirements (checking documents, certification, independent assessment);
- -develop a training plan for employees based on the previous stage and train them.
Keep in mind that it is impossible to fire an employee for non-compliance with professional standards, but based on the results of certification, you can.
POSITION OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOR
If the qualification directory and professional standard for similar professions or positions contain different qualification requirements, then the employer can independently determine which legal act he will use, except in cases provided for by law.
— Letter dated April 4, 2016 No. 14-0/10/B-2253.
What to do if legal qualification requirements are not established?
The characteristics of qualifications, which are contained in professional standards and the mandatory application of which is not established by law, are used by employers as a basis to determine the requirements for the qualifications of employees, taking into account the characteristics of the labor functions they perform (Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
The Russian Ministry of Labor explained that in cases where it is not necessary to apply professional standards, the employer can use them, for example, to determine the names of positions (professions, specialties), labor functions of employees, requirements for their education and work experience. The employer has the right to approve this document as mandatory in the organization (Information of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated February 10, 2016 “On the application of professional standards in the field of labor”).
If an employer, in a collective agreement or internal regulations, undertakes to be guided by professional standards, then he must comply with them.
The qualification requirements specified in the professional standard are the minimum that an employer must comply with. Therefore, if the employer’s documents establish requirements for employees lower than the professional standard, such documents need to be changed and the requirements raised to the appropriate level.
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For whom are professional standards required?
For employees whose positions or labor functions are related to the provision of compensation, benefits, or the presence of any restrictions (doctors, government civil servants, police officers, labor protection specialists, workers engaged in underground work, teaching staff, etc.) .
According to Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the names of these positions, professions, specialties and qualification requirements for them must correspond to the names and conditions specified in qualification reference books or the relevant provisions of professional standards.
For employees whose work, in addition to the Labor Code, is regulated by another federal law, for example “On the State Civil Service”.
Thus, by Order of the Ministry of Labor dated December 22, 2014 No. 1061n, the professional standard “Accountant” was approved. Almost every organization, regardless of its form of ownership, has an accountant; does this mean that all accountants now have to meet professional standards?
It is necessary, but not for everyone.
The Labor Code, in principle, does not contain conditions and requirements for the qualifications of an accountant, but Article 12 of the Federal Law “On the State Civil Service” contains qualification requirements for civil service positions, in connection with which an accountant filling a position in the state civil service will be obliged meet the above standard. Likewise for accountants of insurance organizations and chief accountants.
But for an ordinary accountant of a limited liability company, compliance with the professional standard will not be required, at least in the near future.
Nevertheless, employers should pay attention to the provisions of the relevant professional standards in order to update existing personnel documentation.
WHAT TO DO IF A PROFESSIONAL STANDARD IS MANDATORY FOR YOU
Review existing documents
The first thing to do is look at the staffing table. After all, we need the names of positions and professions to coincide with the professional standard.
If necessary, we make changes. If you had to rename some positions, you will have to make corresponding changes to other documents in which the employee’s position or profession is recorded: an employment contract, personal card, work book.
After this, we review the candidate selection algorithms, certification, adaptation, and training procedures. If your organization has local regulations that describe these personnel procedures, you need to review them too. Are there any discrepancies in job titles with the new staffing table? Are these the same skills we test for admission? What skills and knowledge are assessed during certification?
Let us turn again to the website of the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor of the Russian Ministry of Labor:
The staffing table, labor regulations, job descriptions, documents containing criteria for selecting candidates to fill vacant positions, as well as documents including similar requirements and provisions approved by the employer, are local acts. Bringing local acts, personnel documentation and employment contracts into compliance with the new requirements of the professional standard (if any) can be carried out by the employer in terms of job title, job function and qualification requirements for employees replacing them.
Professional standard and employment contract
The employer determines the content of the employment contract taking into account Art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and job responsibilities of employees. In this case, the professional standard can be applied as a recommendatory methodological document, in addition to the requirements contained in it, provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. The employer applies professional standards to determine the need for workers with a certain level of qualifications, the correct selection and placement of personnel, the rational division and organization of labor, the delimitation of functions, powers and responsibilities between categories of workers, the determination of the labor responsibilities of workers taking into account the characteristics of the technologies used, the organization of training (professional education and vocational training) and additional professional education of workers, labor organization, establishment of remuneration systems. Responsibility and responsibilities for making personnel decisions are the powers of employers.