In brief
- The current form is the standard Form No. P-5, as set out in Order No. 489 of the State Statistics Committee dated 5 December 2008. There is no separate form ‘for 2026’.
- The official form is an annex to Order No. 489 on the order’s page on the State Statistics Service website (archive 489_2008_5.zip).
- Record-keeping obligation — Part 2 of Article 30 of the Law ‘On Remuneration of Labour’ No. 108/95-VR; this also applies to sole traders with employees.
- Liability — there is no specific fine ‘for the absence of a timesheet’, but a breach of other labour law requirements carries a penalty of one minimum wage (Article 265 of the Labour Code) — in 2026, this amounts to 8,647 UAH (Article 8 of Law No. 4695-IX).
- Further in this article: all 30 codes, instructions for completion, examples for part-time workers and night shifts, and retention periods.
Which timesheet form is in use in 2026
Standard Form No. P-5 ‘Timesheet for Recording Working Hours’ is in use, approved by Order No. 489 of the State Statistics Committee dated 5 December 2008 and brought into force on 1 January 2009. Order No. 496 of 25 December 2009 removed Form P-2 from the list, but did not affect Form P-5.
The timesheet is a primary document within the meaning of the Law ‘On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine’ No. 996-XIV: it is on this basis that wages are calculated. This gives rise to strict requirements regarding the details to be included and the retention periods.
Form P-5 is the recommended form. The State Statistics Service, in its letter dated 12 January 2012 No. 9/4-10/9, the State Statistics Service noted that an enterprise ‘has the right to use a different form of timesheet’ provided that it ensures the recording of employees’ attendance and absences.
Who is required to keep a timesheet and who completes it
The specific provision is contained in Part 2 of Article 30 of the Law ‘On Remuneration of Labour’ No. 108/95-VR:
‘The employer is obligedto ensure accurate records of the work performed by employees… except in cases provided for by law”.
There is no separate article in the Labour Code regarding timesheets, but without them it is impossible to confirm either compliance with working time regulations (Articles 50 and 52 of the Labour Code), nor the accuracy of the summary records (Article 61 of the Labour Code).
The regulation does not specify a particular post: the employer appoints the person responsible by internal order or sets out their role in the relevant regulations.
A sole trader with employees keeps a timesheet on the same grounds: Article 30 of Law No. 108/95-VR makes no exceptions based on form of ownership, whilst Article 41 of the Code of Administrative Offences explicitly lists sole traders amongst those subject to liability. The proviso ‘except in cases provided for by law’ was added by Law No. 3680-IX of 25 April 2024 concerning the employment of domestic workers — this proviso does not exempt sole traders from the requirement to keep records. If a sole trader has no employees, there is no need to keep a timesheet.
What the P-5 form contains and where to obtain it
The form has four main sections:
Header (company name, EDRPOU code, organisational unit, reporting month).
List of employees (specifying staff numbers and job titles).
Grid of days (with the code and number of hours worked/not worked in each cell).
Summary data by code.
The official form is an annex to Order No. 489 (archive 489_2008_5.zip).
If an organisation develops its own form, it must retain the details of the source document in accordance with Part 2 of Article 9 of Law No. 996-XIV:
the name of the form (document);
the date of issue;
name of the organisation on whose behalf the document was drawn up;
the nature and scope of the business transaction, unit of measurement;
the positions of the persons responsible for carrying out the transaction and ensuring it is correctly documented;
personal signature or other details enabling theidentification of the individual.
Legend for Form P-5: all 30 codes
In each cell, enter a code — either alphabetic or numeric — and the hours for each day. The full list is set out in Order No. 489:
| Alphabetic code | Numeric code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| R | 01 | Working hours stipulated in the collective agreement |
| RS | 02 | Working hours for employees on a part-time working day (week) as stipulated by law |
| VCh | 03 | Evening working hours |
| RN | 04 | Night working hours |
| NU | 05 | Overtime hours |
| RB | 06 | Working hours on weekends and public holidays |
| VD | 07 | Business travel |
| V | 08 | Basic annual leave (Article 6 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| D | 09 | Additional annual leave (Articles 7 and 8 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| C | 10 | Additional leave provided for in Articles 20, 21 and 30 of the Law ‘On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Disaster’ |
| TV | 11 | Creative leave (Article 16 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| N | 12 | Additional leave for study purposes (Articles 13, 14, 15 and 15-1 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| NB | 13 | Leave without pay in connection with study (paragraphs 12, 13 and 17 of Article25 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| DB | 14 | Mandatory additional leave without pay (Article 25, excluding paragraphs3, 12, 13 and 17 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| DO | 15 | Additional paid leave for employees with children (Article 19 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| VP | 16 | Maternity leave (Article 17) and leave to care for a child until the child reaches the age of three (Article18 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| DD | 17 | Leave to care for a child until the child reaches the age of 6 (Article 25(3) of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| NA | 18 | Leave without pay by mutual agreement (Article 26 of the Law ‘On Leave’) |
| BZ | 19 | Other leave without pay (for the period during which work is suspended) |
| ND | 20 | Absences due to a transfer, at the employer’s initiative, to part-time work (week) |
| NP | 21 | Absences due to temporary transfer to work at another undertaking on the basis of agreements between business entities |
| IN | 22 | Other time not worked, as provided for by legislation (fulfilment of state and public duties, pre-conscription training, military exercises, blood donation, time off in lieu, etc.) |
| P | 23 | Downtime |
| PR | 24 | Absences without leave |
| S | 25 | Mass absences from work (strikes) |
| TN | 26 | Paid temporary incapacity for work |
| NN | 27 | Unpaid temporary incapacity for work in cases provided for by law (due to domestic accidents, etc., confirmed by certificates from medical institutions) |
| NZ | 28 | Absences for unexplained reasons |
| IV | 29 | Other types of absence provided for in collective agreements and contracts |
| I | 30 | Other reasons for absence |
Note: In the case of business travel, only working days are recorded for statistical reporting purposes (State Statistics Service letter No. 9/4-10/9).
How to complete the timesheet: step-by-step guide
- Take form No. P-5 or your company’s own approved form.
Complete the header: company name, EDRPOU code, department, reporting month.
Enter all employees, specifying their staff numbers and job titles.
For each day of the month, enter the relevant code and the number of hours.
Sum up the figures: calculate the total number of hours worked and days of absence for each code.
Obtain the necessary signatures: from the person in charge, the head of the department and a member of the HR department.
Submit the timesheet to the accounts department on time.
The timesheet is drawn up on a monthly basis, and the deadlines for its submission are set out in the internal regulations. Some organisations produce it twice a month — for the first half (to calculate an advance payment) and as a summary for the month. This has become standard practice, although it is not a direct legal requirement.
Remote working
Form P-5 does not contain a separate code for remote working. In accordance with Article 60-2 of the Labour Code, a remote worker may organise their working hours at their own discretion, unless otherwise specified in the employment contract, and the total duration of work must not exceed the limits set out in Articles 50 and 51 of the Labour Code. Therefore, the working arrangements and the procedure for recording working hours must be specified in the employment contract.
Electronic timesheet
A timesheet may be drawn up electronically, provided the template contains all the necessary details of a primary document in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 996-XIV (the legislation does not contain any explicit prohibition). Experts advise signing the electronic document with a qualified electronic signature (QES) or to print out a paper copy as well.
What to include in the Regulations on the Recording of Working Hours
The law does not regulate the content of this internal document, but the mandatory minimum includes the following points:
Recording form: Working time is recorded using standard form No. P-5, approved by Order of the State Statistics Committee dated 5 December2008 No. 489 (or using a form developed in-house).
Responsibilities and deadlines: The person responsible for maintaining the timesheet within the department is the individual designated by an order from the head of the department. The timesheet for the reporting month is signed by the person in charge, the head of the department and the HR officer, and is submitted to the accounts department within the timeframe specified in these Regulations.
Special arrangements: Working hours under an internal second job are recorded on a separate line under a separate timesheet number.
An employee with an internal second job on the timesheet
An employee working under an internal secondment arrangement has two employment contracts with the same employer; therefore, in the timesheet, they are shown on two separate lines with different timesheet numbers.
| Employee’s row | Payroll No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary post | 7 | R 8 | R 8 | R 8 | R 8 | R 8 |
| Secondary employment | 8 | R 4 | R 4 | R 4 | R 4 | R 4 |
Some specialist sources recommend using the code ‘RS’ (02) for hours worked in a secondary role. However, according to the text of the form, the code ‘RS’ denotes part-time work in accordance with the law, rather than concurrent employment. As there is no separate code for concurrent employment, select the code corresponding to the actual working arrangements in the relevant field (for example, ‘P’) and specify the chosen option in the Regulations on the Recording of Working Hours.
Flexible working hours, summary recording and overtime
The standard working week is no more than 40 hours (Section 50 of the Labour Code). Cumulative working time accounting is introduced where it is impossible to adhere to this limit: Article 61 of the Labour Code requires agreement with the trade union and sets a limit — over the accounting period, the number of hours worked must not exceed the standard.
Hours worked during shift work are allocated according to actual dates: a shift that extends past midnight is split between the adjacent 24-hour periods.
The following are indicated separately:
EV (03) — evening hours;
NT (04) — night hours (from 22:00 to 06:00, Part 3 of Article 54 of the Labour Code);
RW (06) — working hours on weekends and public holidays;
NU (05) — overtime hours.
Under Part 1 of Article 54 of the Labour Code, the night shift is reduced by one hour, except in the cases specified in Part 2 — where night work is treated as equivalent to day work due to production conditions. An example of precisely such a case is given below: a full 8-hour shift from 20:00 to 04:00, which began on the 1st.
| Date | What is in the cell | Why is this so |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | P 4, of which PN 2 | 4 hours of work, of which 2 are night hours (after 22:00) |
| 2nd | R 4, of which RN 4 | 4 hours worked, all 4 of which were night shifts (until 04:00) |
| Total per shift | R 8, of which RN 6 | the shift is split across days rather than recorded as a single day |
Records are kept on a cumulative basis from the start of the accounting period. Overtime is defined as the difference between the time actually worked and the standard number of hours for the period (Order of the Ministry of Labour No. 138 of 19 April 2006).
In accordance with Article 106 of the Labour Code, overtime hours are paid at double the hourly rate for hourly-paid workers, whilst for piecework, a supplement of 100 per cent of the rate is paid. Compensation for overtime in the form of time off in lieu is prohibited.
Martial law. Law of Ukraine No. 2136-IX establishes the following rules for the period during which martial law is in force:
At critical infrastructure facilities, the weekly working hours may be increased to 60 hours (Article 6(1)), and, where working hours are reduced, to 40 hours (Article 6(2)). Pay increases in proportion to the increase in working hours (Article 6(7)).
The weekly uninterrupted rest period may be reduced to 24 hours (Article 6(5)). These provisions do not apply to minors (Article 6(8)).
The provisions of Articles 53 (reduction of working hours on the eve of public holidays) and 73 (public holidays and non-working days) of the Labour Code do not apply (Article 6(6)).
According to experts’ calculations, the annual working time limit for 2026, based on a 40-hour, 5-day working week, is 2,088 hours (261 working days), provided that public holidays are not granted.
Downtime and time spent in shelter on the timesheet
Downtime is indicated by the code ‘P’ (23). In accordance with Article 113 of the Labour Code:
downtime through no fault of the employee is paid at a rate of not less than two-thirds of the standard rate (salary);
downtime through the employee’s fault is not paid;
average earnings are maintained for the duration of downtime caused by a hazardous work situation.
Air raid alert and time spent in a shelter
The legislation does not contain any specific provisions regarding the recording of time spent in a shelter. In practice, two approaches are used:
Declaration of downtime by order with the code ‘P’ indicated on the timesheet (23).
Recording as normal hours worked.
Experts recommend using the second approach, as it is impossible to issue an order for downtime in advance in the event of a sudden emergency. Furthermore, if an employee is able to carry out their duties whilst taking shelter (for example, remotely using a laptop), there are no grounds whatsoever for declaring a work stoppage.
Retention periods for timesheets
The retention period depends on the status of the document and the working conditions at the company (basis — the List of Standard Documents, approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 578/5 of 12 April 2012):
| What we retain | Retention period | Basis in List No. 578/5 |
|---|---|---|
| Standard timesheets | 1 year | section ‘Timesheets’ |
| The timesheet as a primary document for accounting | 5 years | Article 336 (retention period extended from 3 to 5 years by Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 40/5 of 4 January 2024) |
| Documents of sole traders relating to the calculation and payment of taxes | 3 years | para. 1.4 of the List |
| Time sheets for employees working in hazardous conditions | 75 years | section on timesheets and work orders for jobs involving hazardous working conditions |
| Time sheets for victims of the Chernobyl disaster | 75 years | article on documents for victims of the Chernobyl disaster |
If an enterprise has at least one workplace with hazardous working conditions, it is prohibited to destroy timesheets after one year. These time limits are the minimum required (clause 1.7 of the List).
Liability for breaches in the recording of working hours
There is no specific fine directly ‘for the absence of a timesheet’ — financial penalties are imposed for breaches of labour legislation in general:
Financial liability of the company / sole trader (Article 265 of the Labour Code):
1 minimum wage (in 2026 — 8,647 UAH) for each breach of other requirements of labour legislation;
2 minimum wages (17,294 UAH) for a repeat breach within a year.
Note: Rectifying the breach in accordance with the inspector’s order does not exempt (measures to hold the offender accountable are applied simultaneously with the issuance of the order).
Administrative liability of officials and sole traders (Article 41 of the Code of Administrative Offences):
A fine of between 30 and 100 non-taxable minimum incomes (from 510 UAH to 1,700 UAH).
The interpretation that ‘the absence of a timesheet implies a breach of other labour law requirements’ is a legal interpretation by the supervisory authorities. To minimise risks, a company must have two documents, which State Labour Service inspectors check first and foremost: a signed monthly timesheet and written regulations on the recording of working hours.
This material is for information and explanatory purposes only and does not constitute individual legal or tax advice.
Who keeps the timesheets in practice: job vacancies on Injobe
The timesheet is maintained by a designated person — often a recruitment officer or HR manager; such roles can be found in the category ‘Recruitment, HR’.
