Job responsibilities of a secretary clerk

Business lawyer > Labor law > Responsibilities of the secretary of the clerk, what is worth remembering

Every serious company, archive, library, museum or educational institution is somehow connected with the flow of documents. For successful and timely processing of information, coordination of the document flow is necessary. This is the job of a clerk's secretary. This article will tell you what the responsibilities of a clerk’s secretary are, what he should be like and what he does.

General characteristics of the profession

Office work is the area associated with the creation, storage of information and document flow. This includes:

• internal documents of the company: instructions, orders, Charter
• external documents: regulations, agreements with partners, payment orders, bank statements, etc.

The clerk is responsible for all work with documents. This is a specialist who is responsible for maintaining the organization’s document flow and performing related duties and assignments.

A clerk is needed by both large and small companies. In large companies, most often there are several secretaries, each of whom performs his own type of work, including the clerical secretary. In small companies, the functions of a clerk are performed by an ordinary secretary. Other profession names: archivist, assistant manager, administrator, document specialist.

All the work of a clerk's secretary, as a rule, is spelled out in the job description. The job description is drawn up separately in each organization, but has a standard form. It specifies the rights, duties, responsibilities and requirements for the secretary and clerk.

Standards for drawing up job descriptions

Currently, there is no approved form of instructions for the secretary-clerk. There are separate professional standards for secretaries (07.006) and clerks (07.002), which provide recommendations on the list of skills of specialists, their responsibilities and other job parameters, but they are advisory in nature. Therefore, employers have great opportunities to adjust the content of professional standards to their needs, in accordance with their size, industry characteristics and other factors. However, there are certain drafting rules that apply to instructions. Thus, it is believed that it must necessarily include 4 basic sections that reveal the main aspects of the employee’s activities:

• General provisions.
• Job responsibilities of a specialist.
• His rights.
• Possible liability for violations.

Additional sections may be added to these sections. Particularly popular are descriptions of working conditions, job relationships and criteria by which work performance is assessed.

Attention! If there are several specialists engaged in the same work, then standard instructions are drawn up for them. If one of them is engaged in work with special specifics, such as maintaining documentation in a foreign language or organizing meetings with foreigners, in this case a separate job description “for a specialist” is drawn up.

General provisions

This initial section describes the basic parameters of the work of any specialist:

• the procedure for his subordination, hiring and dismissal;
• who temporarily replaces the employee;
• the skills required of him;
• requirements for his education and experience.

The employee's skills should roughly correspond to the responsibilities listed below.

Attention! The parameters specified in the instructions should not go beyond those specified in the employment contract.

Responsibilities

For different employers, secretaries involved in office work may perform different functions. Thus, in large companies with international participation, their responsibilities may include assisting the manager in communicating with foreigners, maintaining foreign documentation and other specific functions. In budgetary institutions they are required to work with a unified system of state documentation. All these industry features must be reflected in this section.

Attention! An employer cannot simply change the job duties specified in the instructions. To do this, it is necessary to obtain the written consent of the employee himself. Therefore, from the very beginning you need to carefully consider the section, comprehensively describing the employee’s responsibilities.

Rights

Here is a list of rights that an employer grants to an employee. These rights are quite typical, but in many institutions the secretary-clerk is also entrusted with the right to sign.

Responsibility

This part provides a list of possible violations and liability for their commission. For a number of positions that are allowed to work with internal documentation, responsibility for disclosing internal information is separately indicated.

Attention! This section contains a list of violations and penalties in general terms, because specific liability can occur only after the completion of the necessary proceedings, with the involvement of witnesses, their testimony, and possibly even lawyers.

The document, after its approval by specialists, is printed on official letterhead, which contains all the required attributes: the date of its preparation, the employer’s details, etc. The employee himself becomes familiar with the instructions during the process of applying for a job. The final factor certifying the entry into force of the instruction is its signing by all parties: the head of the organization, the employee and those employees who approved this assignment.

Basic rights and responsibilities of an employee

The responsibilities of a clerk vary depending on the type of organization, its internal rules and the requirements of the manager. But basically they are similar and are regulated by job descriptions. In a company, a clerk performs the following set of responsibilities:

• creates and maintains document databases
• solves design problems
• registers received documentation
• receives incoming calls, reads and sends correspondence
• negotiates with clients
• controls the execution of official orders
• organizes meetings and receptions
• establishes connections between subordinates and managers and vice versa
• carries out orders from superiors
• creates a business atmosphere in the company
• controls the storage period of documents

The rights of a clerk are regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code, as well as internal regulations of the company. The clerk secretary has the right:

• know about upcoming company projects with which he will be associated
• participate in the company's project work
• request information that is necessary for his work
• report deficiencies identified while working with documents
• propose your own ideas for improving work and eliminating deficiencies
• demand assistance from superiors in performing job duties
• assert other rights established by current legislation

The secretary-clerk can carry out activities to exercise his rights both independently and through his immediate supervisor. When the secretary is absent, his duties are assumed by a deputy or a person appointed by order of the manager.

Functions of a secretary-clerk

Large firms covering a wide range of activities have the opportunity to employ both a secretary and a clerk. Small and medium-sized companies with a small number of employees usually combine both positions into one - secretary-clerk.

The main task of the secretary is to ensure the normal functioning of management by resolving organizational and documentary issues. If the secretary also doubles as a clerk, he will be involved in processing documents for the entire enterprise and will additionally be responsible for this work.

A clerical-only employee must perform paperwork-related tasks. Let's look at the functions of a clerk in more detail.

1. Reception and processing of all incoming correspondence: registration of letters and sending them according to the classification of the addressee. When specifying instructions in letters, monitoring their implementation. Maintaining records in journals and cards, information from which is subsequently necessary for compiling a data bank.
2. Documentation support at all stages of preparation and execution in accordance with rules and standards. Reception, processing and sending for archiving.
3. Strict recording of sent and received correspondence, necessary for documentation purposes.
4. Accurate archiving of documents. Efficiency in finding the necessary document in the archive.
5. Creation and maintenance of a reference database, taking into account convenient search.
6. Monitoring the correct execution and signing of documentation to avoid problems with its cancellation.
7. Responsibility for all document flow in the enterprise.

If the employee’s functions also include secretarial work, then in addition to the above duties, he needs to receive incoming calls and process them, work with management resolutions, draw up a work plan for the boss and solve organizational issues, etc.

Responsibility

The job description also contains a paragraph about the responsibilities of the clerk. Liability arises if the clerk performs his duties improperly. Liability is also provided for material damage to the organization and for offenses committed in the course of work. In case of violation, management takes retaliatory measures: reprimands, penalties or dismissal.

The responsibility of the employee is regulated by the Civil and Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Requirements for knowledge and skills

Many organizations state that they are looking for a clerk with a higher education, but sometimes secondary specialized education or even primary education is allowed. Whether work experience is important or not depends on the requirements of the organization. What specialty a candidate for the position of clerk should have is also determined by the company itself. Sometimes, for example, a legal or linguistic education is important.

More often, people who have mastered the specialty “document management” or “archival science” go to the position of clerk. But it is not always necessary to graduate from universities or colleges to become a clerk. Sometimes completed courses are enough.

The clerk must have good literacy, clear speech, be sociable, and neat. Requires attentiveness, organization, perseverance and resistance to stress.

Since the work of a secretary in most cases involves a computer, you need to understand the programs at least at the level of a confident user. Confidently navigate the Internet and understand office applications.

It is important to be able to work with databases and know Microsoft Excel. An advantage of the work will be high printing speed. The requirements often also include knowledge of the legal framework that the company is guided by. Often an employee with a good knowledge of English is hired to do translations, help make transactions with foreign clients, etc. A good skill is to work with “Garant” and “Consultant +”.

In the process of work, the clerk secretary will have to fully master the structure and specifics of the company and the documents with which he deals.

Thus, you can see: the secretary is required to master a variety of skills. They are related to communication, knowledge of office programs and the legislative framework. Education is not always a determining factor for this position, but, nevertheless, companies often require that this be an employee with a higher education. The work of a clerical secretary requires perseverance and attentiveness; these skills, like others necessary in the profession, are developed through training and self-education.

Etiquette requirements

The business environment has its own rules of etiquette. They are an important component of a person’s professional image. Possessing them is a good factor for career development.

Requirements for the etiquette of a secretary clerk are, first of all, requirements for the appearance and politeness of the employee. Basically, they do not differ from the requirements for other employees and depend on the procedures established in the company.

The basic rules of etiquette include:

• punctuality
• organization
• presentable appearance
• Treat managers, colleagues and clients politely
• address as "you"
• compliance with trade secrets
• the ability not to be distracted by extraneous matters at work
• business negotiation skills
• ability to maintain a healthy microclimate in the company

The secretary is the face of the company. As an employee, the secretary must have a presentable appearance and comply with the company dress code, if there is one. Be able to communicate both in person and over the phone, and on the Internet, while maintaining a business style of communication.

It is also advisable to restrain negative emotions and not get personal when discussing work plans or someone’s mistakes and mistakes. It is worth maintaining smooth relationships with colleagues, being friendly and polite to everyone.

Features of the profession

Each profession has its own characteristics. Key points to keep in mind as a secretary:

1. Working with documents is primarily sedentary work in the office. This position is not suitable for people who are used to physical activity. And those who are used to sitting at a computer for a long time should stretch their spine and give their eyes a rest. You need to take breaks between work for a five-minute warm-up. For example, you can simply walk up and down the stairs. Or do exercises and sports in your free time from work.
2. The salary of a clerk secretary ranges from 9,000 to 30,000 rubles and more. It depends on the company, city and work experience. Employees without experience receive low wages at first, but they increase with new skills and career advancement.
3. Career growth is related to the employee’s professional plan and depends on qualifications and personal qualities. A clerk can develop in the field of office work or master related professions.
4. The clerical secretary works full time. Some companies have vacancies for remote work, which gives people with special physical disabilities a chance to find a job.
5. It is important for a clerk to constantly learn new skills and retrain. This is due to the emergence of new technologies and working at a computer. Drawing up documents in electronic format and sending letters by e-mail reduces time costs, helps mobility and speed of communication in the work environment.
6. There are many vacancies for the search for a secretary clerk. They can be found on the Internet on various job search sites. Having the necessary skills and the desire to develop, it is not difficult to find a job, since the profession of a clerk is in demand in the labor market.

The clerical secretary has a lot of responsibility and workload. An employee must constantly develop and maintain the company's image. Career growth and ways of self-realization are possible in the profession. The main components of the profession are specified in the job description. It specifies the rights, duties, responsibilities and requirements for the secretary and clerk. To find out news from the field of office work, it is worth tracking information on the Internet and reading professional articles.

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Job description of a clerk at an enterprise

Having read his job description, the employee is obliged to strictly follow it, since this document is of an organizational and administrative nature.

For an employee to behave correctly in accordance with his job description, it is necessary to specify in detail all job responsibilities in order to avoid future questions and contradictions. The job description of a clerk includes the following main sections.

General provisions

In this paragraph, in accordance with the staffing table approved by the enterprise, the name of the position and the structural unit in which the clerk works is indicated. The qualification requirements in the event of a vacancy for this position are also specified. The procedure for appointment and removal from office and the officials replacing the employee during his absence must be indicated.

Job responsibilities

The job responsibilities of a clerk in an organization require clear and faithful fulfillment. When drawing up a job description, it is very important to determine the functional responsibilities of the clerk, taking into account the specifics of the enterprise. The scope of responsibilities depends mainly on the size of the organization, automation of systems and technical equipment, etc. In this paragraph, it is necessary to list what the clerk should do - receiving, processing, storing, recording, archiving documentation. The functional responsibilities and tasks of the clerk were described in the previous section.

Rights

In addition to the duties assigned to the clerk, he has a set of rights that make it possible to implement his tasks:

• require employees to comply with the manager’s resolutions;
• request information necessary for work;
• gain access to all information databases of the enterprise;
• get acquainted with the manager’s draft decisions concerning the activities of the clerk;
• assist the management and employees of the organization in any other way.

Responsibility

If the clerk fails to perform or performs his job duties improperly, he is held liable in accordance with labor legislation. If material damage is caused or legal violations are committed in the process of activity, then the clerk is brought to various types of liability: disciplinary, material, administrative, and sometimes even criminal. Responsibility and punishment are also .

The legislation of the Russian Federation does not require the preparation of job descriptions for clerks strictly limited by the law. The names of sections and their number in the instructions may vary. Thus, authorized persons have the right to make adjustments to the text of the instructions at their discretion: to supplement or shorten some sections.