The Parliament of Ukraine is expected to consider and vote for the new Draft Labour Code at the next Parliamentary session. The Draft Labour Code prepared for the second reading is aimed at bringing more clarity into labour legislation and replacing the outdated post-soviet Labour Code of 1971 that is currently in force.
Most of the provisions of the proposed Draft Labour Code incorporate the existing framework of labour regulations and market practice, giving mandatory force to some of the provisions that were previously stipulated by various outdated soviet regulations of the 1980s and recommendations of governmental institutions, which had no mandatory force.
- Abolishing the requirement for an employment permit for foreign heads of Ukrainian legal entities with foreign investments and heads of representative offices;
- Abolishing the provision distinguishing an employment contract as a separate form of employment agreement;
- Increasing the number of legal grounds for terminating employment by an employer (e.g. due to a violation of confidentiality clauses; breach of an employer's shareholders' rights by company head and executive officers; major violation of labour and fire safety provisions);
- Increasing the maximum duration of the probation period for top management to up to 6 months;
- Increasing the amount of certain compensation (e.g. severance pay, compensation for overtime work in excess of 120 hours per year);
- Providing for the special regulation of employment relations for small businesses (with no more than 20 employees) that, among others, provides simplified redundancy procedures;
- Increasing the maximum duration of the work day and week for employees working under a cumulative working time regime (up to 12 and 48 hours respectively);
- Increasing the categories of employees who can bear full material liability for damages caused at work (based on the relevant agreement with an employer);
- Extending and clarifying the list of grounds for a fixed-term employment agreement; and
- Clarifying provisions on employee suspension with and without pay.
If adopted in its current form, the new Draft Labour Code will enter into force on 1 January 2011 and will replace the main labour laws and regulations currently in force, including the Law on Remuneration, Law on Vacations, Law on Collective Bargaining Agreements and Law on Collective Labour Dispute Resolution.
Draft law: Draft Labour Code No. 1108, version of 10 December 2009 prepared for a second reading in the Parliament of Ukraine.
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The original publication date for this article was 19/11/2010.
