Easily manage employment in Ukraine

Ukrainian labor law mandates that employee contracts can only be terminated if just cause is established, from reasons ranging from redundancy, dishonesty, fraud, incapability to dispense work duties, etc.

Pregnant women, mothers with children below the age of three, single mothers with children under the age of 14, and mothers of children with disabilities are protected from termination on an employer’s initiative, except for the latter’s liquidation.

The acceptable notice period for termination depends on the terms agreed upon by both parties, as well as circumstances surrounding the termination.

At the bare minimum, employers can only terminate employers with advance notice of:

• 2 months: for organizational reasons, i.e. bankruptcy, liquidation, etc.
• 3 days: unsatisfactory probatory performance

For other unspecified situations, both parties can default to whatever agreement specified in the employment contract.

The employee and the company are both required to give the following periods of written notice (these are a minimum standard, but companies can choose to increase these periods if desired):

• For employees of up to 4 years service - at least one month notice
• For employees from 5 to 11 years of service - not less than one week notice for every completed year of continuous employment
• For employees with more than 12 years of services - not less than three months notice

If an employment contract is deemed to be terminated because of the employer’s violation, the employee will be entitled to a severance package equal to three months’ pay, or six months’ wages, if the employee is a corporate officer.

Otherwise, if an employee is deemed redundant or unsuited for tasks required, the employee will be entitled to one month’s pay.

Probationary periods are limited to one month for blue-collar employees and three months for other employees.