Regulation of Labour and Employment in Ukraine

Plan
1. General labour regulations in Ukraine.
2. Employees' Rights.
2.1. Working Hours.
2.2. Overtime and breaks.
2.3. Vacation.
3. Wages.

1. General labour regulations in Ukraine.
The main sources of labour and employment law in Ukraine are the Constitution, the Labour Code of Ukraine, and labour regulations issued by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Labour, and local state administrations.

Ukraine guarantees to each citizen of working age the following rights:
• freedom to work and choose a profession;
protection from unreasonable rejection of an employment application or from illegal termination of employment;
free assistance in locating a position according to the individual's education and professional training;
• severance pay when a job is lost due to reorganization, or the elimination of the position held by an employee;
• free training while unemployed;
• unemployment compensation.

The main employment terms and conditions may be summarized as follows: 1. The trial period is normally limited to three months, with a few exceptions of six months.
2. The monthly wage may not be less than the statutory minimum wage and must be paid at least twice a month.
3. An employer may not order an employee to undertake a job that is not included in the employee's employment agreement.
4. Employers must notify employees at least two months in advance concerning employees' working location or conditions.
5. The working week may not exceed 40 hours.
6. Overtime is capped at 120 hours per year and permitted only when expressly provided by law.
7. Vacations may not total less than 24 calendar days.

2. Employees' Rights.
2.1. Working Hours.
Under the Labour Code, the working hours of an employee may not exceed 40 hours per week, based on a working week of five or six days.

2.2. Overtime and breaks.
Overtime work may not exceed four hours per two consecutive days or 120 hours per year. Overtime work must be compensated at double the normal rate.
Employees are entitled to a lunch break, which does not exceed two hours and which does not count towards working hours. The rest and lunch break must be provided four hours after the beginning of work and employees may use the break time at their discretion.

2.3. Vacation.
Ukrainian labour law provides for a basic annual vacation of at least 24 calendar days. Of these, a minimum of 14 are consecutive calendar days to be used for the employee's main annual vacation. Certain categories of employees are entitled to longer basic vacations and/or additional annual vacations.
In general, aggregate annual paid vacation time may not exceed 59 days (69
days for those working in mines).

3. Wages.
Under Ukrainian law, the wage is defined as a compensation which an employer pays to an employee for completed work.