The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has re-approved the draft of the Labor Code and submitted the draft of the new Labor Code of Ukraine for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. The document is intended to comprehensively update labor legislation, replacing the current Labor Code of 1971 with modern rules for employees and businesses that meet the needs of the Ukrainian economy and European standards.
The draft Labor Code is the result of almost two years of work by the Ministry of Economy and Environment together with state authorities, employers, trade unions, international partners and the expert community.
The draft Labor Code was already submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in January, but due to the change in the composition of the Government in July, it was withdrawn in accordance with the established procedure. The Cabinet of Ministers is currently resubmitting the draft Code, revised to take into account individual technical recommendations from the International Labor Organization. The conceptual provisions of the document have remained unchanged.
The new Labor Code introduces a modern legal framework for the labor market: it simplifies personnel processes, expands opportunities for flexible forms of employment, makes rules clearer and more predictable for businesses and employees. The draft Labor Code introduces a European approach to regulating labor relations and implements more than 30 European Union directives in the field of labor and social policy.
The need to update labor legislation and further work on the new Labor Code has previously been publicly supported by representatives of trade unions and employers. Support for the modernization of labor legislation has also been expressed by the International Labor Organization and representatives of the European Commission. In addition, the document takes into account additional recommendations of the International Labor Organization aimed at strengthening the Code’s compliance with international labor standards.
Among the key changes envisaged by the document are:
– Digitalization of labor relations and full use of electronic documents;
– Modern types of employment contracts that take into account new forms of employment;
– Modernization of the labor inspection system with a risk-based approach;
– New approaches to determining the minimum wage;
– Clear rules on non-discrimination, mobbing and harassment;
– Increasing the minimum duration of annual paid leave;
– Development of collective bargaining and modern mechanisms for resolving labor disputes.
The new Labor Code is one of the key legislative steps for the modernization of the Ukrainian labor market, the development of entrepreneurship, the formalization of employment and the integration of Ukraine into the EU internal market. The re-introduction of the draft law creates an opportunity to continue its consideration in the Verkhovna Rada and proceed to further work on the document in parliament. (Economy Ministry)