Labour Code - Ukraine

Note that as at October 2003, the Labour Code was in the process of being revised. Relevant provisions of the current Code may be summarised as follows:

a. Article 2-1 declares that “Ukraine provides for equality of rights of all workers, regardless of their social status, race, nationality, gender, language, political views, religious beliefs, type of occupation and living location”.
b. Under article 33 temporary transfers of workers to another job, not specified by the contract are only allowed if it benefits the worker. The temporary transfer is forbidden with regards to pregnant women, women with a disabled child or a child under the age of 6, and also with regard to persons under the age of 18.
c. Under article 51 the categories of population are eligible for a shorter working week (generally 36 hour week) includes women with children under the age of 14 or those with a disabled child.
d. Article 55: Prohibition of Night Work. It is forbidden to impose night working hours on pregnant women and women with children under 3 years (Article 176). (...) Night work of women is not acceptable, with the exception of cases specified in Article 175 of this Code.(...)
e. Article 56: Part-time work. With the mutual agreement between the worker and the employer, part-time work option has to be discussed at the time of the start of the contract. Both short-day and short-week options are acceptable upon consent between the two parties. The employer is obliged to grant consent to part-time contract to pregnant women, women with children under the age of 14 or with a disabled child, including the situation where the child is under woman’s wardship.(...)
f. Article 63: Over-time work. It is forbidden to impose over-time work on (1) pregnant women and women with children under 3 years of age. (...) Women with children who are between 3 and 14 years of age, or with a disabled child, are allowed to be given over-time work only with her consent. (...)
g. Article 73: State Holidays. (...) 8th of March – International Women’s Day. (...) These days are declared national holidays. Work on these days is compensated according to Article 107 of this Code.
h. Article 82. Accounting for length of service (years of work), which gives the right for annual vacation. In accounting for the length of service, the following is to be included: (...) Working time of pregnant women, transferred on the basis of medical evaluation to less intensive work where they would be protected from harmful effects of production.

The Entire Chapter XII is devoted to Women’s Labour. Relevant provisions are as follows:

a. Article 174. Occupations where employment of women is not permitted. Employment of women in strenuous occupations and in occupations with harmful or dangerous conditions, as well as in underground work, except for some underground occupations (non-physical and in sanitary services). It is also forbidden to oblige women to lift or carry objects, whose weight exceeds established limit. The list of dangerous and harmful occupations, as well as the weight limits for objects lifted by women, is provided by the Ministry of Health.

b. Article 175. Constraints on women's night work. Imposing night work on women is not permitted, with the exception of those sectors of the economy where night employment of women is justified by extreme necessity, and even in that case women can only be engaged in night work temporarily. The list of those sectors of economy and occupations, as well as the specification of the maximum duration of employment is provided by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. These limitations do not spread on women who work at enterprises employing exclusively members of a single family.

c. Article 176. Prohibition of engaging pregnant women and women with children under the age of three for night work, over-time work, work on week-ends; prohibition of sending women on out-of-town business trips. It is forbidden to engage pregnant women and women with children under the age of three for night work, over-time work, work on week-ends and to send this category of women on out-of-town business trips.

d. Article 177. Constraints on imposing over-time work and out-of-town business trips on women who have children between the ages of 3 and 14 and on women who have a child with disabilities. Women who have children between the ages of 3 and 14 and women who have disabled children cannot be assigned over-time work and cannot be sent on out-of-town business trips.

e. Article 178. Transferring pregnant women and women with children under 3 to less intensive work. Based on the conclusion of a medical report, pregnant women are subject to lower productivity and service requirements, as well as to a transfer to a different position with less heavy work and less harmful conditions with maintaining their average salary from the previous occupation. Before reaching a conclusion about the necessity of transferring a woman to lighter work, the women is to be released from work while keeping her previous salary for all of the days missed due to the process of her transferring to a different position. In case of impossibility of performing previously held tasks, women with children under the age of three are to be assigned to a different position, while maintaining their salary and benefits until her child reaches the age of three. If the salary paid at a new, lighter-work position is higher than the salary at a previously held job, the woman is to be paid the actual salary associated with the new position.

f. Article 179. Leave of absence given to women due to pregnancy, giving birth and child-caring.

i) Based on a medical report, women are eligible for receiving a paid leave-of-absence due to pregnancy and giving birth, the duration of which is 70 days prior to giving birth and 56 days afterwards (if giving birth to twins or in case of labour complications the duration of after-birth vacations is extended to 70 days), counting from the day of giving birth. The duration of vacation is summarised and is equal to 126 days (140 in case of complications or giving birth to twins). Women will receive this amount of vacation days independently of how many of them were used before giving birth.

ii) If a woman desires so, she can be granted a leave-of absence from work for child-caring until her child reaches the age of three. During this period she is eligible for the State pension.

iii) The firms, companies and organisations can offer women a partially paid or non-paid leave of absence (financed from their respective budgets) after her child reaches the age of three. If a child is a recipient of State aid, a leave-of absence for his care is not offered.

iv) If a child needs to be given home care for a longer time, the women is entitled to have an unpaid leave-of-absence up until the time her child reaches the age of six (the decisions on duration of such leaves-of-absence are to be maid based on a medical report).

v) Leaves-of absence attributed to women in previous parts of this Act are also valid for (and can be applied fully or partially to) child’s father, grandparents or any other relatives taking full care of the child.

g. If a woman desires so, during her leave-of absence she is entitled to work part-time or at home. She is still eligible for receiving State pension until the child reaches the age of three. According to part II of the Law of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from # 871-12 from March 20, 1991 (Vidomosti Verhovnoi Rady, 1991, N 23, article 267) partially paid vacations are to be provided to women with children who have reached the age of three years starting January 1st, 1992.

h. Article 180. Combining the annual vacation with the vacation due to pregnancy and giving birth. In providing women with a vacation due to pregnancy and giving birth the employer is required, following the woman’s demand, to add the annual required and additional vacations to it, regardless of the length of her employment at a given enterprise, establishment or organisation in a current year.

i. Article 181. The order of providing the vacation for the reasons of child care and of including such vacation in the length of service calculations. Vacation for the reasons of child care until the child reaches the age of three years and vacation without preserving the salary (parts 3 and 6 of article 179 of this Code) are to be provided - following the demand for them by women or persons defined in part 7 of article 179 of this Code – fully or partially within the limits of the defined period. These vacations are to be drafted following the order from the employer or a body authorised by the employer. Vacations defined in this article are to be included both in general and in continuous length of service, as well as in length of service defined by the professional occupation. The length of vacations defined in this article is not to be counted towards the length of service that gives right to the annual vacation.

j. Article 182. Vacations for women that have adopted children. Women that have adopted children directly from hospital upon their birth are to be provided with a vacation of 56 days counting from the day of adoption (70 days in case of adopting 2 or more children) and to be paid an appropriate state allowance. Women who have adopted children are to be provided with child-care vacations on the same terms as outlined in articles 179 and 181 of this Code.

k. Article 182-1. Additional vacation to workers with children. A working woman with 2 or more children under the age of 15, or with a disabled child, is to be provided (if she wishes so) with an additional 5 day paid vacation (not counting state holidays and week-ends) per year. Women with an adopted child, men bringing up children without a mother (including cases where mother is in a medical establishment during prolonged periods of time), as well as persons acting as legal guardians have the right for additional vacation outlined in the first part of this article which is to be provided in addition to the regular established annual vacation.

l. Article 183. Breaks for breast-feeding. Women with children under the age of a year and a half are to be provided, in addition to regular breaks for resting and lunch, with breaks for breast-feeding. These breaks to be provided at least every three hours, and for at least half an hour each. If a woman has 2 or more children in breast-feeding age, the break is set to last for at least an hour. The times and the order of such breaks are to be established by the employer or by authorised body in accordance with the collective agreement of the enterprise, establishment or organisation and with the mother’s desire. The breaks for breast-feeding are included in the working time and are to be paid according to the average wage.

m. Article 184. Employment guarantees and prohibition of firing pregnant women and women with children. It is prohibited to refuse women employment and lower their wage because of their pregnancy or because they have children under the age of 2, in case of single mothers – because they have children under the age of 14 or disabled children:

i) In case of refusal to employ the specified categories of women, the employer or the authorised body is required to provide them with the reasons for the refusal in written form. The refusal of employment to the specified categories of women can be appealed in Court.
ii) Firing pregnant women and women with children under the age of 3 (under the age of 6 – part 6 of Article 179), as well as single mothers with children under the age of 14 and disabled children, following the initiative of the employer or the authorised body is not allowed, except for cases when the enterprise, establishment or organisation shuts down completely, in which case firing with obligatory further employment is allowed.
iii) Obligatory further employment of the specified categories of women is to be completed also in cases of their dismissal at the end of the short-term labour contract. During the inter-job period they are to preserve their average wage, however, this can be done for periods no longer than three months since the end of the short-term labour contract.

n. Article 185. Providing pregnant women and women with children under the age of 14 with financial aid and with passes for sanatoriums and vacation homes. The employer or an authorised body is required, if necessary, to provide pregnant women and women with children under the age of 14 and disabled children with passes to sanatoriums and vacation homes free-of-charge or under privileged conditions, as well as to provide these women with financial aid.

o. Article 186. Services to mothers in enterprises and organisations. Organisations and enterprises with a high percentage of women employment are to organise nurseries, kindergartens, locations for breast feeding, as well as locations for women’s personal hygiene.

p. Article 186-1. Guarantees to persons bringing up young children without their mother. The guarantees established by articles 56, 176, 177, parts 3-8 of article 179, articles 181, 182, 182-1, 184 185, 186 of this Code, are to be extended to fathers bringing up their children without a mother (also in case of mother’s extended hospitalisation), and to legal guardians.