{"id":2531,"date":"2020-02-11T13:19:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T11:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hillmont.com.ua\/?p=2531"},"modified":"2020-02-11T13:19:47","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T11:19:47","slug":"relevant-labour-issues-grounds-for-collective-dismissal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/publ\/alerts\/relevant-labour-issues-grounds-for-collective-dismissal","title":{"rendered":"\u0417\u043d\u0430\u0447\u0438\u043c\u0456 \u043f\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0442\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430: \u043f\u0456\u0434\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u0438 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u043a\u043e\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0442\u0438\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0437\u0432\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Key issues:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Termination of an employment contract<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Changes in the organisation of production and labour<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Collective dismissal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><em>Main<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>thesis<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><em>Ukraine<\/em>\u2019s <em>Labour<\/em> <em>Code (the \u201cCode\u201d), enacted in 1973,<\/em> <em>is<\/em> <em>a<\/em> <em>legacy<\/em> <em>from<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>Ukrainian<\/em> <em>Soviet<\/em> <em>Socialist<\/em> <em>Republic.<\/em> <em>In<\/em> <em>2020<\/em> <em>Ukraine<\/em> <em>still<\/em> <em>applies<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>Code<\/em> <em>(albeit with<\/em> <em>numerous<\/em> <em>amendments).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em>On<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>28th<\/em> <em>of<\/em> <em>December<\/em> <em>2019<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>draft<\/em> <em>law<\/em> <em>\u201cOn<\/em> <em>labour\u201d<\/em> <em>was<\/em> <em>registered<\/em> <em>in<\/em> <em>Parliament.<\/em> <em>The<\/em> <em>Bill<\/em> <em>has not yet had any<\/em> <em>readings<\/em> <em>in<\/em> <em>Parliament<\/em> <em>and<\/em> <em>is<\/em> <em>not<\/em> <em>in<\/em> <em>the<\/em> <em>agenda currently.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em>Below we look at the existing Code in advance of our upcoming Alert regarding changes that will govern labour relations. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Ukrainian employment law requirements and procedure for termination of an employment contract by an employer:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Issues regarding termination of employment contracts on the employer\u2019s initiative are governed in accordance with the provisions of the Code.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Pursuant to Paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Code a labour contract concluded for a fixed or indefinite period of time <strong>may be terminated<\/strong> before the expiration date of the contract by the employer in the following cases:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; changes in the organisation of production and labour (including liquidation, reorganisation, bankruptcy, re-profiling of an enterprise, redundancy of several employees or the redundancy of a list of members of staff);<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; poor performance of an employee due to lack of qualifications or health condition;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; systematic failure of an employee to perform the duties assigned to him or her by an employment contract without good reason, if the employee has previously been subjected to disciplinary action;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; absenteeism (including absence from work for more than three hours during the working day) without good reason;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; absence from work for more than four consecutive months due to temporary disability;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; re-hiring of an employee who previously performed this job;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; drunkenness or drug intoxication during working hours;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; committing theft (including petty) of the owner&#8217;s property at the place of work;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; failure to pass the probation period.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The Code envisages that merely one reason for termination of employment contracts may be applied collectively to all employees if there is a <strong>change<\/strong> <strong>in<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>organisation<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>production<\/strong> <strong>and<\/strong> <strong>labour<\/strong>. Moreover, if the employer is not going to liquidate or re-profile the enterprise, such a change may be pursued by the redundancy of <strong>several<\/strong> <strong>employees<\/strong> or the redundancy of<strong> a list of<\/strong> <strong>members<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>staff<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The redundancy of multiple employees or a list of members of staff may be conducted by the owner for the purposes of improving production, combining professions, reducing production or re-profiling the enterprise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The redundancy of several employees and the redundancy of a list of members of staff are somewhat different concepts:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>redundancy of<\/strong> <strong>several<\/strong> <strong>employees<\/strong> envisages layoffs of employees;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; whereas the <strong>redundancy<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>a list<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>members<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>staff<\/strong> supposes the reduction of the quantity or liquidation of certain positions, specializations and professions. At the same time, other positions, specializations and professions may be introduced and therefore the number of employees may not decrease, and in some cases even increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Therefore, if an employer decides to change the organisation of production and labour, the <strong>following<\/strong> <strong>steps<\/strong> must be taken:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; the employer must, at least three months in advance (before the changes), provide to the trade union of the organisation or the elected employees\u2019 representative <strong>information<\/strong> about the change of organisation of production and labour including reasons for dismissals, the number and category of employees that will be dismissed, and respective deadlines;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; the employer must issue an <strong>order<\/strong> addressing changes in the organisation of production and labour, which should include a description of the changes. Moreover, this order should establish internal commissions that conduct the whole process;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; the employer must conclude and approve <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>new<\/strong> <strong>list<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>members<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>staff<\/strong>;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; the employer must issue an <strong>order<\/strong> to empower the HR department (or other authorised body) to conduct appropriate measures connected to employees\u2019 dismissals including the signing of an acknowledgement form and receiving a written notice of dismissal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Do<\/strong> <strong>not<\/strong> <strong>forget<\/strong> <strong>&#8211;<\/strong> <strong>an<\/strong> <strong>employee<\/strong> <strong>has<\/strong> <strong>certain<\/strong> <strong>rights<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The employer:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; is obliged to prepare a <strong>written<\/strong> <strong>notice<\/strong> about a possible layoff of employees;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; must, at least two months in advance of a dismissal, personally notify each employee about the change of organisation of production and labour by way of the employee\u2019s signing of the acknowledgement form and receiving the written notice of dismissal (the \u2018<strong>Redundancy<\/strong> <strong>Notice<\/strong>\u2019);<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; at the same time as the Redundancy Notice, may make an <strong>offer<\/strong> to the employee to transfer to a different position in the same organisation;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; may change essential conditions of work such as <strong>salary,<\/strong> <strong>working<\/strong> <strong>hours,<\/strong> <strong>position<\/strong> etc. In this case, the employer must receive from an employee written consent about such changes and a stated intention to continue work after these changes become effective for him\/her.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Upon the dismissal of an employee, payment of all amounts owed to him by the employer shall be made on the day of dismissal. If the employee is not at work on the day of dismissal, all amounts shall be paid not later than the next day after the dismissed employee submits a request for payment. The employer must provide a written notice to the employee regarding the amounts to be paid upon dismissal.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Upon termination of the employment contract on the grounds of changes of organisation of production and labour, the employee shall be paid severance pay of not less than one average monthly salary.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Moreover,<\/strong> <strong>during<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>change<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>organisation<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>production<\/strong> <strong>and<\/strong> <strong>labour,<\/strong> <strong>employees<\/strong> <strong>have<\/strong> <strong>a<\/strong> <strong>wide<\/strong> <strong>scope<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>rights<\/strong> <strong>and<\/strong> <strong>guarantees:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee may withdraw his\/her consent to continue to work after the change of organisation of production and labour or withdraw his\/her refusal to work after the change;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee may not be dismissed involuntarily during the two month period after the Redundancy Notice;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; however, an employee may decide to be dismissed earlier than the end of the two month period and the employer must then dismiss such an employee earlier;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee who received a Redundancy Notice without an offer of a different job with the employer will continue to work and to get a salary for two months after the date of the Notice;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; during the change, the employer must take into account the <strong>predominant<\/strong> <strong>right<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>certain<\/strong> <strong>employees<\/strong> <strong>to<\/strong> <strong>remain<\/strong> <strong>hired<\/strong>. Such rights are held by employees with higher qualifications and productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>However,<\/strong> <strong>if<\/strong> <strong>all<\/strong> <strong>employees<\/strong> <strong>have<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>same<\/strong> <strong>qualifications<\/strong> <strong>and<\/strong> <strong>productivity<\/strong>, there are categories of employees who are protected by the law and have a predominant right of an employee to remain hired based on their circumstances:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; a married employee with two or more dependents;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee who does not have other employed members in his\/her family;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee with a long and uninterrupted employment record with the employer;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee who studies part-time in a higher or secondary specialized educational institution;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; military personnel and disabled veterans (according to the Law of Ukraine On the Status of Veterans and Guarantees of their Social Protection);<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; authors of inventions and useful models;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; an employee who has suffered a work injury or a professional disease during their working hours with the employer;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; employees who returned following illegal deportation from Ukraine (applicable for 5 years from their return to permanent residence in Ukraine);<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; employees who are former military personnel and persons who have served alternative (non-military) service (applicable for 2 years from their resignation from the service).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Moreover,<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>Code<\/strong> <strong>has<\/strong> <strong>additional<\/strong> <strong>restrictions<\/strong> <strong>over<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>employer\u2019s<\/strong> <strong>ability<\/strong> <strong>to<\/strong> <strong>dismiss<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>following<\/strong> <strong>categories<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> <strong>people:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; pregnant women and women who have children under the age of three (up to six years old if a child requires home care);<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; single mothers who have a child under 14 or a disabled child;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; fathers raising children without a mother (including in the case of the mother\u2019s hospitalization), as well as guardians and foster parents;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8211; the dismissal of employees under the age of 18 is allowed only with the consent of the district children\u2019s welfare authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\">In the case of a collective dismissal, the employer must inform the State Employment Service of Ukraine about upcoming dismissals of employees indicating their profession, specialization, qualifications and amount of remuneration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em>To summarise, an employer may terminate a contract with an employee, but only in certain circumstances. Moreover, grounds for collective dismissal are even more limited than for single cases. The Code in its current state is one of the most protectionist legislative acts in the world. It defends employee\u2019s labour rights and interests firmly. An employer must comply with all stages of a comprehensive procedure for the termination of an employment contract. Otherwise, any breaches of procedure become grounds for court proceedings and successful claims by employees. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em>Look out for our Alert regarding upcoming changes to the Code.<\/em><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0412\u0438\u0431\u0430\u0447\u0442\u0435 \u0446\u0435\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0442\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043a\u0438 \u0432 &ldquo;\u0410\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0456\u0439\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430&rdquo;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2535,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions\/2535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillmont.com\/ua\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}