Despite the ongoing war and economic turmoil, the Ukrainian government is pushing ahead with plans to replace the country’s current Labour Code, which dates back to 1971, with a much more liberalized approach. The new Draft Labour Code was made public in late 2024, initiated by the Ministry of Economy. This massive document — 329 articles in total — reflects a shift towards a more deregulated model of labour relations and clearly tips the balance in favour of employers.
Vitaliy Dudin is a Ukrainian labour lawyer and an activist with the NGO Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement).
According to its authors’ explanatory note, the draft aims to cut through “labour bureaucracy” characterized by “outdated regulations” and build a human resources system that “does not cause economic harm to the business entity”. At the same time, they predict a “strengthening of trade union activity”, although major Ukrainian trade unions have already voiced strong opposition.
Many of the draft law’s proponents frame it as a necessary innovation to modernize the Ukrainian economy and align it with European standards and norms. In reality, however, the draft does quite the opposite: placing Ukrainian law in contradiction to EU standards, and undermining workers’ ability to defend their collective rights in an economy already characterized by high levels of precarity and exploitation.
Ideological Shifts
It is important to recognize that Ukraine’s current Labour Code, although passed during the Soviet period, has already been revised countless times in the course of Ukraine’s market transition — mostly to serve employers’ interests. Worker protections were already weakened significantly following the Russian invasion, with emergency laws allowing sudden salary cuts and suspensions of collective bargaining agreements without union approval. Yet for many of Ukraine’s neoliberal reformers, the very existence of legislation that prioritizes workers’ rights — even in declaratory form — is unacceptable. They want to erase any obligations on employers to maintain decent working conditions whatsoever.
Thus, the new draft law is more than just a policy shift — it is an ideological turn. Take Halyna Tretyakova, an MP for the ruling party and long-time advocate for labour law reform. She argues that in today’s post-industrial economy, Ukrainian workers are no longer the weaker side of the employment relationship and do not need unions to protect their collective interests. In her view, people should be free to realize their talents on the free market, and any regulations of that market merely hold back progress. Needless to say, her idealized view of a hands-off government fails to reflect the harsh reality in Ukraine, where millions are struggling with labour rights violations amidst a brutal and devastating war and growing economic crisis.
Although the draft is long and complex, it remains full of holes.
This employer-first approach is music to the ears of capitalists. The Federation of Employers of Ukraine, which represents big capital, sees the current Labour Code as outdated and overly paternalistic, arguing that it unfairly assumes employers are guilty. In war-torn Ukraine, it appears that tearing down labour laws inherited from the socialist era is a shared goal for libertarian reformers and oligarchs alike.
If passed, the new Labour Code would push employment toward a more individualized model — letting employers dictate terms concerning work hours, breaks, and pay. Flexibility in this context would mean employers are allowed to make changes that reduce their costs, like cutting wages or suspending employees without pay. Workers, meanwhile, would face tight constraints that often fail to align with European labour standards. Protections in sensitive areas — like workplace bullying or the rights of working mothers — would actually be weaker than under current laws.+
The right to strike could be undercut by employers’ right to lock workers out, while unions would have no recourse to stop management decisions but will rather be informed after the fact. The new draft also fails to boost court oversight or bolster the authority of labour inspectorates, meaning that workers will essentially be left defenceless. Taken together, this assault on workers’ rights could discourage legal employment and derail Ukraine’s path to sustainable industrial development.
Codifying Exploitation
The authors of the new draft law claim it aligns with Ukraine’s obligations to the EU and international law, including the European Social Charter and EU acquis. Yet many of its provisions directly undermine the dignity and fairness standards these frameworks promote and are in fact worse than the status quo. For example, the draft law actually removes current requirements for employers to take action against workplace bullying or guarantee access to labour inspectors in cases of harassment. The draft also gives employers the right to monitor workers through video surveillance and check their emails without union approval. While the draft contains a vague stipulation that privacy must still be respected, the scope of this monitoring is left entirely to employers.
Although the draft is long and complex, it remains full of holes. Take Article 41, which allows non-compete agreements but fails to spell out the limits of such restrictions. These agreements usually stop employees from being headhunted by rival companies, but without clear boundaries, they could be used to unreasonably restrict a worker’s freedom to choose another job.
Right now, a mother cannot be dismissed if she has a child under three years of age — or under 14 if she is a single parent. Under the new law, this protection ends when the child turns one-and-a-half.
Probation periods would also be expanded — up to three months for most workers, whereas currently, such periods are capped at one month for unskilled jobs. The main threat contained in the reform is the possibility of accelerated dismissal at three working days’ notice should the employer establish “non-compliance”. Even vulnerable groups who are currently exempt like veterans, displaced persons, and people with disabilities would now be subject to probation. Article 48 allows fixed-term contracts whenever the worker supposedly “wants” one, regardless of the objective characteristics of the job. Employers could change essential terms of contracts with just seven days’ notice — significantly down from the current two months. Article 67 allows unpaid suspensions based on collective bargaining agreements, which poses more risks for workers.
Dismissals on disciplinary grounds would also be made easier. Under Article 80, employers could fire someone for repeat violations just by recording a prior offence in writing. Today, they need to issue an official reprimand for the first breach, which workers can challenge in court. The new method would not be subject to appeal whatsoever.
Article 104 would allow employers to double the annual overtime cap from 120 to 250 hours. Article 107 would let employers spread out working hours in ways that could lead to exhausting schedules for employees, using the so-called summarized accounting of working hours. Indeed, the International Labour Organization (ILO) warns that allowing employers to introduce this arrangement without consulting unions is dangerous.
Finally, the draft law also rolls back protections for working mothers. Right now, a mother cannot be dismissed if she has a child under three years of age — or under 14 if she is a single parent. Under the new law, this protection ends when the child turns one-and-a-half. Working mothers would also lose priority access to remote work, which is currently guaranteed if they have a child under three or two under 15. This clearly will make it even harder for Ukrainian parents to balance work and family life.
Undermining Organized Labour
While the draft code still recognizes trade unions as representatives of employees, their real influence under the new laws would be severely limited. Gone would be their ability to propose dismissing a company director, request information about unpaid wages, or compel authorities to address violations of a collective bargaining agreement. Currently, employers must respond to such demands from trade unions within a week. The new law does not mention their right to make such demands at all. The most serious blow? The new draft replaces the current requirement for union approval before firing a union member with mere “consultations” with no bearing on the legality of the dismissal.
The proposed reforms could have been a chance to align Ukraine’s labour protections with European standards — especially in strengthening labour inspections. But instead, the draft downplays inspections and waters down penalties for non-compliant employers. Labour inspectors would have limited authority, restricted timeframes, and could be blocked over technicalities — all contrary to ILO Conventions 81 and 129, and certainly not in the interests of tackling informal and precarious employment.
In fact, it is unclear whether unions would even be allowed to join inspections at all under the draft law. Article 311 gives that decision to the inspector, while Article 315 leaves it to the employer. Thus, the employer could decide whether the union gets a seat at the table during the inspection process.
The reality in Ukraine today is that the war makes it nearly impossible for the public to engage deeply with such a complex law.
The ILO reviewed an earlier version of the draft from September 2024 and flagged many issues with how it does — or does not — align with ILO regulations and EU laws. In the text of the Technical Comments published in February 2025, the experts sought to take a careful stance towards the draft, avoiding sharp criticism. Their concerns ranged from working hours and pay to union rights and strike protections, but the version reviewed was not the final draft released in December, and Ukrainian unions thus argue that the current draft has not actually passed international scrutiny.
While the changes between the drafts are minor, they show that employers are gaining more ground in the reform process. One example: the latest draft drops the obligation for employers to notify worker representatives about workplace risks for vulnerable employees — despite the requirement for this under EU Directive 89/391/EEC.
Ukrainian Workers Deserve Better
Given all the problems with the current draft labour code, it remains unclear when it could reach parliament. The Ukrainian government’s Priority Action Plan for 2025 puts forward that it should be submitted by December, but a similar target was missed last year due to political instability, resistance on the part of trade unions, and the ongoingwar with Russia.
Another obstacle to predicting the next steps is Ukraine’s chaotic legislative process. For instance, parliament is already considering Bill No. 10147 on workplace safety. If the Labour Code ends up regulating the same issues differently, why pass both?
The draft’s excessive length is not the only factor complicating its assessment. The reality in Ukraine today is that the war makes it nearly impossible for the public to engage deeply with such a complex law. If passed under these conditions, the labour code risks undermining Ukraine’s commitments to EU integration — particularly the goal of improving quality of employment and increasing decent work opportunities. Right now, Ukraine’s focus should be on ensuring fair pay, guaranteeing real employment protections, and bolstering equality in the workplace. That is the only way to build a strong economy and restore social cohesion over the long term.