Employer's liability for employment of foreign nationals without a permit

Pursuant to Article 3(4) of the Law of Ukraine "On Employment of the Population", foreigners and stateless persons permanently residing in Ukraine, who are recognized as refugees in Ukraine, who have been granted asylum in Ukraine, who are recognized as persons in need of additional protection, who have been granted temporary protection, and who have obtained a permit to immigrate to Ukraine, have the right to employment on the grounds and in accordance with the procedure established for Ukrainian citizens.

Foreigners and stateless persons who have arrived in Ukraine for employment for a specified period of time are hired by employers on the basis of a work permit for foreigners and stateless persons, unless otherwise provided by the laws and/or international treaties of Ukraine ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Employers have the right to employ foreigners and stateless persons on the territory of Ukraine on the basis of a permit issued by the territorial bodies of the central executive authority implementing the state policy in the field of employment and labor migration (Article 42 of the Law of Ukraine "On Employment of the Population").

Pursuant to Article 53(5) of the Law of Ukraine "On Employment of the Population", if an employer employs foreigners or stateless persons and persons in respect of whom a decision has been made to process documents to resolve the issue of granting refugee status from a legal entity or individual entrepreneur

• under the terms of an employment or other contract without a work permit for a foreigner or stateless person, a fine of twenty times the minimum wage established at the time of the violation is imposed for each person;
• under conditions other than those provided for in the said permit or by another employer, a fine for each person in the amount of ten times the minimum wage established at the time the violation was detected shall be imposed.

According to part three of Article 41 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, officials of enterprises, institutions and organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, individual entrepreneurs for employing a foreigner or stateless person and persons in respect of whom a decision has been made to process documents to resolve the issue of granting refugee status, on the terms of an employment agreement (contract) without a work permit for a foreigner or stateless person shall be fined from five hundred to one thousand non-taxable minimum wages.

Repeated commission of a violation within a year for which a person has already been subjected to an administrative penalty entails the imposition of a fine of one thousand to two thousand tax-free minimum incomes.