A new Labor Code has been developed for employees and employers

In order to de-Sovietize labor legislation, regulate individual and collective labor relations on the principles of freedom, equality, and decent work with the implementation of international standards for regulating labor relations in national legislation, the Ministry of Economy has drafted a new Labor Code.

Over the long period of time that Ukraine has been establishing a market economy, the current Code has not kept pace with labor market trends, including the need to take into account globalization and increased competition and, as a result, the need for businesses to optimize costs, including for social infrastructure, increased foreign investment in the national economy, and a significant change in the attitude of the parties to labor relations to traditional forms of their organization. At the same time, one of the main tasks of state regulation is not achieved - ensuring a decent level of remuneration and preventing poverty among workers.

A characteristic feature of modern labor law is that it includes a significant number of bylaws. They contain many provisions that often conflict with those of acts of higher legal force. This "labor bureaucracy" significantly complicates the application of labor legislation for both employers and employees.

Thus, the Code is a mixture of legal norms adopted under different historical and economic conditions, most of which are outdated and cannot adequately regulate modern labor relations.

The reform of labor legislation is aimed at creating and effectively ensuring the functioning of legal mechanisms for the realization and protection of the right to work with maximum compliance with the balance of interests of employees and employers.

The new labor legislation will enable employers to easily create new high-quality jobs, promote the best employees and pay higher salaries.

Simplification of labor legislation in the area of employment, in particular through the introduction of a wide range of employment contracts (short-term, seasonal, student, domestic workers), will help legalize the hiring of employees and expand the scope of employment contracts.

Key provisions of the draft law

The main principles of the draft law are as follows:

• balancing the interests of the parties to labor relations;
• protection and restoration of the violated rights of labor relations subjects;
• stability of labor relations;
• distinguishing between collective bargaining and individual relations;
• simplification of procedures for the conclusion and termination of labor relations;
• ensuring the right of every employee to proper, safe and healthy working conditions;
• guaranteeing the right to protection of employees from unjustified dismissal;
• compliance with ILO conventions and EU directives;
• ensuring non-discrimination of employees and implementing the principle of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value;
• creating equal opportunities for employees for professional growth, training, retraining and advanced training;
• ensuring protection of mothers, children and youth.

The draft act incorporates the provisions of the Laws of Ukraine "On Remuneration of Labor", "On Vacations", "On Labor Protection", "On Collective Agreements and Contracts", and "On the Procedure for Settlement of Collective Labor Disputes (Conflicts)".

Compared to the current labor legislation, the draft act additionally includes regulation of the following issues

• the procedure for concluding a mandatory written employment contract and various types of fixed-term employment contracts
• determination of the signs of labor relations;
• regulation of work with summarized accounting of working time, work of domestic workers;
• improving the basic conditions for the realization of the right to vacation;
• Reforming the procedure and conditions for granting leaves related to the birth and upbringing of a child (children), taking into account the principle of gender non-discrimination;
• introducing new approaches to the settlement of individual labor disputes, in particular through mediation procedures;
• disseminating the norms of collective bargaining agreements and contracts;
• regulating supervision over compliance with labor relations legislation and determining the procedure for conducting inspection visits.

In addition, the draft act proposes to introduce a new national system for preventing occupational risks based on the principles of risk assessment, control and management, which are the basis for building similar systems in developed countries in Europe and the world, which will help

• Improving the level of protection of life and health of employees;
• Increasing the responsibility of employers for creating proper working conditions and a safe working environment;
• simplification of legislation in the field of occupational safety and health, reduction of administrative and regulatory burden on employers;
• introducing mechanisms to improve the safety conditions of employees and relevant economic incentives;
• strengthening fair competition, expanding access of Ukrainian enterprises to the international market and increasing their competitiveness in this market;
• gradual implementation of EU legislation into national legislation.

The draft act also provides for the definition of principles, legal and organizational framework for regulating the procedure and methods of resolving collective labor disputes in Ukraine, the introduction of a modern mechanism for resolving such disputes through conciliation procedures and labor arbitration, the development of the institution of labor mediation, the realization of the right of employees and employers to collective action in cases of conflicts of interest, the improvement of the procedure and procedure for holding strikes, and the balancing of the institution of responsibility and the interests of employees and employers.