Government has adopted a package of decisions to revamp employment policy

The Government continues to reshape employment policy as a key component of the country’s economic strategy. The first step: the Government has already approved a draft of the new Labor Code, which is now being prepared for its first round of parliamentary review. Next are systemic solutions for people and businesses, involving donors and the private sector. This was announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

There are 13.1 million people employed in Ukraine—less than half of the total working-age population. At the same time, 74% of companies are having difficulty finding workers. Due to the war and migration, the labor market has become a key challenge for the economy.

“That is why we are launching an Employment Week. We will present Government's decisions and programs on career guidance, retraining, support for employers, and engaging youth, women, older adults, veterans, IDPs, and people with disabilities in the workforce—in line with the Employment Strategy up to 2030,” emphasized Yulia Svyrydenko.

According to her, two key initiatives approved today at the Cabinet of Ministers’ session dedicated to labor issues were as follows:

1. Support Point — helping employers preserve jobs during periods of downtime following shelling.

The Prime Minister explained that the program would work for affected businesses that are forced to suspend operations or recover from damage.

Such employers will be eligible for compensation for a portion of their employees’ wages during the period of forced work stoppage, as well as compensation for the Unified Social Tax (UST) on these sums.

The program is designed to help businesses retain their teams during the most difficult period, recover, and continue operating. For employees, it will help preserve their jobs, income, and insurance coverage.

2. Launching a mechanism for the remote termination of employment relationships via the Diia app for occupied territories.

“This concerns people whose employers remain in temporarily occupied territories or in zones of active hostilities. They are effectively no longer working at their previous jobs, but formally remain employed and therefore cannot officially take new jobs. We are removing this legal trap and giving people the opportunity to seek for emploment,” the Prime Minister said.

Applications for dismissal from work in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) can be submitted online via the Diia platform. The system records the termination date automatically, notifies the employer, and updates the information in state registers.

“We continue to systematically reform labor relations and shape employment policies that work for people, for businesses, and for the country’s economic recovery,” summed up Yulia Svyrydenko.