During the war, the effect of some laws changes, while certain norms remain constant and continue to apply in certain cases. About the peculiarities of labor relations, namely about restrictions on vacations during martial law – read below.
Vacation restrictions during wartime
Labor relations during martial law are regulated by Law of Ukraine ‘On Organization of Labor Relations in Martial Law’ No. 2136-IX of March 15, 2022.
During this period, the granting of annual basic leave to an employee by the employer’s decision may be limited to 24 days for the current working year (paragraph 1, part 1, article 12 of Law No. 2136). At the same time, vacation days not used during the war are not lost, but are granted after the termination or cancellation of martial law.
Also, during wartime, the employer may deny the employee unused days of annual leave for previous years (paragraph 3, part 1, article 12 of Law No. 2136).
In addition, during the martial law, the norms of Part 7 of Art. 79 of the Labor Code and Part 2 of Art. 12 of Law on Leaves, which determine that the unused part of the annual leave must be given to the employee, as a rule, before the end of the working year, but no later than 12 months after the end of the working year for which the leave is granted.
There are also restrictions established by Part 2 of Art. 12 of Law No. 2136 for employees involved in performing work on critical infrastructure facilities. In particular, during the period of martial law, the employer may refuse to grant such employees any type of leave (except maternity leave and leave to take care of a child up to the age of three).
Almost all restrictions of leave during wartime end there.
