What to Do With No-Call/No-Show Employees during martial law

On July 19, 2022, the Law № 2352-IX of July 1, 2022, came into force. One of the innovations in this law is the expansion of the list of reasons for dismissal of an employee. Now it is possible to dismiss an employee who is absent for more than four months.
The law has specified the reasons for suspending the employment contract. In order to suspend the contract, the employer must issue an order stating:

• the reason for the suspension (e.g., inability of one or both parties to perform their duties and inability to exchange information),
• the period for which the contract is suspended,
• the list of employees with whom the labor contracts are suspended (the names of the employees and their tax numbers must be specified),
• the conditions under which the employment contracts will be renewed.

It is prohibited to unilaterally suspend an employment contract. It is also impossible to suspend contracts with heads of state enterprises and their representatives, as well as with officials holding elective positions.

What has changed on July 19?

• The main innovation of this law is the addition of a new subclause to Article 36 of the Labor Code: the termination of an employment contract with an employee is possible if there are no contacts with such an employee for more than four months.
• Article 44 of the Labor Code was also supplemented with a new subparagraph. Now, the reason for dismissal is also the employer's inability to provide the employee with proper working conditions. That is, if the employer's property was destroyed as a result of hostilities, and now he cannot provide the employee with production, organizational or technical facilities, he has the right to terminate the employment relationship with the employee.
• During martial law, the employer may refuse to grant the employee the basic annual leave of full duration, i.e. the employee may take leave, but reduced. Unused vacation days in this case must be carried over to the next year or to the period after the end of martial law.
• Article 81 of the Labor Code was also amended. Now, when transferring an employee from one enterprise to another, the unused vacation days are not transferred to the other enterprise. But Article 83 of the Labor Code will has the addition that the unused leave at the previous enterprise must be paid.
• Employees who are internally displaced or have gone abroad are entitled to unpaid leave, but not more than 90 calendar days.
• Civil servants have the right to work in the private sector to support their own families, if they have left the temporarily occupied territories.
• Mobilized workers will no longer retain their average salary from the employer. Subparagraph 3 was excluded from Article 119 of the Labor Code. Employees called up for military service will retain their place of work and position, but such employees will now receive their salary only from the government for military service until their return to work.
• During martial law, employees with children may be required to work on weekends and public holidays, as well as night work and overtime without their consent.