Secondary Employment in 2026: Hiring, Hours, Risks

Secondary employment in 2026: who a secondary-job employee is, how many hours they may work, how to hire them, and what the employer should consider

Secondary employment is a separate employment agreement that an employee enters into in addition to their main job. The general rule now is this: an employee may work simultaneously for several employers or have several employment agreements unless otherwise established by law, a collective agreement, or the parties’ arrangement. For ordinary private business, the old limit of “no more than 4 hours a day” no longer applies, because the government repealed the relevant resolution back in 2022. Therefore, a secondary-job employee may work a full day and 8 hours a day if this is properly formalized, there is a real work schedule, time records are kept, and no special prohibitions apply to this category of employee. (Law of Ukraine)

Who is a secondary-job employee

A secondary-job employee is an employee who, in addition to their main job, performs other paid work under a separate employment agreement. A separate employment agreement is precisely the key feature of secondary employment. The law expressly allows an employee to exercise their abilities by concluding an employment agreement at one or simultaneously at several enterprises, unless otherwise provided by law, a collective agreement, or an agreement of the parties. (Law of Ukraine)

In practice, the following are distinguished:

This is important to distinguish from combining positions. In secondary employment, there is a separate employment agreement and separate work. In combining positions, the employee does not conclude a second employment agreement but performs additional duties within the same job with extra pay. (Law of Ukraine)

How many hours a secondary-job employee may work

For the private sector, there is currently no general statutory limit specifically for a secondary-job employee at the level of “4 hours a day.” The old rules that restricted secondary employment for employees of state enterprises, institutions, and organizations were repealed by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1306. Along with them, the subordinate rules that HR specialists had referred to for years also ceased to apply. (Law of Ukraine)

Therefore, the answer to popular queries is as follows:

But for the employer there is an important practical limitation here: the schedule must be real and provable. If an employee formally “works” at the same time in two places, during a dispute or inspection the question arises whether the work was actually performed. Therefore, it is safer to set a schedule that can be confirmed by timesheets, tasks, reports, access logs, shifts, routes, acceptance reports, or other evidence of actual employment.

Can a secondary-job employee work in the same position

The law does not contain a general prohibition on working in the same position. If the employee has concluded a separate employment agreement, the parties have agreed on the work schedule, and the employer can confirm actual performance of the work, secondary employment in the same position is possible. This is especially common in internal secondary employment with shift work, retail, logistics, security, and services. The legal basis is the same here: an employee may conclude several employment agreements unless otherwise limited by law or by the parties’ arrangement. (Law of Ukraine)

Who may not work under secondary employment

There is no general prohibition for all employees. However, special restrictions apply to certain categories, primarily to persons subject to anti-corruption legislation. The Law “On Prevention of Corruption” establishes restrictions on secondary employment and combining positions with other types of activity for persons authorized to perform state or local self-government functions. For them, other paid or entrepreneurial activity is generally prohibited, except for exceptions expressly defined by law, including teaching, scientific, creative activity, medical practice, and instructional and refereeing practice in sports. (Law of Ukraine)

Separate special prohibitions or restrictions may also be contained in other laws, contracts, collective agreements, and internal labor rules. Therefore, before formalizing a secondary-job employee, the employer should check not only the Labor Code but also the status of the employee’s specific position. (Law of Ukraine)

How to hire an employee under secondary employment

Formalizing a secondary-job employee is almost the same for the employer as formalizing any other employee. The basic scheme is as follows:

What documents are required

When concluding an employment agreement, the employee submits a passport or another identity document, the employment record book if available, or information on employment activity from the register of insured persons, and in cases provided by law also an education document, a health document, a military registration document, and other documents. This general rule works equally for a secondary-job employee. (Law of Ukraine)

As a rule, the law does not require a separate permission from the main employer for an ordinary employee. But if such a condition is expressly provided by law, a collective agreement, or an already effective employment agreement, it must be taken into account. (Law of Ukraine)

Is it mandatory to conclude a written employment agreement

The Labor Code establishes that an employment agreement is concluded, as a rule, in writing, and in a number of cases the written form is mandatory. For secondary employment, the written form is not always directly mandatory merely because of the fact of secondary employment, but for the employer it is the safest option: it is easier to prove the schedule, scope of work, pay, start date, probation conditions, remote work, material liability, and other key conditions. (Law of Ukraine)

Is it necessary to notify the tax authority about hiring a secondary-job employee

Yes. An employee may not be admitted to work without an employment agreement formalized by an order or instruction of the employer and without notifying the tax authority about the employee’s hiring in the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers. This rule also applies to secondary-job employees. (Law of Ukraine)

For internal secondary employment, it is also safer for the employer to proceed on the basis that this is another separate employment agreement, and therefore there should be a separate order, separate HR records, separate accounting, and a separate notification before work starts under this agreement. This approach best protects the company during inspections and disputes.

Pay for a secondary-job employee

Pay for a secondary-job employee is made on general grounds: for actually performed work, time worked, or output — depending on the established remuneration system. If the employee is set part-time working hours, payment is made proportionally to time worked or depending on output. At the same time, work under part-time conditions does not entail limitation of the employee’s labor rights. (Law of Ukraine)

This means that a secondary-job employee has the same basic labor guarantees as other employees: wages, leave, sick pay, guarantees upon dismissal, and protection from unlawful formalization of labor relations. The only difference is that the separate employment agreement has its own schedule and its own accruals. (Law of Ukraine)

Taxes and USC from the salary of a secondary-job employee

The salary of a secondary-job employee is taxed like ordinary wages. Personal income tax, military levy, and unified social contribution apply to it under the general rules of tax and social legislation. The tax social benefit applies only at one chosen place of salary accrual, and the rule on the minimum insurance contribution is tied primarily to the main place of work. In secondary employment, the unified social contribution is generally charged on the actual amount of income under this employment agreement.

For the employer, three practical conclusions are important here:

Leave of a secondary-job employee

A secondary-job employee is entitled to annual basic leave on general grounds. The Law “On Leave” establishes that, as a general rule, annual basic leave is at least 24 calendar days for the completed working year, and the period giving the right to such leave includes time worked under an employment agreement. For a secondary-job employee, this is a separate right under each employment agreement.

In practice, the employer should separately regulate in documents or approvals the issue of synchronizing leave at the main place of work and in secondary employment in order to avoid situations where the employee simultaneously declares different attendance regimes with different employers.

Sick leave of a secondary-job employee

As of 2026, an employee is entitled to temporary disability benefits not only at the main place of work but also at the place of work under secondary employment. This is directly confirmed by legislation on compulsory state social insurance and official explanations of the Pension Fund after the 2025 changes. (Law of Ukraine)

Dismissal of a secondary-job employee

For a private employer, the law does not currently establish a separate universal ground for dismissal solely because an employee is a secondary-job employee. The general grounds for termination of an employment agreement provided by the Labor Code and by the agreement itself within the law apply. The old special Soviet rules on secondary employment, which were often referred to for dismissal or restriction of secondary-job employees, are no longer in force. (Law of Ukraine)

Therefore, the employer should not expect that the mark “secondary-job employee” in itself gives a simplified dismissal procedure. If cooperation needs to be terminated, one must act under general labor grounds and have proper documents.

Fines and risks for the employer

The most dangerous mistake is the actual admission of a secondary-job employee to work without proper formalization of the employment agreement and without notification of hiring. Article 265 of the Labor Code provides financial sanctions for legal entities and sole proprietors for violations of labor legislation, and for other violations of labor legislation — a fine in the amount of the minimum wage for each violation, and for a repeated violation within a year — in double amount. Separately, for actual admission to work without formalizing an employment agreement, Article 265 provides much stricter sanctions. (Law of Ukraine)

The main risks when working with secondary-job employees are as follows:

Short checklist for an entrepreneur

Before hiring an employee under secondary employment, it is worth checking the following:

Answers to the most popular queries

Who is a secondary-job employee?
An employee who has one more paid job under a separate employment agreement in addition to the main one. (Law of Ukraine)

Who is an external secondary-job employee?
An employee whose main place of work is with one employer, and the additional job is with another.

How many hours may a secondary-job employee work?
For ordinary private business, there is currently no special general limit specifically for a secondary-job employee. It is important that the work schedule be properly formalized and actually performed. (Law of Ukraine)

Can a secondary-job employee work 8 hours a day?
Yes, they can, if there is no special prohibition for the specific category of employee and the work is properly formalized. (Law of Ukraine)

Who may not work under secondary employment?
Persons for whom this is restricted by special law, primarily certain public servants and other subjects covered by anti-corruption legislation. (Law of Ukraine)

Official sources

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