Dismissal from work during vacation without salary

Employers often wonder if they can dismiss an employee during their unpaid leave. The legislation does not prohibit this, either at the employee's request or by mutual agreement.

The procedure for dismissal is outlined in Article 36 of the Labor Code. The only prohibition in the law is dismissing the employee during their leave initiated by the employer.

Who has the right to apply for unpaid leave?

According to Law No. 504, an employer can grant unpaid leave at the employee's request in the following cases:

• For individuals raising children without a mother, or if the mother is receiving long-term treatment — up to 14 calendar days annually;

• For a man while his wife is on maternity leave — up to 14 calendar days;

• For parents of a child needing special home care;

• For parents of a child under 14 years of age during a declared quarantine in the relevant territory;

• For war veterans — up to 14 calendar days;

• For individuals with special merits before the state — up to 21 calendar days annually;

• For pensioners (retired by age) and individuals with group 3 disabilities — up to 30 calendar days per year;

• For individuals with group 1 and 2 disabilities — up to 60 days each year;

• For individuals due to their marriage — up to 10 calendar days;

• By mutual consent, for example, due to family circumstances, during a pandemic, or other reasons — no more than 30 calendar days per year;

• For part-time employees — until the end of the leave granted by the main workplace, etc.

Dismissal during leave in wartime

In addition to this list, Law No. 2136 provides the possibility of granting unpaid leave during martial law for a period of up to 90 days. This period can be divided into parts or used entirely, without interruption. In this case, the employer cannot refuse to grant this leave.

How to properly terminate the employment relationship?

To terminate the employment relationship during the employee’s unpaid leave, an appropriate order must be issued. The document is created based on the employee's application — either at their request or by mutual agreement.

According to Article 47 of the Labor Code, the employer must carry out all necessary calculations with the employee and issue a work book. However, if the employee is absent on the day of dismissal and cannot personally come soon, the employer sends the work book by mail to the provided address. To do this, the employee must give written consent, which can also be submitted electronically.

There is no need to call the employee to work and interrupt their leave at the employer's expense. The labor legislation does not require such actions. Therefore, the HR department does not need to make additional changes to the order about granting leave and its termination due to the employee’s dismissal.

It is important to correctly calculate the compensation for unused annual leave days and form the employee’s vacation record.

How to properly calculate the vacation record?

If the employee decides to resign, for example, in the first months (January, February) of the new work year, their vacation record will be calculated up to December of the previous year. In the current year, the employee has not yet earned the right to take annual leave. Therefore, the employer compensates the unused annual leave days accrued until the end of the previous year.

If the employee was on unpaid leave during the previous work year, for example, due to martial law for 90 days, and did not receive any salary payments, the period should be excluded from the calculation based on Procedure No. 100. This period will also not be counted toward their work experience. However, the employee will still have the right to receive annual leave with all appropriate payments.

If the employee has unused vacation days but no earnings, the accounting department will use the salary established at the time of their dismissal for the calculation.

Record in the work book

When an employee is dismissed during unpaid leave, the HR department makes the necessary entries in their work book. The basis for this will be the order of the employer.

The entry in the document should reflect the exact wording of the law and the reasons for dismissal. It may be — by the employee's own request or by mutual agreement. Under the entry about the reason for dismissal, the details of the authorized person who filled out the work book are recorded.

Once the employer makes all the necessary calculations with the employee and records the appropriate entries in the document, the employee will receive their work book and will be considered dismissed.