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50 Lab. & Emp. L. 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.journals/laboemplo50 and id is 1 raw text is: I'8\ BAR SECTION OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW I AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SPRING 2022 1 VOL. 50, NO. 1 Martial Law in Ukraine A Personal Account BY ALESYA PAVLYNSKA n February 24, 2022, Ukraini- ans were awoken early in the morning by explosions. I had been a practicing corpo- rate/M&A as well as labor and employ- ment attorney in Kyiv until shortly before the invasion. I was able to leave the country with my children, but my husband remained behind to assist in the defense of the country, as required by law. Prior to the invasion, he worked as an engineer in renewable energy projects and is not a trained soldier. The unprecedented attack of the Rus- sian Federation on Ukraine has caused drastic changes for both employers and employees. The Ukrainian labour legisla- tion was not prepared for such develop- ments. Nobody was. On the same day as the invasion, the President of Ukraine declared martial law throughout Ukraine by decree, which was approved by the Parliament and entered into force on the same day. Martial law included among other things restrictions of the constitutional rights and freedoms of humans and citizens (Art. 43, 44 of the Constitution of Ukraine). It is the second time in Ukrainian history that martial law was declared. The first took place in 2018, also due to Russian hostilities. However, though it was clear for both employers and employees that employment relations will not stay intact, it took the Parliament three more weeks to adjust the labor legis- lation to recognize martial law. On March 15, 2022, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine On Organizing Labour Relations under Martial Law (came into effect on March 24, 2022), which clarified rele- vant restrictions of the constitutional rights and freedoms and set out special rules applicable to labor relations to replace the normal rules of the Labour Code of Ukraine. Generally, all changes are more favourable for employers rather than employees, considering the circum- stances when most businesses are on the verge of collapse. The primary changes may be summarized as follows: Entering into employment agreements The parties may choose any form of the employment agreement (either oral or written), as agreed between them. Prior to martial law, written agree- ments were obligatory in certain cases. A probationary period can be imposed for all employees. Previously, probationary periods were not possi- ble for some categories of workers such as temporarily displaced per- sons, pregnant women, fixed-term employment agreements up to 12 months, etc. Employers may enter into fixed-term employment agreements with new employees for the duration of martial law or the period of replacement of a temporarily absent employee. Open- ended agreements had priority previ- ously, whereas the conclusion of fixed-term agreements was allowed only in certain limited cases. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13