Changes in labor legislation
On July 19, 2022, the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Optimizing Labor Relations" entered into force.
In particular, the law supplements the Code of Labor Laws with new grounds for dismissing an employee:
- the death of the employer – a natural person or the entry into force of a court decision declaring such a natural person missing or declaring him dead;
- the death of the employee, recognition by the court as missing or declared dead;
- the employee's absence from work and information about the reasons for such absence for more than four months in a row;
- impossibility of providing the employee with the work specified in the employment contract due to the destruction (absence) of production, organizational and technical conditions, means of production or the employer's property as a result of hostilities.
Employers are exempted from the obligation to keep the average salary for mobilized workers.
A special term is established for the employee to apply to the court to collect the sums due to him upon dismissal - three months from the date of his receipt of written notice of the sums accrued and paid to him upon dismissal.
Changes were also made to the Law of Ukraine "On the Organization of Labor Relations in Martial Law".
It has been established that the normal duration of working hours during the period of martial law can be increased to 60 hours per week not for all employees, but for those who are employed at critical infrastructure facilities (in the defense sector, the sphere of ensuring the livelihood of the population, etc.). At the same time, labor is paid in an amount increased in proportion to the increase in the labor rate.
The employer can independently establish a five-day or six-day working week without an additional decision of the military command and agreement with the military administrations.
The rule that allowed employees with children to be involved, with their consent, in night and overtime work, work on weekends, holidays and non-working days, and to send them on business trips has been excluded.
The conditions of suspension of the employment contract have been changed. It was established that the suspension of the employment contract is possible only when providing the employee with a job and temporarily stopping the employee from performing work under the concluded employment contract is associated with armed aggression against Ukraine, which excludes the possibility of both sides of the employment relationship to fulfill the obligations stipulated in the employment contract. Specific grounds for suspension are specified in the employer's order. In the event of a decision to cancel the suspension of the employment contract before termination, the employer must notify the employee of the need to start work 10 calendar days before the resumption of the employment contract.
If the employee disagrees with the employer's order to suspend the employment contract, the employee may appeal the relevant order to the State Labor Office. The State Labor Service, in agreement with the military administration, may issue an order to the employer to cancel the relevant order or to eliminate a violation of the labor legislation in another way, which must be carried out by the employer within 14 calendar days from the date of receipt of such an order.
During the period of martial law, the State Department of Labor is given the right to conduct unscheduled inspections of compliance with labor legislation by legal entities regardless of the form of ownership, type of activity, management and natural persons using hired labor at the request of an employee or a trade union, in terms of compliance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Organization labor relations in the conditions of martial law", as well as on issues of detection of unregistered labor relations and legality of termination of labor contracts.
It has been established that during the period of martial law, in the case of full implementation and within the prescribed period of the prescriptions on the elimination of violations detected during the implementation of unplanned measures of state supervision (control), the fines provided for in Article 265 of the Labor Code of Ukraine shall not be applied.
On August 10, 2022, another Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Regulation of Labor Relations with Unfixed Working Hours" entered into force.
As can be seen from the name of the law, it introduces a new type of contract - an employment contract with unfixed working hours.
This is a special type of employment contract, the terms of which do not establish a specific time for the performance of work, the obligation of the employee to perform which arises only in the event that the employer provides the work provided for in this employment contract without guaranteeing that such work will be provided continuously. That is, we are actually talking about the so-called "civil-legal contracts" for one-time or periodic work.
There is a restriction that the number of employment contracts with non-fixed working hours at one employer cannot exceed 10 percent of the total number of employment contracts to which this employer is a party. An employer (employer - a natural person) who uses the labor of less than 10 employees may enter into no more than one employment contract with unfixed working hours.
The salary is paid to the employee for the time actually worked.
The number of base hours an employee may be required to work may not exceed 40 hours per week and the number of base days may not exceed 6 days per week.
At the same time, the minimum duration of working hours of an employee who performs work on the basis of an employment contract with non-fixed working hours during a calendar month is 32 hours. If an employee worked less than 32 hours during a calendar month, he must be paid a salary for at least 32 hours of working time in accordance with the terms of payment specified in the employment contract.
The procedure for confirming the inspector's special knowledge of organic production and/or circulation of organic products has been determined
On June 2, 2022, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, by its order No. 326, approved the Procedure for confirming the special knowledge of an inspector on organic production and/or circulation of organic products in the field of organic production.
The specified procedure contains the qualification requirements for persons who intend to become such inspectors, the procedure for the formation of a commission for the preparation and conduct of a qualification exam, the procedure for conducting a qualification exam and contesting its results, requirements for the certificate of an inspector for organic production and/or circulation of organic products.
Changes in forest legislation
On July 10, 2022, the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Forest Conservation" entered into force.
Despite the name of the law, he also made changes to the Land Code of Ukraine in terms of simplifying the procedure for changing the purpose.
In particular, it was established that the change in purpose of land plots of state and communal property, assigned to the categories of land for residential and public development, land for industry, transport, communications, energy, defense and other purposes, as well as land plots (except land plots located on the territories, objects of the nature reserve fund, and land plots for forestry purposes), on which buildings and structures are located, which are privately owned by the land user, who uses the land plots with the rights of permanent use, lease, emphyteussis, superficiation, may be carried out by the land user . In such a case, changing the purpose of the land plot does not require the adoption of decisions by the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the executive power body and the local self-government body that disposes of the relevant land plot.
Another block of changes in this Law is aimed at regulating relations in the field of forest protection and forest use. In particular, it has been established that the rights and obligations of permanent forest users and forest owners in accordance with this Forest Code of Ukraine and other laws apply to enterprises, institutions, organizations of all forms of ownership that use or own forests on lands of all categories.
The law "On waste management" was adopted
On June 20, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law "On Waste Management".
It will enter into force on 07/09/2023.
This law is comprehensive to regulate all issues of waste management. We will not fully analyze its content, but simply list the responsibilities that waste generators will have, this will allow you to orient yourself in the responsibilities of the business as a whole.
Waste generators, except household waste generators, are obliged to:
1) prevent the formation and reduce the volume of waste generation;
2) classify your waste in accordance with the National List of Waste and the Waste Classification Procedure;
3) process waste independently, with a permit for waste processing operations, or transfer it for processing to business entities in the field of waste management that have such a permit;
4) in case of generation of household waste, enter into an agreement on the provision of a household waste management service with the provider of the relevant service and pay a fee for the provision of such a service in accordance with the established tariffs;
5) prevent mixing of waste that can be recovered with waste that cannot be recovered;
6) keep records of waste generated as a result of their activities and submit relevant reports;
7) develop and implement waste management plans of enterprises, institutions and organizations in the prescribed manner;
8) ensure that the places of waste generation and storage are kept in proper sanitary and technical condition, as well as ensure compliance with the established rules of safety and fire safety in such places;
9) provide executive authorities and local self-government bodies with information on waste and related activities;
10) appoint responsible persons in the field of waste management;
11) compensate for damage caused to the health and property of citizens of Ukraine, the surrounding natural environment, enterprises, institutions and organizations as a result of violation of established waste management rules, in accordance with the law;
12) submit a waste declaration if the activity of such a waste producer results in the generation of hazardous waste or the annual volume of non-hazardous waste generation exceeds 50 tons.
Additionally, the procedure for implementing phytosanitary measures and procedures in martial law conditions is regulated
08/05/2022 The Cabinet of Ministers made changes to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 1, 2022 No. 398 "Some issues of implementation of phytosanitary measures and procedures under martial law".
It was established that during the period of martial law, the territorial bodies of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection exercise their powers according to the principle of extraterritoriality. A person has the right to apply for documents, administrative services and phytosanitary procedures in the field of quarantine and plant protection to any territorial body of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, as well as to apply for phytosanitary examination (analysis) to any which phytosanitary laboratory, included in the List of phytosanitary laboratories, at its choice.
Phytosanitary procedures are not carried out on the territory of territorial communities that are located in the area of military (combat) operations or that are under temporary occupation, encirclement (blockade) according to the list of territorial communities that are located in the area of military (combat) operations or that are in temporary occupation, encirclement (blocking), provided for by the Procedure for providing accommodation assistance to internally displaced persons, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 20, 2022 No. 332 "Some issues of payment of accommodation assistance to internally displaced persons" (Official Gazette of Ukraine, 2022 , No. 26, Article 1418).
Documents for the implementation of phytosanitary measures and procedures in the field of plant quarantine are submitted by a person to the territorial body of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in electronic or paper form by contacting the state phytosanitary inspector responsible for the relevant service area;
The date of entry into force of the Technical Regulation on cosmetic products has been postponed
The Cabinet of Ministers resolution of July 26, 2022 postponed the date of entry into force of the Technical Regulation on cosmetic products until August 3, 2024.
Export of rye and mineral fertilizers is allowed
On 07/26/2022, the Cabinet of Ministers amended Resolution No. 1424 of 12/29/2021 and allowed the export of rye, mineral or chemical fertilizers, nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and other fertilizers.
A license is required for export.
Register of biomethane
On July 22, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Procedure for the Operation of the Biomethane Register.
The biomethane register is an electronic accounting system designed to register the amount of biomethane submitted to the gas transportation/gas distribution system and withdrawn from such a system, as well as for the formation of guarantees of biomethane origin, their transfer, distribution or cancellation, and the provision of biomethane origin certificates.
The State Energy Efficiency Agency is the holder and administrator of the register.
A biomethane producer/buyer/consumer, an independent auditor, a gas transmission/distribution system operator to which a biomethane producer is connected to a gas transmission/distribution system, as well as other interested business entities intending to carry out operations in the registry, receive their own account in the registry.
If the biomethane producer owns or uses several biomethane production facilities, an account is created for each such facility.
The list of critical import goods has been cancelled
On July 7, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers made amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 153 of February 24, 2022, effectively canceling the list of critical import goods. Now there are no restrictions on the purchase of goods abroad for Ukrainian enterprises. At the same time, payment for the services of foreign suppliers is possible only when these services are included in the list of services, works, intellectual property rights, other non-property rights intended for sale (payment transfer), for the import operations of which the National Bank is recommended to ensure the implementation of transfers, which is approved by the same by Resolution No. 153 dated 24.02.2022.
SVIATOSLAV BARTOSH, kerivnyk of the BARGEN Law Firm
