European Employment Insights: May 2026 (Ukraine)
Ukraine launches electronic employment termination procedure for certain employees
The Government of Ukraine is launching a pilot project regarding the termination of employment agreements at the employee’s initiative with employers whose place of business is in the territory of active hostilities or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation (the “Project”). The Project aims to simplify the procedure for terminating employment relations at the employee’s initiative with employers, located in territories of active hostilities or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, which are included in the list of territories where hostilities are (were) taking place or which are temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, for which no end date has been set for the hostilities or the temporary occupation (the “Employer”).
The Project is going to be implemented for 2 years, starting on 7 July 2026.
The envisaged termination procedure
An employee may, on their own initiative, terminate their employment agreement with the Employer based on Part 1 of Article 38 or Part 1 of Article 39 of the Labor Code of Ukraine by submitting in the Employer’s name a dismissal application in electronic form via Diia Portal using the Unified Information and Analytical System Obriy (the “Electronic System”). The application may be drawn up in any comprehensible format, but must include a list of mandatory details about the employee and the Employer, the accuracy of which will be verified by cross-checking such information against the relevant state registers. Following a successful verification, the application, signed with a qualified or advanced electronic signature, is locked for editing and registered in the Electronic System with the date and time of its submission recorded.
The employment agreement shall be terminated on the day following the date on which the dismissal application is registered in the Electronic System. The Employer’s consent or the issuance of a dismissal order is not required. On the day the application is registered in the Electronic System, information regarding the termination of employment is generated and transmitted to: the register of insured persons in the State Register of Mandatory State Social Security – regarding the date and grounds for dismissal; the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists – regarding the employee’s dismissal from their position.
On the day the dismissal application is registered in the Electronic System, the Employer shall receive a notification of its registration via Diia Portal or by email. The Employer is obliged to make final settlement with the employee (without issuing a copy of the dismissal order) and to hand back a labor-record book (provided it is kept by the Employer) following cessation of active hostilities and/or de-occupation of the relevant territory and/or re-registration of the Employer in another part of Ukraine, no later than the next business day after the dismissed employee submits a written request.
