Strengthening the Protection of Illegally Dismissed Employees

December 25, 2025 President of Ukraine signed the Law of Ukraine No. 4697-IX on establishing the continuity of insurance seniority for persons reinstated at work after illegal dismissal based on a court decision.

This act is aimed at the full restoration of the social rights of employees who have suffered from wrongful dismissals. The document eliminates gaps in legislation, ensuring the automatic inclusion of the forced absence period in the insurance seniority, which is critical for the subsequent calculation of pensions and other social benefits.

Key changes in social guarantees for employees

• The entire period of forced absence is now included in the insurance seniority for pension calculation based on a legally binding court decision for reinstatement;
• The employer is directly obligated to pay insurance contributions for the entire specified period to ensure the continuity of the employee’s seniority;
• A clear procedure for calculating the unified contribution is established for cases involving payment of earning differences for lower-paid work or average earnings for the entire period of absence;
• The unified social contribution for each month of forced absence must be no less than the minimum insurance contribution amount.

Vacation compensations for People’s Deputies

• The Law introduces a special procedure for paying compensation for unused annual leave days to the People’s Deputies of Ukraine of the 9th convocation;
• During 2026, upon a deputy’s application, it is permitted to compensate all days of accumulated paid leave for the entire period of their mandate.

We will closely monitor further developments in this area and will report on them in future Legal News.