New Probation Rules Proposed

On April 21, 2015 the draft Law¹ (the «Draft»), amending probation rules set by the Labour Code, was passed as the basic draft in the first reading. Currently, the Draft is being prepared for the second reading, during which it can be amended. Nevertheless, this Draft in fact contains some novelties regarding probation rules that are also provided by the draft Labour Code.

Prohibition of probation for pregnant women and young parents

The Draft proposes extending the existing list of persons protected against probation by adding to it the following categories of employees:

1. pregnant women;
2. employees with family duties who have children of up to three years of age;
3. those elected to elective positions;
4. successful applicants in a competition for vacant positions (public service);
5. those who completed an internship for off-the-main-job positions; and
6. those employed under fixed-term employment agreements.

Special dismissal procedure for probationary failures

In accordance with the Draft, the employee who failed his/her probation and is a subject to dismissal shall be served with a written notice three days prior to the dismissal. In this case, the employee’s employment record book will be supplemented with a note containing a reference to new Clause 1 of Paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Labour Code. This clause is proposed to be added by the Draft and will provide for the dismissal “on the grounds of unsatisfactory results of the probation.”

Employee’s sickness automatically puts the probation term on hold

The Draft also proposes clarifying the regulation of the issue of an employee being absent during his/her probation term. No special order will be required for extending the probation term by the number of missed days. In accordance with the Draft, the employee’s absence will automatically put the probation term on hold, irrespective of the reasons for such absence.

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¹ - The draft Law «On amending the Labor Code (regarding probation)» as of December 26, 2014 No. 1639.

Contacts: Oksana Voynarovska, Oleksandr Melnyk.