Institutional Change in Times of War: The Case of Ukraine
Chair(s): Eva Kocher (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany)
Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine has had an unprecedented impact on Ukrainian labour law. While Ukrainian labour law has been under reform for many years, new regulations enacted under martial law have been addressing not only emergencies of hostilities, migration, relocation, and destruction of production areas, but also Ukraine’s future EU integration. This session considers the dramatic changes and institution-building taking place in Ukraine’s labour markets, in a situation of a high degree of instability and uncertainty. It is a country faced by a multitude of disruptions, quite specific for a country attacked by war.
The session presents first results of the collaborative project “Just Transition”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the Ukrainian government. The project starts from the assumption that the principal aims of labour law and social policy – i.e. of protecting workers and their rights at the workplace, as well as furthering social dialogue – should be an important factor in Ukraine’s transition to peace, to societal and economic resilience and a possible convergence towards the European Union, in line with ILO Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation No. 205 of 2017, which also recognizes the importance of employment and decent work for enabling recovery and building resilience.
The session retraces the dynamics of ongoing and continuous reform in Ukrainian law, as the Ukrainian labour market has been and is confronted with challenges and threats due to digitalisation, societal changes and economic transformation. It shows how these challenges are confronted in a situation of war, and which options would be available for afterwar time in the context of a possible EU accession.
In this context the session focusses on the recent debates and reform projects under the martial law regime enacted in 2022, insofar as they relate to employment, working conditions and termination of employment, as well as collective labour and trade union rights in wartime. It analyses how workers’ interests are represented in these regulations, considering the fact that martial law limits the extent to which social partners can enact conflicts. It also looks at how Russia’s armed attack has affected the courts’ ability to process labour disputes, and which mechanisms could be made available for a quick and effective protection of labour rights.
The session includes the discussion of two particular questions that trouble labour lawyers in all legal systems. Firstly, the problem of disguised employment, i.e. the distinction between employment contracts and civil law contracts, has in Ukraine been influenced by the situation of martial law. Secondly, domestic work has been regulated only in 2024, giving rise to the question how this kind of regulation influences and is influenced by family housework and its distribution in times of war.
Lastly, the session puts these reforms and challenges in the context of international law. It uses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention 190 of 2019 and ILO Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation No. 205 of 2017, to discuss the role of international law as a framework for enhancing human rights during wartime and peaceful transition. The synergy between these three instruments is particularly interesting in relation to the ECHR which Ukraine ratified in 1997.
Presentations of the Special Session
Labour Law Regulation during Wartime in Ukraine
Ivan Yatskevych
National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
The paper analyses Ukrainian labour law regulations enacted under the martial law regime, including the regulation of both individual and collective labour law. It looks at the representation of workers’ interests in the regulatory responses to the economic transformations taking place during wartime and the transition to peace. In particular, it looks at the ways the legislative process has been able to consider social partners’ responses. It discusses what this means for a future just transition to peacetime, which will not only need to invite and integrate temporary displaced persons, refugees, employees under occupation or veterans back into the labour market, but also have to consider international and European law including trade union and collective bargaining rights.
Labour Disputes under Martial Law
Roksolana Khanyk-Pospolitak
National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
Ukraine’s experience shows that peace times, states do not prepare for the functioning of the judicial system in difficult periods. Russia's armed attack on Ukraine has caused new problems and challenges, such as the closing of state registers, the change of jurisdiction of cases from occupied territories to non-occupied territories, the transfer of judges, the reservation of documentation, etc.
This presentation analyses the procedural issues of protecting the interests of workers in the current Ukrainian context. In Ukraine, the main way to resolve labour disputes is through the judicial process. Legislative changes have made it easier to suspend and terminate employment contracts. However, martial law has not significantly affected the number of labour disputes. Alternative dispute resolution methods in labour conflicts are still rarely used in Ukraine. Therefore, it is worth applying various mechanisms for resolving labour disputes, which could contribute to the quick and effective protection of the rights of employees.
The Right to Work: Choosing between Employment and Civil Law Contracts under Conditions of Martial Law
Iryna Dzera
National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
Under the conditions of martial law in Ukraine, it is extremely important for the state to guarantee the right of workers to decent work and to respect fundamental human rights. Employers must also respect these rights, the principles of the rule of law and equality, and international labour standards when concluding, amending and terminating employment contracts, which is particularly difficult under martial law.
In the current period, employers often choose to conclude civil law contracts instead of employment contracts, as civil law contracts do not provide for the need to ensure that employees are entitled to all labour rights. Ukrainian legislation does not yet provide sufficient criteria for distinguishing between them. Ukraine сould bring its regulations into line with international labour standards and EU requirements, in view of the European integration process, and future transition Ukraine from war to peace.
Domestic Work and Household Keeping in Wartime
Tetiana Fedosieieva
National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
In 2024, the Labour Code of Ukraine was supplemented by Chapter XI-A “Labour of Domestic Workers”. Work on the new law began in 2021. Since then, the war in Ukraine caused significant changes in the labour market, with massive displacement and excessive concentration of the population in relatively safe regions. The paper analyses the legislation in light of these changes. The new law refers to domestic work within the framework of an employment relationship under an employment contract, with the relationship under an employment contract and a civil law contract for providing services still being complicated to distinguish. The paper also considers domestic workers in comparison to the work performed in households on the basis of agreements between family members, for example, regarding the distribution of household duties. These issues are being addressed in accordance with European labour standards in the context of Ukraine's EU integration.
Upholding Human Rights in Crisis: The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention and ILO Recommendation No. 205
Jasmin Beck
European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
This presentation examines the synergy between the UNGPs, the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention and Recommendation No. 205 as a framework for enhancing human rights under the ECHR during wartime and peaceful transition.
The UNGPs establish a global standard for preventing and addressing human rights abuses in business, especially during conflict. They require due diligence in assessing human rights risks, including gender-based and sexual violence. By adhering to the UNGPs and ILO Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work, businesses can co-create a labour market upholding the rights under the ECHR during wartime and peaceful transition. Finally, Recommendation No. 205 provides guidance on the role of decent work in prevention, recovery, peace and resilience with respect to crises arising from conflicts.
The synergy between these three instruments provides a powerful framework to enhance human rights under the ECHR both in wartime and during peaceful transition.
