{"id":2831,"date":"2026-05-27T06:43:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T03:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/dosudove-vregulyuvannya-trudovyh-sporiv\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T19:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:16:43","slug":"dosudove-vregulyuvannya-trudovyh-sporiv","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/trudove-pravo\/dosudove-vregulyuvannya-trudovyh-sporiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-litigation settlement of employment disputes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Settling an employment dispute out of court means one of three tools: an application to the labour disputes commission, a written demand with negotiations, or mediation. All three cost no court fee and work faster than litigation: the commission decides within 10 days (Art. 226 of the Labour Code), whereas a first-instance judgment in an employment case usually takes months.<\/p>\n

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One caveat at the outset. Article 224 of the Labour Code still calls the commission \u201cthe mandatory primary body\u201d, but that provision is effectively dead: under Art. 124 of the Constitution and Art. 221 of the Labour Code an employee may go straight to court, and Plenary Resolution No. 9 of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of 1 November 1996 (para. 8) barred courts from dismissing claims because the commission had not been used. So the out-of-court stage is chosen when it pays, and nobody is forced into it. It pays where the employer accepts the facts and argues only about timing or amount.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

We assess which route gets a result faster in your situation \u2014 the commission, a demand, mediation or going straight to court \u2014 prepare the documents, watch the deadlines in Art. 233, and negotiate with the employer on your behalf.<\/p>\n

<\/svg>+38 095 554-54-24<\/span><\/a>consultation on settling an employment dispute out of court<\/span><\/div>\n

Three ways to settle with an employer without going to court<\/h2>\n

The choice depends on whether the employer has a commission, whether you are still employed, and what exactly the employer disputes.<\/p>\n

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The labour disputes commission<\/h3>

Set up at employers with 15 or more staff (Art. 223). The application is filed within three months of the day you learned of the breach (Art. 225); the commission decides within 10 days with the employee present. Its decision can be appealed to court within 10 days (Art. 228), and if nobody appeals, the employer must comply within three days (Art. 229). If it does not, the commission issues a certificate with the force of an enforcement instrument (Art. 230): with it the employee goes straight to the enforcement service, bypassing the court.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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A demand and negotiations<\/h3>

A written demand with the debt calculated and reference to Arts. 116 and 117. It pays the employer to settle while the compensation for late payment \u2014 average earnings for each month, up to six months \u2014 is still small. The agreement is recorded in writing with a payment schedule.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Mediation<\/h3>

Under the Law \u201cOn Mediation\u201d No. 1875-IX of 16 November 2021. Apt where the employment continues and both sides want to keep it: a dispute over hours, a transfer, a reprimand, or bullying.<\/p><\/div><\/article><\/div>

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A separate option is complaining to the Labour Inspectorate<\/strong>. It does not resolve the dispute between you and the employer, but undocumented employment or unpaid wages expose the employer to fines under Art. 265, so a mention of the inspectorate in the demand often speeds payment up.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\"settling<\/a><\/p>\n

Which disputes the commission does not hear<\/h2>\n

Under Art. 232 the following go straight to court, without the commission: reinstatement, changing the date or the stated reason for dismissal, pay for enforced absence, and disputes of employees at businesses with no commission. Filing such a dispute with the commission is pointless: it must refuse, while the one-month deadline for a reinstatement claim runs on.<\/p>\n

Deadlines you cannot miss<\/h2>\n

Under Art. 233 the general period for bringing an employment dispute is three months from the day the employee learned of the breach, and one month in dismissal cases from service of the copy of the order or issue of the employment record book. For claims for wages and other sums due to the employee there is no longer any limit: by Decision No. 1-r\/2025 of 11 December 2025 the Constitutional Court held the three-month period in wage disputes unconstitutional. A missed deadline can be restored for good reason (Art. 234), but it is not something to count on.<\/p>\n

The practical consequence for the out-of-court stage: negotiations and mediation do not stop time running. So we send the demand with a short deadline for a reply (5\u20137 days) and prepare the claim in parallel, ready to file as soon as it is clear the employer is playing for time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Common mistakes before coming to us<\/h2>\n

The most expensive mistake costs the right to reinstatement: someone spends three weeks emailing HR and in the fourth week learns that the one-month period under Art. 233 has expired. The second most common is the wrong addressee: a reinstatement application goes to the commission, which cannot hear it (Art. 232), and time passes. The third concerns evidence: after dismissal access to corporate email, timesheets and payslips disappears, so copies must be saved while you are still at work. And the fourth is the simplest: an oral promise to \u201cpay it all next month\u201d with nothing in writing. For the commission and the court that promise does not exist.<\/p>\n

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A case from our practice<\/h2><\/div>

In February 2025 an accountant at a Kyiv trading company came to us after being dismissed by agreement without her final settlement: about 48,000 UAH of wages and holiday pay. The director promised orally to pay \u201cafter New Year\u201d but would only reply by messenger. We sent a demand with the debt and the late-payment compensation under Art. 117 calculated (her average earnings were 32,000 UAH a month, so after two months\u2019 delay the claim had nearly doubled) and gave seven days to reply. Three weeks later the company signed an agreement to pay in two instalments and settled in full, including part of the late-payment compensation. The client paid for a consultation and the demand; the matter never reached court. (details changed)<\/p><\/div>\n

How we work<\/h2>\n
  1. from the documents we establish whether the employer has a commission and whether the dispute is one only a court can hear (Art. 232);<\/li>
  2. we calculate the deadline under Art. 233 and, where needed, immediately gather evidence of good reasons for restoring it;<\/li>
  3. we prepare the application to the commission or the demand, with the debt and the Art. 117 compensation calculated and the Art. 265 fines cited;<\/li>
  4. we negotiate or mediate and record what is agreed in a written agreement with a payment schedule;<\/li>
  5. we represent the employee at the commission hearing and, if the decision is not complied with, obtain the commission\u2019s certificate for the enforcement service;<\/li>
  6. if the employer does not reply within the deadline, we file the prepared claim through the Electronic Court.<\/li><\/ol>\n

    Cost of services (settling an employment dispute out of court)<\/h2>\n
    Consultation with an assessment of the prospects<\/span>from<\/i>1,500 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Legal opinion on the situation<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Drafting the application to the commission or the demand to the employer<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Conducting negotiations, support in mediation<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Representation at the commission hearing<\/span>from<\/i>3,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Enforcement on the commission\u2019s certificate<\/span>from<\/i>3,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>
    Comprehensive handling of a civil case<\/span>from<\/i>25,000 UAH<\/b><\/div><\/div>\n

    Court fees in 2026: for claims arising from employment relations the employee is exempt (Art. 5(1)(1) of the Law \u201cOn Court Fees\u201d), so moving from a demand to a claim adds nothing to the cost. If the relationship was documented as a civil contract (services or works), the fee is 1 % of the value of the claim, minimum 1,331.20 UAH, and the procedure is set out on the page about settling civil disputes out of court<\/a>.<\/p>\n