Arts. 137, 141 CPC<\/span>.<\/li><\/ol>\nIf you do not want to go back to that employer, you can ask instead for the stated reason for dismissal to be changed<\/strong> and for the average earnings to be paid without actual reinstatement.<\/p>\nA late settlement: how the compensation is calculated<\/h2>\n All sums due must be paid on the day of dismissal (Art. 116). If they are not, the employer additionally pays average earnings for the period of delay, for no more than six months<\/strong> (Art. 117, as amended in 2022). The Supreme Court has confirmed that the six-month cap applies even where the delay began earlier and continued after 19 July 2022.<\/p>\nWhat that means in practice: you were not paid 20,000 UAH on dismissal, your average earnings are 25,000 UAH a month, and you come to us four months later. On top of the debt, four months\u2019 compensation is recovered \u2014 100,000 UAH. If you come a year later, the compensation still cannot exceed six average monthly earnings, that is 150,000 UAH.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Two caveats. Where the court grants the claim in part, it sets the compensation at its discretion (Art. 117(2)), and in practice it is often reduced proportionately. And if you delayed coming forward, the court may take that into account too. So do not wait: the first months of delay are compensated in full, and they make up most of the sum.<\/p>\n
What the court checks in a dismissal order<\/h2>\n Employers lose employment cases mostly on procedure, not for want of a reason. This is what we check in every case:<\/p>\n
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The legality checklist<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWritten explanations.<\/strong> Before a reprimand or dismissal for misconduct the employer must ask the employee for an explanation (Art. 149). A back-dated record that the employee \u201crefused to explain\u201d is tested by the court against the witnesses and the dates.<\/span><\/li>The sanction deadline.<\/strong> A sanction is imposed no later than one month from discovery of the misconduct and no later than six months from when it occurred (Art. 148).<\/span><\/li>The union\u2019s consent.<\/strong> If you are a union member, dismissal at the employer\u2019s initiative without its prior consent is unlawful (Art. 43).<\/span><\/li>Redundancy.<\/strong> Two months\u2019 notice (Art. 49-2), an offer of other work (Art. 40(2)), the preferential right to be retained (Art. 42). If the post reopened after the \u201credundancy\u201d, that is an argument for you.<\/span><\/li>Sick leave or holiday.<\/strong> Dismissal at the employer\u2019s initiative during either is prohibited, except on full liquidation (Art. 40(3)).<\/span><\/li>Absenteeism.<\/strong> This means being away for more than three hours in a day without good reason (Art. 40(4)). Agreed remote work, a summons from the recruitment office, or illness without a sick note but with medical records, are not absenteeism.<\/span><\/li>Pregnancy, children under three, single mothers with children under 14.<\/strong> For these categories dismissal at the employer\u2019s initiative is impossible, except on full liquidation (Art. 184).<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\nWorking without a contract<\/h2>\n If you worked off the books, that does not deprive you of rights<\/strong>, but the employment relationship has to be established in court.<\/p>\nWhat works as evidence: passes, rotas, messenger correspondence, colleagues\u2019 evidence, payroll sheets, documents bearing your signature, photographs at the workplace, the job advertisement, transfers to your card at regular intervals.<\/p>\n
Once the employment relationship is established you can recover wages, demand that contributions be paid (which affects your future pension), and claim compensation. An extra lever in negotiations: for an undocumented employee the employer faces a fine of ten times the minimum wage (Art. 265) \u2014 86,470 UAH per person in 2026.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
When you do not need a lawyer<\/h2>\n The employer admits the debt, signs a payment schedule and pays. A written demand with the calculation, and a copy for yourself, is enough: if the schedule is broken, that demand becomes evidence in court.<\/p>\n
Situations to bring to us at once, while the deadline is still running:<\/p>\n
you have been dismissed<\/strong> and believe it unlawful (you have one month<\/strong> to sue);<\/span><\/li>wages or the final settlement are unpaid<\/strong> and the employer has been promising for more than a month;<\/span><\/li>you are being pushed to resign \u201cvoluntarily\u201d<\/strong> or to sign a termination agreement;<\/span><\/li>you worked without a contract<\/strong> and the employer denies it;<\/span><\/li>you have been reprimanded<\/strong> or denied a bonus with no explanation and without being asked for one;<\/span><\/li>you are pregnant<\/strong> or have children under three: additional protections under Art. 184 apply;<\/span><\/li>the matter is an industrial injury<\/strong> the employer will not record in a report.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>A case from our practice<\/h2><\/div> In April 2025 an engineer from Kyiv came to us, dismissed under Art. 40(4) \u201cfor absenteeism\u201d. In fact he had been working from home that day by oral agreement with the shop manager, and the absence record was drawn up two weeks later; nobody asked him for a written explanation. The one-month deadline had already passed by 12 days, so we filed the claim together with an application to restore it (he had been on sick leave for part of that time). The court restored the deadline, found the dismissal unlawful, reinstated him, and awarded average earnings for five months of enforced absence (about 140,000 UAH) plus 10,000 UAH for non-pecuniary damage. The first-instance hearing took five months and the client paid no court fee. (details changed)<\/p><\/div>\n