Vacation time in Ukraine: Overview of essential conditions for employers | News Flash

Employees in Ukraine, like in other European countries, are legally entitled to time off – a guaranteed opportunity to rest, recover, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. The labour law of Ukraine clearly defines the minimum number of paid vacation days, while also outlining situations that may entitle an employee to additional leave. These rules are an essential part of workplace compliance and employee well-being.

That said, for employers, understanding the nuances of vacation time in Ukraine is key to building transparent and efficient internal policies while also avoiding any legal risks. This article is a practical overview of the regulation of vacation time in Ukraine, including annual leave, other types of leave, exceptions and specific conditions.

Types of vacation time in Ukraine

According to the current legislation of Ukraine, vacation in Ukraine is divided into:

• Annual paid leave – from 24 to 30 calendar days
• Additional annual paid leave – up to 69 calendar days in total, including the annual basic leave
• Additional study leave – from 10 calendar days
• Creative leave – the duration, procedure, conditions for granting, and payment of creative leave are established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
• Additional leave for certain categories of citizens and injured participants of the Revolution of Dignity with the preservation of wages – for a duration of 14 calendar days per year
• Social leave
• Unpaid leave

Annual paid leave in Ukraine

Employees can take annual paid leave for at least 24 calendar days per year counted from the date of conclusion of the Employment Contract. That is, at least 2 calendar days for 1 month worked.

Some categories of workers have the right to a longer annual paid leave. These include:

• persons with disabilities in categories I and II (entitled to 30 calendar days)
• persons with category III disabilities (entitled to 26 calendar days)

Annual paid leave in Ukraine during martial law

From December 23, 2023, the following changes have been made according to the Law of Ukraine No. 3494-IX:

• Employees who are called up for conscription military service or certain other types of military service are, upon their request, entitled to monetary compensation for all unused days of annual and additional leave granted to employees with children or an adult child with a disability from childhood, subgroup A of group I.
• Employees transferred from one enterprise, institution, or organization to another who have not fully or partially used their annual basic leave at the previous place of work do not have the right to transfer the remaining leave and must receive monetary compensation upon dismissal
• An employer may refuse to grant annual leave to an employee if the employee is engaged in work at a critical infrastructure facility and due to operational needs, is required to ensure the continuous functioning of the enterprise. In such cases, the employer must provide a well-reasoned justification for the refusal

Additional annual leave in Ukraine

At the employee’s request, additional annual leave may be granted at the same time as the basic annual leave or separately. The duration of the basic annual leave and the additional leave may not exceed 59 calendar days in total, and for employees engaged in underground mining – 69 calendar days.

The Labour Law of Ukraine defines several types of additional leave:

Additional leave for work with harsh and hazardous working conditions

The maximum duration is 35 calendar days per year, determined for each employee by a collective agreement or an employment contract, depending on the results of the workplace assessments and the employee’s working hours in these conditions.

Additional leave for the special nature of work

The overall duration can be up to 35 calendar days per year and is also determined by a collective agreement or an employment contract, depending on the employee’s working time in these conditions.

Other types of additional leave

• Irregular working hours – up to 7 calendar days in accordance with the lists of positions, jobs and professions defined by the collective agreement
• Employees working with computers – up to 4 calendar days for the special nature of work in accordance with section XXII “General professions in all sectors of the economy” of List № 2 (item 58).
• Additional study leave – conditions depend on the type of institution where the employee is studying – adding up to a maximum of 35 calendar days per year.

Additional leave for certain categories

Certain categories of employees have the right toadditional leave with the preservation of wages for a duration of 14 calendar days per year. This type of leave is used during employment and is not subject to compensation upon the employee’s dismissal.

These categories include:

• Combatants, injured participants of the Revolution of Dignity, persons with disabilities due to war, whose status is defined by the Law of Ukraine „On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection“
• Persons rehabilitated in accordance with the Law of Ukraine „On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Repressions of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991,“ who were subjected to repressions in the form of imprisonment or restriction of liberty or forced unjustified placement of a healthy person in a psychiatric institution by decision of an extrajudicial or other repressive body

Additional social leave

Maternity leave – usually lasts for 126 calendar days. Its duration can be extended for up to 14 calendar days based on the certificate of incapacity for work (in case of the birth of two or more children or in case of complicated childbirth).

As of July 29, 2023, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Regarding the Use of Leave Related to Pregnancy and Childbirth” introduced new flexibility in maternity leave. At the woman’s request and in the absence of medical contraindications, the 70-calendar-day segment of the leave granted before childbirth may be postponed and used by the woman partially or in full after childbirth, starting from the day of delivery. Importantly, the total duration of maternity leave remains unchanged.

Parental leave – until the child reaches 3 years of age

Child adoption leave – 56 calendar days for one child or 70 calendar days for the adoption of 2 or more children

Additional annual leave for employees with children

The duration of the leave for one calendar year based on a single ground is 10 calendar days. If there are multiple grounds, the total duration may not exceed 17 calendar days per yearа. The employees to whom these conditions apply include:

• one of the parents who has two or more children under the age of 15
• a person who has adopted a child or children
• the mother (or father) of children with disabilities from childhood subcategory A of category I
• single mothers with children under the age of 18
• single fathers with children or a person with a disability from childhood, subcategory A of category I raising children without a mother (including cases where the mother is undergoing long-term medical treatment)

Unpaid leave 

Mandatory unpaid leave granted to the employee

The following categories of employees are entitled to mandatory unpaid leave, which must be granted by the employer:

• A mother or father raising children without the other parent (including cases where the mother is undergoing long-term medical treatment), who has two or more children under the age of 15 or a child with a disability — up to 14 calendar days per year
• The mother or other persons specified in Part Three of Article 18 and Part One of Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine “On Vacations”,  on Leave are entitled to leave to care for a child in need of home care, for the duration specified in a medical certificate, but not beyond the child’s sixth birthday.
• War veterans and individuals defined by the Law of Ukraine No. 3551-XII “On the Status of War Veterans and Guarantees of Their Social Protection” – up to 14 calendar days per year
• Individuals with exceptional services to the Homeland (recipients of the Order of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred and others as defined in Article 11 of Law No. 3551) — up to 21 calendar days per year
• Individuals with outstanding labour achievements for the Homeland (Heroes of Ukraine and others as defined in Article 8 of Law No. 3721) — up to 21 calendar days per year
• Retirees by age and persons with disabilities of Group III — up to 30 calendar days per year
• Persons with disabilities of Groups I and II — up to 21 calendar days per year

Unpaid leave by mutual agreement

This type of leave may be granted under the following conditions:

• For family or other personal reasons, an employee may be granted unpaid leave for a period agreed upon between the employee and the employer or an authorized representative but not exceeding 30 calendar days per year
• In the event of an epidemic or pandemic threat, the need for employee self-isolation as prescribed by law, and/or in case of a threat of armed aggression against Ukraine, or an emergency (technogenic, natural, or other), the employer may, at the employee’s request, grant unpaid leave without being limited by the 30-day period specified in the first part of this article. The duration of such leave shall be determined by mutual agreement between the parties

From December 23, 2023, the following changes have been made according to the Law of Ukraine  No. 3494-IX:

• The employer grants unpaid leave at the request of the employee who has returned to work after being discharged from military service due to the end of the special period or the announcement of demobilization – for up to 60 calendar days. At the same time, the period of this leave is included in the insurance period
• The employer, at the request of an employee who has left the territory of Ukraine or acquired the status of an internally displaced person, is obliged to grant them unpaid leave for the duration specified in the application – a maximum of 90 calendar days, without including the time spent on leave in the length of service that entitles them to annual basic leave

Why managing vacation time in Ukraine matters

Properly managing vacation time in Ukraine is more than an administrative task — it’s a key HR policy that directly influences employee satisfaction, legal security, and operational efficiency.

How an outsourcing partner can help

Navigating the complexities of vacation entitlements, legal updates, and documentation requirements can be time-consuming and require significant resources from HR teams. A qualified outsourcing partner can significantly ease this burden by providing expert support in the following ways:

• Develop internal policies regarding vacation (leave) to ensure your business is fully compliant with Ukrainian legislation
• Track and manage annual, additional, and unpaid leave through automated systems
• Provide efficient payroll services to help integrate all payroll changes related to vacation
• Provide partial or full package HR services to optimize all documentation and protect employee personal data
• Provide legal consultations or other expert advice
• Monitor and report any legislative updates
• Provide reliable support during inspections or audits related to labour compliance

Entrust these processes to HR and payroll experts at Accace Ukraine – and enjoy the freedom to focus on growing and scaling your business.

Yuliia Bibikova

HR Specialist | Accace Ukraine

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