Frontline workers may be granted a new status with allowances and insurance protection — what is proposed in the Parliament

A draft law No. 15340 has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to create a separate legal status for persons who, under conditions of full-scale war, ensure vital activities in territories of active hostilities.

The necessity of this draft law is justified by the fact that since the beginning of the Russian invasion, a significant number of employees in the public and private sectors continue to perform critically important functions directly in high-risk zones. This concerns medical workers, utility workers, energy workers, rescuers, transport workers, communication workers, social sphere employees, government bodies, and critical infrastructure facilities — that is, all whose work is essential for the basic functioning of communities and the state under combat conditions.

Currently, the existing legislation does not contain a unified comprehensive approach to defining their legal status and does not provide an adequate mechanism to record actual work specifically in territories of active hostilities.

Because of this, there is legal uncertainty between those who actually stay and work in dangerous conditions and those who perform functions remotely or formally have employment relations without actual presence in such territories.

What the draft law provides

The draft law stipulates that the right to the status of a participant in ensuring vital activities in territories of active hostilities is granted to persons who performed labor, official, or other socially necessary functions provided they were directly present in the relevant areas.

Such persons include employees of enterprises, institutions, and organizations regardless of ownership form, employees of critical infrastructure, state bodies and local self-government bodies, courts, law enforcement agencies, social, medical, educational, and other sectors. This status is granted upon confirmation of such performance totaling at least six months, regardless of continuity, including shift schedules, duty, rotational method, rotation, or business trips. Only the time of actual presence in the relevant territories is counted towards the service period.

Persons granted the status receive a certificate of the established form. A record of such persons is kept in the Unified State Register of participants ensuring vital activities in territories of active hostilities with the entry of confirmed periods of function performance, which are used to apply the guarantees provided by law.

The status is not granted to persons who:

• performed work remotely or from home from other territories;
• performed only one-time tasks without presence in the relevant territories;
• were in labor or official relations but did not actually work in the relevant territories;
• performed tasks from other territories without direct presence, except in cases explicitly provided by law.

Guarantees, remuneration, and financial support for participants in territories of active hostilities

The draft law also provides that participants ensuring vital activities in territories of active hostilities are granted guarantees of social, labor, official, tax, insurance, medical, rehabilitation, and security protection.

The special remuneration regime includes the basic salary, mandatory and additional allowances, bonuses, compensations, and other payments, with allowances being minimum state guarantees, and all other payments do not replace the basic salary and cannot be grounds for its reduction. Also, for such workers, a separate wage fund and an incentive fund may be formed, intended for additional payments, insurance, housing, transport, and other support, which cannot be formed by reducing the basic salary or minimum guarantees.

The housing fund is formed from:

• state-owned residential premises;
• municipal residential premises;
• official residential premises and dormitories;
• housing purchased, constructed, reconstructed, or repaired at the expense of state or local budgets;
• housing transferred to the state or territorial community in the manner prescribed by law;
• ownerless real estate after its registration and ownership rights formalization;
• other housing acquired by the state or territorial community on legal grounds.

Such housing is not subject to privatization.

Contracts for employees and social protection of families

Additionally, the draft law provides that for employees performing functions in the relevant territories, a contract is concluded for a term determined by the parties, taking into account the nature of the functions, security situation, and the need to ensure the vital activities of the population and the functioning of the state and infrastructure. Such a contract may be extended by agreement of the parties but not longer than the period of martial law and six months after its termination or cancellation, and in case of early termination of function performance, it is terminated or changed by agreement of the parties.

In case of death, disappearance under special circumstances, captivity, unlawful deprivation of liberty, severe injury, trauma, illness, disability, prolonged loss of working capacity, evacuation, or other military circumstances that prevent the person from applying, their family members, legal representative, or authorized person have the right to receive from the employer, state bodies, and other institutions information and documents necessary for arranging payments, compensations, insurance amounts, and social support.

If the requested information or documents contain restricted information, the relevant body, employer, or institution is obliged to provide the open part of the information or an extract sufficient to arrange the prescribed rights and payments, unless prohibited by law.

In particular, the provisions of the draft law do not establish a separate legal status for family members of participants ensuring vital activities in territories of active hostilities and do not create an independent right to benefits, payments, or compensations, except in cases explicitly provided by law, insurance contract, labor contract, contract, or separate budget program.

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