The Supreme Court Explains the Circumstances When Dismissal of an Employee under Paragraph 9 of Article 36 of the Labour Code Is Deemed Illegal.

Dismissing an employee under paragraph 9, part 1, Article 36 of the Labour Code of Ukraine is lawful only if the order specifies a particular provision of another law that establishes an independent ground for terminating the employment contract. A legal provision that only defines the competence of a legal entity's body regarding the appointment and dismissal of an employee is not an independent ground for dismissal. This conclusion was made by the Supreme Court in the composition of the panel of judges of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court.

On 3 June 2026, the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court considered, under simplified proceedings, the cassation appeal of an individual in the case filed by the individual against JSC "Ukrposhta", the Supervisory Board of JSC "Ukrposhta" regarding the recognition of unlawful and cancellation of orders, reinstatement at work, and recovery of average earnings for the period of forced absence.

In support of the claims, the plaintiff stated that she worked as the Director of the Internal Audit Department of JSC "Ukrposhta".

In March 2023, she was dismissed based on paragraph 9 of Article 36 of the Labour Code of Ukraine and Articles 71, 79 of the Law of Ukraine "On Joint Stock Companies." The plaintiff considered the dismissal illegal because her position was not included in the list of company officials, and the order did not contain lawful grounds for terminating the employment relationship.

The case was reviewed multiple times by the courts.

The court of first instance, whose conclusions were agreed upon by the appellate court, denied the claim because the termination of the plaintiff's powers as an official due to unsatisfactory work performance is an independent ground for dismissing officials of JSC "Ukrposhta" without specifying reasons, which is conditioned by the specific status and guaranteed by civil law norms to terminate or prevent negative impact on the company's management activities. The plaintiff did not appeal the decision of the Supervisory Board of JSC "Ukrposhta."

The Supreme Court disagreed with the courts' conclusions, cancelled the court decisions regarding the claims for cancellation of orders and reinstatement at work, issued a new decision recognising the dismissal orders unlawful and cancelled them, amended the dismissal order, and reinstated the plaintiff in her position. The Supreme Court cancelled the appellate court's ruling insofar as it upheld the district court's decision to deny the claim for recovery of average earnings for the period of forced absence and remanded the case for a new hearing to the appellate court in this part.

The Supreme Court noted that when considering cases of reinstatement at work, it is necessary to verify the legality of the grounds specified in the dismissal order.

The employer indicated paragraph 9, part 1, Article 36 of the Labour Code of Ukraine as the basis for dismissal, which is a blanket norm. In such cases, the order must specify the exact legal provision establishing the ground for contract termination.

At the same time, Articles 71 and 79 of the Law of Ukraine "On Joint Stock Companies," cited by the company, only define the competence of the supervisory board (the right to appoint and dismiss) but do not establish specific substantive legal grounds (reasons) for dismissal. Since the employer did not apply paragraph 5, part 1, Article 41 of the Labour Code of Ukraine (termination of officials' powers), and no other special grounds are provided by law for this situation, the dismissal does not comply with labour legislation requirements.

More details and the text of the Supreme Court ruling dated 3 June 2026, in case No. 761/33276/23 (proceeding No. 61-13136sv25) can be found at this link.

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