The Supreme Court explained whether dismissal due to loss of trust during temporary incapacity is lawful under martial law conditions

Under martial law conditions, dismissal of an employee due to loss of trust during temporary incapacity is permitted; however, the date of dismissal must be set as the first working day after the end of the sick leave. Violation of this requirement is grounds for the court to change the dismissal date and recover from the employer the average salary for the delay period in settlement upon dismissal. This conclusion was made by the Supreme Court in the composition of the panel of judges of the First Judicial Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court.

The Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court reviewed a cassation appeal filed by a person in a case against the head of the Odesa Regional Council, the Odesa Regional Council, and the Communal Non-Profit Enterprise "Odesa Regional Center for Socially Significant Diseases" regarding the recognition of unlawful orders, dismissal decisions, and recovery of funds.

In support of the claims, the plaintiff stated that she worked as the general director of the CNP "ORCSSD" of the Odesa Regional Council. In June 2022, an official investigation was initiated against her for improper performance of official duties that caused material damage (unjustified write-off of products, shortage of equipment amounting to over 2 million UAH, etc.). By order dated 12.07.2022, the plaintiff was dismissed due to loss of trust (paragraph 2, Article 41 of the Labor Code) effective from 14.07.2022. The plaintiff considered the dismissal unlawful because at the time the order was issued she was on sick leave.

The court of first instance partially satisfied the claim, justifying its decision by the defendant’s violation of labor law norms when dismissing the plaintiff from the position held.

The appellate court disagreed with the conclusions of the court of first instance.

It annulled the decision and issued a new ruling denying the claim, considering the dismissal due to loss of trust justified. Regarding the sick leave, the appellate court noted that the plaintiff did not request a change of the dismissal date.

The Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court’s conclusions on compliance with labor law norms when dismissing the plaintiff from the position but amended the decision concerning the dismissal date and the amount of recovered funds in light of this.

The appellate court established numerous violations by the manager, which constitute grounds for loss of trust in a person directly handling material assets.

Article 5 of the Law "On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law" allows dismissal during illness in the period of martial law, but the dismissal date must necessarily be the first working day after the end of incapacity.

Considering the requirements of Article 40 of the Labor Code of Ukraine and Article 5 of the Law "On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law," the employer had to dismiss the plaintiff on the first working day following the end of temporary incapacity, i.e., 08.08.2022.

The appellate court established these violations but mistakenly believed that changing the plaintiff’s dismissal date would violate Articles 12 and 13 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine since the plaintiff did not make such a claim.

The court is obliged to independently change the dismissal date to the correct one, even if the plaintiff did not make such a separate claim, guided by the principle of the rule of law.

Since the dismissal date was set as 08.08.2022, but the full settlement was made only on 28.09.2022, the employer delayed the settlement, which entails liability under Article 117 of the Labor Code of Ukraine.

More details and the text of the Supreme Court ruling dated March 18, 2026, in case No. 522/8027/22 (proceeding No. 61-6038sv25) can be found at this link.

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