Not Only Annual Leave — What Types of Rest are Available to Employees

In Ukraine, during martial law, employees may take not only their annual main leave with salary retention but also several types of unpaid leave. The right to such leaves and the conditions for their provision are determined by legislation.

According to the Law of Ukraine "On the Organization of Labour Relations under Martial Law" No. 2136-IX, as well as the provisions of the Labour Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On Leaves," the standard duration of the annual main paid leave for employees is 24 calendar days.

A longer leave duration is provided for certain categories of employees.

In particular:

• Employees engaged in industrial production within the coal, shale, metallurgical, and electric power industries are entitled to 24 days of leave, increasing by 2 days for every two years worked, up to a maximum of 28 days.
• Employees in the forestry industry, forest management, state reserves, and national parks may receive up to 28 calendar days.
• Militarised personnel of mine rescue units are entitled to 30 days of leave.
• Employees of educational institutions may receive up to 56 calendar days, in accordance with the procedure approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Individuals with Group I and II disabilities are granted 30 calendar days, while those with Group III disabilities receive 26 calendar days.

Concurrently, during martial law, an employer may refuse an employee annual leave if it is necessary for the performance of work at the enterprise and to ensure its continued operation.

Legislation provides for the possibility of obtaining several types of unpaid leave. This applies, in particular, to employees who:

• have left Ukraine;

• have acquired the status of internally displaced persons.

Such leave can be arranged after exhausting 90 calendar days of the initial unpaid leave, as stipulated by the Law of Ukraine "On the Organization of Labour Relations under Martial Law" No. 2136-IX.

A second period of unpaid leave can be granted to an employee without duration limits, solely by agreement of both parties. To arrange this, the following steps are necessary:

• submission of an employee's application;

• obtaining the employer's consent;

• issuance of the corresponding order from management.

Such leave can be granted:

• any number of times;

• for any period;

• throughout the entire period of martial law.

However, the employer retains the right to either approve or refuse to grant such leave.

As previously reported by Judicial-Legal Newspaper, judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Horodovenko (reporting judge in the case) and Halyna Yurovska explained the content of the Constitutional Court Decision No. 3-r/2026 in the case on the constitutional submission of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights. It is noted that the subject of constitutional control in this case were certain provisions of the Law that define the procedure for granting and transferring unused days of annual main leave to the post-war period and the employer's right to grant unused days of such leave without salary retention.

The Court protected the guarantees of the constitutional right to rest for vulnerable categories of employees, recognizing, in particular, the unconstitutionality of the second sentence of paragraph two of part one of Article 12 of the Law, according to which "at the employer's decision, unused days of such leave may be granted without salary retention," insofar as it does not ensure the provision of paid annual main leave to persons under eighteen years old and persons with disabilities, the minimum duration of which is more than 24 calendar days.