Ukraine
Overview
Please review the information below and then return to the workplace harassment prevention course.
Harassment and discrimination based on a protected characteristic are prohibited under national law. National law also provides employees protection from bullying.
Applicable Laws
The primary national laws prohibiting employment discrimination and harassment on the basis of any protected characteristic are:
- The Constitution of Ukraine,
- The Labour Code of Ukraine,
- The Law on Principles of Preventing and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine, No. 5207-VI, and
- The Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men, No. 2866-IV.
Employers have an obligation, under the Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Preventing and Countering Mobbing (Harassment) and the Labour Code, to provide a safe psychological working environment, including preventing and stopping mobbing and sexual or gender-based harassment.
Protected Characteristics
Harassment or discrimination based on any characteristic set forth below is prohibited in Ukraine.
- Race or skin colour
- Political, religious or other beliefs
- Sex, gender identity or sexual orientation
- Ethnic, social or foreign origin
- Age
- Health status or disability
- Marital or property status
- Family responsibilities
- Place of residence
- Language
Regional, state or other political subdivision laws may provide additional, separate standards and remedies for certain prohibited conduct.
Definitions
Mobbing
Mobbing occurs when systematic, continuous and intentional acts or omissions by an employer, employees, or a labour collective are directed at humiliating an employee’s honour, dignity or business reputation, including through psychological or economic pressure, creating a stressful work environment or forcing changes to employment terms.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment occurs when a person engages in an act of a sexual nature, expressed verbally, including threats, intimidation or obscene remarks, or physically, including touching or patting, that humiliates or offends a person in a relationship of labour, administrative, financial or other subordination.
Filing a Claim in Ukraine
A claim for employment discrimination, mobbing or harassment may be filed with the State Labour Service.
Claims may also be filed with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman), the Police, or the courts.
Potential Remedies
In Ukraine, an employee who has experienced discrimination, mobbing or harassment may be entitled to material and moral damages and court-ordered corrective action by the employer.
In the case of mobbing, an employee may also have the right to resign with severance of no less than three months of average salary, plus reimbursement of treatment costs.
Administrative fines and, in cases of sexual violence, criminal penalties may also apply.
Retaliation Prohibited
Employer retaliation against an employee who files a complaint relating to discrimination or harassment or is involved in the complaint process is unlawful.
The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only.
It does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.