Ombudsman Expert Council Centering on the Labor Law Proposal

On October 5, George Sandul, LI legal director, co-chaired a regular meeting of the Expert Council on Economic and Social Rights, which functions under the auspices of the Human Rights Ombuds Office of Ukraine. The meeting was devoted to the draft Law on Labor recently sent to the social partners for consideration. 

George made a presentation about the draft focusing on the potential labor and union rights violations in case of its adoption and outlining the general discourse of the ongoing labor reform. 

As a result of the meeting, the Expert Council, whose members are CSO, disability group representatives, academics, and trade union experts, voted to send to the Ministry of the Economy (the author of the draft law) their critical concerns and to stress that the draft which drastically narrows labor rights is not acceptable and should not be adopted.

Note. A new version of the “Law on Labor” was drafted by the Ministry of Economy. It was sent to social dialogue partners for consultations in August 2023. It aims to replace the current “Code of Laws on Labor” (Labor Code) as well as to cancel some other laws – “On Vacations” and “On Wages.” However, national union centers flagged certain major concerns regarding proposed legislative changes if the draft would be adopted in the current edition.