Changes in the procedure for employment of foreigners

On September 21, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding Employment of Foreigners and Stateless Persons in Ukraine and Provision of Manning Services in Employment Abroad” (hereinafter referred to as the Law), which introduces changes to a number of provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Employment of the Population” (hereinafter – the Law on Employment).

Currently, the Law has been sent to the President for his signature, after which it should be published and enter into force in the near future.

We offer you a brief description of the main changes introduced by the recently adopted Law.

1. Changes regarding the provision of manning services in employment abroad

In contrast to the current version of the Law on Employment, which allows receiving fees from citizens for manning services in employment abroad, the new Law introduces the following requirements for the business entities, which provide such services:

– providing free consultations and information to citizens of Ukraine regarding all conditions and legal aspects of the relevant employment;

– receiving payment for manning services in employment abroad exclusively from the employers who have received the following services: receiving any rewards (fees, commissions) from citizens is prohibited.

2. Changes regarding outstaffing (provision of personnel rental services)

The new Law cancels the need to obtain a special permit for hiring employees for their further work in Ukraine for another employer under the terms of employment contracts.

3. Changes regarding employment of foreigners and stateless persons:

– issuing and extending the validity of the permit for the employment of citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is carried out in agreement with the regional bodies of the Security Service of Ukraine¹;

– the requirements for the amount of wages of foreigners and stateless persons as a condition for the employer to obtain permission to use their labor were abolished;

– the terms of validity of permits and the amount of fees for their issuance have been changed, depending on the grounds for issuing the permit;

– the methods of applying for a permit have been expanded: the employer’s digital cabinet on the website of the Employment Center, Center for the provision of administrative services, the Unified web portal of digital services, etc.

The new Law also details other procedural issues of obtaining and extending the validity of a permit to employ foreigners and stateless persons.