The level of wages in 2024 plans to increase 72% of surveyed companies, almost the same number of companies (74%) feel the shortage of staff, these are the results of a study of the labor market in Ukraine from the European Business Association (EBA).
According to the published data, 39% intend to increase wages by 11-15%, and 28% – by 6-10%, while plans to increase it by 16-20% – reported 13%, and above 21% – 2%.
It is also specified that the shortage of personnel has significantly increased since the fall survey, when 55% of respondents complained about it, while today only 7% of respondents do not feel it at all, while 17% feel it partially.
Within the survey, 79% of respondents reported a salary increase in 2023, 46% reported an increase in functionality and hiring new employees, and 36% reported an increase in budgets for staff development, training and maintenance.
In addition, 27% informed about increasing bonuses and bonus payments, while 10% of respondents reported staff reductions.
As for 2024, survey participants noted that companies are planning to increase salary levels (72% of respondents), increase training and development budgets (39%), increase the number of employees (35%), and enter other markets and find new partners (32%).
54% of survey participants indicated that their companies offer the opportunity to work remotely, but not for all categories of workers. 28% of respondents indicated that remote working is possible for all workers and only 17% reported that it is impossible to work remotely.
“Accordingly, there is a gradual dynamic of workers returning to offices. For comparison, in January 2023, only 4% of companies did not have the possibility of working remotely,” states the EBA.
The association also added that 52% of respondents have employees abroad, but their share does not exceed 5% of the total staff of the company, while 19% of respondents have 6-10% of employees abroad.
It is noted that 32% of respondents have all employees of the company now live and work in Ukraine, which is higher than in previous periods. At the same time, some companies use formats of temporary contracts abroad, upon completion of which employees can return to Ukraine.
Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, Great Britain, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Norway, Belgium, USA, Switzerland, Canada, Latvia, Italy, Luxembourg were named among the countries where most of the companies’ employees live.
It is emphasized that 41% of respondents do not plan to return workers to the office in the near future, 12% said that the company plans to return all workers to the office in the near future, and 20% of respondents said that the company plans to return not all categories of workers.
To tear away vacancies in companies, 67% of survey participants intend to do so, with 48% of respondents not planning to change the number of employees in 2024, and 26% will increase staffing by ≥5%.
Also, 7% said that the number of employees will increase by 6-10% and 5% of respondents wrote that their companies plan to reduce the number of employees.
109 HR professionals (49% department heads, 24% middle managers, 26% top management, 3% junior staff) participated in the study, it lasted from February to April 2024 and covered the period August 2023 – April 2024.
More than 60% of the participants in this study will represent international businesses. 50% of companies are from large businesses, 43% from medium-sized businesses and 7% from small businesses.
Employers cannot fire an employee who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 until the Ministry of Health approves a list of professions for which such vaccination is mandatory, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine have said. Iryna Shaposhnikova, a lawyer at the Asters law firm, said that the law on protection of the Population from infectious diseases establishes a list of six mandatory preventive vaccinations, while vaccination against COVID-19 is not on this list, so it is exclusively voluntary.
At the same time, the lawyer said that this law provides that employees of certain professions, industries and organizations are subject to mandatory preventive vaccinations if their activities can lead to infection of other employees or the spread of such diseases. Thus, in addition to the list of mandatory vaccinations for all, there may be others if the work carries the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
For her part, Natalia Shvets, a counselor at the law firm Ario Law Firm, said that “the ideal option for both parties to an employment relationship is to find a comfortable compromise in advance. For example, agree on remote work or a weekly report on the PCR test.”
“In Ukraine, labor relations are regulated by the Labor Code, which clearly indicates the procedure and grounds for dismissing an employee from work. There is no norm on the possibility of dismissing for refusing to get a vaccine,” she said.
At the same time, Shvets drew attention to the fact that according to the law, “citizens have the right to safe working conditions, including the absence of the risk of infection.”
“The Cabinet can establish quarantine-restrictive measures to prevent the spread of infection. And an employee can be fired for violation of labor discipline. This includes non-performance or improper performance of labor duties,” she said.
For their part, the experts of the Omerta Law Firm said that currently there is no requirement that may oblige employers to provide their employees with the opportunity to vaccinate. However, on the initiative of the owner or an authorized body, the employment contract can be terminated if an employee is found to be inconsistent with the job position or work performed due to health conditions.
“Such a dismissal can only be carried out on the basis of evidence that due to the state of health, the employee cannot properly perform the assigned work duties. The dismissal of an employee on this basis is not a disciplinary measure, because vaccination against coronavirus is voluntary for all groups of the population,” the lawyers said.
Omerta experts said that the employer has no legal basis to force employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to bring them to disciplinary responsibility for refusing such vaccination.
In turn, Kyrylo Kozak, a partner of the KPD Consulting law firm and a member of the council of the labor law committee of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), reminded that the list of professions for which a periodic medical examination is required, includes the categories of workers who, due to their job responsibilities, come into contact with a large number of people or whose activities are associated with the risk of spreading diseases (services, catering, etc.).
The lawyer advises an employee, if such a decision is granted, to make a decision on vaccination if there are no valid reasons for refusing to be vaccinated. If the specified decision is not provided, then the employer will have to provide a written request asking to clarify the grounds for vaccination and the relationship of vaccination with the position held.
At the same time, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine do not consider the employers’ requirements for so-called “health books,” which would indicate such vaccination, as an effective mechanism to stimulate vaccination against COVID-19. In particular, Shaposhnikova said that not all workers need a health book (the official name is “personal medical book”), and the Cabinet of Ministers established a list of industries whose workers are required to have such a document – the medical, food, educational spheres, etc.
At the same time, the lawyer considers it illegal to attempt to oblige employees to have health certificates, which will indicate vaccination against COVID-19, since the legislation defines an exhaustive list of diseases for vaccination, and COVID-19 is not included in this list.
“To date, there are no direct legislative mechanisms using which an employer can oblige an employee to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, the only method is clarification, persuasion and finding understanding, consensus. Any coercion (fine, suspension, dismissal, etc.) will be illegal,” the lawyer said.
