Changes in the use of leave due to pregnancy and childbirth

08/ 08/ 2023

Author: Alina Shulika, attorney at Dynasty Law & Investment On July 13, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada in its draft law No. 9271 approved changes to the use of leave in connection with pregnancy and childbirth. These improvements in some legislative acts of Ukraine provide an opportunity, at the womans request and in the absence of medical contraindications, to use the total duration of leave at her own discretion, which cannot exceed a total of 126 calendar days (140 calendar days - in the case of the birth of two or more children and in case of complications of childbirth). This assumes that the days of leave provided by law before childbirth can be transferred and used by a woman in part or in full after childbirth (starting from the day determined by her). As an example, a woman feels well and can fully fulfill her obligations at work during pregnancy, that is, she has no general need to use leave until the expected date of childbirth (recall that before the adoption of these changes, leave of 70 calendar days before childbirth was fixed and 56 days after), and the woman wishes to start this leave 6 days before childbirth, so the allocation of 120 calendar days (in the case of the birth of one child) will be effective after childbirth. Please note that starting in 2021, not only women, but also men who have adopted a child within 2 months from the day of its birth from a maternity hospital have the right to receive maternity leave, but in this case only one of the spouses receives leave, based on Art. 18-1 of the ZU About vacations. In addition, in the case of adoption of a child by both parents, the Pension Fund of Ukraine compensates the loss of earnings (income) for the period of the above-mentioned leave for one of the parents. So, to summarize the above, improvements in some legislative acts of Ukraine provide privileges for providing care and support to families.

Author: Alina Shulika, attorney at Dynasty Law & Investment

On July 13, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada in its draft law No. 9271 approved changes to the use of leave in connection with pregnancy and childbirth.

These improvements in some legislative acts of Ukraine provide an opportunity, at the woman’s request and in the absence of medical contraindications, to use the total duration of leave at her own discretion, which cannot exceed a total of 126 calendar days (140 calendar days – in the case of the birth of two or more children and in case of complications of childbirth). This assumes that the days of leave provided by law before childbirth can be transferred and used by a woman in part or in full after childbirth (starting from the day determined by her).

As an example, a woman feels well and can fully fulfill her obligations at work during pregnancy, that is, she has no general need to use leave until the expected date of childbirth (recall that before the adoption of these changes, leave of 70 calendar days before childbirth was fixed and 56 days after), and the woman wishes to start this leave 6 days before childbirth, so the allocation of 120 calendar days (in the case of the birth of one child) will be effective after childbirth.

Please note that starting in 2021, not only women, but also men who have adopted a child within 2 months from the day of its birth from a maternity hospital have the right to receive maternity leave, but in this case only one of the spouses receives leave, based on Art. 18-1 of the ZU “About vacations”. In addition, in the case of adoption of a child by both parents, the Pension Fund of Ukraine compensates the loss of earnings (income) for the period of the above-mentioned leave for one of the parents.

So, to summarize the above, improvements in some legislative acts of Ukraine provide privileges for providing care and support to families.