Booking employees: basic rules

To optimize the booking procedure, on June 5, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 650 “Some Issues of Booking Persons Liable for Military Service during Martial Law” (hereinafter also referred to as Resolution No. 650), which, among other things, introduced the possibility of booking persons liable for military service in electronic form through the Diia portal and regulated other important business issues.

In this publication, we will focus on the main changes to the reservation of employees of enterprises that are critical to the functioning of the economy and the population’s livelihoods during the special period (hereinafter also referred to as critical enterprises).

Electronic booking through the Diia portal has been introduced

From now on, in addition to submitting booking documents in paper or electronic form to the relevant authority, it is now possible to book employees through the Diia portal. Critical enterprises are already actively using this service. According to the latest information from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, as of July 17, 2024, 120 thousand employees have already been booked by businesses using the Diia booking service. 

The Diia service greatly simplifies and speeds up the booking process and allows you to get the result within a day.

The booking algorithm on the Diia portal is as follows:

1. The ministries and regional military administrations add companies to the Unified List of companies eligible to book employees.
2. The company head submits the lists for booking on the Diia portal and certifies the application with an electronic signature.
3. The system automatically checks whether the employee is officially employed and whether his or her data is in the Electronic Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists.
4. Within a day, Diia sends a notification to the manager about the review result.
5. If the decision is positive, the employee is automatically transferred to special military registration for the duration of the reservation, and this information appears in the Reserve+ application.
6. Subsequently, the reservation certificate can be downloaded on the Diia portal and printed if necessary.

It should also be noted that the introduction of booking through the Diia portal has eliminated such problematic issues as delays in processing documents and unjustified booking refusals.

The booking validity period was extended

One of the most anticipated changes for critical enterprises is extending the reservation period for employees from 6 to 12 months.

However, it should be noted that such a period will apply to reservations received after Resolution No. 650’s entry into force, i.e., from June 8, 2024. Reservations received before this date will not be automatically extended to 12 months and will remain valid for the duration of their validity.

Possibility to book employees regardless of military specialty

Before introducing the new booking rules, individuals with scarce military specialties were not subject to booking. The list of such specialties was defined separately from the General Staff. The only exceptions were the heads and deputy heads of enterprises, who could be booked regardless of their military specialty.

Resolution No. 650 abolished this restriction, and from now on, employees of critical enterprises subject to military service are subject to a reservation regardless of their military rank, age, or military specialty. 

Number of employees subject to reservation

Previously, companies could reserve 50 percent of the number of employees liable for military service as of the date the list was submitted. This percentage could be increased if there was a justified need.

From now on, it is stipulated that no more than 50 percent of the employees liable for military service at such an enterprise are subject to reservation as of May 18, 2024, and in case of an increase in the number of employees liable for military service at the said enterprise – as of the date of submission of the lists.

At the same time, the resolution defines the categories of enterprises that are not subject to the restriction on the number of persons liable for military service subject to reservation. For example, these are certain enterprises of the fuel and energy sector, the list of which is approved by the Ministry of Energy, implementers of international technical assistance projects that are critical to the functioning of the economy and the population’s livelihoods during a special period, etc.

Categories of persons who can be booked in a critical enterprise

The new booking procedure provides for the possibility to book not only employees of critical enterprises but also the following persons:

• ultimate beneficial owners of such enterprises who are not their employees;
• members of the supervisory boards of business entities of strategic importance for the economy and security of the state and whose assets, according to the latest financial statements or annual net income exceeds UAH 200 million, as well as enterprises of particular importance for the economy whose assets according to the latest financial statements exceed UAH 2 billion or whose annual net income exceeds UAH 1.5 billion.

New requirements to the Justification for the list of persons liable for military service proposed for reservation

As before, a justification for the list of persons liable for military service must be provided when submitting reservation documents to the authority that decided to designate the enterprise critical.

However, from now on, such a justification must contain not only information on the compliance of the credentials of persons liable for military service indicated in the list with their military registration documents but also the following information:

• the date and number of the decision to recognize the enterprise as critical;
• information on the clarification by the employees offered for reservation of their data on military registration in accordance with the requirements of the new mobilization law, i.e. until July 16, 2024. This means that only those employees who have updated their military registration data in accordance with the requirements of the law can be submitted for reservation.

New powers of the body that made the decision to recognize an enterprise as critical

As part of the reservation procedure, by applying to the relevant authorities, such authorities now have new powers to verify companies’ applications. In particular, it is stipulated that if there is any doubt as to the information provided by the company or the compliance of the credentials of persons liable for military service indicated in the list with their military records, the body that decided to recognize the company as critical may request documentary evidence of the relevant information. 

This may include copies of the military registration documents of the employees on the list, their employment contracts, documents confirming that the employees have updated their data in accordance with the requirements of the new mobilization law, etc. 

New grounds for canceling a deferral granted in connection with a reservation

Resolution No. 650 also provided for new grounds on which the deferral granted in connection with the reservation is subject to cancellation, namely:

• temporary termination of the labor contract of the person liable for military service with the enterprise;
• justified submission of the head of the enterprise;
• granting an employee a deferral for other reasons specified in Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization”.

Cancellation of deferrals on the above grounds will be carried out by the decision of the Ministry of Economy based on a substantiated submission from the company.

Thus, the reservation procedure is constantly changing and improving. The Resolution No. 650 introduces significant changes to the approach to booking employees. The innovations aimed at simplifying and automating the procedure are expected to contribute to critical enterprises’ predictable and stable operation. However, there are still many problematic issues that businesses are waiting for a solution to. These include, for example, booking employees of representative offices of foreign companies that do not have the status of a legal entity in Ukraine, violation of the deadlines for reviewing applications for recognition of a company as critical, etc.