Дискримінація при працевлаштуванні

This report by LGBT Human Rights Center “Our World” contains a comprehensive analysis of the situation of the LGBTQ community in various spheres of social life, including relations with state and law enforcement agencies, the church, and the general public. The experts also investigated violations committed by the occupation authorities. The authors draw attention to legislative shortcomings in Ukraine in terms of regulating the status of LGBTQ communities.

The Law (No 2523-VIII) amended the Statute of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine 'On Military Service and Military Duty' in order to allow women to be assigned to 24-hour military duty on an equal basis with men.

The Law provides a number of benefits and guarantees for women. In particular, annual basic and additional full-time leave in the first year of work is provided to employees after six months of continuous work at the enterprise, institution, or organization. However, until this term, such leave may be granted to women (at their request) before or after maternity leave, as well as to women who have two or more children under the age of 15 or a child with a disability.

The Law 'On Civil Service,' among the other main principles of civil service, defines equal access to civil service, namely the prohibition of all forms of discrimination, unjustified restrictions, and granting unjustified advantages to certain categories of citizens when entering and completing civil service. It is interesting that the enforcement of this rule is carried out through some measures, which are taken by the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service.

Article 178 of the Labor Code provides for the right of pregnant women and women with children under the age of three to request that their employer reduce the woman’s production and service rates, or transfer her to easier work in order to avoid dangerous conditions while maintaining her pay from her original position. At the same time, the woman must provide her employer with an appropriate medical documentation confirming the pregnancy and the impossibility of performing the original work.

Article 179 of the Code of Labor Laws establishes that women shall be granted a paid maternity leave for 70 calendar days before childbirth and for 56 calendar days after childbirth, counting from the day of childbirth. A positive step in gender policy is the adoption of the Law of Ukraine 'On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Concerning Ensuring Equal Opportunities for Mothers and Fathers to Care for a Child'.

Article 63 of the Code of Labor Laws prohibits overtime work for pregnant women and women with children under the age of three. This rule is meant to protect women, but at the same time it makes them vulnerable to discrimination. The direct application of this rule violates women's right to freely choose their work, restricts women's access to jobs for which additional payment is provided (for example, under the hourly payment system, overtime work is paid at doubled hourly rate), and can also inhibit women’s career and professional growth.

Article 24 of Ukraine’s Constitution prohibits privileges and restrictions based on sex (and other grounds), and requires equal opportunities for women and men in socio-political and cultural activities, access to education, work and remuneration, and pension privileges. It also mandates special measures for labor protection, women’s health, and creating conditions enabling women to combine work and maternity. Article 51 provides that marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man. Each spouse has equal rights and responsibilities in marriage and family.

This Order invalidated Order No 256, which listed heavy work and work with harmful and dangerous working conditions in which the employment of women was prohibited. Order No 256’s list of prohibited work for women included 70 types of work and 558 professions. Among the priority factors were the physical stress associated with lifting and carrying loads, forced working posture, vibration, and other similar tasks that could affect a woman's body and reproductive health.

The Equal Opportunities Act of Ukraine (the “Act”) provides the legal framework for men and women’s parity in all spheres of social life through providing legal support for equal rights and opportunities, removal of gender-based discrimination, and prevention of imbalance between women’s and men’s opportunities in implementing the rights granted to each of them by the Constitution and other laws.