Eight human rights organizations in Ukraine appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with a request to promise Law No. 7731, which obliges workers to report "connections" with people under occupation.
This is stated in the statement of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, which is one of the signatories of the petition.
The statement states that on April 25, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on amendments to the Labor Code of Ukraine. According to it, employers will have the right to fire their workers if they have not informed their management about existing connections with people who remained in the temporarily occupied territories.
According to human rights defenders, by the second reading, the content of the draft law had "changed significantly" — it was extended not only to employees of critical infrastructure facilities, but there was also a rule about non-reporting of contacts with people under occupation.
Human rights activists note that the adopted law contradicts the state policy of reintegration of the occupied territories. Also, this norm allegedly makes displaced persons and other people registered in the occupation those whose "connection" should be perceived as a threat to the national security of Ukraine.
At the same time, ZMINA emphasized that there is no definition of "connections with natural persons" in the law. That is, now it is not clear what is meant — family ties, contacts with colleagues and friends, or maintaining ties in social networks (such as discussing news, current situation, etc. with unknown people). Human rights defenders say that such a provision allegedly allows an employer to fire an employee without reason.
In addition, the law does not explain what an employer must do about reporting "connections" with people in the occupation. In view of this, human rights activists called on Zelenskyi to promise the law and return it for revision, in particular, they suggest removing the disputed norms.
Among the signatories are the ZMINA Center for Human Rights, the NGO "Donbas SOS", the NGO "Public Holding "IMPACT GROUP", the BF "Right to Protection", the BF "Stabilization Support Services", the NGO "CRIMEA SOS", the Crimean Human Rights Group and the BF "EAST-SOS".
What preceded
On April 25, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 7731 "On Amending the Code of Labor Laws of Ukraine to Establish Additional Grounds for Termination of an Employment Contract at the Employerʼs Initiative and Some Other Matters." The draft law was registered in September 2022 — its authors are deputies from the "Servant of the People" faction.
In the explanatory note to the draft law, it was noted that it was developed to "regulate labor relations at the legislative level to protect the national interests of Ukraine in the conditions of armed aggression against Ukraine."