Responsibility for violations of labor protection requirements

Article 44 of the Law of Ukraine “On Occupational Safety and Health” provides that for violation of laws and other regulations on occupational safety and health, as well as for creating obstacles to the activities of officials of state supervisory bodies for occupational safety and health, the responsible persons bear the following types of liability:

• disciplinary,
• administrative;
• financial;
• criminal.

Let’s take a closer look at each responsibility:

Disciplinary liability.

Regulated by The Labor Law Code of Ukraine

Penalties in the form of a reprimand or dismissal.

According to Art. 148 of the Labor Code such liability may be imposed by the employer both at the time of detection of the violation and subsequently but not later than 1 month from the date of its detection. 

Liability is incurred in the form of a penalty. A disciplinary penalty may not be imposed later than 6 months from the date of the offense. In order to impose a disciplinary sanction, the employer must receive written explanations from the perpetrator. If the employee refuses to provide such explanations, an act is drawn up and signed by witnesses of the refusal. Only one disciplinary sanction may be imposed for each violation of employment duties.

The penalty is announced in an order or instruction and communicated to the employee against a receipt.

Administrative liability.

Regulated by The Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses

It comes in the form of fines. The amount of the fine varies depending on the seriousness of the violation and its consequences.

Violations in the field of “labor protection” are described in detail in Article 41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses as follows:

Violation of the requirements of legislative and other regulatory legal acts on occupational safety and health, except for accidents, entails a fine of 4 (UAH 68) to 10 (UAH 170) tax-free minimum incomes for employees, and 9 (UAH 153) to 40 (UAH 680) tax-free minimum incomes for officials, regardless of ownership, and citizens who are entrepreneurs.

If you did not report an industrial accident to the State Labor Service, be prepared to impose a fine on the officials of your company or if you are a sole proprietor or an individual who is not an entrepreneur but uses hired labor, the fine will be from 20 to 50 tax-free minimum wages in UAH, which is from 340 to 850 UAH.

Violation of the deadline for certification of workplaces in terms of working conditions and the procedure for its conduct, as well as other violations of labor legislation, will result in a fine of 30 (UAH 510) to 100 (UAH 1700) tax-free minimum incomes for officials regardless of ownership and citizens who are business entities.

According to Article 173⁵ of the Commercial Code of Ukraine⁵ , if the fact of mobbing (harassment) of an employee has been established, the fine for citizens is from 50 (UAH 850) to 100 (UAH 1700) tax-free minimum wages or be prepared for community service for 12 to 13 hours. If it is a sole proprietor who has an employee the fine is from 100 (UAH 1 700) to 200 (UAH 3400) tax-free minimum wages or community service for 13 to 40 hours for officials.

As of March 2024 the tax-free minimum income (TFI) is UAH 17.

Financial responsibility.

Regulated by – The Labor Code of Ukraine.

This is monetary compensation paid by an employee or official for damage caused to the company. According to Article 130 the grounds for imposing financial liability on an employee are direct damage as a result of the employee’s unlawful actions or inaction.   While an employee is liable only to the extent of the damage caused by his or her actions, the liability of an official is broader and may also include the company’s lost profits.

Pursuant to Articles 133-135 of the Labor Code, the following types of liability are distinguished: limited, full and collective.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them….

According to Article 133 of the Labor Code limited liability arises in the following cases:

• for employees – for damage or destruction of products, tools, measuring instruments, special clothing and other items provided by the employer due to negligence.
• for managers – in case of excessive cash payments to employees, improper accounting and storage of materials and other company assets.

Pursuant to Article 134 of the Labor Code full liability arises in the following cases:

• if the employee did not ensure the integrity of the storage of property for which he or she assumed full responsibility; property received by the employee under a one-time power of attorney or other one-time documents; if the employee caused damage while being drunk; in case of damage caused by criminal prosecution; in case of failure to fulfill work duties; in case of intentional destruction or intentional damage to materials, tools, workwear and other items; in case of damage caused by the lack, destruction or damage to equipment and facilities used by employees to perform work under a remote or home work agreement;
• full financial liability may be imposed on managers in case of late payment of salaries for more than one month, which resulted in the payment of compensation for violation of the terms of payment.

According to Art. 135² of the Labor Code collective liability is applied when employees perform certain types of work together and is applied with the participation of a trade union.

It is important to note that liability must be set out in a document between the employee and the employer. For example: an employee performing loading and unloading operations damaged a shelving unit, which led to the collapse of the shelves and damage to the goods. Accordingly, the employee must cover the cost of repairing the rack and the damaged goods. However, if his or her supervisor’s actions caused something similar, he or she must additionally pay for the company’s lost profits for the delay in shipping the goods that were on those shelves.

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Criminal liability.

Regulated by The Criminal Code of Ukraine

It can occur according to the following articles:

Art. 271 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the requirements of labor protection legislation”

Occupational health and safety violations are punishable if they cause harm to the victim’s health:

• a fine of one thousand to three thousand tax-free minimum incomes (from UAH 17000 to UAH 51000);
• corrective labor or restriction of liberty for up to two years.

In the event of loss of life or other serious consequences, liability is increased to:

• restriction of liberty for a term of two to five years;
• imprisonment for up to seven years with disqualification to hold certain positions;
• prohibition to engage in certain activities for a period of up to two years or without it.

Art. 272 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of safety rules during the performance of work with increased danger”

If you violated safety rules while performing work with increased risk and this violation created a threat of death or other serious consequences or caused damage to the victim’s health, be prepared for the following liability:

• a fine from one thousand to three thousand (from UAH 17,000 to UAH 51,000) of the minimum tax liability;
• correctional labor for up to two years;
• restriction of liberty for up to three years, with disqualification to hold certain positions.

In the event of loss of life or other serious consequences, liability is increased to:

• restriction of liberty for up to 5 years;
• imprisonment for up to 8 years with disqualification to hold certain positions;
• prohibition to engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.

Art. 267 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the rules of handling explosives, flammable and caustic substances or radioactive materials” –

Violation of the rules for storage, use, accounting, transportation of explosives or radioactive materials or other rules for their handling, as well as illegal transfer of these substances or materials by mail or cargo, if this has created a danger of loss of life or other serious consequences, shall be punishable:

• a fine from one thousand to four thousand tax-free minimum incomes;
• or corrective labor for up to two years;
• or restraint of liberty for up to three years;
• or imprisonment for up to three years.

The same acts, as well as illegal mail or baggage shipment of flammable or corrosive substances that caused death or other serious consequences, may be punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 12 years.

Art. 273 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of safety rules at explosive enterprises or in explosive workshops”

If such a violation created a threat of death or other serious consequences or caused damage to the victim’s health, it is punishable:

• correctional labor for up to 2 years;
• restriction of liberty for up to 3 years;
• imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or prohibition to engage in certain activities for a term of up to 3 years.

If the same act causes death or other serious consequences, it is punishable:

• restriction of liberty for up to 5 years;
• imprisonment for a term of 2 to 10 years, with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.

Art. 274 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of nuclear or radiation safety rules”

Violation of nuclear or radiation safety rules at work by a person who is obliged to comply with them, if it creates a threat of death or other serious consequences or causes damage to the victim’s health, is punishable:

• restriction of liberty for up to 4 years;
• imprisonment for 4 years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions and engage in certain activities for up to three years.

The same act, if it caused death or other serious consequences, is punishable:

• imprisonment for a term of 3 to 12 years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the rules concerning the safe use of industrial products or safe operation of buildings and structures”

Violation of the rules relating to the safe operation of buildings and structures by a person who is obliged to comply with such rules, if it has created a threat of death or other serious consequences or has caused damage to the victim’s health, shall be punishable:

• a fine of 1 thousand to 3 thousand tax-free minimum incomes (UAH 17 000 to 51000);
• correctional labor for up to 2 years;
• restriction of liberty for up to 3 years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 2 years.

The same act if it caused death or other serious consequences is punishable:

• correctional labor for up to 2 years;
• restriction of liberty for up to 5 years;
• imprisonment for a term of 2 to 5 years, with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.

The maximum fine may not exceed 5% of the average monthly payroll for the previous year of the company as a whole. It is worth noting that the mere payment of a fine does not exempt a company from eliminating the violations that led to the imposition of a fine.

Keep this point in mind!  And let all your fines be virtual or minimal.

Kateryna Grimovych

Occupational health and safety engineer