At the same time, Art. 9 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that existing international agreements, the binding nature of which has been approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, are part of the national legislation of Ukraine. It should be borne in mind that Articles 81 and 9 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, respectively, provide that if an international agreement establishes rules other than those contained in the legislation of Ukraine on labor, the rules of the international agreement apply. The terms of employment contracts, which worsen the situation of employees in comparison with the legislation of Ukraine on labor, are invalid.
Thus, the International Labor Organization Convention 29 "On Forced or Compulsory Labor", signed on June 28, 1930 in Geneva (hereinafter - the Convention № 29), applies to the prohibition of the use of forced labor in Ukraine. Paragraph 1 of Art. Article 2 of this Convention provides that the term "forced or compulsory labor" means any work or service required of a person under threat of punishment and for which that person has not voluntarily offered his services.
In particular, Article 2 of the Labor Code in the concept of "right of citizens of Ukraine to work" includes the right to free choice of profession, occupation and work, and Article 5-1 of the Labor Code stipulates that the state guarantees able-bodied citizens permanently residing in Ukraine .
Thus, based on the above, the employer has no grounds to demand from the employee forced labor, while the latter has the right to resign at any time in compliance with current labor legislation.
The right to terminate an employment contract at the initiative of the employee is established in Art. 38 of the Labor Code. Using this provision of the Code, any employee hired by the company under a permanent employment contract may be dismissed at will and without explanation. Exceptions are persons sentenced by a court to correctional labor. They are prohibited from resigning of their own volition without the permission of the penitentiary inspection (see Part 1 of Article 42 of the Penal Code of Ukraine of 11 July 2003 № 1129-IV).
The employee is obliged to notify the employer in writing within two weeks of the wish to terminate the employment contract at his / her own will. How to do it? Submit to the latter an application for dismissal, indicating the grounds for termination of the employment contract (Article 38 of the Labor Code) and the desired date of dismissal. The application should be signed and dated. The absence of these details is the basis for declaring the application invalid.
If the employer refuses to accept the application, the employee may send such an application by registered mail with a notice. Then the date from which the notice period will be counted will be the date of service of the letter specified in the notice of service.
If you have questions about the legality of the employer's actions or other issues that require legal advice, you can contact the specialists of "Ty i pravo" Lenivskyi Group, usingthe feedback form.
