According to the third part of Article 21 Labor Code of Ukraine, the contract is a special form of employment contract, in which its term of validity, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties (including material), conditions of material support and organization of the employee’s work, conditions termination of the contract, including early termination, may be established by agreement of the parties.
According to Article 23 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, an employment contract can be:
1) open-ended, concluded for an indefinite period;
2) for a specified period, established by agreement of the parties;
3) such that it is arranged for the time of performing certain work.
According to Article 24 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, an employment contract is concluded, as a rule, in writing. Compliance with the written form is mandatory:
1) with an organized recruitment of employees;
2) when concluding an employment contract for work in areas with special natural geographical and geological conditions and conditions of increased health risk;
3) when concluding a contract;
4) in cases where the employee insists on concluding an employment contract in writing;
5) when concluding an employment contract with a minor (Article 187 of this Code);
6) when concluding an employment contract with an individual;
6-1) when concluding an employment contract on remote work or home work;
7) in other cases provided for by the legislation of Ukraine.
According to Clause 3 of Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Organization of Labor Relations in Martial Law” dated 15.03.2022 No. 2136-IX (hereinafter – Law No. 2136-IX) in during the period of martial law norms of labor legislation shall not apply in relation to relations regulated by this Law.
Art. 39-1 of the Labor Code establishes the procedure for extending the validity of a fixed-term employment contract for an indefinite period, namely:
“If after the expiration of the term of the employment contract (paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 23) the employment relationship actually continues and none of the parties demands its termination, the validity of this contract is considered to be extended for an indefinite period.
Employment contracts that have been renegotiated one or more times, except for the cases provided for by the second part of Article 23, are considered to be concluded for an indefinite period.”
Taking into account the fact that Law No. 2136-IX does not regulate the procedure for the extension of concluded employment contracts, in this case the norms of the Labor Code should be followed.
Therefore, if the manager or members of the LLC do not demand the termination of employment relations with the manager (an order to dismiss the employee has not been issued), the validity of the contract concluded with him is considered extended for an indefinite period (the contract acquires the status of perpetuity). In this case, the law does not require the signing of a new employment contract or the signing of an additional agreement to the current employment contract.
Author of the article: Olga Lurtsi-Ogly, managing partner of VERUM LEX JSC, lawyer