From January 8, 2022, amendments to the advertising legislation will come into effect, according to which employers may be fined for specifying a certain gender in their job openings (for women only or for men only). Where does this change come from, and how will it work?
How it came about
In Ukraine, the rule about gender, race, skin color, political, or religious discrimination in job openings has been in place since 1996. This is stated in the Law on Advertising, Art. 24:
“It is prohibited to indicate in job openings (job advertisements) the age of applicants, to offer jobs to women only or men only, except for specialized jobs that can be performed by persons of a particular gender only.”
January 8, 2022, is the date when the amendments to this law come into effect. According to these amendments, an employer may be fined a sum of ten times the minimum wage for breaking this rule. The minimum wage in Ukraine is now UAH 6,500, which means that the fines will be 65,000 until the minimum wage is raised.
How it will work
AIN.UA has reached out to Work.ua for comment on this legislative change. The company has explained that under the Ukrainian legislation any job ad falls within the scope of this rule.
In accordance with the Law on Employment, Art. 11, Par. 3:
“It is prohibited to indicate in job openings (job advertisements) the age of applicants, to offer jobs to women only or men only, except for specialized jobs that can be performed by persons of a particular gender only; set requirements favoring one of the genders, as well as demand from persons being hired to provide information about their private lives.
Restrictions on the content of job announcements (advertisements) and liability for the violation of the established procedure of distribution thereof shall be defined by the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising.”
Whereas, the Law on Advertising defines advertisement as follows: ‘An advertisement is a piece of information about persons or goods, distributed in any form or way and aimed at creating or maintaining awareness of advertisement consumers about and their interest in such persons or goods.’
So, it turns out that a job opening is the same as a job advertisement. And a job opening description should not contain any information or requirements on gender, age, etc. So, if employers, treated as advertisers by the law, indicate the desired gender in their job openings, they may be sanctioned, that is, fined an amount of ten times the minimum wage.
How violators will be fined
As explained by Work.ua, the sanctions for breaking this rule will work as follows:
- The State Labor Service (SLS) prepares an administrative document on the imposition of a fine based on an inspection certificate – following the consideration of the case, examination of materials, and identification of grounds for the imposition of a fine.
- The employer pays the fine to the state budget at the place of state registration of the legal body or individual entrepreneur.
- The payment will be due within 15 days after receiving the SLS administrative document.
- If not paid or appealed against, the fine will be collected through legal action.
Detailed advice as to how this rule will work can be sought from labor lawyers. Meanwhile, employers should better refrain from indicating sex in their job announcements, including those published online.
