The government has published a decree regulating the reservation process from December 1. What's in it?

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi was outraged by the large number of booked employees and on October 9, a document was circulated online, according to which the Ministry of Economy, together with the Ministry of Defense and other bodies, decided to prepare and make changes regarding the reservation of employees.

The next day, the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Ivan Gavryliuk, announced the audit, which should take place by November 15. According to the audit, «critical enterprises» of Ukraine will be checked to confirm their status.

At the same time, Gavryliuk denied the suspension of booking, which was previously reported in the media, but noted that the booking of employees can be revised if the enterprise turns out to be «not critical for the state».

On October 23, it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers changed the procedure for determining critical enterprises, allowing them to be checked for compliance with the established criteria, and allowed cancellation of reservations for enterprises.

Currently, bookings at all businesses and institutions have been halted, and while the audit is ongoing, at least 40,000 conscripts have already been identified as booked with violations. «At least 20% of companies after the audit will most likely lose the status of critical enterprises,» said an official from the President’s team, who had a private conversation with journalists, on October 25.

On October 26, it became known that the government of Ukraine partially resumed the reservation of conscripts. Employees who have received the status of reserved until May 31, 2024, will be able to extend the reservation period by a similar period without hindrance. The relevant protocol decision proposed by the First Deputy Minister of Defense was approved at the Government meeting on October 25.

The government is updating the reservation criteria and the criteria for obtaining criticality. All bookings from December 1 will be made through Diya. In particular, the accrued average salary in the enterprise and for the booked employee must be at least 2.5 times the minimum salary. This will reduce the risk of abuse where companies employ a person for a «shadow» booking arrangement.

The innovations will come into effect on December 1. However, all those who already have deferrals will receive a transition period to the new conditions until February 28. By this date, all businesses must renew their employee bookings according to the new terms, regardless of how and when they were made.