The draft law on non-standard forms of employment adopted in the first reading introduces a new form of employment contract: with non-fixed working hours. This form is designed for freelancers, thus the document proposes changes to the legislation aimed at regulating their work. AIN.UA turned to lawyers to find out what this bill will mean for the freelance market if it comes into force.
“Under the terms of such a contract, the employee undertakes to perform the work only if it is provided by employers, without guarantees that this work will be provided permanently,” commented Dmytro Paliushchenko, a lawyer with Juscutum business support practice.
This is a positive change in labor law and it adapts to it the attitudes that are very common in the labor market today, especially in the IT-sphere.
There are restrictions for employers who abuse such relationships with employees. By doing so, they jeopardize the rights of such employees under labor law. The signed employment contracts with non-fixed working hours may not exceed 10% out of the total number of employment contracts concluded.
The main question is whether this will be an effective mechanism for settling relations with freelancers. And, most importantly: will employers and freelancers enter into employment contracts with non-fixed working hours?
To date, instead of such employment contracts, civil law contracts are drawn up, and freelancers themselves are registered as entrepreneurs. The drawback of such contracts is that freelancers are deprived of the basic rights and guarantees provided by the Labor Code.
