What Has Changed for Businesses Since Early July
At the beginning of July, the government once again updated the rules for employee deferment and the requirements for critically important enterprises. If companies fail to recalculate their quotas and cancel “excessive” deferments on time, they could lose this status altogether.
The main changes concern individuals employed on a part-time basis, as well as those who already have deferments for other reasons. Now, such employees can only be counted towards deferment quotas at one place of work. The law states that a company can defer an employee only if they have been working there longer than at any of their other jobs.
However, there’s a problem: labor laws do not require employees to inform management about their other places of employment. A company might simply be unaware that its employee is working elsewhere.
Furthermore, a legal pitfall arises: if a person has been working at your (critically important) enterprise for less time than at another job, the system may prevent you from deferring them. If you have already done so, your deferment limit might be considered artificially inflated.
How Companies Can Retain Critical Status
If you have excess deferred employees and do not rectify this within 10 working days (by July 16), the state may revoke your enterprise’s status. To avoid this, take three steps:
- Require employees to report their other places of employment.
- Verify employee information through state databases, including the Pension Fund registry.
- Compare your limit with the actual number of deferred employees under the new rules. If the limit is exceeded, the head must decide which deferments to revoke.
In addition to verifying employees, companies should prepare for increased tax and salary expenses. For most enterprises, the minimum average salary required to maintain critical status has risen to three minimum wages, i.e., UAH 25,941. And from September 1, 2026, every deferred employee must have such a salary.
As noted by the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs in a commentary for “Glavkom,” these changes will hit small and medium-sized businesses the hardest, as they struggle to abruptly increase labor costs. However, this does not mean businesses will massively go “underground,” because going underground means automatically losing the right to deferment – which is a significant advantage right now. Most likely, companies will optimize their staff and apply for deferment for fewer individuals.
For businesses with low earnings but a large workforce, raising official salaries will mean a sharp increase in expenses. Due to high competition, companies will not be able to immediately raise prices for their services. Initially, they will save and earn less. But if they cannot cover the expenses, over time, this will inevitably lead to an increase in prices for goods and services for ordinary buyers.
What is the Deadline for Submitting Information
There is not much time left, as July 16 is the last day to cancel deferments for part-time employees. Since the new rules came into effect on July 3, the 10 working days for corrections expire on this very day.
However, by August 10, enterprises must submit reporting to confirm their critical status. All currently critical enterprises are required to submit a report on the average salary for the last month, as well as tax calculations for personal income tax and unified social contribution.
September 1, 2026 – the state will conduct a large-scale review. Regional administrations and ministries will reconsider all previous decisions on granting critical status based on the new criteria.
Why Rules Differ Across Regions
The situation is further complicated by the fact that regional military administrations may establish their own local requirements for critical enterprises. This can lead to drastically different rules in neighboring regions. “Glavkom” wrote about this in detail here: A village without people, fields without workers? Why farmers are sounding the alarm over new deferment rules.
The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs confirms that this creates unequal conditions for companies operating in the same sector and competing across the country. While there have been no official complaints from businesses yet, the Union is prepared to negotiate with the authorities to change this approach if the problem intensifies.
For instance, at the end of 2025, the government changed the criteria for agricultural producers: the minimum land area for deferment increased from 500 to 1000 hectares, and the annual income requirement from UAH 20 million to UAH 40 million. Meanwhile, for farmers with less than 1000 hectares, the criteria are set by local administrations. As a result, the requirements for land area, number of employees, and taxes paid vary significantly across different regions, placing entrepreneurs in unequal positions.