The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, has adopted decisions establishing requirements for the level of English proficiency for applicants for certain positions in public administration, education, science, and a number of other areas. This is one of the steps to implement the Law of Ukraine “On the Use of the English Language in Ukraine” and to detail the rules that were previously defined at the law level.
The adopted decisions establish differentiated requirements depending on the position and level of responsibility. For applicants for category "A" civil service positions, as well as heads of local state administrations, their first deputies and deputies, a requirement for proficiency in English at a level not lower than B1 on the CEFR scale has been established.
In accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the Use of the English Language in Ukraine", as well as decisions adopted by the Government, requirements for mandatory English language proficiency for applicants for certain positions come into force several years after the date of termination or abolition of martial law in Ukraine.
Requirements for the sphere of education and science have been regulated separately. For applicants for the positions of heads of state scientific institutions and heads of higher education institutions, a level of not lower than B2 has been established. For certain civil service positions of categories "B" and "C", as well as for some positions in the sphere of education and science, the Government has defined a differentiated approach - the level of English proficiency will depend on the specific position and its functionality.
The decision also takes into account the specifics of the education and science sector. For individual applicants for positions in this sector, knowledge of another official language of the European Union may be taken into account. If the candidate has a document confirming proficiency in such a language at a level not lower than B2, the requirement for the level of English proficiency may be B1. This approach allows maintaining the consistency of language policy in the education and science sector and harmonizing new norms with current regulations.
This applies specifically to applicants for positions defined by law. This is not a general requirement for all employees in the field of education, science, or the entire civil service. The norms apply to individual positions, the list of which is determined by law and relevant acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
During the preparation of the decisions, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine held a public discussion. According to its results, 16 proposals were received, of which 13 were taken into account during the finalization of the projects. One of them, which concerns the sphere of scientific and scientific-technical activities, was also submitted for consideration by the Scientific Committee of the National Council of Ukraine for the Development of Science and Technology, which approved it.
The implementation of the adopted decisions does not require additional funding from the state budget, but only mastering the English language in order to apply for certain positions in the future.
The National Bank of Ukraine, by its Resolution No. 32 of Mar 31, 2026, reduced the list of mandatory details that must be contained in a payment instruction issued on the side of the payment initiations service provider (PISP) within open banking.
Corresponding amendments have been made to the Regulation on Open Banking in Ukraine, approved by Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 80 of Jul 25, 2025 (hereinafter - Regulation No. 80).
Their goal is to make it easier for users to use open banking services.
In accordance with the updated requirement of item 24 of Section II of Regulation No. 80, the requirement for the payment initiations service provider (PISP) to fill in the payment instruction details "name of the recipient's payment service provider" has been canceled.
Instead, the payment instruction details “name of the beneficiary’s payment service provider” will be filled in on the side of the account servicing payment service provider in accordance with the requirements of item 26, Section II of Regulation No. 80.
As a result, the payer's payment instruction will contain all the mandatory details specified in paragraph 37 of Section II of the Instructions on non-cash payments in the national currency of payment service users, approved by Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 163 of July 29, 2022.
The State Labor Service of Ukraine has clarified whether an employer has the right to refuse to pay an employee material assistance for recovery and allowances for the complexity and intensity of work.
In accordance with Part 2 of Article 97 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, the conditions and amounts of allowances are established by the employer independently and are enshrined in the collective agreement.
Bonus for difficulty and tension:
- is an incentive payment;
- is established by decision of the manager;
- depends on work results and savings in the payroll fund;
- is not mandatory.
Therefore, the employer has the right not to establish or cancel such an allowance, if this is provided for by internal documents.
Financial assistance for recovery is a social payment that is usually provided before annual leave.
Its peculiarity is that there is no single regulatory act for all employees; the payment procedure depends on the category of employee, and for non-budgetary enterprises it is determined by the collective agreement.
Financial assistance for rehabilitation is mandatory for certain categories, in particular:
- civil servants;
- local government officials;
- pedagogical and scientific and pedagogical workers;
- cultural workers, museums and libraries;
- medical workers.
For private sector employees, the employer may refuse to pay health benefits if such payment is not provided for by a collective agreement or is not established by the internal regulations of the enterprise.
The allowance for difficulty and stress is not mandatory and depends on the employer's decision. As for health benefits, their mandatory nature depends on the category of employee and the terms of the collective agreement.
The National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (hereinafter – the NAUCS) has provided clarifications regarding the use of annual leave and payment of compensation to civil servants.
The civil service legislation does not define the concept of "working year." However, by analogy with labor legislation, this is a period of 12 months, which is calculated not from January 1, but from the date of appointment of the employee to the position.
The NAUCS notes that in 2025, civil servants should use:
- annual basic leave for the working year 2024–2025;
- additional annual leave for civil service experience acquired during this period.
If an employee does not use vacation for the last working year, he must be paid monetary compensation for all unused days.
Such holidays include:
- annual basic leave;
- additional annual leave.
Compensation is not provided if:
- leave for the relevant working year has already been granted in 2025;
- all payments for it were made within the payroll fund.
Civil servants are allowed to be recalled from leave by decision of their manager to perform urgent tasks.
In this case, the unused part of the vacation:
- provided later;
- or postponed to another period by agreement of the parties.
The NAUCS emphasizes the need for timely use of vacations by civil servants, as well as compliance with the rules for their transfer and compensation in accordance with the legislation.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine has clarified the procedure for taxation of additional payments, allowances and bonuses that are accrued to employees in the current month for previous tax periods.
According to the Tax Code of Ukraine, wages include:
- basic and additional salary;
- additional payments, allowances;
- bonuses and other incentive payments.
Such income is subject to personal income tax.
If payments are accrued for previous periods (for example, due to clarification or correction of errors), they are included in the payroll of the month in which they are actually accrued.
Additional payments, allowances and bonuses:
- are included in the salary;
- are subject to personal income tax according to general rules;
- are taxable in the month they are accrued, not for the period to which they relate.
Tax agent (employer):
- withholds personal income tax from the amount of accrued income;
- applies the rates determined by the Tax Code;
- reflects such payments in the reporting for the relevant month.
Premiums, additional payments, and allowances for past periods are taxed as regular salary — in the month they were accrued, regardless of the period for which they actually belong.
