Annual leave for military personnel

A vacation is a period when a person stops his usual work or daily duties for the purpose of rest, relaxation and recovery. This is an important aspect of a balanced life and well-being. It allows you to relieve stress, recharge with new energy, spend time with family and friends, get to know new places and cultures, develop your hobbies and interests.

Vacation plays a particularly important role for a serviceman. This is the period when a serviceman can temporarily leave military service for the purpose of rest, recovery, and preservation of physical and mental health. And also spending the most valuable time with relatives.

Especially during the war, leave for military personnel is of great importance, as it helps reduce the risk of psychological problems, improves the general state of health, increases morale and motivation for further service. It also helps maintain a balance between the professional and personal spheres of servicemen's lives.

Leave for a military serviceman may vary in terms of duration and conditions. Military personnel are usually granted a certain number of days of annual leave that they can use throughout the year. It is also possible to grant additional leave under special conditions, for example, during family events or other urgent situations.

The granting of vacations to military personnel during martial law is regulated by the Law of Ukraine "On Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families." 

In this article, we will talk specifically about annual leave.

Therefore, quite recently, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine dated 28.06.2023 № 3161-IX, an amendment was made to paragraph 18 of Article 10-1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Members of Their Families" regarding the provision of leave to servicemen during military service state

With these changes, servicemen were given the right to take leave for a longer period of time than was previously provided for. Therefore, today, the total duration of vacation is no more than 30 calendar days, while previously only 10 days were provided.

It should be emphasized that annual basic leave is granted during the calendar year in parts of no more than 15 calendar days. And also, it is provided without taking into account the time required to travel within Ukraine to the place of the vacation and back, but no more than two days one way.

The changes are quite positive, because previously the wording in the law was somewhat different, and sounded like - "military personnel may be granted a part of the annual basic leave", while now "military personnel are granted a part of the annual basic leave".

However, in the conditions of martial law, obtaining leave has some nuances. And so the question arises:

Can they not let me go on vacation?

- Yes, but now under one condition, namely, on the condition that more than 30 percent of the total number of servicemen of a certain category of the relevant unit are simultaneously absent.

So how do you go on vacation?

- It is necessary to write a report in which to indicate the type of leave and the period for which you wish to be on it, and to contact the commander of the unit with a request to grant leave.

If you have any questions or need help writing a vacation report, contact the military lawyers of Prikhodko&Partners.