Reservation of IT specialists

Specialists working in the IT sector make a significant contribution to the Ukrainian economy. It is a well-known fact that work in this field is complex and intellectual, so it is natural that it brings large incomes to specialists. In turn, they pay considerable taxes. As of September 7, about 3,200 such specialists had reservations from mobilization. If we talk about the percentage, it is quite small, because in total there are approximately 300 thousand representatives of the IT sector in Ukraine. Therefore, as you can understand, this percentage is not very large.

What are the grounds for booking?

Therefore, the following employees can be booked:

• in state authorities and local self-government;
• at enterprises, institutions and organizations that have certain mobilization orders;
• at enterprises producing goods, perform work and provide services for the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• at enterprises, institutions and organizations critical to the economy.

The last of these points sounds quite vague, so this issue is regulated by the Cabinet of Ministers in more detail through its legal acts. But, as you know from this list, most enterprises where IT specialists work can relate specifically to this point. Thus, such critical companies have been given a quota to book workers at 50% of the workforce.

A big complication is that there is no booking option for specialists interacting with companies as individual entrepreneurs or on the basis of gig contracts. Sometimes companies go to the extent of transferring such specialists to their staff and working with them on the basis of labor law, rather than civil law.

When it comes to booking specialists belonging to the IT sector, this applies to Team Lead and Sales. Of course, the list is not limited to such positions, but they are critically important for teams.

What does residency in Diia.City give?

If a company operates in the IT sector, it has good enough prospects to reserve the mobilization of its specialists. This possibility was opened by government decree № 76 of January 27, 2023, which is called “Some issues of implementing the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization for the reservation of those liable for military service for the period of mobilization and in wartime.”

This resolution provides that companies that are residents of Diia.City have some preferences in the matter of booking workers. There are 7 criteria for critical enterprises; they must meet at least 3 of them in order to have grounds to reserve from mobilizing their specialists. The first criterion is the already mentioned residency. That is, if the company adhered to this one criterion, then it is left with 2 from the list below. So, what we’re talking about is:

• the amount of accrued and paid taxes exceeds the equivalent of 1.5 million euros for the reporting year;
• the amount of receipts in foreign currency, excluding loans and advances, exceeds 32 million euros;
• the enterprise has strategic importance for the economy, as evidenced by its place in the relevant list;
• the enterprise plays an important role in its industry or meeting the needs of the territorial community (the point is quite ambiguous, since the criteria
• the importance of the enterprise for the community is recognized by executive authorities);
• the company has no debt to pay the unified social contribution;
• the average salary at the enterprise among insured workers is no less than the average salary in the region as of the fourth quarter of 2021. For example, in Kyiv for this period we were talking about a salary in the amount of 22,794.60 hryvnia.

Therefore, if a company is a resident of Diia.City and also meets the listed criteria (at least two more), this creates opportunities for booking IT specialists. However, in practice, such a procedure is very complex and has many pitfalls. Therefore, you should contact professional lawyers who can make it easier.

Summarizing…

If you need legal support for booking IT specialists, the team at the Prikhodko&Partners law office can help you in this matter if there are grounds. Fill out the form on our website and our lawyer will contact you shortly.