The Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy of Ukraine, Sergiy Tigipko, has been quoted as saying that under the new law submitted by the government and passed on July 6th by Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, “Employers will benefit” from giving jobs to young people (who have little work experience) and people over 50.  “And this is the main argument for them."

Local press reports have quoted experts as contending that about one-third of the unemployed in Ukraine are between 40 and 59 years of age.  And a study conducted by the Kharkiv Institute of Social Researches has found that age requirements are stated in 15% of employment advertisements in newspapers and 58% of employment advertisements on the Internet. The new law apparently addresses these two issues.

However, press reports from Ukraine provide little specifics on how the new law works and how it uses incentives to employers to combat age discrimination (which is what we would like to know, since in this way the law  would seem to differ significantly from American law).  What has been reported is only that the law provides opportunities to young and older workers to improve their professional skills and for relevant training, people over 45 will receive a voucher for learning a new profession.

Additionally, the new law also bans employment advertisements from indicating age limits or restrictions. 

If anyone is interested in Ukrainian employment laws, a good place to start is at this link.