Constitutional Court issues important judgment for those unemployed
In its Judgment from 28 April 2009 the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a recently introduced norm which meant that people who had “resigned” by mutual consent and had registered with an employment centre could only receive unemployment benefit from the 91st day.
The Court was responding to a submission lodged by the President regarding the constitutionality of the amendment to the law on mandatory unemployment insurance, made via the Law “On amendments to some laws of Ukraine for reducing the impact of the world financial crisis on employment”.
The Court considered that such a restriction would narrow people’s rights, this being in breach of Article 22 of the Constitution.
This should mean that the new norm will be removed and the old, by which unemployment benefit can be received from the eighth day after registering is reinstated. Should, but may not, since other judgments finding norms restricting benefits unconstitutional over the last two years have simply not been headed.
The judgment is important for another reason which is that many employers have been putting pressure on employees to “resign” of their own accord, whereas in fact they are being laid off.