Vacations for service members under martial law

Draft bill # 8081 of September 28, 2022 

Cosponsors: a group of 27 MPs with Maryana Bezhula as the first signatory

Status: adopted as a law

Who is affected: the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Service, the State Security Service, and families of service members

Summary of the bill: 

• even under martial law, service members will be allowed to take a part of their annual vacations and vacations for family emergencies (or for other cases provisioned by law) without taking leave without pay
• each vacation will be restricted to 10 days (travel time not included although restricted to no more than 2 days one-way)
• permission to take a part of the annual vacation will be granted once a year and only if no more than 30% of service members of a particular category are absent in the unit.

What is right: 

• service members need vacations to maintain their high morale and to keep their emotional state in balance, especially considering a lengthy period of active hostilities
• the draft bill balances the interests of service members and their commanders by including a provision that units still must have enough staff.