Main points
- More than 8,600 Ukrainian companies received fines totaling over 2.76 billion hryvnias for failing to employ people with disabilities in 2025.
- 8,697 employers received fines, which is about 10% of all those who had to comply with the standard.
Ukrainian employers receive fines / Unsplash
Ukrainian employers are facing hefty fines for not hiring people with disabilities. Last year, more than 8,600 companies received such fines totaling over 2.76 billion hryvnias.
Which companies should be fined for not hiring people with disabilities?
In total, there are currently 88,705 companies in Ukraine that have 8 or more employees and fall under the mandatory standard for creating jobs for people with disabilities, writes Opendatabot.
- Employers who did not employ people with disabilities last year must pay an average fine of 317 thousand hryvnias.
- Over the year, the average fine amount increased by 20%.
Thus, 8,697 employers who failed to meet the standard were assessed sanctions totaling 2.76 billion hryvnias. This is about 10% of all employers who were supposed to employ people with disabilities by the end of 2025. For comparison, in 2023 this figure reached 17.5%.
Why don't businesses hire people with disabilities?
60% of Ukrainian companies cannot find employees with disabilities who meet their qualification requirements, according to a study conducted by the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine
The main problem, according to Confederation advisor Rodion Kolyshko, remains the lack of specialists with appropriate training , as well as the lack of established communication channels between employers and potential employees.
Attention : Businesses are unable to directly reach out to people with disabilities or at least provide them with information about vacancies.
The majority of companies – 92% – do not receive any support in finding such personnel from either the state or the public sector. Because of this, almost half of companies (48%) are forced to turn to their own acquaintances in search of employees with disabilities.
Labor market news in Ukraine
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Salaries for blue-collar jobs in Ukraine have increased by 10-40%, but there is a critical shortage of some specialists. The largest salary increases are observed for painters (+43%), assemblers (+34%), foremen (+33%) and bricklayers (+32%).
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At the beginning of 2026, over 111,000 vacancies were posted in Ukraine, but only about 35% of them were filled. The highest percentage of job openings is observed in Donetsk region (68.5%), and the average time to find an employee is 17 days.
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Ukrainian hotels and restaurants are facing a staff shortage, which is a major challenge for businesses. Among HoReCa workers, 11% reported a significant drop in revenue, while 17% noted a noticeable increase.