The Central Interregional Department of the State Labour Service explained: if an enterprise cannot organise work because of a power outage, the employer has the right to declare downtime. In that case employees must be paid wages in accordance with legislative requirements.
When downtime can be declared
Downtime may be declared if, due to a lack of power supply, the enterprise cannot organise the work process and employees cannot carry out their duties. Downtime in this case is a temporary suspension of work when tasks cannot be performed for reasons beyond the employees’ control.
The employer must properly document the downtime. The clarification does not list a specific set of documents required for its formalisation.
Amount of payments during downtime
During the period of downtime employees must be paid wages of at least two thirds of their established official salary or tariff rate. This is the minimum guaranteed payment during work stoppage due to power outages.
The clarification also emphasises the need to comply with labour law requirements when calculating and documenting payments.
Forecasts and actual wage figures
According to a forecast by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), nominal wages in Ukraine will increase by 21.4% in 2026, and real wages by 11.4%; in 2027-2028 the rate of growth of real incomes will slow to 4-5% per year.
In September 2026 the average salary of full-time employees of enterprises, institutions and organisations amounted to 33 153 UAH, which is 24.5% higher than a year earlier and 4% higher than in August 2026.
