You will have to pay more to get a reservation: Government raises minimum salary threshold
17 September 17:13
ANALYSIS FROM 
Starting in the new year, in order for a company to book an employee, his or her salary must no longer be UAH 20,000, as it is now. That’s because the government plans to raise the minimum wage by 9% starting in 2026, from UAH 8,000 to UAH 8,647 per month. Accordingly, critical enterprises will be able to hire only those employees who will receive at least UAH 21,617.5 per month. What will come of this, found out
It is worth noting that according to Procedure No. 76 and the Law “On Mobilization Preparation“, reservation is possible only for employees of legal entities – enterprises, organizations, and government agencies that keep personal military records. Thus, only those who work at enterprises or government agencies that are critical to the economy or defense are currently eligible for reservations.
To reserve a particular employee, the employer is obliged to provide him or her with an accrued salary for each month of the period for which the reservation will be granted, not lower than the minimum wage multiplied by a factor of 2.5.
In 2025, the minimum wage is UAH 8000. Therefore, the minimum threshold for booking is UAH 20,000. At the same time, you should take into account the “dirty” salary, that is, before taxes and fees. And this UAH 20,000 is taken into account from the month of the deferral, and the salary for the previous month does not matter.
At the same time, to confirm the status of a critical enterprise, the average salary of the insured persons for the last calendar quarter is checked.
Employees run away without armor
On the one hand, one can only be happy about the increase in the minimum wage, but on the other hand, there is a high probability that many employees, as well as critical infrastructure enterprises, will lose their reservation and employees. Not everyone will be able or willing to pay their employees UAH 21,617.5 to get a reservation. This applies primarily to small towns.
As told by
The city has not seen such a transportation collapse for a long time. We have routes where one bus runs once an hour. The interval is long. It’s packed with people, mostly pensioners and the disabled. People are outraged, but we were not given a reservation because the driver’s salary is less than 20,000 UAH. Therefore, those who were not mobilized go to other jobs. And people are waiting for hours for their bus,” says Tatiana.
As the dispatcher admitted, people are not leaving, and training new, young or female workers is neither quick nor cheap. And, she says, it would not be surprising if the transportation stops.
In addition, many minibuses that used to compete with public transportation have stopped running because of the close attention to drivers by TCC employees. The law allows for the booking of employees of critical enterprises, but transportation companies often do not meet these criteria. According to Ihor Moiseenko, head of the Kyiv Carriers Association, carriers cannot book all drivers because of the strict criticality requirements. As a result, only large municipal carriers, such as Kyivpastrans, have a chance to get reservations for a significant part of their employees. Private companies face rejections.
Legal salary is a guarantee of “reservation”
According to economic expert Oleh Pendzin, raising the minimum salary threshold for booking will not reduce the number of bookings. Given that the average salary in the country is UAH 26,000, and in Kyiv it is about UAH 35,000, there will be no problems with booking at critical enterprises.
The problem is that employers often hire employees for a lower official salary and pay the rest in an envelope. That’s why they don’t give a reservation. For example, companies, such as a regional gas company, have different vacancies with different salaries, but women or pensioners are often hired for 10-15 thousand UAH. Men, on the other hand, are paid a decent salary, even a “clean” one, and given a reservation,” Pendzin notes.
Therefore, even if the minimum salary threshold for booking is raised, there will be no fewer bookings, the expert is convinced. If an employer wants to retain his employees, he will pay them a legal salary of at least UAH 21,617.5, and they will get a reservation.
Author – Alla Dunina
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