How to arrange additional leave for children and confirm eligibility

When this applies

This guide is for an em­ploy­ee who may qualify for ad­di­tion­al social leave for chil­dren and wants to agree on spe­cif­ic dates. The most common mistake is to start with the number of days desired without de­ter­min­ing which ground applies and which parent has already used the en­ti­tle­ment during that cal­en­dar year.

Con­sid­er an em­ploy­ee of a Kyiv company with two chil­dren under 15. That fact alone pro­vides one ground. To claim 17 days, the em­ploy­ee must es­tab­lish another in­de­pen­dent statu­to­ry ground; a third child does not au­to­mat­i­cal­ly in­crease the leave without another ground.

Which deadline or procedure applies

Article 19 of the Law on Leave and Article 182-1 of the Labour Code provide 10 cal­en­dar days each year for one ground and an overall cap of 17 days for mul­ti­ple grounds. This is social leave for a cal­en­dar year. Do not me­chan­i­cal­ly divide it into 12 monthly por­tions, but check when the ground arose, actual work, and days already used for each dis­put­ed year.

Sep­a­rate­ly check periods of child­care leave: do not assume en­ti­tle­ment to ad­di­tion­al social leave for a period spent con­cur­rent­ly on child­care leave without ver­i­fy­ing the rules. If the em­ploy­ee has unused days from earlier cal­en­dar years, ask HR to show them year by year rather than as one total.

During martial law, Article 73 of the Labour Code on public hol­i­days and non-working days does not apply. Article 12 of Law No. 2136-IX allows an em­ploy­er, at its dis­cre­tion, to grant leave beyond annual basic leave without pay; it also sets re­stric­tions, in­clud­ing for em­ploy­ees at crit­i­cal in­fra­struc­ture fa­cil­i­ties. Before ap­ply­ing, clarify both the dates and the pay terms.

Use the social leave for chil­dren cal­cu­la­tor to es­ti­mate the days. Its result depends on cor­rect­ly es­tab­lished grounds and the per­son­nel balance; it does not replace the em­ploy­er’s de­ci­sion.

Steps to take

1. Iden­ti­fy the ground. Match your sit­u­a­tion to Article 19: two chil­dren under 15, a child with a dis­abil­i­ty, adop­tion, single-parent status, or another listed cat­e­go­ry. Do not treat dif­fer­ent wording for the same cir­cum­stance as sep­a­rate grounds.
2. Check the years and balance. Request HR records of leave granted for each cal­en­dar year. If you changed em­ploy­ers, find out whether days for that same year were already granted at the pre­vi­ous work­place.
3. Confirm that one parent is ex­er­cis­ing the right. Prepare doc­u­ments about the chil­dren and your ground; provide avail­able in­for­ma­tion that the other parent did not use the en­ti­tle­ment. The law does not set a com­plete uni­ver­sal ev­i­dence list for every family sit­u­a­tion.
4. Clarify dates and pay. Check cal­en­dar days, the work sched­ule, and wartime re­stric­tions. Submit an ap­pli­ca­tion stating the year, ground, and pre­ferred period, and keep proof of receipt.
5. Check the pa­per­work. Obtain the order or a written re­sponse. Compare its dates, number of days, and pay terms with the ap­pli­ca­tion and updated per­son­nel balance.

What to check before applying

Do not confuse this leave with annual basic leave; the grounds and records differ. If the em­ploy­er offers cash instead of time off, check the sep­a­rate con­di­tions in Article 24 of the Law on Leave. On dis­missal, unused ad­di­tion­al leave for em­ploy­ees with chil­dren may be in­clud­ed in com­pen­sa­tion; the guide to com­pen­sa­tion ex­plains how to check it.

For an em­ploy­ee working re­mote­ly from Kyiv Oblast for a company in another region, keep proof of the agreed HR com­mu­ni­ca­tion channel and receipt of the ap­pli­ca­tion. The office address does not change the na­tion­wide rule, but it can affect how doc­u­ments are sent and pre­served in prac­tice.

When to consult a lawyer

An in­di­vid­ual review is useful if the em­ploy­er treats two con­firmed cir­cum­stances as one ground, will not show the year-by-year balance, dis­putes avail­able ev­i­dence about the other parent, or cites wartime re­stric­tions without ex­plain­ing how they apply. In Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, a lawyer can help as­sem­ble the time­line of HR de­ci­sions, prepare a written ap­pli­ca­tion or demand, and assess the avail­able remedy without promis­ing that leave will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly be granted.