Following our previous publication on court cases concerning the recovery of financial assistance for health improvement by filing respective statements of claim, the trade union has received requests from trade unionists for clarification on the need to pay court fees in this category of cases.
So, let’s understand what a court fee is.
The court fee is a fee (money) levied throughout Ukraine for filing applications and complaints with the court, for issuing documents by the courts, and for making certain court decisions (Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Court Fees’).
Item 1 ч. 1 Art. 5 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Court Fees’ provides that persons are exempt from paying court fees in labour disputes:
– on the recovery of wages;
– on reinstatement at work.
NOTE that not all monetary claims of an employee against his/her employer/former employer are wages and, accordingly, not all cases are exempt from court fees within the meaning of para. 1 Art. 5 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Court Fees’.
The list of payments that are classified as wages is set out in Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Remuneration of Labour’:
1. Basic salary is remuneration for work performed in accordance with established labour standards (time, output, service, job duties). It is set in the form of tariff rates (salaries) and piece rates for workers and official salaries for employees.
2. Additional remuneration is remuneration for work in excess of the established norms, for labour success and ingenuity, and for special working conditions. It includes additional payments, allowances, warranty and compensation payments provided for by the applicable law; bonuses related to the performance of production tasks and functions.
3. Other incentive and compensation payments. These include payments in the form of remuneration based on the results of work for the year, bonuses under special systems and regulations, payments under grants, compensation and other monetary and material payments that are not provided for by the applicable laws or that are made in excess of the norms established by the above acts.
Pursuant to subparagraph 2.3.3 of the Instruction on Salary Statistics approved by Order of the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine No. 5 dated 13 January 2004, other incentive and compensation payments include, in particular, material assistance of a systematic nature provided to all or most employees (for health improvement).
Thus, when an employee (former employee) goes to court to recover financial assistance for health improvement, such an employee is exempt from paying a court fee.
FOR THE READER.
A similar position is defined and expressed in a separate court decision – the Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 30.01.2019 in case No. 910/4518/16
