The calculation and payment of the seniority allowance to civil servants in 2024 must be carried out taking into account the provisions of the law on the state budget for the relevant year – SC GC

The calculation and payment of the seniority allowance to civil servants in 2024 must take place in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 12 of the Final Provisions of the Law of Ukraine of 9 November 2023 No. 3460-IX “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024”, that is, at the rate of 2 % of a civil servant’s official salary for each calendar year of civil service seniority, but not exceeding 30 % of the official salary.

The mere reduction by the legislator of the amount of the seniority allowance in the civil service has not resulted in a narrowing of social guarantees or a reduction in the overall amount of monetary remuneration; rather, it forms an integral element of the state’s consistent and measured approach to the gradual enhancement of the competitiveness of salaries of employees holding civil service posts.

These conclusions were reached by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court in a model case.

In this case the claimant, who holds a civil service post in a court of first instance, challenged the payment to her, with effect from 1 January 2024, of the seniority allowance at the rate of 30 % of the official salary instead of 50 % of the official salary. The claim was based on the assertion that the percentage amount of the allowance calculated by reference to the requirements of paragraph 12 of the Final Provisions of Law No. 3460-IX is contrary to the content of Part 1 of Article 52 of the Law of Ukraine of 10 December 2015 No. 889-VIII “On Civil Service”, which is a special law that is to be applied to the disputed legal relations.

The Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court partially granted the claim, pointing to the inapplicability of the provisions of paragraph 12 of the Final Provisions of Law No. 3460-IX on the grounds of resolving a substantive conflict of legal norms in favour of the provisions of Law No. 889-VIII (On Civil Service).

In resolving this dispute, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court first of all noted the absence of any conflict in the disputed legal relations and, consequently, the absence of any need to seek a mechanism for its resolution, since there exists a direct provision of Law No. 3460-IX which suspended the operation of the relevant provision of Law No. 889-VIII and clearly regulated the specific features of the remuneration of certain categories of civil servants.

The legislator forms a unified system of legislation in the sphere of public-law relations, within which the constitutionality of every law adopted by Parliament is presumed until that presumption is rebutted by a decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

In this connection the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court noted that the relevant provisions of the second paragraph of paragraph 12 of the Final Provisions of Law No. 3460-IX have not been held unconstitutional, and pointed out that there are no grounds for a conclusion under Part 4 of Article 7 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine, since in the disputed legal relations the reduction by the legislator of the amount of the seniority allowance in the civil service has not resulted in a narrowing of the social rights and guarantees of a civil servant, including his or her right to an adequate level of remuneration.

Such action by the legislator cannot be viewed in isolation from other actions taken by it simultaneously with the aim of changing the structure of the remuneration of civil servants of a certain category. Consequently, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court determined that the specific features of the calculation of the seniority allowance introduced by Law No. 3460-IX with effect from January 2024 form part of the reform of the remuneration of civil servants, conditioned by the implementation of the European integration requirements relating to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.  

Furthermore, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court took into account the legal consequences that ensued for civil servants in the justice system upon the introduction of the reform of the structure of their salaries, noting that the reduction in the amount of the seniority allowance in the civil service occurred simultaneously with an increase in the official salary, which is aimed at enhancing the level of independence and financial security of a certain category of civil servants and at improving the status of a civil servant in general.   

In the light of the foregoing, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court and delivered a new decision dismissing the claim.

Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 19 February 2026 in case No. 240/7215/24 – https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/134688422.  

This and other legal positions of the Supreme Court can be found in the Database of Legal Positions of the Supreme Court - https://lpd.court.gov.ua.