1. The subject of the dispute is the recovery of wage arrears from JSC “State Savings Bank of Ukraine” in favor of the plaintiff.
2. The cassation court, overturning the decisions of the previous instances, was guided by the fact that the employment contract is a private law agreement, binding on the parties, and the owner has no right to unilaterally worsen the conditions of remuneration established by the contract; the adoption of a law that worsens these conditions may be the basis for amending the contract, but not for non-payment of wages in the established amount, if the changes have not been made; the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2020” did not entitle the employer to reduce wages before making changes to the contract; the previous courts did not take into account that the parties did not amend the contract of December 4, 2014, in connection with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine No. 553-IX of April 13, 2020 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2020”; the appellate court did not clarify for which period the plaintiff calculated the underpaid wages for the period from April to September (inclusive) 2020, and did not check the correctness of such calculation. The Court departed from the conclusion regarding the application of paragraph 10 of Section II of the Law of Ukraine No. 553-IX of April 13, 2020, set forth in the decision of the Supreme Court of August 23, 2023, in case No. 757/42192/20, which stated that the restrictions on the payment of wages to members of the management boards of state-owned banks, established by this Law, are imperative and subject to immediate application.
3. The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the appellate court and remanded the case for a new trial to the court of appeal.
