September 1 Deadline: Who in Ukraine Needs to Urgently Update Their Criticality Status to Book Workers in Diia

Ukrainian businesses have received an official reminder about an approaching deadline that directly affects the ability to book their own employees in the state application Diia. According to Diia's press service, published on Facebook and reported by RBC-Ukraine, long-term booking of workers will be available only until September 1, 2026 for those companies that have not managed to update the corresponding criticality decision. As emphasized in the app, "in order to book your team for a longer period, you must have an updated decision." Thus, businesses have a limited window to bring their documents up to date before the new rules take effect.

What exactly changes on September 1

The essence of the update is that the right to extended booking of workers is tied to the currency of the enterprise's criticality decision. Companies that have already reconfirmed their status are not required to take any additional action — their booking will continue in the usual mode. For the remaining enterprises, under the simplified procedure, criticality will be in effect only until the date of the preliminary decision. This means that after September 1, companies without an updated status will be able to book workers only for a limited period, which will force them to repeatedly return to the confirmation procedure.

Who needs to act right now

The priority group is enterprises whose criticality decision has been issued but has not been updated under the new criteria. Such companies will see the corresponding notification directly in Diia at the moment of processing the service: "Update your criticality decision to book workers for a longer period. We save your time and make public services convenient," the press service concluded. In practice, this means that companies' HR and legal departments should check the enterprise's status in the system in advance and, if necessary, submit documents for reconfirmation, without postponing the procedure to the last days before the deadline.

Automatic continuation and the simplified procedure

In parallel with the reminder about the deadline, a mechanism is being discussed under which critically important enterprises will be able to automatically continue booking employees in Diia without repeated manual confirmation. Under the simplified procedure, criticality is preserved until the date of the preliminary decision, which reduces the administrative burden on business. Nevertheless, experts and the media emphasize: automatic continuation does not eliminate the need to have a current criticality decision, and therefore ignoring the notification in the app is risky.

Contradictory data

The publications on the topic show a discrepancy in assessing the consequences for enterprises that have not updated their status. On the one hand, RBC-Ukraine, Focus and Delo highlight the simplified procedure and the possibility of automatic continuation of booking for critically important companies, and also note that no action is required for those who have already reconfirmed their status. On the other hand, the publication glavred.info frames the topic in a more alarming tone — as a possible suspension of booking through Diia and the fact that "thousands of workers will lose their deferment." The difference between the versions comes down to how strictly the restriction will be applied after September 1: in some sources it is a smooth transition to the simplified procedure, in others — a real risk of losing deferment for a significant number of employees. Diia's official position remains within the framework of a reminder about the need to update the decision, rather than a complete termination of the service.

Context: the Cabinet of Ministers' update of the criteria

The reminder about the deadline is not an isolated step. Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a decision to update the criteria for granting enterprises criticality status, which became the reason for the need to reconfirm for some companies. It was separately clarified to whom the September 1 deadline restriction does not apply, and what legal grounds exist for an enterprise to release the booking of a specific employee. The totality of these decisions forms a new logic for working with worker booking, in which the currency of the criticality status becomes a key condition for long-term workforce planning.