"Language law" in the service sector: what you need to know

Minskaya Lilia, lawyer of the company "ESTET"

Despite the fact that we all live in Ukraine, we are its citizens, and the need to communicate in Ukrainian at the level of official government bodies or state institutions raises no objections, at the household level, quite often we communicate in Russian as a colloquial language and are in no hurry to change habits.

And since consumer services are an integral part of our lives, the issue of introducing the Ukrainian language in beauty salons is quite acute.

And here the range of failures is quite wide: from "why, because it is not convenient for the client" to "what will happen to me for it."

One can talk for a long time about the national idea, the linguistic identification of a person as a citizen of Ukraine, the absurdity of the widespread use of the language of the aggressor country, but for many these are just high words, a theory without practical significance and double standards.

Meanwhile, according to sociologists, more than half of the country's inhabitants consider Ukrainian as their native language. In turn, the majority of Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine understand the state language without problems. Recently, Ukrainians have begun to speak Ukrainian more.

Please note that quite soon, namely from January 16, 2021, the norm of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language” comes into force, according to which consumer service in Ukraine is Ukrainian.

According to Article 30 of the Law:

• The language of customer service in Ukraine is the state language.
• Enterprises, institutions and organizations of all forms of ownership, individual entrepreneurs, other business entities serving consumers (except for the cases established by part three of this article), provide services and provide information about goods (services), including through online stores and Internet catalogs, in the state language. Information in the state language may be duplicated in other languages.
• At the request of the client, his personal service can also be carried out in another language acceptable to the parties.
• An e-commerce entity registered in Ukraine, during its activities and when distributing a commercial electronic message, is obliged to ensure the provision of all information defined by the Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Commerce", including regarding the subject of an electronic contract, in the state language.
• Information about goods and services on the territory of Ukraine is provided in the state language.
• Producers (performers, sellers) in Ukraine of all forms of ownership provide consumers with information about products, works or services in the state language. Such information may be duplicated in any other language.
• Information about products (goods), works or services specified in part six of this article is brought to the attention of the consumer in the manner, method and to the extent determined by the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Consumer Rights".
• In information about products, works or services provided in the state language, it is allowed to use words, abbreviations, abbreviations and designations in English and / or using letters of the Latin and / or Greek alphabets.
• If, in addition to state information about goods and services, it is also provided in other languages, the amount of information about goods and services in the state language cannot be less than the mandatory amount of information in accordance with the requirements established by the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Consumer Rights”.

What should be taken to prevent violation of the Law?

• All documentation that is in the salon - a consumer corner, price lists, catalogs, signboards and designations must be translated into Ukrainian.
• It is necessary to train the staff to master the minimum of literate Ukrainian, create scripts and language modules that employees need to use when communicating with customers. The task of such tools will not only facilitate the use of the Ukrainian language, but also increase the level of sales and the quality of communication.

Perhaps the head of the salon has not thought about what and how his employees say and how this affects the income level of the salon - it's time to establish this process and "kill two birds with one stone"!

Regarding the question "what will I do for it."

The final provisions of the Law provide for administrative liability for violation of the Law. However, the introduction of this rule has been postponed for three years in order to provide citizens with enough time to master Ukrainian at the proper level.

True, it is not yet completely clear for what violations of Art. 30 of Law No. 2704, a fine may be applied in practice. For example, the Law does not explain how a business entity can be proved and held liable if its employee refused to serve a client in Ukrainian, and how it can be confirmed that he has eliminated such a violation.

Can they now be held administratively liable for breaking the law? No, they can't right now. However, according to paragraph 1 of Sec. IX of the said Law, fines for violation of the language law will become a reality in less than 2 years. Then the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Violations will be supplemented with two new articles - Art. 188-52 and 188-53, which will come into force on July 16, 2022. For example, enterprises can be fined under Part 2 of Art. 188-52 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for violation of the requirements of the Law on the use of the state language in the field of education, science, culture, book publishing, in user interfaces of computer programs and websites, in the field of information for general information, public events, technical and project documentation, advertising, healthcare , sports, telecommunications and postal services, transport The fine for such a violation is from 200 to 300 thousand rubles (from 3400 to 5100 UAH). Or it will be a warning if this is a first time violation.

Administrative liability may also be brought in case of repeated failure to comply with the legal requirements of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language during the state control over the use of the state language (Article 188-53 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). Such an offense entails the imposition of a fine on officials in the amount of 100 to 200 NMDG (from UAH 1,700 to UAH 3,400). Cases of administrative offenses related to violation of the law in the field of the use of the state language and failure to comply with the legal requirements of the representative of the Commissioner (Articles 188-52 and 188-53) will be considered by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language according to the protocols that will be drawn up by his representatives.

Of course, by the time administrative responsibility becomes a reality, a lot of time will have passed, so this time should not be wasted and used to the maximum benefit for yourself and your business.

Based on my own legal experience, I can assure you that for a person who is bilingual (as, by the way, the vast majority of the population of Ukraine) and who understands both Ukrainian and Russian fluently, the transition to the use of Ukrainian in work processes is not very difficult - there is more difficulties in the lack of conversational skills and knowledge of special terms. But after a very short time, the Ukrainian language in professional use becomes not just easy - it becomes the only possible one!

As the contemporary Spanish politician Jose-Maria Artze said, the language disappears not because others do not learn it, but because those who know it do not speak it.

Therefore, we protect our language and are actively involved in the process of implementing the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language”!