The President of Azerbaijan has approved amendments to the Labor Code. The new amendments further strengthen the legal framework for the closer protection of labor rights in Azerbaijan and the regulation of employer-employee relations in accordance with international standards and principles".
Modern.az reports that MP Vugar Bayramov said this. He stated that one of the important changes is that when wages are paid for work performed on rest days, voting days, public holidays not considered working days, and national mourning days, not only the daily but also the hourly tariff wage will be taken into account:
"Thus, on the aforementioned days, in the time-based wage system, wages will be paid at no less than twice the daily and hourly tariff wage; in the piece-rate wage system, at double piece-rate prices; and for employees receiving a monthly salary, if the work is performed within the monthly working time norm, wages will be paid in addition to the salary, at no less than the daily and hourly official salary amount. If the work is performed beyond the monthly working time norm, wages will be paid in addition to the salary, at no less than double the daily and hourly official salary amount. One of the important changes here is the use of the concept of 'hourly official salary' in the code. In Azerbaijan, an intensification of work in this direction is observed. The addition of the hourly official salary to the code was important for the protection of employees' labor rights and their provision with higher wages.
In some cases, the working period on those days does not cover a full working day but certain hours. The new amendment will create conditions for employees to be paid additional wages for each hour in such practical situations. If an employee's hourly rate is 30 manats, and they continued to work on rest days, voting days, public holidays not considered working days, and national mourning days, and worked an additional 4 hours, they will be paid at least 240 manats, not 120 manats, for those hours. Furthermore, considering that the transition to an hourly work regime is being discussed in Azerbaijan, this will allow wage payments to be aligned with international standards".
