AZERBAIJAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sona Abdullayeva and Ayna Abbaszada, Caspian Legal Center
Introduction Azerbaijan’s labour legislation has undergone sig - nificant transformation in recent years, adapting to modern employment practices and post-conflict reconstruction needs. In the legislative context, devel - opments include the digitalisation of employment contracts, special incentives for workers in liberated territories, and strengthened administrative penalties. In the judicial context, the Supreme Court practice balances employers’ rights with employees’ protec - tions in specific termination cases. Recent Legislative Changes Increase in the statutory minimum wage and increase in the average monthly nominal wage threshold From 1 January 2024, the minimum monthly wage has been increased to AZN 345 and, according to the Order of the President dated 23 December 2024, it is further increased to AZN 400 from 1 January 2025. In the same vein, the average monthly nominal wage threshold has been raised from AZN 1002.8 to AZN 1062.9 as of January 2025. Combating informal employment relations Azerbaijan has implemented reforms to combat infor - mal employment relationships through comprehensive amendments to the Code. The legislative changes in 2021 established “the prohibition on the documenta - tion of labor relations by civil-law contracts” as one of the fundamental principles of the Code. It enshrines specific conditions for identifying labour relations, and it requires immediate conversion to employment con - tracts upon identification of any such conditions. The same year, the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan approved the Regulation “On Conducting and Coordi - nation of Control Measures in the Field of Legalization of Informal Employment”. Based on these, the proce - dure for supervision, the scope and responsibilities of the bodies implementing it have been clarified, and the creation of a single electronic information resource is envisaged. Through such measures, now the legislation pro - vides more robust protection for social security rights of employees (receiving benefits established by law for unemployment, receiving additional wages when
working overtime, receiving a pension in the future, etc). Further, it prevents damage to tax and social insurance revenues of the state. Labour relations of specialists working in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan After the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, in 2022 special provisions concerning labour rela - tions of specialists working in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan (hereinafter “the specialists”) have been added to the Labour Code (hereinafter “the Code”). These provisions are in force until 1 January 2028. The specialists are people with a state document on vocational, secondary specialised and higher edu - cation, at least 24 months of work experience with - in the last 60 months, and working on the basis of an employment contract in the liberated territories (except for persons with special ranks). They have the right to use the benefits and privileges provided for in the Code and other laws of Azerbaijan in cases where the following conditions are met: • if the employer with whom the specialists have concluded an employment contract is registered for tax purposes in the liberated territories; • if the workplace of the specialists under the employment contract is located in the liberated territories; and • if the specialists settle in the liberated territories. They are granted additional leave for a period of five calendar days, regardless of the duration of the main and additional leaves. Additionally, increases (coeffi - cients) are determined to ensure the payment of high salaries to them. These regulations incentivise and support the repopulation and economic development of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories. Amendment to Employee Business Trip Regulations The Ministry of Finance amended the Employee Busi - ness Trip Regulations (hereinafter “the Regulations”) on 9 October 2024. The 40-day duration limit for business trips now applies to all employees, including diplomatic staff of international organisations and representatives of
45 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook