Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor presents an analysis of the issues recorded in the sphere of labor rights protection in the RA and ways of their solution based on the study of 18 court cases held by the Organization. 

The majority concern employees of general education institutions. 

The analysis of those cases shows that the main reasons for labor rights violations are as follows,

• lack of mechanisms of labor rights protection,
• low level awareness of their labor rights,
• inaction of the competent bodies.

Through 18 court cases we have recorded the issues that entail labor rights violations. 

They are

1. manifestations of discrimination and illegal persecutions against an employee,
2. ungrounded dismissals,
3. applications of ungrounded disciplinary penalties to an employee,
4. provision of an employee with remuneration incommensurate with the work done, non-payment of salaries and payments that are less than the established salary,
5. incorrect calculations of the salary in connection with the working hours and rate,
6. non-completion of the final settlement by the employer with an employee,
7. not notifying in the established order prior to the termination of the employment contract,
8. non-reimbursement by the employer of the damage caused to an employee’s health at work.

Based on the analysis of those issues combined, we have identified legal issues, in case of the solution of which it will be possible to improve the current situation of employees’ labor rights protection. 

• Establishment of State Labor Inspectorate as the body securing labor rights 

There is a need to establish a State Labor Inspectorate which should reserve competencies established by the standards under international treaties ratified by the RA by thus granting other state bodies absolute independence. 

In case of the establishment of such a body, employees will precisely know what structure to turn to in case of their labor rights violations. 

Recently, a citizen applied to HCA Vanadzor, who had alarmed State Revenue Committee about violations by the employer and received an answer that it would be taken into account upon doing a planned visit. State Revenue Committee did not take any other actions besides this. Having applied to the RA Prime Minister, HCA Vanadzor lawyer Arayik Zalyan received a similar response from the RA Ministry of Finance, stating that the State Revenue Committee could not have conducted thematic checks based on the citizen’s complaint. Thus, the employee was in fact deprived of the opportunity to restore his rights.

While such matters concerning labor rights violations are out of the frame of oversight and reserved competencies of the State Health and Labor Inspectorate. 

• Issues of discovery and prevention of discrimination manifestations against employees 

As we have already mentioned, in the frame of cases conducted by the Organization, manifestations of discrimination and persecutions against an employee are also frequent.

In the context of eliminating discrimination manifestations, there is a completely objective need to

establish an independent body that will deal exclusively with the resolution of disagreements related to discrimination manifestations and which will be completely independent from other state bodies. 

• Labor rights in general education institutions

The majority of the cases of labor right violations that became known to the Organization mainly

concern violations of labor rights of employees in the RA general education institutions.

It should be recorded that often in the frame of those cases informing the competent body about the violations recorded in the structure under it does not come to its logical conclusion as a result of the competent body’s inaction.

In the analysis we also present what changes are necessary for the solution of the identified issues.

The analysis can be found in full HERE