A number of amendments have been adopted to the Administrative Offences Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The amendments taking force on 30.0.5.25 entails legislative innovations related to the regulation of labour relations.
– Involving and employee in overtime work in violation of labour legislation;
– Failure to pay or full non-payment in accordance with labor legislation, by removing the exceptions with respect to mathematical miscalculations in calculation and giving (transferring) of payments;
– Noninsurance each employee against loss of professional work capacity as a result of occupational accidents and occupational diseases in violation of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Mandatory Insurance Against Loss of Professional Work Capacity as a Result of Occupational Accidents and Occupational Diseases”;
– Non-execution of binding instructions of relevant administrative body conducting state control over compliance of labour legislation by the actors of labour relation in relation with documentation of employment contracts, conclusion and execution of collective agreements, certification of employees and workplaces, regulation of insurance of the employees, and the norms and rules of labour protection;
– Non-provision of necessary information (documents) on observance of labour legislation in relation with grounds for and documentation of conclusion, change and termination of employment agreement, conclusion and execution of collective agreement, certification of labour condition, employees and workplace, working times and rest periods, realisation of right to vacation, payment of labor and vacation pay, business trip expenses, benefits and other payments, features of labour of women and minors, regulation of employee insurance, the norms and rules of labour protection, or failure to submit them complete, correct, or timely, despite the request of relevant administrative body conducting state control over compliance of labour legislation.
Fines of undermentioned administrative offences have been increased:
– Increasing the upper limit of the fine for failure to inform the relevant administrative body conducting state control over compliance of labour legislation on the day of labour accident for its investigation from 1500 AZN to 2200 AZN.
– Increasing the upper limit of the fine for failure to draw up a relevant act by the employer no later than one day after the completion of the investigation of the from 2000 AZN to 2200 AZN.
The abovementioned matters and their regulations are explained below.
The scope of application of term limitation on implementation of administrative measures in the field of labour has been expanded. Even though the law has set a short duration (4 months) for general liability, for offences deemed graver this duration is one year. One-year term previously applied only on violation of the labour legislation has now been implemented on labour protection rules, as well as investigation and recording of labour accidents.
Thus administrative measures may only been taken within one year from the day of comission of above mentioned offences.
A number of violations has been added to the list of events for the application of conditional administrative fines. Thus, a conditional fine may be imposed for violation of the rules for conducting attestation of employees and workplaces by the employer, as well as for non-payment or incomplete payment of the employee's labor and vacation pay, business trip expenses, benefits and other payments provided for in labor legislation in violation of labor legislation.
Conditional application of fines implies giving a certain period for eliminating the legal violation and thus being exempted from paying the fine.
Changes have been made on the scope of application of the administrative offence that entails the failure to realise the payments to the employee legally. Thus if the mathematical miscalculations in calculation and giving of payments were an exception of the relevant offence, now such exception is abolished. Ultimately any error falls into the scope of this offence. Therefore, without exception, non-payment or non-full payment in accordance with labor legislation constitutes an administrative offense.
If previously only non-compliance with normal working and rest regime was an offence, currently fine has been set for involving an employee in overtime in violation of the requirements of labour legislations as well.
Labour Code regulates the exceptional cases in which overtime is allowed, limits of the work, circle of persons that are prohibited to be involved to this work, and other related matters. Consequently, non-compliance with any of gicen provision is considered an offence that leads to liability.
Changes have been made on the administrative offence regarding mandatory insurance within the labour relations. Thus, previously a fine was imposed for failure to conclude a compulsory insurance contract with an insurer by individuals or legal entities that were required to compulsorily insure the relevant risks. Now according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Mandatory Insurance Against Loss of Professional Work Capacity as a Result of Occupational Accidents and Occupational Diseases”, failure of mandatory insurance of each employee against loss of professional work capacity as a result of occupational accidents and occupational diseases also constitutes liability.
Additionally, although non-conclusion of insurance contract was fined by 500 AZN, currently this has been removed. Thus, fines for non-conclusion of the insurance contract and failure to comply with the rules of mandatory insurance rules are set at 1500 AZN for officials and 5000 AZN for legal entities. When this administrative liability is applied, the appropriate mandatory insurance must be obtained within 20 days. During this period, the person cannot be held administratively liable again for the same violation. When violations are detected through special technical devices with photo or video recording functions, the 20-day period is calculated from the day the violation is discovered.
Penalty amounts in the field of workplace accidents have been modified. The maximum penalty for failing to notify the Ministry of Emergency Situations on time has been increased from 1500 AZN to 2200 AZN. Conversely, the minimum penalty for concealing the occurrence of an accident has been reduced from 1800 AZN to 1000 AZN.
Different approaches have also been applied to sanctions related to the investigation process. The upper limit of the penalty for failing to prepare a report after investigating an incident has been raised from 2000 to 2200 AZN. However, the lower limit of the penalty for avoiding the preparation of a report about the investigation has been reduced from 1800 AZN to 1500 AZN.
The scope of mandatory instructions from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been expanded for participants in labor relations. Penalties are now imposed for non-compliance with instructions regarding labor documentation, conclusion and implementation of collective agreements, regulation of employee insurance, and compliance with labor protection norms and rules.
The legislation has also established information submission obligations in this area. Liability arises for failing to provide necessary information related to all violations reflected in the norm, or for not providing it completely, correctly, or on time. Officials are fined from 1000 to 1500 AZN, and legal entities from 2000 to 2500 AZN. Thus, employers' responsibility is primarily increased to strengthen control over compliance with labor legislation.
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