Labour rights in Armenia: European Committee of Social Rights conclusions

The European Committee of Social Rights  published its annual conclusions on 41 countries, including Armenia. This year’s conclusions focus on labour rights.

 

 

The Committee is a structure of the Council of Europe monitoring the implementation of the European Social Charter by the member states of the Council of Europe which have signed and ratified the Charter. Armenia ratified the European Social Charter in January 2004. Every year the States Parties submit a report indicating how they implement the Charter in law and in practice. The Committee examines the reports and decides whether or not the situations in the countries are in conformity with the Charter. If a state takes no action on a Committee decision to the effect that it does not comply with the Charter, the Committee of Ministers addresses a recommendation to that state, asking it to change the situation in law and/or in practice.

 

The reference period of the current report was from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012. The report concerns the following provisions of the thematic group “Labour rights”:

·     the right to just conditions of work (Article 2),

·     the right to a fair remuneration (Article 4),

·     the right to organise (Article 5),

·     the right to bargain collectively (Article 6),

·     the right to information and consultation (Article 21),

·     the right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment (Article 22),

·     the right to dignity at work (Article 26),

·     the right of workers’ representatives to protection in the undertaking and facilities to be accorded to them (Article 28),

·     the right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures (Article 29).

 

Armenia has accepted all provisions from this group except  Art. 2§7 (to ensure that workers performing night work benefit from measures which take account of the special nature of the work), 4§1 (to recognise the right of workers to a remu­neration such as will give them and their families a decent standard of living), 21 (the right to information and consultation), 26§1 (to promote awareness, information and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace or in relation to work and to take all appropriate measures to protect workers from such conduct);, 26§2 (to promote awareness, information and prevention of recurrent reprehensible or distinctly negative and offensive actions directed against individual workers in the workplace or in relation to work and to take all appropriate measures to protect workers from such conduct), and 29 (The right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures).

 

The current report analyses 17 provisions of the Social Charter to see how Armenia complied with them.

 

The report says the situation in Armenia is in line with the European Social Charter in 2 out or 17 provisions:

  1. Article 2§2: Right to just conditions of work: public holidays with pay;
  2. Article 2§3: Right to just conditions of work: annual holiday with pay.

 

The situation in Armenia is NOT in line with the European Social Charter in 12 out of 17 provisions:

  1. Article 2§1: Right to just conditions of work: reasonable working time. the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with this Article on the ground that the daily working time of some categories of workers can be extended to 24 hours.
  2. Article 2§5: Right to just conditions of work: weekly rest period. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 2§5 of the Charter on the ground that it has not been established that the right to a weekly rest period may not be forfeited or replaced by financial compensation and that adequate safeguards exist to ensure that workers may not work for more than twelve consecutive days without a rest period.
  3. Article 2§6: Right to just conditions of work: Information on the employment contract. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 2§6 of the Charter on the ground that it has not been established that the right to information on the employment contract is guaranteed.
  4. Article 4§2: Right to a fair remuneration: increased remuneration for overtime work. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 4§2 of the Charter on the ground that the legislation does not guarantee an increased time off in lieu of remuneration for overtime.

5.    Article 4§4: Right to a fair remuneration: reasonable notice of termination of employment. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 4§4 of the Charter on the grounds that:

a.    in most cases, no notice period and/or severance pay in lieu thereof is applicable to dismissal or termination of an employment contract;

b.    with regard to the particular situations in which provision has been made for notice and/or severance pay in lieu thereof, the period and/or amount is not reasonable as regards:

i.    dismissal following the liquidation of the company or the change in circumstances, beyond five years of service;

ii.    dismissal on the ground of the employee’s unsuitability for the job, long-term incapacity for work or having reached retirement age;

iii.    termination of employment contracts following a substantial change in working conditions or when the employee is called up for military service;

iv.    termination of seasonal or temporary work contracts.

 

  1. Article 4§5: Right to a fair remuneration: limits to wage deductions. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 4§5 of the Charter on the grounds that:
    1. withdrawing wages entirely for reasons connected with the quality and quantity of production deprives workers and their dependants of any means of subsistence;
    2. after all authorised deductions, the wages of workers with the lowest pay do not allow them to provide for themselves and their dependants.

 

  1. Article 5: Right to organize (trade unions). The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 5 of the Charter on the grounds that:
    1. it has not been established whether there is adequate protection against discrimination for employees who are trade union members or participate in trade union activities;
    2. it has not been established that trade union representatives have access to workplaces to carry out their responsibilities;
    3. the minimum membership requirements set for forming trade unions and employers’ organisations are too high;
    4. the following categories of workers cannot form or join trade unions of their own choosing: employees of the Prosecutor’s Office, civilians employed by the police and security service, self-employed workers, those working in liberal professions and the informal sector workers;
    5. police officers are prohibited from joining trade unions.

 

  1. Article 6§1: Right to bargain collectively: joint consultation. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 6§1 of the Charter on the ground that minimum membership requirements excessively limit the possibility of trade unions to participate effectively in consultations
  2. Article 6§3: Right to bargain collectively: conciliation and arbitration. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 6§3 of the Charter on the ground that it has not been established that mediation/conciliation procedures exist in the public sector.
  3. Article 6§4: Right to bargain collectively: collective action (including strikes). The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 6§4 of the Charter on the grounds that:
    1. the required majority of workers to call a strike is too high;
    2. it has not been established that the restrictions on the right to strike in the energy supply services comply with the conditions established by Article G;
    3. it has not been established that striking workers are protected from dismissal after the strike.
  4. Article 22: Right of workers to take part in the determination and improvement of working conditions and working environment. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 22 of the Charter on the grounds that it has not been established that:
    1. the right of workers to take part in the determination and improvement of working conditions and the working environment is effective;
    2. the right of workers to take part in the determination and improvement of the protection of health and safety is effective;
    3. workers’ representatives have legal remedies when their right to take part in the determination and improvement of working conditions and the working environment is not respected
    4. sanctions exist for employers who fail to fulfill their obligations under this Article.
  5. Article 28: Right of workers’ representatives to protection in the undertaking and facilities to be accorded to them. The Committee concludes that the situation in Armenia is not in conformity with Article 28 of the Charter on the grounds that:
    1. the protection granted to workers’ representatives is not extended for a reasonable period after the end of period of their mandate;
    2. it has not been established that workers’ representatives are granted adequate protection against prejudicial acts other than dismissal;
    3. it has not been established that facilities granted to workers’ representatives are adequate.

 

In respect of the other 3 situations related to Articles 2§4 (Elimination of risks in dangerous or unhealthy occupations), 4§3 (Non-discrimination between women and men with respect to remuneration) and 6§2 (Right to bargain collectively: negotiation procedures), the Committee needs further information in order to examine the situation. The Committee considers that the absence of the information requested amounts to a breach of the reporting obligation entered into by Armenia under the Charter. The Committee requests the Government to remedy that situation by providing this information in the next report.

 

The text of the report can be found here 

 

Background:

 

The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty signed in Turin on 18 October 1961 which safeguards day-to-day freedoms and fundamental rights: housing, health, education, employment, legal and social protection, freedom of movement for individuals, non-discrimination. The substance of the Charter was supplemented by a revised version of 1996.

 

The European Committee of Social Rights is a body composed of 15 independent and impartial members. It rules on the conformity of the law and practice of the States Parties with the Charter. The Committee has two procedures to ensure that States Parties comply with their commitments under the Charter: national reports and collective complaints. In the framework of the reporting procedure it adopts “conclusions” and in respect of the collective complaints procedure it adopts “decisions”. A Protocol opened for signature in 1995, which came into force in 1998, allows national and international trade union organisations, employers’ organisations and non-governmental organisations to submit to the Committee their complaints about violations of the Charter.

 

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