“The goal of the project is to support mothers with infants” assured the minister

During the plenary sessions of the National Assembly this week MPs debated and passed the first reading unanimously the Bill on Amendments to the RA Law on Employment, which aims to provide the possibility of returning to work as soon as possible for mothers with infant, helping them organize their child care through a nurse. By adopting the project, the mother becomes an employer and receives a 50% compensation from the state to her nanny.

During the presentation of the bill, RA Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatryan clarified once again from the NA Standing Committee that the draft proposes to establish a relevant order, according to which the mother, who’s child  is under the age of 2 years, has decided to return to work, as an employer, can employ a nurse to take care of her child and 50 per cent of wages (but not less than the minimum wage) will compensate the state. This implies that a contract with a nurse must be signed.

When the head the “Exit” faction Nikol Pashinyan asked the minister, he first said that the discussion of the issue in the Standing Committee was quite happy, as mothers need some help. “But it turned out that the issue is of a double nature because of the problem of bringing nannies to the tax field. In order for the mother to prove that she is paying for the service of a nurse, that service should be properly formulated, which is understandable. I want to understand, what is our primary concern, whether bringing nannies to the tax field or helping mothers? I would like to touch upon this issue, not on a pleasant face, as the pleasant part is already clear and popular, “said Nikol Pashinyan.

In response, the Minister assured that there is no unpleasant part of the bill. “We have not set a task to bring the nurses to the tax field, as the project offers the citizen to be voluntarily involved in this program. That is, if the citizen wants to return to work and hinders the child’s care problems, the state is ready to hand him over. And if a woman sees the solution her problem in this program, she will participate in the program. If she does not see the solution or the conditions will not satisfy, she will not, of course, participate “.

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