Draft amendments to Azerbaijan’s Labour Code would stop employers from paying cash instead of granting the minimum 21 calendar days of annual leave that workers are entitled to.
Under the planned changes to the Labour Code, the statutory minimum of 21 calendar days of annual leave could no longer be swapped for a cash payment. The restriction on leave compensation applies specifically to the minimum period set out in the second part of Article 114 of the Code.
Only one exception will remain: payment for unused leave days when an employee’s contract is terminated. That provision, contained in the second part of Article 144 of the Labour Code, will not be affected by the amendment.
The draft also sets out clearer rules on postponing leave, whether in full or in part, to another date. It spells out in more detail and more specifically the circumstances under which such a postponement would be allowed.
The draft also provides for corresponding changes to other sector-specific laws related to this right.
