Sources of regulation
The Labour Code (LC), which came into force in 2005, is a main source of
labour legislation in Armenia. Chapter
15 of the LC (Articles 109 to 130) regulates the termination of employment
contracts.
Scope of legislation
The Labour Code covers all the employment relationships in the territory
of Armenia (Art. 7, LC).
Some categories are excluded from its scope, such as public servants who
are covered by the Civil Service Act of 2001.
Contracts of employment
Article 83 of the LC defines the contract of employment as an agreement,
according to which an employee undertakes to perform specified work for an
employer in return for remuneration.
A contract of employment cannot contain any condition less favourable to
workers than those stipulated by labour law. If a contract of employment
contains such provisions, they are deemed invalid (Art. 6, LC).
Any contract of employment must be in writing (Art. 85, LC).
Contracts of employment can be concluded (Art. 94, LC) either:
- for
an indefinite period of time (in the absence of any provisions limiting
its validity), or
- for
a fixed term (the contract specifies the duration of its validity).
There
are some legislative limitations for the use of fixed-term employment contracts
whose duration must not exceed five years (Art. 95, LC).
The probationary period may be stipulated, under certain conditions, on
the conclusion of the contract of employment. During the probation, all provisions
of labour legislation apply to the worker concerned. In principle, the duration
of the probationary period cannot exceed three months, although, in certain
cases, Armenian legislation may establish a probationary period of up to
six months. During the probationary period, both parties of the contract
of employment, e.g. employer and employee, are entitled to terminate the
employment contract with a three-day written notice (Arts. 91-93, LC).
Articles 97 to 101 of the LC detail other types of contracts of employment,
namely, for home, seasonal and temporary work.
Termination of employment
An employment contract can be terminated, not at the
initiative of the employer, in certain circumstances, including:
- by
mutual agreement;
- at
the employee’s initiative;
- at
the expiry of a fixed-term contract;
- the
worker’s death, or, if the employer is an individual, the death of the
employer (Arts. 127-128, LC).
The termination of a contract of employment may intervene
at the initiative of the worker, provided that a 14 days’ written notice
is respected (Art. 112 of the LC). The notice period is reduced to five days,
in particular, in case of occupational disease of the employee, other good
causes stipulated in collective agreements, or non-respect of legal provisions
by the employer.
Dismissal
The termination of a contract of employment may intervene at the initiative
of the employer (Art. 113, LC):
- if
the enterprise ceases to exist;
- in
case of the employer’s bankruptcy;
- for
economic, structural or technological reasons;
- for
professional incompetence of the worker (Art. 120, LC);
- on
the grounds of worker’s misconduct (Art. 121, LC);
- in
case of loss of confidence towards the worker (Art. 122, LC);
- in
case of temporary absence of the worker because of illness (more than 120
days or 140 days during the last 12 months),
- if
the workers reaches the retirement age.
In case of dismissals on the grounds of the worker’s professional incompetence
or for economic reasons, the employer is required to propose any other work,
if available, which could fit the worker.
The employer is prohibited to dismiss his/her workers, in particular during
temporary absence of the worker such as for sick, civil service, on leave
or in legal strike (Art. 114(1), LC).
The following reasons for termination of employment contracts are unlawful
(Art. 114(4), LC):
- union
membership or participation in trade union activities outside working hours
or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours;
- acting
as workers’ representatives;
- the
filing of complaints against the employer involving alleged violations
of laws or collective agreements;
- sex,
race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, marital status,
family responsibilities, political or other beliefs, membership in political
parties and public associations
- age,
exception made for cases when the worker is entitled to retirement benefits.
Dismissals are deemed collective if they concern, during the period of two
consecutive months, the termination of employment of more than ten per cent
of the whole workforce, but not less than ten employees (Art. 116, LC).
Some protection in case of dismissal is guaranteed to the pregnant women
and workers with family responsibilities (Art. 117, LC).
The disciplinary dismissal of an employee is authorised after two disciplinary
sanctions taken within one year or in case of gross misconduct (Art. 121,
LC). Gross misconduct is constituted by, among others, violations of constitutional
rights, sexual harassment, being in a state of drunkenness or under influence
of narcotic drugs during working hours, one-day absence without good reasons,
refusal of compulsory medical examination (Art. 221, LC).
Notice and prior procedural safeguards
The contract of employment may be terminated by mutual agreement of both
parties, provided that a seven-day written notice is respected (Art. 110,
LC).
A fixed-term contract of employment is terminated on its expiration (Art.
111, LC). Before the date of expiration, both parties must comply with the
requirement of ten-day written notice.
The advance notice must be in writing and the employer is required to indicate
the reasons for termination of employment relationship (Art. 115, LC).
As regards dismissals for economic reasons and in case of the enterprise’s
liquidation, the employer has to inform the workers concerned at least two
months in advance.
In case of collective redundancies, the employer must inform, at least three
months in advance, the public employment service and the workers’ representative
about the number of workers likely to be affected (Art. 116, LC).
The notice period is of two weeks in case of dismissals on the grounds of
the worker’s incompetence or retirement age.
Individual employment contracts and collective agreements may provide for
longer periods of advance notice.
In case of non-respect of notice requirements, the employer must pay compensation
in lieu.
The employer is not entitled to dismiss an elected representative of the
workers without prior consent of the labour inspector (Art. 119, LC).
The procedure for disciplinary dismissal requires the employer to request
the employee’s written explanation. The disciplinary sanctions can be applied
within some limited periods of time which are, depending on certain conditions,
from one month to one year from the date of violation of the discipline (Arts.
226-227, LC).
Severance pay
In case of dismissal for economic reasons, the worker is allowed to one
month’s severance pay.
A two-week severance allocation is paid under certain specific circumstances,
such as the dismissal of the worker because of retirement, professional incompetence
or military service.
These amounts of severance pay may be increased by collective agreements
(Art. 129, LC).
Avenues for redress
Chapter 24 of the LC details the settlement of labour disputes. Individual
disputes concerning contracts of employment are to be dealt with in the courts,
following the procedure established by the Civil Procedure Code (Art. 264,
LC).
In Armenia, there are no specialized
labour courts and labour disputes are dealt with in the ordinary civil judiciary
system.
Further information
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