Idle time is the temporary suspension of activity in an enterprise due to production, technical, economic, or irresistible reasons, in accordance with Article 169 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
elchi reports, citing yenisabah, that during this process, in accordance with parts 1 and 2 of Article 169 of the Labor Code, if reasons beyond the employee’s control occur, the employer is obliged to pay the employee at least 2/3 of their tariff salary (66.6%).
This means that if the employee is not at fault for the work stoppage, they lose a maximum of 1/3 of their salary (33.3%), and the remaining 2/3 is absolutely received according to the regulation of the Code. Situations such as power outages, equipment failure, raw material shortages, reduced orders, or natural disasters are all considered faultless idle time and are subject to the 2/3 payment rule according to Article 169.
If the work stoppage occurs directly due to the employee’s disciplinary violation, disregard for rules, or equipment damage, in accordance with part 3 of Article 169 of the Labor Code, no salary is paid for that period. During the idle time, management, in accordance with the spirit of Articles 62 and 169 of the Labor Code, may deem it inappropriate for employees to be at the workplace and temporarily send them home.
Sending an employee home does not mean they are being put on unpaid leave as provided for in Articles 128–130 of the Labor Code, and the right to 2/3 payment according to Article 169 is fully preserved during their time at home. Forcing an employee to write a leave request at their own expense (unpaid) under the guise of idle time is a gross violation of the requirements of Article 130 of the Labor Code and labor legislation.
For this process to be legally recognized, the employer must draw up an act indicating the start time and issue an official order in accordance with Article 173 of the Labor Code and record-keeping procedures. The official order must clearly state the specific reason for the idle time, the employees covered, whether they are sent home or not, and the payment terms based on Article 169 of the Labor Code.
Sending an employee home verbally with the statement “there is no work, go home” and cutting their salary at the end of the month is illegal; if there is no official order, this situation is considered the employer’s fault according to Article 172 of the Labor Code, and the employee must be paid their full salary (100%). As an alternative, the employer has the right to transfer the employee to another job within the enterprise for a period of 1 month without their consent, in accordance with Article 60 of the Labor Code.
According to part 2 of Article 60 of the Labor Code, when transferred to another job, the employee is paid the salary for the new job, but this amount cannot be less than their previous average salary.