Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian parliament discusses the issue of making amendments to the Labor Code aiming at making a transition to a 6-day working week.

Chairman of Standing Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs Hakob Hakobyan informed at the session of the parliament today that these amendments provide for transition to a 6-day working week with preservation of the volume of work hours – 40 hours a week. According to him, the work of certain enterprises requires uninterrupted nature, and the working week does not provide employers the chance to maneuver the work schedule and secure a normal operational cycle of the enterprise. 

According to the current legislation, 5-day working week is established in Armenia, providing for two off days a week, and employers, who establish 6-day working week, including in the sphere of trade, are obliged to make additional payments.

“Dashnaktsutiun” MP Artsvik Minasyan criticized the presentment amendments.

“The amendments presented today evidence that the parliament is servicing the interests of many entrepreneurs and as long as business is directly represented in the National Assembly, the rights of ordinary workers will not be taken into account”, Artsvik Minasyan stated.

He also pointed to the threat of exploitation of labor force by the employers, “who, instead of providing for new workplaces, try to secure higher production volumes”.