August. Heat. The last month of summer beats temperature records. Forecasts on the expected high temperature in August (when some days it reaches more than 41 ° in the shade) by the Hydrometeorological Forecasts Bureau of the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry's National Hydrometeorological Department are confirmed. In this regard, nearly half of the economically active population of Azerbaijan is now on vacation, avoiding the debilitating sun. But what about those who have enough time till the next holiday or vacation has not put?
In this case, the republic's labor code helps these people. Based on the amendments to the Labor Code (LC) of Azerbaijan Republic made in 2009, specifically in Article 233 of the Code, people should not work in the sun and outdoors, as well as in closed unventilated places at temperatures above 41 degrees. Work must be stopped on these days, or a break should be given to workers with opportunities to cool. If the employee is given a break, he / she will be paid in accordance with the tariff card, but if the work is stopped, the employee shall be paid not less than two thirds of the tariff wage. Where a work stoppage is not possible due to the continuous nature of production, cessation of work is replaced by the establishment of alternating shifts. Alternating shifts determined by the employer in consultation with the trade union organization.
Section 233. Cold-weather Work Interruptions and Stoppages
1. When employees work at low temperatures, outside under windy conditions, during very cold weather, or when they work in closed, unheated buildings, they shall be given breaks to warm up or else the work shall be stopped.
2. Employees shall be issued breaks in the manner established hereof when they are working at hot and open workplaces where the temperature is over 45 °C or less than 14 °C and work stopped.
3. Temperatures and wind velocity necessitating breaks or work stoppages shall be defined in Addendum Two hereto.
4. Breaks shall be counted as paid work time, and employee salary during these breaks shall be calculated on the basis of the employee's regular salary.
5. If work is stopped, wages for the idle time shall be paid on the grounds that the stoppage is not the employees' fault. Wages shall be no less than two-thirds of the employees' regular wage.
Earlier, the LC stipulated termination of all kind of works performed in the open air and enclosed spaces, rooms and other places of work without cooling devices in weather conditions, when the temperature exceeded 45 degrees Celsius. The code was amended on the basis of monitoring held for five years. The Ministries of Justice and Finance, the Parliament, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs and the Trade Unions Confederation took part in the monitoring.
The Labor and Social Protection Ministry and State Labor Inspectorate has been investigating the organization of labor in hot weather in Baku since summer, and take steps to stop work in the open air under the scorching sun. In particular, construction companies are not encouraged to work in the daylight hours outdoors during the day in the days when the recorded temperature is above 35 degrees, and instructed to ban the activities at a temperature above 41 degrees. If the company continues to operate at a temperature of 41 degrees, then it violates the law and the relevant agencies will fine the company for violation. Most employers want to reduce working hours, have more short breaks, use special sun hats and ensure the workforce drinks.
If an employee faces trouble during the work with because of overheating, all liability falls on the shoulders of the employer. Therefore, the employer should be interested in taking all appropriate measures to ensure that its employee did not receive sunlight or heat stroke in the workplace. And those construction companies and institutions that are not aware of the requirements of labor law were notified of termination of work during the peak hours of solar activity, and they were notified of the ban on conduct of work at 41 degrees Celsius.
It was encouraging to hear that, following the State Labour Inspectorate's raids aimed to reveal fact of the exploitation of the labor force at a temperature above 41 degrees, no such cases were identified. Because, so far, Azerbaijan has not registered temperatures above 41 degrees on weekdays. Somehow, a "smart environment" reaches such a degree of heat at the weekend. Therefore, as the state officials say, there was o need to stop work in a factory. Therefore no violation of the rules of work in the open air was reported. However, the raids would continue until the end of the summer season, especially if the air temperature rises above 41 degrees. If such facts revealed, the decision for an immediate cessation of work will be adopted. In repeated cases, employers will be attracted to the administrative responsibility
Based on the LC, in places, where the work can not be suspended, even in spite of temperature records, for instance, the natural gas industry, fire service, police, ambulance, etc., number of shifts should be increased so that people relaxed more. If you normally operate two shifts, then under such weather conditions, number of shifts should be increased to three or four.
The trade unions play important role in the performance requirements of labor legislation on the rules of work in the heat. For example, when the temperature goes over the line marked in the legislation, the Azerbaijani Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC) has the right to take action. Thus, the Confederation warned all businesses. If the temperature reaches a critical point, but the employer is not complied with the rules of work, particularly, there are no soft conditions, then the union appeals to the employer regarding the suspension of work. But this break is not defined by law. Break depends on temperature and operating mode. If the employer did not reply to the trade union, then ATUC has the right to appeal in this regard in the relevant structures. In organizations where there is no trade union, ensuring workers' rights is either on the conscience of the employer, or education of workers, most likely in their courage to defend their rights, referring to the labor laws.
All of the above relates to outdoor work. Of course, it might seem that office workers have nothing to complain about, because there are many more heavy types of work that require a permanent stay in the open air or in production facilities with a high temperature. But in these cases, workers receive different compensations for work in harmful conditions, such as increased leave, bonuses, early retirement. Private office staff - accountant, secretary, economist, manager, programmer, designer, etc. - can not claim compensation.
But, the LC also reflects articles in connection of this matter. Thus, under the Article 215 of the Labor Code establishes the duties of the employer to ensure safe working conditions and labor protection. According to this article, the employer is obliged to meet the requirements of occupational safety conditions at each workplace.
Unfortunately, we could not find the temperature conditions meeting the regulatory requirements of work in the offices of Azerbaijan. But, will cite examples on the data on the Hygienic requirements for the microclimate of production room (Sanitary Norms and Rules .2.4.548-96 - SaN PiN) of Russia. The SanPiN regulations entail a reduction of working hours (while a staff member at the workplace), depending on the category of works on the energy costs and the level exceeding the maximum allowable temperature in the room.
Category Ia or Ib is applied for office workers in Russia. When temperature is already 28.5 degrees at the room, they should not be located in the workplace for more than 7 hours. For higher temperatures SanPiN also regulates the duration of the shift, up to a temperature of 32.5 degrees, which can work no more than 1 hour. Accordingly, at an ambient temperature of 33 degrees and more, work for this category of workers is prohibited. Incidentally, similar restrictions is applied for temperatures that go below the lower acceptable range (less than 20 degrees for a category of works Ia), which is especially important for system administrators and engineers conducting a lot of time in the server.
Thus, when the temperature rises every half a degree the length of stay in the workplace is actually reducing for one hour. At 32.5 degrees stay in the room is one hour and at a temperature above 32.5 degrees this is already not regarded as the temperature at which it is possible to stay in the workplace.
The law established more stringent requirements for women. Thus, according to the Russian hygienic requirements to work conditions of women (SanPiN 2.2.0.555-96), women employed in jobs category Ia or Ib, may reduce the working day up to 7 hours at a temperature in the workplace at 27.5 degrees during the warm season and does not operate at temperatures 31 degrees.
Perhaps such a temperature spectrum is overregulated in the Azerbaijani offices, maybe, with the difference of 2-3 degrees. But the problem lies in the fact that under the registered norms, an employer is free to decide what concessions it will make on these hot days. These rules require Multiversion actions by employer. For example, he makes frequent breaks. Hour work, 15 minutes cooled. Or an employer may enter another mode: to reduce working hours by a half-hour and two and so on without rest. But if the employer does neither the one nor the other, or third, he breaks the law. For this he may be fined.
Even if this measure does not help, and office work is still unbearable, the Labour Code has provided yet another opportunity: in self-defense, the employee may refuse to work in conditions that threaten his health (Art. 238). One should only write to the employer or his immediate supervisor a written statement that he was in self-employment rights to refuse to work.
Better yet, follow the example of neighboring Iran. There, the state officially declares a day off if unprecedented heat is observed in the country.