Layoffs in SOCAR are planned

Baku/30.11.21/Turan: There are layoffs in the Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR). This information has appeared regularly in the press for several years. The last time such allegations took place at the end of April last year. However, SOCAR itself has denied these allegations and announced the implementation of personnel reforms.

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan reported that in connection with optimization measures, 1,674 employees have been "released" to date. It was noted that this concept is also enshrined in legislation. "The Employment Law also states that released workers are persons whose labor relations have been terminated due to the liquidation, reorganization of a state body or legal entity, or a reduction in the number or staff of workers."

The company stressed that although the legislation does not require this, SOCAR offers its employees who were fired or left without work as a result of their social responsibility, other jobs in the company. "

It was noted that laid-off workers are being asked to pay 50 percent of their last average monthly salary every month. “At the same time, the company is offering internal vacancies to these vacated or inactive employees, and external recruitment is limited to recruit them as soon as possible.”

Chairman of the Organization for the Protection of the Rights of Oil Workers Mirvari Gahramanli said that reforms in SOCAR were carried out in 2014 as well. “In 1999, when Natik Aliyev was still the head of SOCAR, production fell, and it was decided to avoid reductions in order to prevent recruitment to the company. In 2006, Rovnag Abdullayev was appointed president of SOCAR, and recruitment began, instead of departments, departments were created, and the number of employees increased sharply."

The human rights activist says that after OPEC + decided to cut oil production, four oil wells were closed in Azerbaijan. "Those who worked there were laid off, calling it optimization. Then they began to conduct illegal exams."

According to him, the employees who were laid off were given a condition. “They said that you receive compensation according to certain rules and register with the employment department. But according to the law, if a person who has been laid off has a land plot, then he is recognized as employed and is not registered. In addition, the agreement of a person who resigns after receiving 5 times the salary as compensation states that he cannot complain to anywhere and will not be able to participate in future competitions announced by SOCAR and its partners.

M. Gahramanli noted that since there is no word “reduction” in the contract of those dismissed and joined the program “Ensuring Employment and Social Sustainability of Released Workers under the SOCAR Program”, then in fact it is impossible to determine the number of dismissed persons. --0--