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Company Wants to Cut Salary of Pregnant Mom Eight-Fold
Ararat Davtyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/21526/company-wants-to-cut-salary-of-pregnant-mom-eight-fold.html
11:00, December 14, 2012
Gohar Gharibyan has worked as a financial supervisor at Armenian
Datacom Company since July 2010.
On November 12, the young wife informed the communications services
company that she was pregnant and that she'd be taking a six month
leave of work.
Two days later, Vardan Kopyan, the company's interim executive
director, told Gohar that the terms of her employment contract would
be drastically altered as of December 17 and that her monthly salary
would be cut eight fold.
The company is proposing that Gohar work one hour a day instead of
eight for a five day work week. Kopyan told her the new terms were a
result of internal financial and employment restructuring.
Gohar wrote to management asking for further clarification but hasn't
received any response. Hetq has also tried to get in touch with Kopyan
but we keep getting told by employees that he's in conference and
can't be reached. It seems that no one else in the company is
authorized to comment on the matter.
The company also informed Gohar that if she didn't agree to the new
terms it would consider her work contract invalidated.
Gohar states that, `The RA Labor Code prohibits an employer from
invalidating an employment contract with a pregnant woman. At the same
time, Article 105 allows an employer from making substantial changes
to the contract, and if the employee doesn't agree to them, the
employer can invalidate the contract. That's what they want to do to
me.'
Attorney Tigran Yegoryan told Hetq that it's a case of legal
connivance that the law prohibits. `You can't employ legal rights to
inflict harm on a citizen.' Referring to the RA Labor Code, Yegoryan
states that an employer is not allowed under any pretence, even a
substantial change of working conditions, to invalidate a contract
with a pregnant woman.
The attorney states that an employer cannot arbitrarily terminate a
work contract for a period of one month after the completion of a
maternity leave.
The RA Labor Code also sets down specific deadlines for when an
employee must be notified regarding substantial changes to work
condition.
Yegoryan argues that in the case of Gohar, an employee that has been
with Armenian Datacom from one to five years, the employer must inform
the employee 35 days in advance and in writing. `They just can't
inform her a mere two days after she sent in the pregnancy notice,' he
says.
In its Facebook page, Armenian Datacom writes that Gohar Gharibyan is
free to take the matter to the courts if she believes her rights have
been violated.
That's exactly what Gohar intends to do. She believes the company has
cut her hours and her high wage rate merely to avoid hefty pregnancy
allowances while she's on maternity leave.
Attorney Yegoryan agrees. `Whatever justification the company presents
for substantially changing the employment conditions, it's all
contrived. It's no mere coincidence that the company notified her of
the changes only after she informed management that she was pregnant.'
Ararat Davtyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/21526/company-wants-to-cut-salary-of-pregnant-mom-eight-fold.html
11:00, December 14, 2012
Gohar Gharibyan has worked as a financial supervisor at Armenian
Datacom Company since July 2010.
On November 12, the young wife informed the communications services
company that she was pregnant and that she'd be taking a six month
leave of work.
Two days later, Vardan Kopyan, the company's interim executive
director, told Gohar that the terms of her employment contract would
be drastically altered as of December 17 and that her monthly salary
would be cut eight fold.
The company is proposing that Gohar work one hour a day instead of
eight for a five day work week. Kopyan told her the new terms were a
result of internal financial and employment restructuring.
Gohar wrote to management asking for further clarification but hasn't
received any response. Hetq has also tried to get in touch with Kopyan
but we keep getting told by employees that he's in conference and
can't be reached. It seems that no one else in the company is
authorized to comment on the matter.
The company also informed Gohar that if she didn't agree to the new
terms it would consider her work contract invalidated.
Gohar states that, `The RA Labor Code prohibits an employer from
invalidating an employment contract with a pregnant woman. At the same
time, Article 105 allows an employer from making substantial changes
to the contract, and if the employee doesn't agree to them, the
employer can invalidate the contract. That's what they want to do to
me.'
Attorney Tigran Yegoryan told Hetq that it's a case of legal
connivance that the law prohibits. `You can't employ legal rights to
inflict harm on a citizen.' Referring to the RA Labor Code, Yegoryan
states that an employer is not allowed under any pretence, even a
substantial change of working conditions, to invalidate a contract
with a pregnant woman.
The attorney states that an employer cannot arbitrarily terminate a
work contract for a period of one month after the completion of a
maternity leave.
The RA Labor Code also sets down specific deadlines for when an
employee must be notified regarding substantial changes to work
condition.
Yegoryan argues that in the case of Gohar, an employee that has been
with Armenian Datacom from one to five years, the employer must inform
the employee 35 days in advance and in writing. `They just can't
inform her a mere two days after she sent in the pregnancy notice,' he
says.
In its Facebook page, Armenian Datacom writes that Gohar Gharibyan is
free to take the matter to the courts if she believes her rights have
been violated.
That's exactly what Gohar intends to do. She believes the company has
cut her hours and her high wage rate merely to avoid hefty pregnancy
allowances while she's on maternity leave.
Attorney Yegoryan agrees. `Whatever justification the company presents
for substantially changing the employment conditions, it's all
contrived. It's no mere coincidence that the company notified her of
the changes only after she informed management that she was pregnant.'