The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia has developed and distributed the draft Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Making Amendments and Additions to the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia".
   In the submitted Draft, it is proposed to make changes and additions to Part 2 of Article 124 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia, according to which it is proposed to exclude the words “training sessions” from Part 2 and add a new sentence with the following content: “When an employee is involved in the announced training sessions for a period not exceeding 30 calendar days, the employee retains wages in cases stipulated by the agreement between the employee and the employer or a collective or labor contract, but not less than 50 percent of the employee's average daily earnings calculated for the days of participation in training sessions.
  With these changes and additions proposed by the project, the employer will be given the opportunity not to pay the employee during the announced training sessions, and also not to include a clause on the payment of wages to the employee participating in the announced training sessions in the collective or labor contract.
The Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA) objects to the Draft, since the provision proposed by the Draft does not comply with the regulation established by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On military service and the status of military personnel”, and also proposes to determine the procedure and amount of payment of wages to military personnel participating in the training camps, thereby emphasizing the need to create a combat-ready army in the Republic of Armenia and provide the army with trained personnel, as well as the importance of social security for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.
The CTUA proposes to keep the average salary of an employee involved in training sessions in accordance with the law throughout the entire period of the announced training sessions, as well as to pay the difference between the rate accrued for the military position held and the rate determined by the employment contract to those participating in the training sessions.
Taking into account that employers may have an additional financial burden, the CTUA proposes the state to compensate the employer for the wages paid to the employee during the period of sessions or to pay the employee during the period of session from the accrued income tax, as defined by the RA Law “Benefits for temporary disability and on pregnancy and childbirth”.
The agenda of the meeting of the Government of the Republic of Armenia on March 23, 2023 includes a completely revised version of the Draft, according to which only additions will be made to Article 124 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia.
 According to the draft presented at the meeting of the Government of the Republic of Armenia on March 23, 2023, labor relations with an employee in the performance of military duties, training, military exercises, participation in military exercises or conscription for military service will be regulated not only in the manner prescribed by law, but also with Article 124 of the RA Labor Code. According to the aforementioned draft, it is also proposed to supplement Article 124 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia with a new part 2.1 as follows:
 “2.1. When an employee is involved in training sessions for up to 30 calendar days, the employer continues to pay wages for each working day, as well as at least the positive difference in the monetary security calculated for employees as a military serviceman on the days of participation in training sessions (in the case of piecework wages - average salary excluding bonuses). When participating in the training sessions for more than 30 days, the employee's salary is established by agreement between the employee and the employer or under the terms of a collective or labor agreement.
 At the same time, by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 385-A dated March 23, 2023, the legislative initiative of the Republic of Armenia regarding the draft law "On Making Additions to the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia" was approved and recognized as urgent and submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in the prescribed manner. that all employees participating in training sessions for up to 30 calendar days or more than 30 calendar days be paid at least the positive difference between the base rate and the monetary security calculated for the employee as a military serviceman for the days of participation in training sessions to be established by the Labor Code Republic of Armenia.