Payroll and Benefits Guide Azerbaijan

Annual Leave (vacation)

In Azerbaijan, the minimum annual leave entitlement is 21 calendar days.

This entitlement increases in line with the number of years of service within a single company, as follows:

• 5-10 years of service = Additional 2 days of leave per annum
• 10-15 years of service = Additional 4 days of leave per annum
• 15 or more years of service = Additional 6 days of leave per annum

Annual leave can be broken down into multiple leave periods, however, one of the leave periods must be 2 weeks in length.

Additional leave might be mandated for specific categories of workers such as civil servants, teachers, medical staff (granted between 30-56 calendar days) or those working in hazardous conditions (granted a minimum of 6 additional calendar days).

Paid Time Off

In Azerbaijan, employees earn a statutory right to annual paid leave (minimum about 21 days, more for certain roles) under the Labour Code. Unused annual leave does carry over and must be used, rather than automatically expiring at year-end. Employees can generally carry forward unused leave into the next year if they haven’t taken it within the original leave period. There’s no legal basis for a blanket “use-it-or-lose-it” policy that deletes accrued statutory annual leave simply because the year ended. Employers must allow employees to take their earned leave or compensate them for unused leave (e.g., on termination).

Note: Specific procedural rules (e.g., timing for taking carried-over leave) are set by law and may require employer-employee agreement or scheduling within reasonable timeframes.

Public Holidays

There are 24 public holidays in Azerbaijan. In accordance with the resolution, the following days will be considered rest days due to the coincidence of holidays with the weekends:

• 3, 4 January, 25 March, 30 May, 27 June, 11, and 12 July with respect to a five-day working week
• 3 January, 25 March, 27 June, and 11 July with respect to the six-day working week

When a public holiday falls on a weekday, a day off in lieu is generally given on the next working day.

Sick Days

Employees unable to work due to sickness will be paid in full for the first 2 consecutive weeks by the employer. Thereafter, additional consecutive sick leave will be paid by the State Social Protection Fund, calculated based on the employee’s average daily wage, with the payment rate varying between 60%, 80%, or 100%, depending on the employee’s length of social insurance contributions (social seniority).

In order to receive the sick pay benefit, the employee must provide a medical certificate.

Maternity Leave

Female employees are entitled to a total of 126 calendar days of maternity leave, of which 70 calendar days are to be taken prior to the expected due date of the child and 56 calendar days after the birth. For difficult births or multiple births, the maternity leave can be extended for an additional 14 days.

Maternity pay is calculated at 100% of the average of the mother’s previous 12 months’ salary payments and is to be paid by the State Social Protection Fund.

A medical certificate confirming pregnancy and expected delivery date is required to qualify for maternity leave and pay.

Pregnant women or women with young children are also covered under special circumstances in relation to employment law, the main clauses include:

• A pregnant woman or a woman with a child under the age of 3 years old cannot be terminated.
• A pregnant woman or woman with a child under the age of 18 months old is entitled to a reduced workweek. The maximum number of hours permitted is 36 hours a week.
• A pregnant woman or woman with a child under the age of 3 years old cannot be asked to work night shifts.

Paternity Leave

Fathers are entitled to take 14 calendar days of unpaid paternity leave following the birth of a child.

Parental Leave

In Azerbaijan, there are various stipulations for parental rights, inclusive of additional time off should it be required; the main clauses are:

• A woman with two children under the age of 16 is entitled to 2 additional days of paid leave; a woman with 3 or more children under the age of 16 is entitled to 5 days of additional paid leave.
• A woman or single father with children under the age of 16 is entitled to 14 days of unpaid leave per year.
• Female employees adopting children under 2 months of age are entitled to 56 calendar days of social leave.

Other Leave

In Azerbaijan, unpaid leave can be granted to cover special leave requirements such as study leave or bereavement leave.