I’m against’ urges employers not to make deductions from salaries

“I’m against’ civil initiative urges all employers to adhere to the January 24 procedural decision of Armenia’s Constitutional Court and not to make deductions from salaries of employees under the pretext of making compulsory payments to accumulative pension funds.

The initiative issued a statement saying:

“The Constitutional Court of Armenia on January 24, 2014, took a decision to suspend Article 76 part 3 and Article 86 of the Law on Accumulative Pensions until the end of hearings on constitutionality of Articles 5, 7, 8, 37, 38, 45, 49, and 86 of the Law on Accumulative Pensions.

It means that the persons who previously assumed an obligation to make compulsory payments to accumulative funds (including tax agents) bear no responsibility for nonpayment of accumulative contributions or delayed payment – until the end of the court examination. The participants of the compulsory component currently do not assume an obligation to make payments to accumulative pension funds or choose a fund manager.

In view of the aforesaid, we urge you to take the mentioned decision of the Constitutional Court as a basis and refrain from observing the requirements of the articles indicated in it, namely - not to make any deductions from salaries of your employees under the pretext of making contributions to an accumulative pension fund”.

The initiative calls upon employers not to “become involved in an illegal deal, which was repeatedly mentioned by citizens, including the Armenian ombudsman, the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, human rights activists, and members of four parliamentary actions”.

“The Constitutional Court will examine the application on March 28 and there is a strong probability that the court will recognize the disputable provisions of the law as anti-constitutional and invalidate them”, the statement notes.