Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Armenia (Ratification: 2004)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA) communicated with the Government’s report.

Article 11 of the Convention. Compensation of industrial accidents in the event of the insolvency of the employer or insurer. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures, without further delay, to ensure that the 800 injured workers employed by companies liquidated after 2004 who, following the adoption of Governmental Decision No. 1094-N of 2004, had not been paid compensation, be duly compensated. The Committee notes the indication by the Government that there are currently around 210 employees of liquidated companies who are entitled to compensation for a work-related accident but who have not yet been compensated, because of the non-existence of the subsequent proprietors of the liquidated companies. The Committee further notes that, according to the Government, new measures are under discussion, with a view to implementing the right to compensation of the persons concerned. In this regard, the Committee notes the indication by the CTUA that the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues has submitted for public discussion a draft law on amendments and changes to the Civil Code, that would provide for the payment of compensation out of the State Budget for workers who have not received any compensation following a work-related accident or occupational disease. Recalling that it has been raising this issue since 2013, the Committee urges the Government to provide compensation for the above-mentioned workers currently seeking it, and for similarly situated workers henceforth. In this connection, the Committee expects that the Government will soon report on the adoption of measures necessary to ensure the due and effective compensation of injured workers and their dependents in the event of the insolvency of the employer or insurer and requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

The Committee has been informed that, based on the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM Tripartite Working Group), the Governing Body has decided that member States for which the Convention is in force should be encouraged to ratify the more recent Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121), or the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), and accept its Part VI (see GB.328/LILS/2/1). Conventions Nos 121 and 102 reflect the more modern approach to employment injury benefits. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to follow up the Governing Body’s decision at its 328th Session (October–November 2016) approving the recommendations of the SRM Tripartite Working Group and to consider ratifying Convention No. 121 or Convention No. 102 (Part VI) as the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2021.]