Azerbaijan Parliament's standing committee on social policy develops a Code of Social Security. "A number of laws on social security of population were adopted, as well as the draft law on social services was developed in Azerbaijan, but unifying all social laws in one code would be more appropriate," said the head of the commission Hadi Rajabli. According to him, the draft Code of Social Security will be ready by the end of the year.
Indeed, the massive legal and regulatory framework hampers the proper work of employees of governmental agencies, local self-governments and organizations with the rules governing social relations. Experts do not always have the opportunity to quickly get acquainted with the current version of the package of social laws, since many changes and additions were made to them; To view the texts of normative legal acts, which reflect all the changes, is possible only through special legal framework on a commercial basis.
All these testify advantages of adopting a single codified act - Social Code or the Code of Social Security. Codification, as a process of legislative activity, which resulted in revising the entire regulatory framework, is capable of solving problems with outdated standards. Within this work the difference between various standards is eliminated, outdated and inappropriate regulations are removed, the existing normative and legal acts are associated a unified structure of legal regulations is formed.
This Code was adopted in many countries, mainly in EU countries. Thus, over the last century, the struggle for social rights played a prominent role in the development of the European continent. Despite the successes achieved in many spheres, not all Europeans have these rights. In 1999, the Council of Europe began to work on projects designed to find solutions to many problems faced by citizens in the process of realization of their rights of social protection, housing, health and education. The Council of Europe's legal instrument in this regard includes the European Social Charter and the European Code of Social Security.
European Social Charter guarantees a number of fundamental social rights. The European Code of Social Security and the Protocol thereto guarantee a minimum level of social protection, including medical care, allowance for sickness and employment injury, maternity benefits and childcare. Such agreements as the Convention on Social Security, social and medical assistance and legal status of migrant workers are greater international mobility of workers and their families, their integration into host countries without compromising their cultural identity.
A wide range of social issues, including basic human rights, minimum wages, industrial relations, employment, social dialogue, social protection and others, are connected by certain conventions of the International Labor Organization. Azerbaijan is one of the countries that have ratified a large number of conventions on human rights. However, the ratification of ILO conventions is not a formal recognition of the principles contained in the conventions. It is country's undertaking certain obligations and their fulfillment.
The practice demonstrates the difficulties in applying the conventions, ratified without a proper analysis of national legislation and the preliminary preparation of the regulatory legal acts. A comparative analysis of numerous different regulatory legal acts of social legislation is much more difficult than the legal review of their compliance with ratified conventions.
In preparing the Code of Social Security of Population, the government must analyze and reassess the possibility of using the rules of relevant ILO conventions.
In order to ensure conformity of the draft Code of Social Security, it is advisable to fully explore and implement the recommendations of international organizations, although, of course, fundamentals must be the level of economic development and financial opportunities.
The draft Code must comply with the European Code of Social Security, envisaging the order of rendering:
- Medical care;
- Assistance for sickness, unemployment and old age;
- Assistance in case of injury;
- Assistance to families with children, maternity, invalidity, death of breadwinner, for burial.
Clearly was demonstrated the adherence to the universally recognized principles of international law signed by Azerbaijan in January 2004 (the European Social Charter). The level of guarantees provided by domestic law and by the existing international treaties of Azerbaijan in most cases coincides with the level outlined in the original, and in the new edition of the Charter. It needs to ratify the maximum possible number of its provisions, which will establish clear guidelines for further reforms in the social sphere, taking into account generally accepted international standards and using the generalized experience of European countries.
Today, an important role is played by the documents containing regulatory requirements, political line and procedures to ensure the social responsibility of organizations, primarily in the spheres defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other organizations.
Social responsibility is a broad term that covers such issues as ecology, social justice, equality. It seems that organizations are obliged to take responsibility in three spheres - finance, the impact of activities of organizations on society and environment, environmental impact. This is applied not only to business, but also to government and public organizations.
Responding to the need for regulation, a number of social, industrial and other companies, as well as management services, the U.S. and Europe have created a consensus first international standard of "Social responsibility" (SA 8000: 1997). Its ideological basis is the principles, stipulated in the documents of international organizations, with regards to to forced and child labor, equal payment for male and female labor, freedom of association, health, etc. The requirements of the standard can be applied to any geographical regions, industries and businesses that must comply with them, develop and implement policies, procedures and methods for managing these problems and demonstrate their compliance with the requirements of the standard.SA 8000 reflects only one of the possible methodologies for management of social responsibility. It was built on the same systematic approach as ISO 9000 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management), but differs from them in the basic importance of the applied assessment indicators.
International standard SA 8000 is important and modern. The standard is based on the principles of many ILO Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, management process and contains the following 9 requirements:
1) minimum age;
2) prohibition of forced labor;
3) basic standards for health and safety of staff;
4) freedom of assembly and the right to organize;
5) prohibition of discrimination on grounds of race, caste, national origin, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, membership to unions or political associations;
6) prohibition of disciplinary punishment;
7) the minimum number of working hours;
8) the minimum wage;
9) Management system.
The need for compliance with the requirements of the standard of social responsibility must also be reflected in the Code of Social Security.
It seems essential that taking into account the implementation of financial and economic feasibility, the project must correspond with international labor and social standards, get an endorsement of ILO experts and could be as soon as possible debated in Parliament. The implementation of its provisions will attract the attention of state authorities, government, local governments, social partners - trade unions and employers associations - to a more constructive solution of the constitutional targets of a worthy life for citizens of Azerbaijan.
