The majority of employees of airports in Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulob, Bokhtar and Khorog as well as Tajik Air Navigation Company have been sent on unpaid vacation amid coronavirus concerns. Human rights activists say the companies must pay salaries to them according to the staff payroll.
Employees of Dushanbe International Airport complain that they have been put on unpaid leave.
“The majority of employees of Dushanbe International Airport have been sent on unpaid vacation. For example, seven of eight employees of our department have been put on unpaid leave. Some of them have no money to cover living expenses. We do not know what to do and who to turn to,” one of employees of Dushanbe International Airport told Asia-Plus on an anonymous basis.
Dushanbe International Airport management says the employees have been put on leave due to suspension of the airport shutdown and lack of flights. “About 70-80 percent of employees of Dushanbe International Airport have been put on unpaid leave for the period of 15-20 days,” the airport press center
According to a reliable source in the civil aviation system, the majority of employees of airports in Khujand, Kulob, Bokhtar and Khorog as well as Tajik Air Navigation Company have also been sent on unpaid vacation.
Tajikistan’s privately owned air carrier Somon Air has confirmed that most of their employees have also been put on unpaid leave.
Meanwhile, human rights activists say that if in the event of downtime employees are put on leave on the initiative of the employers, the employers must pay salaries to them according to the staff payroll in accordance with Article 33 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Tajikistan.
