BAKU, Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani lawmaker Razi Nurullayev has proposed gradually shortening the workday by improving productivity, arguing that employers should focus more on results than on the hours employees spend at their desks.
Nurullayev made the proposal during an Oct. 16 plenary session of the Milli Majlis as lawmakers discussed amendments to the Labor Code. He did not specify a shorter daily limit, a timetable for any change or whether wages would remain unchanged.
The remarks were a parliamentary proposal, not an announced government decision. Nurullayev also did not call for a four-day workweek.
Productivity Instead of Time at the Desk
Nurullayev said eight hours at a workplace do not necessarily amount to eight equally productive hours. He called for closer examination of why work completed within hours at some foreign companies can take days at local enterprises.
In his assessment, weak management, poor organization and unnecessary bureaucracy can be as important as employee performance in causing delays.
“The main issue should be what result an employee achieves during the day,” he said, according to reports of the parliamentary debate.
Flexible Hours Are a Separate Proposal
The lawmaker also supported wider use of flexible schedules when the nature of the job permits. One option, he said, would allow employees to begin one or two hours earlier and leave by the same amount of time.
That arrangement would redistribute working hours rather than reduce them. Nurullayev acknowledged that flexible schedules would not be practical in every sector, particularly jobs requiring continuous service or fixed operating hours.
Under Azerbaijan’s current general rule, normal working time may not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. The Labor Ministry calculated the country’s 2026 annual work norm at 1,922 hours for a five-day, 40-hour week.
A separate two-month pilot began Sept. 15 at selected state bodies and state-controlled entities in Baku and surrounding areas. It uses staggered schedules of 8 a.m.-5 p.m., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. to study traffic effects, but it does not reduce total working hours.
Sources: Vesti Baku; Anews.az; Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection on the 2026 working-time norm and the flexible-hours pilot.