Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, at a parliamentary session today, said there is no such thing as daily wage workers in Armenia, adding that there are only registered and non-registered employees.

It is no secret that many in Armenia, especially in the retail service trade, work off the books and are not covered by government social programs.

These workers are doubly vulnerable given the current business slump brought on by the coronavirus in Armenia.

Many such individuals work in the cafes and eateries that dot Yerevan, now closed due to government-imposed restrictions and the absence of customers venturing outside. (The government has ordered the closure of all cafes and eateries in the country, except those that can manage deliveries.)

Pashinyan was responding to Prosperous Armenia MP Mikayel Melkoumyan, who asked what the government is planning to do for daily wage earners.

"For the past one and a half years, we have called on citizens to register their employment and income. Those who have done so will experience the benefit in the current situation. We can locate those people, where they work, how much they have been paid in the last year, how much wages they have lost in the last two months. We can calculate how much we need to assist them so that they can survive socio-economically today,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said the government cannot identify those working off the books.

“We have a problem identifying them. We consider them our citizens nonetheless and have an obligation to assist them.  We face problems finding them because they have not paid any income tax,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister insisted that such people cannot prove they had worked because they have not paid taxes and that their income hasn’t been declared in any fashion.

For further reading on the issue, see Hetq article: Coronavirus Hits Armenia’s Service Sector: Day Workers Face Financial Uncertainty