Armenia
[Updated 6/14/25] The number one employee benefit that people in Armenia care about is health insurance, as the costs are very high. It’s also important to note that 60% of insurance premium costs are related to outpatient claims.
Country Insight
Average Cost
The average cost for employee benefits in Armenia is 9,200 Drams per employee per month.
Employee Benefits in Armenia
Employee benefits in Armenia include pension, paid time off, and employment insurance, which includes personal accident, healthcare, and travel insurance. Personal employment insurance is not mandatory in the country; it is optional. Employee perks are not standard in the country.
Pension
In 2010, the government in Yerevan passed a law introducing a mandatory funded pension pillar for all those born after 1974. However, when the law took effect in January 2014, critics from the opposition parties challenged it in the Constitutional Court, arguing that people should be able to decide for themselves what happens to their savings.
As of July 1, 2014, mandatory contributions to pension funds applied to both Armenian and foreign citizens born after January 1, 1974 (inclusive). However, employees were allowed to refuse the payment of social contributions until July 1, 2018, by submitting an appropriate application before December 25, 2014. However, employees working in the public sector and those who were not employed as of July 1, 2014, may not refuse to pay social security payments.
As of July 1, 2018, all employees, notaries, and individual entrepreneurs born after January 1, 1974, were required to start making funded pension contributions.
The maximum threshold for calculating the pension contribution is now AMD 1,125,000—15 times the minimum monthly salary of AMD 75,000 (as of January 1, 2023, the monthly minimum wage increased from AMD 68,000 to AMD 75,000).
From January 1, 2023, the pension contribution payment is calculated as follows:
- 5% of the monthly gross salary if it is less than AMD 500,000.
- 10% of the monthly gross salary (but not more than the maximum threshold) minus AMD 25,000 if the monthly gross salary is more than AMD 500,000 (capped at AMD 87,500).
The primary objective of the fund is to provide participants with a funded pension by securing long-term asset growth for the fund. It has three components:
- State pension
- Mandatory funded pension
- Voluntary funded pension
The State Pension System of the Republic of Armenia has two components:
- Social pension
- Employment pension
The social pension is a defined pension rate that is not based on the payments made. It is funded from the State budget, and its primary objective is to provide a minimum income to pensioners who have no required eligible years of service.
Employment Pension (the first level of the multi-pillar pension system) is the old-age pension, based on the payments made. However, the amount of this pension type is not determined by the payments the person made during their employment years, but by the number of seniority years.
Two asset managers are participating in the system:
- C-Quadrat Ampega Asset Management Armenia, a subsidiary of C-Quadrat Investment in Austria
- Talanx Asset Management in Germany (Amundi-Acba Asset Management)
Participants are free to choose their pension asset manager and the management policy for these assets.
Funded pensions may be paid in the following forms:
1) Annuities
2) Programmed withdrawals and/or
3) Lump sum
Paid Time Off
Maternity / Paternity Pay – Maternity Benefit
Benefits are payable only to the biological mother for a maximum of 3 months.
For working mothers (including self-employed individuals), 140 days of regular labor are allowed, with 70 days before the expected birth date and 70 days afterward. 155 days for complicated labor, with 70 days before the expected birth date and 85 days afterward. 180 days for multiple child deliveries (twins+), with 70 days before the expected birth date and 110 days afterward. Parents who have adopted a child will be granted leave until he/she is 70 days old.
New fathers are entitled to 5 days of paid leave within the first 30 days of the child’s birth.
Employment Insurance
There is no mandatory personal employment insurance; it is only optional. However, most employers grant employees medical insurance. Travel and personal insurance are also available on an optional basis. The primary coverages are:
Personal Accident
- Bodily Injury
- Medical expenses
- Sudden acute poisoning
- Disability (permanent or temporary)
- Death
- Critical illness insurance
Medical
- Annual medical treatment and consultation
- Pregnancy, birth care
- Cardiology
- Chronic diseases
- Dentistry
- Ophthalmology
- Other services
Travel
- Medical expenses, including transportation
- Legal Advice
- Amateur sport injuries
- Loss or damage to baggage
- Public Liability
- Repatriation
Related Government Websites
- Permanent disability and survivor pensions: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
- Medical benefits: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia
This information on mandatory and supplemental employee benefits in Armenia is provided by Asinta’s Central and Eastern European Partner, the GrECo Group.