Azerbaijan.US
Job listings advertising “flexible” or “hybrid” work schedules are increasingly raising concerns among job seekers, as some vacancies effectively offer seven-day workweeks under the guise of remote work.
In many cases, employers specify a format that looks harmless at first glance: five days in the office, with work from home on Saturdays and Sundays. Such conditions are most commonly found in vacancies related to social media management, digital marketing, online sales, content moderation, and platform administration.
Candidates say these formulations are becoming more frequent, especially in roles that require constant online presence and rapid response.
“It’s presented as flexibility, but in reality it leaves no real time to disconnect,” one applicant said. “You’re always expected to be available.”
Why This Is Happening
HR specialists in Azerbaijan explain that this trend is often driven by employers’ attempts to cut costs and avoid hiring additional staff. Instead of building teams or rotating shifts, companies concentrate multiple roles and responsibilities on a single employee.
Fields such as SMM, digital marketing, IT support, media operations, and online customer engagement are particularly vulnerable, as they are often described as requiring “24/7 activity” or “constant monitoring.”
As a result, traditional working hours – such as the standard 9-to-6 schedule – are quietly replaced by expectations of continuous availability.
What the Law Says
Legal experts point out that such arrangements violate labor regulations.
Under labor law, working hours and rest days must be clearly defined in an employment contract. If an employee works five days in the office and is then required to work remotely on weekends, this is considered work on rest days, regardless of location.
In such cases, employees are entitled to:
additional compensation, or
compensatory time off.
A standard five-day workweek must include two full days of rest. Failure to provide these days may result in administrative penalties for employers.
Bottom Line
Schedules described as “five days in the office, weekends from home” are not flexible arrangements – they amount to work without weekends.
Experts advise job seekers to carefully review employment contracts and, if necessary, seek clarification or file complaints with labor authorities when rest days are effectively removed under the label of remote work.
