Azerbaijan will observe a total of 16 non-working days in March due to a series of national holidays and official celebrations. According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the month will feature three major holidays, leading to significant breaks in the official work schedule.
The holiday period begins with International Women's Day on March 8. As the date falls on a Sunday this year, the following Monday, March 9, will be a non-working day in accordance with the Labor Code. For those on a five-day work week, this creates a three-day consecutive break. The most significant portion of the month's holidays stems from the Novruz and Ramadan celebrations, which overlap this year. Official Novruz holidays are scheduled for March 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. Since March 21 and 22 fall on Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26 will also be non-working days. Furthermore, because Ramadan falls on March 20 and 21, overlapping with Novruz, March 27 and 30 have been added to the official list of rest days. Consequently, the period from March 20 to March 30 will be entirely non-working, with the first official work day following the holidays being March 31.
In Azerbaijan, the determination of non-working days is governed by the Labor Code, which ensures that if a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following business day is granted as a day of rest. Novruz is one of the most significant and ancient festivals in Azerbaijan, symbolizing the arrival of spring and the renewal of nature. The inclusion of Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic calendar, alongside the traditional Novruz festivities, makes this year's March schedule particularly unique for the country's citizens and the public sector.
