BE A LAWYER OF YOUR LIFE

There are four cash registers at the supermarket, but only one of them is working, and there is a long line of buyers near it. Even people who are in a hurry remain silent. It happens very often, doesn't it? We continue to be silent when we are sold low-quality goods and even when the label indicates one price, but the cashier charges a different higher price. A driver is 100 per cent sure that he paid a fine for a traffic violation, but an employee of road transport services proves the opposite. The problem is that there was a failure in the banking system and the driver did not keep the receipt. There is no peace from the neighbours at home day or night, because they have been refurbishing their flat for several months. Any of us encounters such situations. And what happens then? Do we know how to defend our rights? Do we know what we are entitled to by law? Do we know how to behave correctly in conflict situations and how to find justice against a high-handed official? And why do we hesitate to defend our rights?

Sometimes the blame for the fact that we do not dare to defend our rights rests entirely with ourselves. For example, why don't we learn how to communicate with the administration of supermarkets to start with instead of standing in an artificial queue at the cash register? After all, any self-respecting shop should have a book of complaints and suggestions. No, it is not a mechanism of the Soviet past or its leftover, which did not work even at the time. This is what it should be. And if there is no book, every solid supermarket has managers who should resolve such issues quickly. No one has the right to waste customers' time, and the management of all supermarkets should respect the time of others instead of being guided by the principle: "They will buy anyway." We must appeal to the administration of commercial facilities over any violation of our rights and the difference in prices. The management of trade and services facilities should be used to the fact that consumers - no matter how rude it sounds - are not dupes and all attempts to deceive them will not be crowned with success. It is up to us to create such a situation, consumers.

Absolutely do not be ashamed of your desire to return a product which proved faulty on closer inspection at home. Do not pay attention to illegal signs in some stores that "This product is not refundable"! Keep in mind that, according to the law "On the rights of consumers", you have the right to return goods bought in any store, unless it is underwear, within 14 days from the date of purchase if you keep the receipt. By the way, make it a habit to take and keep your receipts for the goods you purchase. Returning a product is our right, and we need to comply with the requirements of Azerbaijani legislation. The management of the shop should change a defective product or take it back. You can do the same thing if you no longer like the product for some reason.

We repeat - do not be ashamed of your desire to defend your rights. Incidentally, if the management of the store opposes it, it is worth reminding them that the sellers who do not take goods back can be fined, and under the relevant article of the Azerbaijani Code of Administrative Offences, the penalty can be 500-1,000 manats. Moreover, consumers faced with a violation of their rights can also call the State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Protection under the Ministry of Economic Development on the following contact numbers: (012) 498-15-01, (012) 498-15-04. As we all know that at some point in the process of defending our interests, it is not enough just to know our consumer rights, it is necessary protect them, and this requires monitoring from aside.

When we do not demand our rights, we already make ourselves powerless. After all, if an employer does not conclude an employment contract with his worker, he is breaking the law. Today, very often we run into situations where the employer pays a tiny amount for the work done, dismisses an employee without two months' notice, or does not provide safe working conditions for his employees. In our life, there should be no cases where the boss puts a salary of $ 50 under the keyboard for the office cleaning lady and then suddenly stops doing it. She continues to work for three months, barely making ends meet with a sick daughter in the hope that the boss will finally remember her money. When she finally collects the remaining crumbs of her confidence and decides to ask about the little sum due to her, he says that he has been regularly paying her a salary of $ 100. The cleaning lady has no choice but to be amazed at the man's impudence and callousness and leave without getting anything for her pains. It is not difficult to imagine what will happen to this woman. Until she meets an honest and law-abiding employer, she will face a violation of her rights because she does not know how to defend them, while a citizen faced with a similar offence simply must demand an employment contract. No!? She can appeal to the State Labour Inspectorate, which carries out regular raids and exposes cases of labour exploitation without proper registration. The conclusion of an employment contract is the duty of the employer, which entitles the employee to receive his wages, leave, etc. The absence of an employment contract allows the employer to behave freely with regard to an employee until he runs out of patience and appeals to the relevant authorities, which, incidentally, may impose a fairly decent fine according to the current legislation. For legal persons, the fine is 20,000 and for individuals - from 3,000 to 5,000 manats. This is quite a high amount for an employer whose annual turnover may not exceed 20,000 manats. So before breaking the law and avoiding taxes, the employer should think 200 times.

We repeat again - defending our rights can give us a lot in all areas of our lives, because we encounter violations very often. According to psychologists, this behaviour is explained by the fact that past failures make us helpless. We are passive when we are convinced that our efforts will be futile. American psychologist Martin Seligman calls such a style of behaviour "learned helplessness": past failures paralyze us. Fear of another failure and pity for ourselves overpower common sense. We feel better being sorry for ourselves than seeking justice.

But it is worth overcoming this state, and we must demand what is due to us by law. If the neighbours are too noisy, we have to rely on Article 306 of the Azerbaijani Code of Administrative Offences, which states: "Making noise, loud singing, loud playing of musical instruments, turning up TV sets, radios, tape recorders and other equipment in apartments, hallways and courtyards of houses, recreational areas and other public places at night (from 24 to 7 hours) and other violations of the requirements to combat domestic noise entail a warning or a fine of ten to fifteen amounts of the minimum wage." You can contact 102 and should not feel any remorse and shame for this. Keep receipts on the payment of traffic fines, community services, shopping, etc., which give us the opportunity to have strong evidence. Complain about officials who abuse power and demand "a backhander" for their work. After all, by accepting such demands and getting used to "shadow payments", we can spoil even the most fair-minded worker. So, if we want to live in a civil society, we should become a link of it, demanding our rights. The good thing is that all ministries have "hotlines", which can always be found if necessary. Even if you are not sure that the situation will change for the better after your appeal, you have to appeal. Changing ourselves, we change the world around us. In the end, the water wears away the stone! We live in a country where there is judicial legislation, and we need to remember that.