Labour law no. 12 of 2003 is the law that governs nearly all employment relationships in Egypt. It is also governed by civil law that is applied to employment contracts and social insurance law no. 79 of 1975 for matters not stated in the labour law. This law appears to be subjective toward employees in all of its requirements; nevertheless, this can be justified by the employee as the weakest partner in the relationship who has to be protected. All of the rights guaranteed to employees under this Law reflect this subjectivity. As stated in the Law’s articles of enactment, the regulations of the Law will not affect the employees’ rights under any previous law or regulation. So to understand the employment relationship, the law has clarified the meaning of the worker and the employer.
- Who is the worker? As stipulated in article 1 of law no.12 of 2003 that any natural person works in return for a wage with and under the management or supervision of the employer. However, the law excludes the following categories:
- a public servant of any entity, that includes the local government unit and the publicity department.
- The domestic servant’s
- employees’ family members.
- Who is the employer? Article 1 of labour law defined him as any natural or judicial person employing one or more workers in return for a wage.
After clarifying the parties of the employment contract and specifying the categories that fall under this law, the law provides regulations to protect the weakest party.
What does labour law cover?
As we mentioned above, Labour law is responsible for stipulating regulations to govern the relationship between the employer and employee. However, the parliament has agreed to amend articles to protect the employees. At first, the law started from drafting the contract and it regulated all the processes that the worker went through until the termination of the contract. In other words, there is no relationship between the employee and employer.
Here are the newest amendments that were issued on the 1st of January 2022:
Contract:
The contract is the foundation of any binding agreement that occurred between the employer and the employee. As everything is drafted in the contract for example the rights and the obligations of them. The employment contract is required to be written in Arabic and printed out in three copies to be given to the employer, employee and the social office.
The contract must include the following:
– Name of the employer and the address of the place of work.
– Worker’s name, qualifications and profession or craft, social insurance number and home address.
– work the subject of the contract.
– Agreed upon wage and method and time of its payment, as well as any other benefits in cash and in-kind as agreed upon.
– A probationary period of no more than three months.
The new amendment states how fixed-term employment contracts turn into open-term contracts. The new law provides that a fixed-term contract (usually lasting for one year, but sometimes for two years) may be converted to an indefinite contract if the staff member continues to perform his or her duties after the expiration of the contract. If approved, the new law will provide that any employee who contracts for the same employer for four years (i.e., under four consecutive contracts of one year or two consecutive contracts of two years duration each) shall automatically enter into an open-ended contract.
Working hours:
The new Labour Code provides that the employer shall set the working day for each employee at a maximum of eight hours per day, or 48 hours per week, except for rest periods (which must be at least one hour). It also provides for employees to have at least one paid rest day per week. The bill also provides for companies to deduct at least one hour from each working day for pregnant women in the last trimester of pregnancy, and prohibits women’s overtime from the beginning of their pregnancy until the end of the second trimester of pregnancy.
Minimum wages:
The Egyptian legislator defined wages as everything that the worker obtains in return for his work, whether fixed or variable, in cash or kind. This includes commission, performance-based percentages, increments, bonuses, allowances, workers’ profit share and tips. Before the new amendment, the legislator stated that the minimum wage was 1200 pounds in a month but the new amendment has exceeded the minimum wage to 2400 Egyptian pounds. For the workers who are working in the private sector.
wages and annual bonuses:
The Egyptian legislator states the minimum percentage of the annual bonuses shall be equal to 3%of the basic wage based on which social insurance contributions are calculated, under article 12 of the law. The current law sets the annual bonuses at a minimum of 7% of the employee’s base wage.
Vacations :
- Annual leave:
After a full year’s employment, they will remain the same (21 days per year), but the new amendment sets a minimum annual paid leave balance of 15 days for those who have not completed a year of work. Employees who have spent 10 years or more in the civil service receive 30 days annually and employees over 50 years and persons with disabilities receive 45 days’ paid leave annually
- Maternity leave:
The new amendment issued an increase in the duration of paid maternity leave to four months before and after delivery, instead of three months in the current law. Article 50 stipulates that at least 45 days of total leave must be after childbirth. The law also sets the number of maternity leave for each working woman at a maximum of three for the duration of her service, rather than two in the current law. The new draft law also eliminates the requirement that an employee spends at least 10 months with the employer to be entitled to maternity leave.
Article 27 of the new amendment requires companies with 25 or more employees to grant two years’ unpaid extended leave to new mothers. However, The current Labour Code requires the company to have 50 or more employees to enjoy the new mothers. Lastly, the parliament rejected the proposed article that would have granted the new father a 10-day “paternity leave” within the six months following the birth of the child.
Termination of contract:
The legislator stipulated several cases to terminate the contract:
- Two months’ notice in case of non-renewal of the contract:
The new amendment allows employers to decide not to renew a fixed-term employment contract – provided that they have the legal reasons to do so – provided that at least two months’ written notice is given to the other party, under article 131. However, if the employer decides not to renew the employee’s employment contract, he or she shall provide termination indemnity equivalent to one month’s wages for each year of service. The workers are also required to provide two months’ notice before leaving a fixed-term contract. This article will reduce the period of notice from three months to two months provided for in the current law.
- In case the employer wants to dismiss the employee:
Article 133 of labour law states that if the employer wants to dismiss an employee who works for him on an indefinite contract for a valid reason, the employer shall notify the employee for three months. However, The employer is exempt from this requirement to give notice in the event of a termination bonus equal to the employee’s salary for the period of notice. In case the employee who is working with an indefinite contract must also give three months’ notice before resigning.
- Illegal termination of the employment contract:
Article 142 from the new law stipulates that the employee terminates the employee with no illegitimate reason. Here, An employee shall be entitled to compensation equivalent to two month’s wages for each year of employment. The illegal reason for dismissal could be an employee being active in a trade union, filing a complaint or legal action against the employer for failing to meet the latter’s employment requirements; taking the permitted leave; or based on sex, race, socioeconomic status, religion, political opinion or pregnancy. What we understand is that if an employee on a fixed-term contract is dismissed without a valid reason, the employer must pay him the total salary that the employee would have received if he stayed in his job until the termination of the contract period.
Rights of disabilities under the new article in Labor law:
The law prohibited the following. “Any act, conduct or action which may make a distinction or distinction between persons in the terms or conditions of employment or the rights. duties arising from the contract of employment on grounds of religion, creed, sex, origin, race, colour, language, disability, social level, political, trade union or geographical affiliation; or any other reason for breaching the principle of equality and equal opportunities”.
Child labour:
The legislator stipulates in the new amendment of article 57 that anyone who does not reach 18 years old is considered a child. Moreover, the child is prohibited from work who does not reach 15 years, however, they can be trained at the age of 14, without preventing them from attending school. under article 58.
In conclusion, the Egyptian legislator tried to fulfill the missing parts and try to protect the employees by raising the minimum wage due to the pandemic that the world is facing.
