Labour Law Training Content PDF

UNIT FIVE– Labour Law, Labour Inspection, and Decent Work): A. Legal Requirements for Registration: - There is no legal requirement for employers to register at the labour office. Employers are required to notify social insurance using Form S1 – as described in Unit 4 – Social Insuranc...

UNIT FIVE– Labour Law, Labour Inspection, and Decent Work): A. Legal Requirements for Registration: - There is no legal requirement for employers to register at the labour office. Employers are required to notify social insurance using Form S1 – as described in Unit 4 – Social Insurance, within two weeks of hiring an employee. - Inspectors are empowered to initiate legal procedure in case of non-compliance with obligations laid down by the law, to close down an enterprise, wholly or partly, or stop the operation of one or more machines in case of imminent danger threatening the health or safety of workers. - Inspections on both topics/areas take place on annual basis without any distinction regarding size of the establishment or type of business. Labour safety officials stated that priority is given to companies employing more than 50 workers and establishments with high risk.. - Labour inspectors are empowered to inspect and impose penalties. Thus labour inspectors have the right to inspect any establishment they come upon whether registered with the social insurance or unregistered. In the case of inspecting an unregistered establishment (informal establishment), monetary penalties are imposed. At the same time, the social insurance is notified of the existence of the establishment and the number of workers encountered during inspection, with information gathered on date of establishment, salaries, date of hiring workers, and any similar information gathered by labour inspectors. - Social insurance, in their turn, create a profile for the establishment, including number of employees and the value of insurance shares for employees, including business owners’ insurance is considered as a liability to be settled. B. Legal information and compliance requirements: - The latest decree stipulated the increase of minimum wage to 3000 EGP starting July 2023. A Presidential announcement in September 2023 however stated that the minimum wage is to be increased to 4000 EGP, but this has not come into effect yet. - Employees are entitled an annual leave of 21 days after working 6 months with The Employer, and annual leave of 30 days after working 10 or if the employee is aged 50+. - Female employees are entitled to a maternity leave of 90 days twice during the working relationship, after working in the establishment for 10 months, in addition to a daily hour break for nursing their child till the age of 24 months. - Employees are entitled to a weekly paid leave of 24 hours per week as a minimum except if the nature of the work requires that the Employee shall take combined leave, so in this case, the maximum days of work shall not exceed two months consecutively without leave. - Employees are entitled to leaves in the Egyptian Official National days with a maximum of 13 days. - Working hours should not exceed 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. - The Employee is entitled to enjoy one hour as a minimum for taking a break and meal and it is ok to be scheduled throughout the day provided that the worker shall start their break after spending 5 working hours as a maximum. - Minors (14 – 18 years) working hours shall not exceed 6 hours per day including at least one one-hour break. The number of consecutive hours of work for a minor should not exceed 4 hours. Minors are not to work in public holidays or weekends and cannot work overtime, nor during 7 pm to 7 am period. Additionally, an employer is obligated to issue a minor over 16 a card indicating that the minor is a worker at the establishment. Guardian consent however is  not stipulated in the law as a requirement for employing minors. On the other hand, employers are required to inform the labour office of the names and number of minors they employ. - The employee may work additional working hours. Employee is entitled to receive an additional wage, in addition to the normal wage, for the overtime hours, providing that such wage shall not be less than the wage the employee is entitled to plus (35%) for the daytime working hours, and (70%) for the night working hours. - The Egyptian labour law does not require that an employment contract exists to recognize the employment relationship. The relationship is documented through payrolls and social insurance payments or testimonials. However, if a contract exists, contracts should not contradict these provisions. In case of disputes, the law and regulations mentioned have the supremacy. - Regarding termination of contracts, if the employment contract, whether permanent or temporary, is terminated by the employer without a valid cause, the court will order the compensation of the employee with at least two-months' full salary for each year of the employee's service with that employer, in addition to other entitlements (such as any accrued annual leaves, bonuses, profit share, and so on). - The difference between an employment relationship for a definite period and a contract for an indefinite period is essential when considering the termination of the employment contract by the employer. For both definite and indefinite contracts, an employment relationship can be terminated without compensating the employee in any of the following cases: o On the poor performance of the employee provided the required legal measures are undertaken by the employer before terminating the contract. o When the employer discovers, during the employee's contractual probationary period, that the employee is not fit for the job. o On redundancy, after obtaining the approval of the competent committees (in this case the employee is entitled to a reduced compensation). - The right of the employer to terminate an employee's employment without cause during the first three months of employment is one of the most essential concepts to acquire. However, that must be disclosed and acknowledged in the employment contract. - If the contract has a provision stating that the employee is entitled to pay or to notification prior to termination during the first three months of employment, that provision must be fulfilled and respected. It is thus essential for the worker to ensure that the employment contract includes this provision. Otherwise, there will be no obligation for the employer to notify the worker before termination or to pay for the period indicated if the termination takes place without notification.