April 16, 2024

Egypt Raises Minimum Salary of For Private Sector by 60%

For the third time during the last couple of years, the Egyptian National Council for Salaries (“Council”) decided an approximate 60% increase in the minimum salary of private sector employees.

Minimum Salary as of 1st of May 2024

The Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development issued Decree No. 27 of 2024 (“Decree”) setting that the minimum salary of private sector employees at EGP 6,000/per month (USD 126.5) starting from the 1st of May 2024.

Micro-enterprises with no more than ten (10) employees are excluded from the implementation of this minimum salary increase.

Social Insurance Contributions are part of the Minimum Salary

As per the Decree, the minimum salary includes all basic and variable salary elements such as profit share, allowances, bonuses, incentives, in-kind benefits…etc.

For the first time, the minimum salary shall also include employer’s share in the social insurance monthly contributions.

Guidelines and Sanctions

As per the guidelines issued by the Minister of Manpower:

  • All entities and employers in the private sector shall comply with the minimum salary; with no automatic exception for any entity or business sector.
  • Non-compliant entities will be subject to a fine (ranges between EGP 100 to EGP 500) and the fine will be multiplied by the number of employees against whom the violation was committed.
  • Legal proceedings can be initiated against the violating entity to obtain an order to raise the salary payments to reach the required minimum.

Exemptions

Companies which cannot pay the minimum salary due to economic difficulties can submit an exemption request by no later than 15 May 2024.

The applicant employer must submit the exemption request to the relevant labor union and the latter will submit it on behalf of the employer to the Ministry for a decision. Collective/group exemption requests submitted by industrial or business sectors will not be accepted.

The request shall satisfy the following conditions:

  • Provide information about the applying employer (i.e. name of the employer/entity, registration number, location, activity, name of the responsible manager and his/her contact details).
  • Include the following information and documents:
  • A memo explaining the reasons for seeking an exemption;
  • company’s financial statement for last 3 years;
  • company’s monthly payroll sheets for last year;
  • company’s social insurance registration form (# 2); and
  • copy of the company’s commercial register and tax card.

For any inquiries, please contact Dr. Eman Riad and Hania Salama

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