Employment and labor relationships in Egypt are regulated by the Egyptian Labor Law No. 12\/2003 and relevant Decrees (the \u201cLabor Law\u201d). The Labor Law was promulgated on 7 April 2003 consisting of 257 Articles included in six chapters. The Labor Law organizes all legal aspects related to the Egyptian labor environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The provisions of the Labor Law represent the minimum rights and benefits of the employees. The Labor Law invalidates any provision or agreement diminishes or deprives any employee from one of the rights determined by virtue of the law. Conversely, agreements that are more advantageous to employees shall remain valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Article 32 of the Labor Law, all individual employment contracts must be written in Arabic, in three copies; one copy for the employer, one for the employee, and the third shall be submitted to the competent Social Insurance Office.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pursuant to the Labor Law, the following information must be incorporated in any employment contract: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Article 77 of the Labor Law states that, employers shall hold a file for each employee. Said file shall detail the employee’s name, occupation, level of skills, educational degree, address, military status, social status, date of appointment, salaries and its changes, applied penalties, leaves obtained, and finally the date of service termination and the reasons for said termination. Article 28 of the Labor Law states that foreigners are not allowed to work in Egypt unless they obtain work permits from the Competent Manpower Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a rule, foreign workforce shall not exceed 10% of the total workforce in any establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employers who appoint foreign employees are obligated to make a record including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the Labor Law, employment contracts can be drawn up for a definite or indefinite period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definite period employment contracts expire automatically upon the lapse of its term. However, according to Article 105 of the Labor Law, if the employee and employer continue in implementing a definite period contract after the expiration of its term, this shall be considered as an automatic renewal of the contract for an indefinite term. This provision does not apply to employment contracts signed with foreign employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the employer and employee agree on employment duration of more than five years, then the employee shall have the right to terminate the contract after the initial five years, without receiving compensation; provided that the employee must notify the employer of his intention to terminate at least three months before the termination date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An employment contract may be renewed after its expiration by an express agreement between both parties for one or several periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employment contracts may be concluded either for indefinite term or for performing specific work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The probation period, if exists, shall not exceed 3 months and employee cannot be appointed under probation for more than one period by the same employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Law, working hours should not exceed eight hours per day or forty eight hours a week, excluding break periods. At peak times, the employer, after notifying and obtaining the approval of the competent administration, may ask the employee to work extra hours to face the unusual necessities of the work. However, the employee\u2019s actual working hours shall in no case exceed ten hours a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Employees are entitled to one or more break periods which are not to exceed a one hour.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The employee\u2019s basic salary is to be determined in the employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, or the work\u2019s regulations. Otherwise, the employee\u2019s shall be entitled to a salary equal to the salary of his peers, if any, or the salary specified according to the custom of the profession, if such custom does not exist, the competent committee shall determine the reasonable salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By virtue of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to a periodical annual increase of not less than (7%) of the basic salary used to calculate social insurance contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the employee was asked to work hours in addition to the normal working hours, he shall be entitled to overtime payments. The overtime payments shall not be less than:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no obligation to pay annual bonuses to employees. However, production incentive bonuses are tax-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An employee, who has completed one year of service, is entitled to a minimum annual paid leave of 21 days for every year of service and proportionally if his period of service is less than one year and has been in service for 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The annual leave is increased to one month after the employee has worked for 10 consecutive years for one employer or more, or if the employee\u2019s age is 50 years or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, every employee is entitled, with full pay, to take the official public holidays designated by the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If employees are required to work during official holidays, the employees are entitled to overtime (equivalent to double the employee\u2019s daily salary). The weekly days off and the official holidays shall not be included as part of the annual leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The employer has the authority to set the time of the employee\u2019s annual leave according to the work\u2019s circumstances and conditions. In all cases, the employee shall have an annual leave of 15 days, at least six of which are consecutive. An employee shall be entitled to benefit from his accrued annual leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article 51 of the Labor Law states that abstaining from work for casual reasons should not exceed a period of six days per year where each discrete time shall not exceed two working days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Labor Law provides that an employee who\u2019s diagnosed with an illness shall have the right to a sick leave as determined by the competent medical authority and shall be compensated according to the Social Insurance Law.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Article 53 of the Labor Law states that an employee who has spent five consecutive years in service has the right to a fully paid leave for a period not exceeding one month for performing pilgrimage or to visit Jerusalem. An employee is entitled to said leave only one time during his entire service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A female employee, who has completed 10 months of service, with one or more employers, shall be entitled to a fully paid maternity leave of 90 days which includes the period prior to and after giving birth. A female employee may enjoy only two maternity leaves during her entire service period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 24 months following the date of childbirth, the female employee has the right to two daily rest periods (30 minute each) for breast-feeding her child. Said daily rest periods may be combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the event the original and renewed contractual periods of the employment contract exceed five years, the employee may terminate said contract by sending the employer a written notification of termination three months prior to the actual date of termination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law regulates employment contracts executed to accomplish specific work. The termination of said contracts is terminated upon completion of the specified work. Said contract may be renewed by an express agreement between the parties or by continuing said contracts execution by both parties following the completion of the specified work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Article 110 of the Labor Law, the employee may terminate the indefinite employment contract based on a legitimate cause related to either his health, social or economic condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, an indefinite employment contract may not be terminated by the employer, unless the employee is deemed inefficient according to the provisions of the endorsed regulations or he has been fired for committing a significant mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pursuant to Article 69 of the Labor Law, the employer cannot dismiss the employee unless he commits a gross mistake, the following acts are examples of what shall be considered a gross mistake:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If one of the foregoing mistakes occurred, and the employer desires to dismiss the employee, the employer shall follow the process and procedures provided under Articles 70 and 71 of law No. 180\/2008. According to said law, if any dispute relating to the employment relationship took place between the employer and the employee, the desiring party can settle the dispute as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Total Incapacity<\/u><\/em>: pursuant to Article 124 of the Labor Law, the employment contract terminates with the employee’s total incapacity to perform his contractual duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Partial Incapacity<\/u><\/em>: according to Article 124 of the Labor Law, in the event of the employee\u2019s partial incapacity, the contract shall remain valid unless the employer establishes that the employee is unable to perform appropriately any of his job duties. In the event it is established that there is an alternative job the employee is able to perform in the establishment, the employer shall, upon the employee’s request, transfer the employee to perform the specified duties without prejudice to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n By virtue of Article 128, female employees’ have the right to terminate the employment contract, regardless of its period, without affecting her rights as prescribed in both the Labor and Social Insurance Laws for the following reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Article 129, the employer is entitled to terminate the contractual relationship with an employee in the event the employee is convicted of an honorable, honesty, or moral crime or sentenced to a custodial penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Labor Law, Articles 196 to 200, regulates the employer right to close the establishment, fully or partially, and to downsize the workforce to confront economic necessities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is worth mentioning that the closure for economic reasons does not take place automatically, the employer shall adhere to certain procedures when requesting the closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By terminating the employment contract for economic reasons, the employee will be entitled to a compensation equivalent to one month salary for each of the first five years of service and one and a half of a month’s salary for the years following the first five years of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, pursuant to Article 201 of the Labor Law, the employer has the right to abstain from exercising the aforementioned right to terminate by modifying the conditions of the contract temporarily. The employer may alter the nature of work to be conducted by the employee as well as reduce the agreed upon salary which may not be less than the minimum wage set by law. In the event the employer modifies the conditions set in the employment contract as stipulated above, the employee has the right to terminate the contract without sending a prior notification of termination to the employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The employee must submit his resignation in writing and has the right to withdraw his resignation within a week from the date the employer accepts the resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Article 120, the following grounds are considered illegitimate and inadequate justifications for terminating the employment contract:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the event of an illegitimate termination by one of the parties to the contract, the party terminating the contract shall compensate the other party for the damage incurred as a result of the unlawful termination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the employer terminates the contract unlawfully, the employee has the right to claim compensation. The amount of compensation is to be determined by the court and shall not be less than two months of the employee\u2019s comprehensive salary for each year of service, in addition to the employee\u2019s other legally entitled dues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice of Termination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Duties of Employers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Employment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Employees\u2019 Records<\/u><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Employment Contracts\u2019 Duration<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Indefinite Period Employment Contracts<\/u><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Indefinite Period Employment Contracts<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Probation Period<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Working Hours and Break Periods<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Financial Benefits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Basic Salary<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Annual Increase<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Overtime Pay<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Bonuses<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Leaves<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Annual Leaves<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Casual Leave<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sick Leave<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Official Public Holidays<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Making Pilgrimage or Visiting Jerusalem<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Maternity and Child Care Leave<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Termination of Employment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
End of Employment Contracts\u2019 Duration<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Dismissal of Employees<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Employee\u2019s Incapacity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Employee\u2019s Sickness<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Retirement<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Female Employee\u2019s Right to Terminate<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Termination for Disciplinary Reasons<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Termination for Economic Reasons<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Resignation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Unlawful Termination<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Death of Employee<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"