References
Labour Law [LL], No. 12 of 2003.
Date:
20 Aug 1970;
(view in NATLEX
»)
Law No. 180 of 2008 amending Certain Provisions of the Labour Law No. 12 of 2003 (not available in English in electronic format).<br/>[This law amends art. 70, 71, 71 of the LL on dispute resolution. In particular, "the committee" is to be replaced by "the labour court" wherever it is mentioned in the principal law.]
Date:
21 Aug 1970;
(view in NATLEX
»)
Decree No. 984 of 2003 concerning the formation of local committees for deciding the close-down requests, and the central committee for complaints for the decisions of these committees.
Date:
20 Aug 1970;
(view in NATLEX
»)
Scope
Size of enterprises excluded (≤): none
Workers' categories excluded: employer's family members, civil/public servants, domestic workers
The LA does not apply to:
* public servants employed by State agencies, public establishments and local authorities;
* domestic workers and the like;
* employer's family members whom the employer is in charge of.
(Article 4, LA)
FTC regulated: Yes
Valid reasons for FTC use: no limitation
No statutory limitations on the use of FTCs found in the LL.
Maximum number of successive FTCs: no limitation
No statutory limitations on the use of FTCs found in the LL.
See art. 106 LL: By express agreement of the two parties, a FTC may be renewed several times.
Maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs: no limitation
No statutory limitations on the use of FTCs found in the LL.
Art 106 LA: by express agreement of the two parties, a FTC may be renewed several times.
See also art 105 LA: a FTC is deemed renewed for an indefinite period if both parties continue to abide by it after its date of expiry, exception made for foreign workers.
Maximum probationary (trial) period (in months): 3 month(s)
Art. 33 LL.
Obligation to provide reasons to the employee: No
No express obligation to provide reasons for dismissing an employee.
Valid grounds (justified dismissal):
Prohibited grounds: pregnancy, maternity leave, family responsibilities, filing a complaint against the employer, temporary work injury or illness, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, social origin, trade union membership and activities, lawfully taking leave
See art. 120 LL which provides a list of reasons that shall not be considered as legitimate and adequate justifications for termination.
In addition, see art. 92 LL on the prohibition to dismiss an employee during maternity leave.
According to art. 127 LL, termination of employment is not possible for reasons of the worker's illness, unless he/she has exhausted sick leave entitlement as determined by the Social Insurance Law, in addition to his/her annual leave. The employer has to notify the worker of the contemplated dismissal fifteen days before the end of the workers' leave entitlement.
Workers enjoying special protection: workers' representatives, pregnant women and/or women on maternity leave, confirmed injured workers
- Not all the workers' representatives are protected. The Trade Unions Act No. 35/1976 (as amended) only protects members of the trade union boards from suspension or dismissal, except pursuant to a court decision (Art. 46).
- The employer cannot dismiss a woman during maternity leave (Article 92, LL).
- While the worker's total incapacity entails termination of the employment relationship; if the incapacity is partial, the employment relationship shall not be terminated unless it is demonstrated that there is no other available work which can be satisfactorily performed by the employee (art. 124 LL).
Notification to the worker to be dismissed: written
Art. 110 LL.
Notice period:
As regards the termination of an open-ended employment contract, either party shall observe a notice period which varies according to the employer's length of service as follows:
- 2 months if the worker's uninterrupted period of service with the employer is less than 10 years, and
- 3 months if that period exceeds 10 years (Art. 111 LL).
Pay in lieu of notice: Yes
See art. 118 LL.
Notification to the public administration: No
Notification to workers' representatives: No
Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: Yes
Before dismissing a worker on disciplinary grounds (listed in art. 69 LL), the employer needs to submit a request to the Labour Court which shall decide on the worker's dismissal within 15 days from the date of the first session (art. 71 LL, as amended in 2008). [Note that prior to the adoption on the 2008 amendment, the decision to dismiss a worker as a sanction for serious misconduct was not taken by the Labour Court but a special committee established by the 2003 LL for these purposes and which consisted on two judges, the head of the concerned Directorate of Manpower or his/her representative, a representative of the Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions; and a member of a concerned employers' organisation).
Approval by workers' representatives: No
Definition of collective dismissal (number of employees concerned) No definition of collective dismissal in the LL. The LL establishes a specific regime for closing down the enterprise of reducing its size or activity.
See art. 196 to 201 LL.
Notification to the public administration Yes
Under the LL and the Prime Minister Decree No. 984 of 2003, if contemplating redundancies, the employer must submit a request for closing the enterprise or reducing its size or activity to a committee established for this purpose. In the request to the committee, the employer must provide information including the reasons for the contemplated terminations, and the number and categories of workers likely to be affected (art. 196 and 197 LL). The committee in charge of deciding on such request must consist of a representative nominated by the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions, a representative of an employers' organisation nominated by the concerned organisation, a technical and economic representative from the General Authority for Investment, and a representative from the National Social Insurance Authority. The chair is the director of the Manpower and Emigration Directorate.
The committee must prepare an argued decision, adopted by a majority vote, within thirty days from the date of the submission of the request. (art. 1 to 4 Decree No. 984 of 2003).
In addition, art. 199 LL provides for mandatory consultation with the trade unions on the criteria for selecting the workers to dismiss if these are not included in the collective agreement in force in the enterprise.
Notification to trade union (workers' representatives) Yes
Under the LL and the Prime Minister Decree No. 984 of 2003, if contemplating redundancies, the employer must submit a request for closing the enterprise or reducing its size or activity to a committee established for this purpose (art. 196 and 197 LL). The committee in charge of deciding on such request must consist of a representative nominated by the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions, a representative of an employers' organisation nominated by the concerned organisation, a technical and economic representative from the General Authority for Investment, and a representative from the National Social Insurance Authority. The chair is the concerned director of the Manpower and Emigration Directorate. The committee must prepare an argued decision, adopted by majority vote, within thirty days from the date of the submission of the request. (art. 1 to 4 Decree No. 984 of 2003).
Notification to workers' representatives: Yes
- See article 1 Decree No. 984 of 2003: the committee in charge of deciding on the request for closing the enterprise or reducing its size or activity must include a representative nominated by the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions.
- See also art. 198 LL: The employer must inform the workers and trade unions concerned about the request to the committee and the decision received.
Approval by trade union (workers' representatives) Yes
Within 30 days from the date of the submission of the request, the committee must issue a substantiated decision, adopted by majority of vote and approved by the concerned governor. In case of authorization of dismissals, the committee must indicate the date they become effective (art. 197 LL and art. 3 Decree No. 984 of 2003).
Note that the LL and 2003 Decree establish an appeal mechanism against the committee's decision before the Central Committee for complaints established in the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration.
(art. 198 LL and 4 and 5 of the Decree No. 984 of 2003)
Approval by workers' representatives No
However, a worker's representative sits on the tripartite Committee in charge of approving the employer's request.
The decision must be taken by majority voting and the participation of 3 members out of 4 is sufficient for the vote to be valid. (see above, and see art. 197 LL and art. 3 Decree No. 984 of 2003).
Priority rules for collective dismissals (social considerations, age, job tenure) Yes
If the collective agreement in force in the enterprise does not provide any objective criteria for selecting the workers to dismiss, the employer must consult with trade union representatives. Seniority, family responsibilities, age, vocational abilities, and skills shall be within the criteria that may be drawn upon in this respect. In all cases, the criteria for selection must take into account the interests of both the enterprise and workers (Art. 199 LL)
Employer's obligation to consider alternatives to dismissal (transfers, retraining...) No
Priority rules for re-employment No
No statutory obligation. However, this might be considered by the Committee when deciding on the employer's request.
In addition, pursuant to art. 201 LL, as an alternative to dismissing workers for economic reasons, the employer is entitled to propose modifications to the employment contract. If the worker refuses it, he/she has the right to leave the enterprise without giving any notice. In this case, the dismissal is deemed lawful and the worker keeps his/her rights to compensation prescribed for dismissals for economic reasons.
Notes / Remarks
In the absence of any specified threshold for the application of those procedural requirements, it may be possible that they also apply to the termination of employment of one redundant worker.
: 0 month(s)
: 0 month(s)
: 0 month(s)
: 0 month(s)
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: 1 month(s)
: 1 month(s)
: 1 month(s)
: 2 month(s)
: 4 month(s)
: 5 month(s)
: 12.5 month(s)
: 27.5 month(s)
mine workers: No
See art. 122 LC.
Compensation for unfair dismissal - Legal limits (ceiling in months or calculation method): Not less than two months' wage for each year of service.
Art. 122 LL.
managerial / executive positions: Yes
Reinstatement is only available in the following cases:
- If the Labour Court rejects the employer's request to dismiss an employee on disciplinary grounds (listed in art. 69 LL), it will order the employer to reinstate the worker and pay him back wages. However, if the employer does not follow the court's decision, the dismissal is deemed as an unjustified dismissal and the worker is allowed financial compensation as provided in art. 122 LL (art. 71 LL, as amended in 2008).
- If the court considers that the employer requests the dismissal of a worker because of his or her trade union activities, it will order the employer to reinstate the worker if so requested by the worker (art. 71 LL, as amended in 2008).
In any other cases, unjustified termination by employer will only give right to compensation (art. 122 LL).
police: Yes
If an individual dispute on the application of the LL arises, it shall first be brought to tripartite body (consisting in representatives of the competent administrative administration, of the employer and of the trade union) for amicable settlement.
See art. 70 and 71 LL as amended in 2008. Since 2008, the Committee in charge of settling individual labour disputes has been replaced by the Labour Court.
Existing arbitration: No
No provision found in the legislation reviewed.