The contract-based employment opportunities in Egypt offer flexibility, while its cost-effective lifestyle allows employees to save a large chunk of their salaries. These are just two reasons why Egypt has become a desirable option for those seeking employment in Africa. In order to further encourage people from different parts of the world to settle in Egypt, the government has tailored its labor laws in favor of employees.
Employment Regulations in Egypt:
1) Equal Opportunity:
According to the labor law in Egypt, employees cannot be discriminated against on the basis of gender, creed, cast, religion, language, and origin.
2) Probationary Period:
The probationary period for a new employee cannot exceed three months. The law also prohibits the implementation of multiple probationary periods.
3) Vacation:
The law states that every Egyptian employee is entitled to at least 21 paid vacations every calendar year. After spending a decade in service, the minimum yearly paid vacation days are increased to 30 days. This 30-day paid vacation requirement is also mandatory for any employee who is at least 50 years old.
The employer cannot consider official holidays as part of the paid vacation period. For employees working unwholesome, hard, or dangerous jobs, the number of mandatory paid vacation days is increased by seven.
4) Working Hours:
Employees work a maximum of eight hours a day and a maximum of 48 hours a week, not including rest and meal breaks. Employees are not to work more than five hours at a time, and will also receive an hour break.
5) Mandatory Raises:
According to the updated Egyptian labor laws, the periodic annual wage increase should be at least 7% of the employee’s current basic salary.
6) Termination:
In case an employee is terminated without adequate and legitimate justification, the employer will have to pay damages worth two months of every year the employee has been employed.
In case of a fixed-term or an ad-hoc contract, the contract will be deemed terminated once the term expires or the specific work has been completed. If both parties decide to honor the contract beyond its expiration date, the contract is considered to have been automatically renewed. However, there is an exception for foreign employees.
As long as the writing procedures and notice period are honored, either party can terminate an open-ended contract. As far as the notice period goes, this period needs to be at least two months for workers who have been in employed for 10 years. For workers whose employment period exceeds 10 years, the notice period needs to be three months.
Final Word:
The above Labor Laws reflect how far Egypt has come in terms of protecting its workers and providing them with the right working conditions. Egypt has witnessed strong economic growth over the past few years and was one of the very few African nations to have recorded positive economic growth (3.6%) during 2020, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information regarding employment regulations, check out www.globalpeoplestrategist.com.
