Protecting workers’ rights is a confirmed assumption within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Protecting workers’ rights is a confirmed assumption within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Sustainable development is development that takes into account the social and environmental dimensions in addition to the economic dimensions to improve the exploitation of available resources. To meet the needs of individuals while preserving the rights of future generations. If the world is facing the danger ofenvironmental degradation that must be overcome, it is also necessary not to abandon the needs of sustainable development and economic development, as well as equality and social justice, and creating a healthy and safe environment for workers and investors together, as it is a close relationship that cannot be Distinguishing one side from the other.

Quality of life: improving the quality of life of the Egyptian citizen and improving his standard of living

In support of sustainable development issues, and Egypt’s keenness to activate the issues, provisions, and concerns of this development in a way that improves citizens’ living standards, the new Labor Law 2022 came to regulate the relationship between employers and workers in the private sector, where it is implemented The law applies to about “26 million” citizens who work in the private sector and non-governmental agencies, and stipulates the establishment of specialized labor courts. To settle labor disputes. It is prohibited to dismiss a worker arbitrarily. Dismissal shall be through a judicial ruling. The worker’s resignation shall not be accepted unless it is approved by the Ministry of Manpower and the labor offices in the governorates.

The new draft Labor Law 2022 stipulates a set of prohibitions that the worker and the employer are prohibited from doing, which come within the framework of regulating the relationship between the worker and the employer and preserving the rights of both parties. In a way that achieves gains for the employer and preserves the rights of the worker.

Justice, social integration and participation are the most prominent main directions of the new law

The new draft labor law approved by the Senate works to achieve balance and justice between the two parties to the labor relationship, in addition to establishing the principle of linking wages to production. To reassure the national and foreign investor, and motivate workers to make an effort to maximize productivity, below we review the 10 most prominent benefits for workers in the new draft labor law, the most notable of which are: canceling “Form 6” as it was used to threaten dismissal, prohibiting the dismissal of a worker by the labor administration without… Knowledge of the labor court, payment of a periodic annual bonus of no less than 3% of the insurance subscription wage.

Environmental sustainability: an integrated and sustainable ecosystem

The legislation was keen to ensure a healthy and safe work environment, by obliging the establishment and its branches to undertake a number of obligations to protect workers: This is by providing methods of occupational safety and health, securing the work environment from all biological and chemical risks, and taking special measures to prevent risks. Fires, reviewing all firefighting devices and equipment, identifying and analyzing expected industrial and natural risks and disasters.

The insurance included obligating the facility to protect against engineering risks, and to protect against risks that arise from equipment, lifting and traction tools, means of transport, handling and transmission, and from construction, construction and drilling work, and the risks of collapse and fall, including failure to take into account the proportionality between The physical structure of the worker, equipment, machines and the workplace.

Governance of state institutions and society

Governance of state, community, and development institutions achieves the efficiency and effectiveness of official state agencies, private sector institutions, and civil society. Therefore, Egypt’s vision for the future places governance and adherence to laws, rules, and procedures at the top of its priorities. To achieve transparency, accountability, and fight corruption.

From this standpoint, the new law came to protect both the worker and the investor, as the investor enjoys facilities and incentives from the state. To develop its facilities within the framework of sustainable development, and it is in its interest to preserve the rights of its workers, and raise their levels of confidence and job security, and all the protections that the law has refuted for workers are implemented by the majority of investors out of concern for the successive successes of their institutions, and they are guarantees and controlled means of protection that do not It causes harm to the main party in the equation, which are investors and facility owners.

Reducing disparity is the most prominent thing emphasized by the new law

The draft new labor law works to achieve balance and justice between the two parties to the labor relationship, in addition to establishing the principle of linking wages to production while maintaining a minimum wage to make national and foreign investors feel reassured, and to motivate workers to make an effort to maximize productivity; To achieve sustainable development.

All texts and articles of the new law are guarantees to provide the principle of occupational safety for workers, and it is important that these controls do not become obstacles in the way of establishments or investment, so that administrative authorities punish investors or exploit them to put pressure on them, as these guarantees are supposed to protect investment The same goes for the worker, and it provides a balanced environment in which investment is launched, and in which the worker achieves his career and professional ambitions, and this is one of the goals of development.

The most important flaw in the new labor law

Perhaps the most prominent defects in the Labor Law came as a result of making a comparison between the conditions of workers in the private sector and those in the public sector, and an attempt to unify the texts that govern the work of the two categories, despite the fact that the conditions of each group are not identical. Work has been done over many years to ensure that workers in the private sector Special labor laws are applied to them, which differ – in general and in detail – from the laws of civilian workers in the state.

The law also did not address some of the recent issues in light of the digital transformation and what the Corona pandemic has also created in terms of creating new work patterns, including the need for the new labor law to include texts regulating part-time work contracts, Remote work, work through electronic applications and digital platforms, and transcontinental work, are all different models from the stereotypical image of employment contracts.

I also see the importance of an authoritative report in proof of electronic signatures, electronic correspondence, text messages, and work meetings that take place electronically, so that they are authoritative in proof, like writing and paper documents. The law also includes provisions related to the protection of workers’ personal data, and issues related to preserving Confidentiality of information.

Keeping pace with the local, regional and global context are the most prominent advantages included in the new labor law

Despite the defects we mentioned, the draft law reorganized some matters in a more clear way than in the current law. This includes, for example, the establishment of specialized labor courts, and the expansion of their jurisdiction to include all lawsuits arising from the employment contract and lawsuits related to organizations. Trade unionism and workers’ insurance rights.

The project also abolished the court’s authority to rule that the dismissed worker continue his work (except in cases of dismissal for union activity); This is so that the employer is not forced to continue employing unwanted people.

The law also considers the bank transfer of wages to the worker’s account as a means of proving that the worker has received his wage and to absolve the employer of the obligation. It is sufficient to notify the administrative authority to employ workers for additional working hours without requiring the administrative authority’s approval of the additional working hours (as is the situation in the current law).

There is also a provision to reorganize labor mediation and arbitration, and establish a mediation and arbitration center affiliated with the Ministry of Manpower. To consider collective labor disputes, the draft law required the conclusion of an arbitration pact between the two parties to the dispute.

One of the important points formulated by the law is that it reorganized labor strikes and required that a work strike be announced and organized through trade unions. It also considered a worker’s absence from work without permission as tantamount to resignation, without the employer committing to raise A lawsuit to dismiss the worker (as is the situation in the current law), and a text was introduced stating the necessity of specifying the decision or ruling issued to dissolve or liquidate the establishment in order to fulfill the rights of the workers.