legislation

The Labor Law stipulates that the employment contract must be written in Arabic and in at least two copies, for both the worker and the employer a copy of it, while the language in which the contract is written is Arabic, and if the worker does not speak Arabic, another copy of the contract must be organized in the language he understands.

Failure to organize the contract in writing between the worker and the employer does not relieve the employer of his obligations. The worker has the right to prove all of his labor rights by all means of proof, including proof by witness testimony, noting that drafting the contract in written form makes it easier for the parties to the contract to know the rights and obligations of each of them.

The worker may not be obliged to work significantly different from the work agreed upon in the contract, but in cases of necessity, the worker may be assigned to work different from the work agreed upon, in the following cases of necessity:  

• To prevent an accident.
• To repair what resulted from an accident.
• In case of force majeure.

The employment contract shall be terminated in the following cases:

• Agreement between the worker and the employer to terminate the employment contract.
• The expiry of the period agreed upon in the employment contract.
• The end of the agreed work, if the agreement stipulates that the duration of the contract is for the completion of a specific work.
• The worker’s inability to carry out his work due to illness (this must be proven by a medical report).
• The worker reaches the mandatory old-age retirement age (60 years for males, 55 for females)

In order for the dismissal of the worker in this case to be in accordance with the law, the worker must have committed violations stipulated in the internal regulations, and that he has previously been warned twice in writing by the employer.

The employer may not terminate the employment of a worker or send him a notice of termination of his services in the following cases:

• A working woman who is pregnant from the sixth month of her pregnancy or during maternity leave.
• The Jordanian worker assigned to Elm service or reserve service while performing that service.
• The worker during the annual or sick leave or the leave granted to him for the purposes of education, Hajj or labor culture.

Unfair dismissal is the termination of the worker’s services by the employer in violation of the law, which entails compensation for the worker if proven before the court, where the court orders to compensate the worker with the equivalent of half a month’s wage for each year of service and a minimum wage equivalent to at least two months’ wage, and the last month’s wage is the basis for calculating the unfair dismissal allowance.   

The probation period is a legal option for the employer to ensure the capabilities of the worker before continuing to employ him, during which the employer can terminate the worker’s services without notice or end-of-service gratuity, and the maximum trial period is three months and may not be extended for any reason, and the trial period is required to be agreed upon when contracting between the worker and the employer, otherwise the employer may not use this right.

To be entitled to end-of-service gratuity, two basic conditions must be met, namely: a) The worker is not subject to the provisions of the Social Security Law, and his services have been terminated for any reason,  while the amount of the end-of-service gratuity  is equivalent to one month’s wage  for each year of service, and the last month’s  wage is approved in calculating it.

The employer has the right to deduct the following amounts from the wage, and this deduction is considered legal if it is within the proportions allowed in the law and as follows:

• Refund of advances taken by the worker, provided that the amount of each installment does not exceed 10% of his monthly wage.
• Social security contributions and premiums due from the worker, in addition to deducting the income tax allowance if the value of the worker’s income is taxable.
• The worker’s contributions to provident funds and any other facilities provided by the employer.
• What is deducted pursuant to a court ruling, and not more than one third of the salary under the Execution Law.

The  minimum wage is the amount that the value of the worker’s wage may not be less than it, and   it is currently  260 dinars, and it is determined by a decision issued by a tripartite committee representing trade unions, employers’ organizations and the government, and it is reviewed according to the change in the cost of living, and in the event that the employer violates the minimum wage and pays less than it, he is punished with a fine of (500-1000) dinars for each case, and he is obligated to pay the difference in wages to the worker.

According to the decision of the Tripartite Committee for Labor Affairs in 2023, the  minimum wage for migrant workers is 260 dinars, with the exception of workers in the clothing sector who are subject  to the  collective labor contract concluded between the Jordanian Association of Clothing and Textile Exporters, the General Syndicate of Knitted Factories Owners, and the General Union of Workers in the Textile and Clothing Industry, according to  which their wages are(220) dinars, as well as excluding non-Jordanian domestic workers.

A migrant worker has the right to join trade unions registered with the Ministry of Labor, but he is not allowed to establish a trade union, as this is limited to workers of Jordanian nationality only.

Eight working hours per day do not count the period of eating or rest.

Forty-eight working hours per week, not counting the period of eating or resting.

The employer may employ the worker more than the normal limit for daily or weekly working hours, provided that the worker agrees to do so, and in return for an additional wage of 125% of his usual wage, and in the following cases, he may work overtime without the condition of his consent:

• Carrying out annual inventory, preparing the budget and final accounts, or preparing to sell at reduced prices, provided that the actual working hours do not exceed 10 hours per day.
• Avoid loss or damage to the goods, avoid technical hazard, or deliver or transport materials.

The above-mentioned compulsory overtime days should not exceed 30 days per year.

Overtime wages are calculated as follows:

• In the event that he works more than the daily or weekly working hours, he shall receive a wage not less than (125%) of his usual wage for each additional hour worked.
• In the event of working on weekends, religious holidays or official holidays, the worker receives a wage of  not less than 150% of his usual daily wage.

The duration of the annual leave is 14 days per year, and it becomes 21 days if the worker spends 5 continuous years with the same employer.

It may be agreed between the worker and the employer to postpone the worker’s annual leave for the following year, and the worker loses his right to leave if it has been postponed for a year and he does not request it.

The law grants the worker the right to  paid sick  leave for a period of 14 days in one year, based on a report from the accredited doctor of the entity in which he works, and it may be renewed for another 14 days if he is an inmate of a hospital, based on  a medical report issued by  the   accredited doctor.In the entity where the worker works if the number of workers is less than 20 workers, or from a medical committee approved by it if the number of workers is more than 20 workers.

Work injury is that suffered by the worker during or because of work, including injury to the worker in a road accident to and from work.

In the event of a work injury, the employer must transfer the worker to the nearest hospital or medical center and inform the concerned authorities, including the Ministry of Labor, of the occurrence of a work injury within 48 hours of the injury.

In the event that the worker is subject to the provisions of the Social Security Law, the Social Security Corporation must be informed of the work injury in writing within a period of 14 days from the date of the injury and a preliminary medical report must be attached, and the employer shall bear the worker’s wage for the first three days of the work injury.

It is 10 weeks of paid leave for pregnant working women, of which at least 6 weeks after delivery, and a woman may not be employed until after the end of the leave.

Is it permissible to employ those under the age of 18?

The Labor Code allows for the employment of persons between the ages of 16 and 18, under the following conditions:

• Be at least 16 years old.
• They should not be employed in hazardous, stressful or health-damaging work.
• The guardian’s written approval, and the submission of a certificate from the Ministry of Health of the juvenile’s health fitness for work and a copy of his birth certificate.
• He shall not be assigned to work during official holidays, religious holidays, and weekends.
• Not to work more than 6 hours a day, and to get one hour of rest after working for 4 hours continuously.

The labor inspector exercises judicial police powers during his work, as he can enter various workplaces, review all records and documents in the workplace, and the terms and conditions of workers’ work. He also has the right to request that the employer correct the violation of the labor law that he detects within a period not exceeding 7 days.

The law obliges every employer who employs 10 or more workers to establish an internal regulation in which working hours, rest periods, work violations, penalties and measures taken in this regard and details related to the nature of the work are determined.

No disciplinary action or fine may be imposed on the worker except for the violations mentioned in the sanctions list approved by the Ministry, and no penalties or fines shall be imposed other than those stated in the regulation, provided that the penalty shall not be imposed for any violation after 15 days have elapsed since its commission, and that the total fines imposed on the worker per month shall not exceed three days’ wages.

1. The Social Security Corporation shall pay the lump sum compensation to the non-Jordanian insured upon termination of his service, provided that a no-objection is obtained from the Ministry of Labor.
2. In order for a non-Jordanian worker to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Labour to pay social security benefits, one of the following cases must be met:
3. Apply for payment of social security benefits within a period not exceeding three months from the date of expiry of the work permit.
4. Pay the work permit fees for all previous periods during which he worked without a work permit in the event that a period exceeds three months from the expiry of the work permit.
5. Pay the work permit fees retroactively for the entire period of his contribution to social security in the event that the worker does not have a work permit.
6.