Legal guide for worker and employer published

AMMAN — The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) on Wednesday published “Legal Information for the Worker and the Employer”, an electronic guide on the Jordanian labour legal framework aimed at promoting awareness in matters related to the Labour Law.

The document, prepared in collaboration with the Jordan Labour Watch at the Phenix Centre, provides the readers with an overview about the rights of the employee, with a compilation of over 140 legal consultations divided into a total of 22 sections classified according to the subject and the nature of the questions raised in the consultation. 

“The guide is based on the assistance provided by the ARDD over the past year, which amounts to over 245 legal consultations on the Labour Law in response to queries received through the Jordan Labour Watch´s official website,” ARDD co-founder and CEO Samar Muhareb told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Low wages, contracts terminated without notice or compensation, gender-based violence (GBV) in the workplace, harassment and refugees being subject to exploitation are the most “urgent” issues to be addressed, according to Muhareb. 

Only a 26.5 per cent of the queries received by the organisations were sent by women, which Muhareb attributed to “the fact that Jordan has one of the smallest percentages of female participation in the labour market worldwide”.

“In addition, women are generally more hesitant when it comes to complaining because they fear that starting legal action will end up consuming their resources,” the CEO continued, pointing out that “many women prefer to minimise their exposure when it comes to issues at work to prevent their families from making them stop working”.

When asked about the objective of the guide, Muhareb explained that the ARDD’s objective was “to enable an environment that allows workers from all nationalities to participate safely in the Jordanian labour market,” adding that the guide will “inform the concerned stakeholders and help workers to abide by the current regulations”.

 In addition, the lawyer stressed the “urgent” need for such guides to assist workers on legalising their situation, expressing her condolences for a migrant worker who passed away last week “while trying to escape after being prosecuted by the Ministry of Labour”.

“This is why we want to remind all workers that it is possible to ensure your legal presence as a worker, that it is possible to abide by the law, and that many private sector [institutions] are now investing and creating opportunities,” Muhareb said, expressing that “all together, we can change this situation”.

“This document is very necessary because workers in Jordan do not know about their rights,” director of the Phenix Centre Ahmad Awad told The Jordan Times, noting that “there is a dire need to increase awareness, considering that an approximate 95 per cent of the workers are not registered with trade unions”. 

“Even when they are registered with them [trade unions], they do not really function in a real democratic way, and most of them are just about bureaucracy,” Awad continued, concluding that “someone has to tell the workers about their rights”.