The decree aims to improve Egyptian’s work-life balance and provide better job security for workers. It also aims to increase productivity and regulate wages through collective agreements.
What is the Decree About?
The Decree regulates collective negotiations in many aspects, including its levels, topics, and procedures. It aims to improve Egyptians’ work-life balance and provide better job security for workers.
It also aims to increase productivity and regulate wages through collective agreements.
The Decree is the culmination of a few years of work. The Ministry of Manpower engaged in several workshops and studies to determine the best way to regulate collective negotiations in Egypt.
Who is Subject to the Decree?
According to Labor Law No.12 for 2003 (the “Labor Law”), collective negotiations, in general, are governed. Furthermore, decree No. 124 for 2003 establishes the procedures and levels of collective negotiations.
Collective negotiations, as defined by the new decree, refers to negotiations between an employer or a group of employers and workers, through their unions or associations, to improve working conditions and settle employment disputes.
To elaborate more, in the new Decree, the procedures are further defined. Collective bargaining occurs when an employer or a group of employers negotiates with employees through their unions or associations to improve their working conditions and solve labor problems.
All employees, including those working for the private sector, public sector, public works sector, investment sector, common sector, and public utilities not administered by the State, are covered by the Decree. However, military and police personnel are not covered.
According to the law, the representatives of the Union Committee, the General Union, and the employer must negotiate collectively in businesses with more than 50 employees. The employer and the representatives of the union that has a presence in the business, if there is no union, must negotiate with the employer and five workers to be chosen by the relevant General Union, three of which must be from the establishment’s workers. If the firm has less than 50 employees, negotiations are conducted between representatives of the relevant General Union and representatives of the employer.
According to the law, in establishments that employ 50 or more workers, negotiation takes place between representatives of the trade union committee in the establishment and the general union and the employer. Establishment workers
If a party refuses to start collective negotiations the other party may request from the competent administrative authority to notify the relevant Union Organization or the employers’ association, to begin the negotiations on behalf of the party that refuses to negotiate.
At least 50 employees must be employed at an establishment to form a union committee, and at least 10 union committees, each with at least 15,000 employees, may form a General Union.
The Decree provides for an extensive range of negotiable issues, ranging from issues that may improve the employees’ working conditions to issues that allow employer and employee cooperation to improve employee social welfare. It also covers disputes arising between the employer and employees.
The collective negotiations phase is a very important process in which the employer and the union representing the employees come to an agreement on various terms and conditions related to employment.
This process is very important because it sets the tone for the future relationship between the employer and the employees. It is also important because it establishes the ground rules for how the employees will be treated by the employer.
During the collective negotiations phase, the employer is prohibited from issuing any decision related to the matters subject to the negotiations except in the case of urgency and provided such decision will be on a temporary basis.
After the phase of the collective negotiations, the Collective Negotiations Agreement is drafted to be a legal document between an employer and a union representing the employees documenting the terms agreed upon by both parties in the phase of the collective negotiations.
The outcome of the collective negotiations phase is very important because it can set the tone for the future relationship between the employer and the employees.
Conclusion
The Decree aims to improve Egyptians’ work-life balance and provide better job security for workers. It also aims to increase productivity and regulate wages through collective bargaining agreements.
The Decree regulates collective negotiations in many aspects, including its levels, topics, and procedures, the trade unions or business organizations can negotiate the topics and procedures they consider necessary. The Ministry of Manpower can issue new procedures to expedite the collective negotiations.
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