Egypt - Minimum Wages - 2011

Labour Law No. 12 of 2003, Official Journal Issue No. 14, dated 7 April 2003, published by the Middle East Library for the Economic Services

Decree 983 of 2003 concerning the establishment of a National Council for Wages, published in the Egyptian Wakayeh / Government Bulletin Issue No 137, dated 21 June 2003; taken from the Executive Decrees of the Labour Law, March 2004, The Middle East Library for Economic Services

Decree 111 of 2003 concerning the rules on commissioning to inspect the places of work at night and in other than official working hours, published in Eyptian Wakayeh / Government Bulletin Issue 161 dated 19 July 2003; taken from The Executive Decrees of the Labour Law March 2004, The Middle East Library for Economic Services

Hassan M and Sassanpour C (2008) ’Labour Market Pressures in Egypt: Why is the Unemployment Rate Stubbornly High?’ International Conference on the Unemployment Crisis in the Arab Countries 17-18 March 2008, Cairo Egypt

Egypt sets minimum monthly wages to $69, Bloomberg Businessweek, 29 October 2010

Egypt court orders government to apply 1200 pound minimum monthly wage, Bloomberg, 26 October 2010

A worker is any natural person working in return for a wage with and under the management or supervision of the employer. However, the following workers are not covered by the Labour Law 2003:
(A) Public servants of the state agencies, including the local government units and public authorities;
(B) Domestic service workers and the like;
(C) The employer’s family members whom he actually supports.

An employer is any natural or juridical person employing one or more workers in return for a wage.

Wage is defined to mean all that the worker obtains in return for his work, whether fixed or variable, in case or in kind. The following shall in particular be considered a wage:
(1) The commission entering within the context of Labour relation;
(2) What is the worker may be paid in return for what he produces, sells, or collects all along his charge of the work for which this percentage is prescribed;
(3) The increments whatever the reason for becoming payable, or their kind;
(4) The in kind benefits the employer shall pay, without being necessitated by work exigencies;
(5) Any bonus given to the worker in addition to his wage, and all that is paid to him due to his honesty or efficiency, once these bonuses are prescribed in the individual or collective Labour contracts or in the work articles of association, as well as that which has become customarily payable once fulfilling the qualities of generality, continuance and constancy;
(6) All that is given to the worker in exchange for specific conditions or risks the worker is liable to in performing his work;
(7) The worker’s profit share;
(8) Tip that the worker obtains if it becomes customarily payable and has rules allowing for its determination. The percentage the customers pay in return for the service in tourist establishments shall be considered a tip.
A decree of the concerned minister shall be issued in agreement with the concerned trade union organisation on the method of its distribution among the workers in consultation with the concerned minister.

A national council for wages shall be established under the chairmanship of the Minister of Planning, to be concerned with setting the minimum wage at the national level.

The national council for wages shall set the minimum wages at the national level, subject to the cost of living, and by providing the methods and measures guaranteeing the realisation of balance between wages and prices.

The council shall also be concerned with setting the minimum periodical annual increments such that they shall not be less than 7% of the basic salary on the ground of which the social insurance contributions are reckoned.

A national council for wages shall be established under the chairmanship of the Minister of Planning, to be concerned with setting the minimum wage at the national level.

The council will be formed by decree of the prime minister and shall comprise the following categories of members:
(a) Eight members chosen on the strength of their positions or experiences (being 5 Ministers, the Heads of the Central Agency for General Mobilization and Statistics and the Central Agency for Organization and Management, and the Secretary General of the National Council for Women);
(b) Four members representing and elected by the employer organisations; and
(c) Four members representing and elected by the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions.

Specialists and representatives of any concerned quarters may also attend (but not vote at) Council meetings at the invitation of the Council.

The Council shall set regulations for reorganising the progress of its works, comprising the dates of its meetings, the methods of voting on the decisions and the required majority for their validity. These regulations shall be approved from the Head of the Council.

The national council for wages is to set the minimum wages at the national level, subject to the cost of living, and by providing the methods and measures guaranteeing the realisation of balance between wages and prices.

The minimum wage is to be set subject to the cost of living.

The minimum wage is to be set by providing the methods and measures guaranteeing the realisation of balance between wages and prices.

The minimum wage coverage mirrors the scope of the Labour Law 2003.

The minimum wage provisions are to cover workers as defined by the Labour Law, i.e. all natural persons working in return for a wage with and under the management or supervision of the employer except:
(A) public servants of the state agencies, including the local government units and public authorities;
(B) domestic service workers and the like;
(C) dependent family members of the employer.

The excluded categories mirror the broader exclusions from the Labour Law. Individual establishments may also seek exemptions from complying with the annual adjustments in the minimum wage rates, on the basis of incapacity to pay.

Dependent family members of the employer are not protected by the minimum wage provisions of the Labour Law in relation to any work they perform for the employer.

Public servants of the state agencies, including the local government units and public authorities, are excluded from the minimum wage protections under the Labour Law 2003.

Domestic workers and the like are excluded from the minimum wage protections of the Labour Law 2003.

In case the establishment is exposed to economic conditions with which it becomes impossible to pay the said periodical increment, the matter shall then be submitted to the national council for wages, to decide whatever it deems suitable with its conditions, within 30 days from the date of submitting the matter to it.

An alternative mechanism is established for determining specific wages, subject to the minimum wage set by the National Council for Wages.

The wage shall be determined according to the individual labour contract, the collective labour agreement, or the statute of the establishment. If the wage is not determined in any of these methods, the worker shall be entitled to a wage of equivalent position if any; otherwise the wage shall be estimated according to trade usage in the quarter where the work is performed. If no trade usage exists, the committee prescribed in article 71 of the present Law shall estimate the wage according to the exigencies of justice. This shall all be subject to the provisions of articles 34 and 35 of the present law.

In late October 2010, the National Council for Wages set the minimum wage at 400 Egyptian pounds per month.

400 Egyptian pounds per month.

The last minimum wage update was on 29 October 2010.

The wages and other amounts due to the worker shall be paid in the legally current money.

An employer hiring workers in remote areas in which the normal means of transportation does not reach shall undertake the responsibility of providing them with appropriate means of transportation. An employer hiring workers in areas lying away from urbanization shall provide them with suitable food and proper dwellings along with appropriating some of these dwellings for the married workers. The food meals prescribed shall not be substituted wholly or partially for any monetary payment.

The rate of payment prescribed varies depending on the terms of the worker’s engagement.

If a worker is to be paid per production, but the production task takes more than 2 weeks, the worker shall be paid each week on account commensurate with the work he has performed and the balance shall be paid during the week following delivery of the task.

Workers appointed with a monthly pay shall be paid at least once a month.

In cases other than those dealt with in §38(A) and (B), workers shall be paid ’once at most every week’, unless otherwise agreed.

The Labour Law provides that the National Council for Wages is to adjust the minimum wage annually, through minimum periodical annual increments of no less than 7% of the basic salary.

The Labour Law establishes a system of labour inspection and imposes fines for non-compliance with the minimum wage provisions.

A public servant vested with the judicial law officer quality shall hold a card establishing that quality. He shall have the right to enter all places of work, inspect them to ascertain the application of the provisions of the present law and its enforcing decrees, examine the books and papers connected therewith, and request the necessary documents and data from the employers or their assigned deputies. Inspection of certain establishments may take place at night or outside of official working hours in accordance with Decree 111 of 2003.

Employers shall facilitate the job of those charged with controlling the implementation of the Labour Law and submit to them the documents and data necessary for performing their mission. They must also respond to appearance demands issued by the labour inspectors.

The employer or his delegated representative for the establishment shall be liable to a fine penalty of not less than 100 pounds, and not exceeding 500 pounds, if he violates any of the §§33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46 of the Labour Law and its enforcing ministerial decrees.

The fine shall be multiplied with the multiplicity of workers in whose respect the crime occurred, and shall be double in case of recurrence.

The amounts due to the worker or his beneficiaries by virtue of the provisions of the present Law shall enjoy a lien on all movable or real property of the debtor. They shall be collected direct after the judicial expenses and the amounts due to the Public Treasury.

However, the wage shall be collected before the other rights referred to in the previous clause.