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  1. © ILO/Khalil Al Jermi

    Browse our Jordan pictures

Standards and national legislation

  1. National legislation

  2. Conventions ratified by Jordan

The ILO in Jordan

  • © ILO/Ala’a al Sukhni

    The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became a member of the ILO in 1956, ten years after gaining independence. General unemployment is estimated to be between 12-14 per cent and nearly half of the country’s six million are under the age of 19, putting an increased focus on the need to provide jobs to a burgeoning work force. More>>

What's new

  1. Video

    Video: Advancing decent work in Jordan’s agriculture sector: A compliance model

    03 December 2019

  2. © ILO 2019

    International Day of Disabled People

    Displacement and disability no barrier to work for Syrian refugee

    03 December 2019

  3. Event

    ILO’s Better Work Jordan conducts Occupational Safety and Health workshop for factories exporting to the EU

    17 - 19 November 2019

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Focus on our projects

  1. Regional Fair Migration Project in the Middle East

  2. Better Work Jordan (Phase II)

Publications

  1. Promoting youth employment and empowerment of young women in Jordan

    The ILO Taqeem “Impact Report” series disseminates research reports from Taqeem-supported employment assessment and impact evaluations.

  2. Work permits and employment of Syrian refugees in Jordan: towards formalising the work of Syrian refugees

    The general objective of this assessment is to gain a better understanding of the impact work permits have on the employment of Syrian workers in Jordan.

With ILO Support Jordan:

  1. Employment Promotion

    • Created 133,816 workdays in agriculture and infrastructure for Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

  2. Domestic Workers

    • Adopted Regulation No. 12 which organises private recruitment agencies and recruitment of migrant domestic workers.
    • Piloted an insurance scheme for employers of domestic workers.
    • Developed a legal and policy baseline on human trafficking for migrant garment and domestic workers.

  3. Syrian Refugee Crisis

    • Created 207,000 workdays for the maintenance and rehabilitation of numerous public assets.
    • Instituted flexible work permits in agriculture and construction outside the Kafala (sponsorship) system.
    • Issued 57,000 work permits in agriculture and construction.
    • Issued 64% of 118,000 work permits for Syrians in all sectors.
    • Modified a unified contract for migrant workers in Jordan’s garment sector to include Syrian refugees.
    • Established 11 Employment Service Centres which placed some 3,300 Jordanians and Syrians in employment (43% women) and issued around 16,000 formal work permits to Syrian refugees.

  4. Labour Migration

    • Achieved a sector-wide collective bargaining agreement for more than 40,000 migrant workers in Jordan’s garment.
    • Introduced a policy to ensure zero recruitment fees for garment factory employers.

  5. Child Labour

    • Implemented the National Framework on Child Labour.
    • Established the National Database on Child Labour.
    • Drafted Articles 31 to 36 of the Juvenile Justice Law No. 32. which raises the minimum age of criminal responsibility and prioritizes a rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice.
    • Enhanced child regulatory enforcement for 60 juvenile police, 40 National Aid Fund staff and 60 labour inspectors.

  6. Enterprise Development

    • Launched 25 start-up business and created 25 jobs through incorporating the Know About Business (KAB) programme.

  7. Gender Equality & Non-discrimination 

    • Achieved a collective bargaining agreement for private sector teachers incorporating non-discrimination measures.
    • Approved gender-responsive labour code amendments on pay equity, childcare, paternity leave, and flexible working hours in Parliamentary Committees.
    • Established around 100 new childcare centres and trained 27 careers on early childhood development.
    • Jordan became a member of the Equal Pay International Coalition.

  8. Workers’ Organizations

    • Established a multi-purpose workers’ centre which provides legal advice and trade union support for migrant workers in the garment sector.

  9. Skills and Employability

    • Enrolled 10,000 Syrian refugees and native Jordanians in a skills recognition programme.

  10. Social Security

    • Adopted a new Social Security Law to cover enterprises employing one or more workers, and cover the self-employed.
    • Ratified the Convention on Social Security (Minimum Standards), No. 102 (1952), making Jordan the first in the Arab States to do so.
    • Implemented a national social protection floor to reduce poverty.
    • Revised the investment strategy of the Social Security Investment Fund.
    • Government, employers’ and workers’ organizations adopted a strategy to institute universal health care.

  11. Employers' Organizations

    • Established a small and medium enterprises unit devoted to policy advocacy and services with Jordan Chamber of Industry.
    • Adopted a 15% increase in the minimum wage raise through negotiations with government, unions and employers.

  12. Tripartism and Social Dialogue

    • Created a unified contract for migrant workers in the garment sector through a two-year collective bargaining agreement.
    • Renewed a collective bargaining agreement covering working conditions and rights at work for 37,000 private sector teachers.
    • Annulled a draft law that criminalizes strikes.

  13. International Labour Standards

    • Ratified the Maritime Labour Convention.
    • Approved a milestone agreement to allow official inspection of garment factory dormitories.
    • Developed the National Labour Inspection Policy and Strategy.
    • Removed Jordan from the U.S. Department of Labour Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act list.