National dialogue raises important questions on prevention and resolution of labour complaints in Jordan

AMMAN (ILO News) – Under the patronage of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Labour in Jordan, the ILO and the Ministry of Labour held a national dialogue on labour dispute resolution involving representatives from the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Justice, employers’ organizations, trade unions, the Judicial Council, civil society, embassy representatives, UN agencies, and international organizations.

H.E. Farouk Al Hadidi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Labour, opened the meeting, noting that the resolution of labour complaints was a key priority for the government. In addition to possible grievance mechanisms at company level, there are three main channels for resolving complaints in Jordan, he said. The Ministry of Labour inspectors investigate and aim to amicably resolve most types of labour complaints provided that the worker is still in active employment. Claims involving wage disputes in Amman may be filed before the Wages Authority if the worker is in active employment or within six months of employment termination (provided he/she was not dismissed by the employer). In all cases, disputes can be filed before a Magistrate’s Court in the form of a written claim, Al Hadidi explained.

Improving accessibility and efficiency of dispute resolution

The number of individual and collective labour complaints is considerable, making effective prevention and resolution a timely priority. Up to 20,000 individual complaints reach the MOL annually, while courts have a caseload of around 9,000 labour cases per year. An additional 300 wage disputes are resolved at the level of the Wage Authority annually.

In 2020, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Labour Ministry introduced an online complaints platform called “Hemayeh” to enable workers to report certain labour violations, facilitating direct, digital communication between workers, employers and labour inspectors and speeding up the process of resolution.

According to Haytham Najdawi, Director of Inspection at the Ministry of Labour, the platform received 23,800 complaints in 2020, with around 13,900 complaints lodged so far in 2023.

Mr Imad Al Habarneh, speaking on behalf of Mr Samer Al Qudah, Head of the Wages Authority Unit, said that the Wages Authority, which is also under the mandate of the Ministry of Labour, was performing an important function in resolving complaints relating to wages and overtime in an expedited manner. Although the Wage Authority only covers cases in Amman, the Ministry of Labour had looked at the feasibility of expanding the Authority to provide expedited judicial remedy to workers beyond Amman. Speaking about the role of the Magistrate’s courts which hear labour cases, Mr Mohammad Fandi, a judge in the Amman Court of First Instance, noted that the Labour Law aims to make judicial remedy more accessible, for example by waiving filing fees for most labour cases and allowing self-representation for claims under 1,000 Jordanian dinar. However, labour cases can take a long time to resolve through the courts, and therefore this may not be a feasible and appropriate option for all workers and all types of disputes.

In discussing potential ways forward, participants reflected on the fact that the handling of extra-judicial complaints needs to be re-organized. The main role of labour inspectors, as provided in the Labour Law and the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), is to secure the enforcement of provisions relating to working conditions and the protection of workers, and to educate workers and employers, which is in contrast to the role played by conciliators who try to bring disputing parties to an amicable resolution.

Although participants recognized that there was a continuing need to have a free conciliation service offered by the government (and under the Ministry of Labour), there was broad consensus that this would need to be undertaken by a separate unit, staffed by trained conciliators rather than labour inspectors. Such a division of roles would also be consistent with ILO principles and labour standards, which recommend against labour inspectors carrying out mediation/conciliation functions, as was noted by Valérie Van Goethem, ILO Labour Law Specialist, during the Dialogue.

Ms Van Goethem discussed different models of effective judicial and non-judicial institutions from other countries, and introduced the ILO diagnostic tool for self-assessing the effectiveness of labour dispute prevention and resolution.

Trade unions and civil society can play a key role in supporting labour dispute resolution, including through the provision of legal assistance and education to workers, and in the case of trade unions, joint cooperation committees between employers and unions (at sectoral level), collective bargaining agreements and joint inspections.

Leaving no one behind

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development strives to leave no one behind. Under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies, UN member States, including Jordan, committed to “promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all” (SDG target 16.3).

Participants acknowledged the unique challenges faced by migrant workers and refugees in lodging labour disputes, including the risk of retaliation by the employer for filing a complaint (for example, the practice of lodging a malicious ‘absconding’ claim which pushes migrant workers into irregularity and deprives them of the right to effective remedy), lack of awareness of their rights, and a lack of Arabic proficiency in navigating dispute resolution mechanisms (especially workers in the garment and domestic work sectors).

Yousra, an agricultural worker, spoke about the challenges she experienced in lodging a court case for non-payment of wages (outside of Amman), which included logistical challenges in attending hearings and enforcing judgment debt, although awarded in her favour.

There was a strong commitment amongst participants for further dialogue and action on this important topic, and a request for ILO support to keep building knowledge and capacity.

The conference was paper-free with all documents made available to participants via QR code.

For further information, please contact Suha Labadi at [email protected]