Employment Law

Employment Law

• Also commonly known as the Labour Law.
• Employment contracts may be defined as fixed-term, work-specific or indefinite-term agreements.
• Collective labour agreements are also provided for in this Law.
• Lays down circumstances when employment contracts may be terminated, which have become easier when compared with previous legislation.
• Employers may dismiss employees immediately if they commit wrongful acts.
• Employees have the right to claim for unfair dismissal under certain conditions.
• Other rules regulating such matters as working hours and leaves of absence are included.

• Repeals Law 91/1959, which was considered friendlier to employees.
• Law 17/2010 does not apply to employees working in the agricultural sector, which is governed by Law 56/2004, or the public sector, which is regulated by Law 50/2004.

• With the changes in economic policy towards a social market economy taking place, this Law sought to promote the Syrian market as a potential base for local and foreign investors.

Foreign Employees Rules

• Foreign nationals must not compete with Syrian workers and their work experience and competence must be taken into consideration.
• They have to obtain a work permit and residence permit for employment purposes.
• The number of foreign nationals employed by one employer cannot exceed 10% of the total employed workforce.
• The salaries for foreign employees cannot exceed 30% of the total salaries paid by that employer.
• There are however additional restrictions imposed on the number of foreign nationals employed by banks, insurance companies, financial services companies and brokerages.
• The number of foreign nationals at these companies cannot exceed nine percent of the total employed workforce during the first two years of operations.
• They must gradually decrease to three percent of the total employed workforce after five years.
• If there is a lack of Syrians capable of doing jobs at these companies, the Ministry of Labour can raise these quotas.
• The restrictions contained in this Regulation do not apply to foreign nationals resident in Syria for more than 15 years prior to the submission of their work permit application.
• They also do not apply if the potential worker has a Syrian mother or is married to a Syrian national.

• The Foreign Employees Rules replace the previous ones contained in MSAL Regulation 23/2010.

• This Regulation was enacted against the backdrop of internal conflict in Syria, which was having wide repercussions on the state of the economy.

Agricultural Relations Law

• As part of efforts to govern agricultural relations, employment contracts in the agricultural sector are also regulated by this Law.
• Employment contracts may be defined as fixed-term, work-specific or indefinite-term agreements.
• Lays down circumstances when employment contracts may be terminated.
• The termination of indefinite-term contracts takes into consideration the seasonal harvest.
• Contains similar provisions to those found in general employment legislation.

• Repeals Law 134/1958, which was passed as part of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s land reform package.
• Law 134/1958 sought to reduce the power wielded by wealthy landowners in favour of the peasantry.

• This Law was enacted during the time Syria began to gradually liberalize its economy but not before plans for a social market economy were officially announced.

Public Employment Law

• Governs employment in the public sector.
• Classifies employees into five categories that correspond to different pay scales.
• Contains similar provisions to those found in general employment legislation.

• Repeals previous legislation contained in Law 1/1985.

• This Law was enacted at a time when the government was carrying out a restructuring of the public sector, which included initiating a halt to its expansion.

Social Security Law

• The General Establishment for Social Security (GESS) handles pension payments to retired employees from the contributions made by both employers and employees in previous years.
• Another important function of the GESS is to provide insurance protection for its members, such as against accidents in the workplace.
• In addition to a 0.1% duty, an employer contributes 17% of an employee’s salary and further forwards seven percent of the latter’s salary to the GESS.

• Latest amendments contained in Law 78/2001.

• This law was passed as part of the package of socialist reforms gripping Syria during the era of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.