Employment Law

LAW

Employment Law

REFERENCE Law 17/2010
DATE OF PROMULGATION Approved by the People’s Assembly on March 29, 2010
Promulgated by President Bashar Al-Assad on April 12, 2010
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
  • 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.
RELATED LEGISLATION
  • 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.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
  • 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.

LAW

Foreign Employees Rules

REFERENCE ML Regulation 888/2016
DATE OF PROMULGATION Issued by Dr. Khalaf Al-Abdullah, Minister of Labour, on June 6, 2016
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
  • 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.
RELATED LEGISLATION
  • The Foreign Employees Rules replace the previous ones contained in MSAL Regulation 23/2010.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
  • This Regulation was enacted against the backdrop of internal conflict in Syria, which was having wide repercussions on the state of the economy.

LAW

Agricultural Relations Law

REFERENCE Law 56/2004
DATE OF PROMULGATION Approved by the People’s Assembly on December 22, 2004
Promulgated by President Bashar Al-Assad on December 29, 2004
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
  • 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.
RELATED 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.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
  • 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.

LAW

Public Employment Law

REFERENCE Law 50/2004
DATE OF PROMULGATION Approved by the People’s Assembly on December 5, 2004
Promulgated by President Bashar Al-Assad on December 6, 2004
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
  • 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.
RELATED LEGISLATION
  • Repeals previous legislation contained in Law 1/1985.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
  • 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.

LAW

Social Security Law

REFERENCE Legislative Decree 92/1959
DATE OF PROMULGATION Promulgated by President Gamal Abdel-Nasser on December 5, 1959
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
  • 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.
RELATED LEGISLATION
  • Latest amendments contained in Law 78/2001.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
  • This law was passed as part of the package of socialist reforms gripping Syria during the era of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.