Lower House amend Labour Law definitions, work permit exemptions

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday decided to exempt Gazan labourers and non-Jordanians whose mothers are from Jordan, from having to apply for a work permit.

During the session, which was chaired by Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh and attended by the Cabinet, to discuss the 2018 amended Labour Law, deputies also redefined “flexible work”, “wage discrimination” and “part-time job” definitions in the law, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The deputies redefined the “labour dispute” section of the law as a dispute limited to “any dispute that arises between the syndicate and the employer or an employer’s union”.

“Flexible work” was
redefined as any physical or mental effort for which a worker is paid for, within a defined flexible work contract. 

Meanwhile, “wage discrimination” was redefined as the inequality of pay for any work of equal value based on gender; whereas, “part-time job” was re-defined as any work that does not meet the working hours set by law.

The Lower House also approved amendments to permit the labour minister to construct labour recruitment offices that do not contradict with the ministry’s goals for providing job opportunities for Jordanians.

The members of Parliament also raised the penalty for “mediation to illegally facilitate the employment of workers inside and outside the Kingdom” to a JD500 minimum “instead of JD200 “. The new penalty is not to exceed a JD1,000 fine, imprisonment for more than six months or both.

Meanwhile, the House also decided that the labour minister has the right to issue a decision to deport an illegal worker at the expense of the worker’s employer. The worker then cannot be re-recruited for three years from the date of his or her departure.

The draft law also approved incentives for the Labour Ministry’s employees by allocating 5 per cent of non-Jordanian workers’ permit fees to the Technical and Vocational Education Training Fund.