Jordan… Living Below The Minimum Wages
Hamza, 21, has to work a ten hour daily shift in a café in Irbid
to cover his university fees. His salary is a mere JD 250, and on
most days he works overtime without any remuneration.
In fear of losing his job, Hamza is hesitant to ask for a raise in
salary, overtime remuneration or time off from work, all of which
are rights stipulated in Jordan’s National Labour Code. “It’s the
same salary everywhere! Even if I were to leave and work somewhere
else I will have to endure the same working conditions. I have no
choice. I need to complete my education and cover my living
expenses.”
Hamza represents a large sector of workers who have chosen not to
complain or demand the application of the minimum wage law which
recently has recently increased minimum wages by 18% (JD 220 to JD
260). This comes at a time when unemployment has reached 24.7%,
according to the Department of Statistics, making many workers
prefer to accept the status quo rather than file any complaints
and risk losing their jobs.
The decision to increase minimum wages which was issued by the
trilateral committee for labour affairs and published in the
official gazette on February 24, 2020, was not enough to raise
wages above the absolute poverty line, which, according to
official figures, is a monthly income of JD 480 per Jordanian
family (approx. $680).
Lost Rights
Aisha (alias), a teacher, receives a monthly salary of around JD
220, which equals the previously set minimum wage. Her salary has
not changed since she began working in a private school in Irbid
nine years ago. She receives no remuneration for the three months
of the summer holiday. Aisha was afraid to complain until the
school’s headmistress requested that the school deducts part of
her salary as a contribution to the “sustainability program” that
was launched by the Social Security Corporation to provide
assistance to workers in institutions adversely affected by the
Covid-19 pandemic.
The teacher says: “The school’s owner demanded we pay JD 80 from
our salary for the sustainability program, sometimes JD 50, to
assist the school in light of the hardships caused by the
pandemic. We were forced to comply to avoid losing our jobs.”
Aisha filed a complaint with the Jordanian Teachers Association
which had launched an initiative in 2017 to raise awareness of
teachers’ rights and address violations of labour rights and
wages. She was able to receive her full salary without any
deductions, but had to launch the same battle each subsequent
month as the school’s demand for deductions persisted. With the
looming risk of losing her job, Aisha eventually gave up saying:
“I have decided to pay the school part of my sustainability
allowance to avoid being sucked into a maelstrom of complaints or
losing my job permanently.”
Labour attorney, Hazem Shakhatreh, says that the scarcity of
complaints and labour lawsuits is a result of workers’ lack of
awareness and fear of losing their jobs, in addition to
overcrowded courtrooms. He adds, “the main obstacles facing the
implementation of this law are the lack of logistical support and
the ignorance of workers in their labour rights”.
Nariman Al Shawaheen, founding member of the Teachers Association
initiative ‘Qum Lil Muallem’ (Stand for the Teacher) says that
they continually receive complaints about employers’ lack of
commitment to the payment of minimum wages and overtime
remuneration. The initiative can only contact school
administrations to try and settle conflicts with teachers amicably
in order to avoid any consequent loss of jobs.
Al Shawaheen faces the same dilemma as her colleagues stating:
“Our salaries are often paid in instalment increments and the
school year may end without receiving my full salary. This is in
addition to the fact that I am not paid during the summer holiday
since (usually) my contract validity ends at the end of each
school year and is renewed at the beginning of the following
school year.”
Salaries by the Drip
Six years ago, Isra’ was forced to work in a beauty salon after
she failed to find a job to suit her college degree in Business
Administration. Over a period of five years, her salary stood
fixed at JD 200, only to reach JD 230 at the beginning of her
sixth year of work, still below the newly set minimum wage.
Isra’ does not even receive this meagre salary from her employer
in full. “He pays me JD 50 and then another JD 50 at the beginning
of the following month. Mid month the amount could reach JD 200,
and the rest is paid in instalments increments of JD 5 or JD 10.”
From time to time, Isra’ is afflicted with bronchial infections
and allergies, which are, according to doctors, a result of the
harmful chemicals of beauty products that she frequently handles
in her work. She is often forced to stay home sick for a week of
unpaid leave yet has to return to work to pay for her living
expenses.
The Minimum Enforcement of the Law
According to Mazen Maaytah, the director of the General Federation
of Jordanian Trade Unions, the minimum wages law does not apply to
80% of the Jordanian workforce, which clearly indicates a failure
of implementation of the law, especially that the size of the
Jordanian workforce is 1.6 million, which constitutes 27% of the
overall population, according to the National Training Institute.
Section 53 of the Jordanian Labour Code stipulates that an
employer who has paid a worker less than the minimum rate of
remuneration or has discriminated against workers in remuneration
for equal work based on gender shall be punishable by a fine of no
less than five hundred and no more than one thousand Jordanian
Dinars ($1400). The fine is doubled if the violation is repeated.
The Ministry of Labour, which is authorized to monitor the
implementation of the law, and in an effort to encourage employer
compliance, launched in 2006 what became known as the “Golden
List” which includes the names of companies and institutions that
comply with the law especially those pertaining to wages, working
hours, overtime work, and the provision of suitable working
conditions.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic proved the list irrelevant. From
the start of the pandemic until the end of April, 2021, the
Ministry of Labour referred 1914 complaints to the courts.
According to the ministry’s report, the number of complaints
related to wages exceeded 15 thousand. In addition, the number of
labour complaints increased after the Ministry of Labour launched
the e-platform “Himaya” (Protection) on its website, which had not
been available before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Reports issued by the Department of Statistics in 2020 stand
testament to the fickle control over the implementation of the
law. The department says that the percentage of workers without
any legal or social protection reached 48%. Those are employees in
the “unregulated” private sector who do not have any form of
protection and are not registered in the Social Security system,
working in various economic and agricultural sectors like
construction, restaurants, beauty salons and private schools.
In light of the low wages and the hesitance of workers to file
complaints against employers violations, tens of thousands of
workers are forced to work in difficult conditions that do not
meet their basic rights or cover their basic needs.