Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Egypt

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) (Ratification: 1960)
Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) (Ratification: 1976)

Previous comment

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on wages, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos. 131 (minimum wage) and 95 (protection of wages) in a single comment.

Minimum Wage

Articles 3 and 4 of Convention No. 131. Operation of the minimum wage system. Further to its previous comment, the Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that: (i) the Council of Ministers adopted the Cabinet Decision No. 2659 of 2020 on the re-composition of the National Council for Wages; (ii) the council set the minimum wage for the private sector in 2022; and (iii) the minimum wage level is adjusted annually taking into account cost of living, price development, geographical and sectorial aspects, levels of productivity, etc. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on the activities of the National Council for Wages and, in particular, on the periodic increments of the minimum wage level, in consultations with representative organizations of employers and workers concerned.

Article 5. Enforcement. The Committee notes that the Labour Code does not provide for sanctions for non-payment of the minimum wage. It recalls that measures to ensure the effective application of provisions relating to minimum wages should include adequate penalties (General Survey of 2014, paragraph 305). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the sanctions imposed in cases of infringements upon the minimum wage and to indicate the relevant legislative provisions.

Protection of wages

Articles 4 and 6 of Convention No. 95. Partial payment of wages in kind. Freedom of workers to dispose of their wages. The Committee notes that in response to its previous comment requesting information on the measures adopted in practice to ensure that allowances in kind are appropriate and that workers may freely dispose of their wage, the Government refers in its report to sections 42, 44 and 45 of the Labour Code. The Committee notes that these sections of the Labour Code do not determine the circumstances under which payments in kind may be made nor do they prohibit employers from exercising any kind of constraint on the use made by workers of their wages. Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to consider the introduction of provisions giving effect to Articles 4 and 6 in its legislation and to provide information on the findings of the labour inspectorate and any labour disputes concerning issues related to the payment of wages in kind and workers’ freedom to dispose of their wages.

Article 15(c). Enforcement. The Committee notes that section 247 of the Labour Code provides for a fine if the employer violates provisions on protection of wages of not less than a hundred Egyptian pounds (EGP) and not exceeding five hundred EGP. With reference to its General Survey of 2003 (paragraph 479), the Committee encourages the Government to evaluate whether these sanctions are proportionate to the offences and sufficiently dissuasive to deter violations.