Defence Order No. 6 seeks to ‘balance’ employees’, employers’ interests — Labour minister

AMMAN — Minister of Labour Nidal Bataineh, in a letter addressed to private sector employers and employees explaining Defence Order No. 6 and its implications, has called for “mutual support until this dark cloud passes”.

Defence Order No. 6, announced by the prime minister during a televised statement last week, aims to protect the rights of workers in various economic sectors in light of some sectors gradually returning to work while the curfew continues, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported at the time.

“The Defence Order will not fully satisfy either party, as fulfilling the demands on one side would come at the expense of the other. What is asked from employers and employees is to  offer sacrifices for the greater good,” Bataineh said.

The letter comes after the ministry has received hundreds of complaints from the private sector, Bataineh said.

“For some workers, they ask, why is my salary deducted when I am forced to stay at home, and given that I was not forcefully quarantined, I would work?”

“To them, I say we must stand with the employer and appreciate their circumstances. Deducting salaries is the alternative to mass layoffs that are common at a time like this. I also assure workers that their dismissal was prohibited under the Defence Order, except for reasons stated in the Labour Law and not related to the current circumstances,” the minister said in the letter.

The letter highlighted some employers’ concerns and cited their grievances: “How do we pay salaries when we are not allowed to operate? Where is the government's support and the role of social security? What are the economic protection programmes being prepared for us?”

Bataineh replied by saying: “To them, I also say the prohibition of work is not to last too long, as there are plans to ensure that the sectors are back to operations gradually and within economic and health standards. Moreover, we have issued a Defence Order that allows you to reduce salaries during the crisis and ask for suspension in cases of bankruptcy.”

He added that “the minister of finance and the governor of the Central Bank of Jordan have approved postponing bank payments, installments and lendings, as well as stipulated low interest rates so that entities are able to pay their workers wages.”

The letter highlighted that Defence Order No. 6 “tries to balance between protecting the interest of both the worker and the employer in these difficult economic conditions, which is evident in allowing work owners to deduct salaries if the employee has not worked from home and, on the other hand, the prohibition of the suspension of the employee”.

The minister added that “if a worker is asked to sacrifice a portion of their wage and if the employer is asked to halt operations, it seems like these are sensible requests from the government in light of the conditions we live in today”.

He noted that there were several solutions provided for private entities.

“If the entity could work from home, we asked it to do so. If remote work was not possible due to the nature of the entity, we issued a Defence Order and stimulation packages to help them,” Bataineh said.

“As for daily wage workers, who are not subject to the Labour Law, they will be offered social protection within the capabilities of the state and according to the Defence Order,” the minister added in his letter.

The letter highlighted that the Defence Order “was not issued with the consideration of a single angle, that of the Ministry of Labour, but was only announced after intense and inclusive consultations with banks, law firms, associations and economic experts.”

As of Sunday, April 12, the Ministry of Labour has begun receiving requests from the private sector for continued operations stipulated by the Defence Order via the website hemayeh.jo. Worker complaints will also be received on the same platform.

The minister concluded his letter by saying that “we all work hard to serve all parties in these circumstances, while keeping the health and wellbeing of citizens in mind”.