Labour Ministry issues wage regulations for non-working employees during curfew

AMMAN — The Labour Ministry on Monday issued regulations allowing private sector entities to apply to reduce the wages of employees who are not currently working as a result of the curfew prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the ministry stipulated that the application for a staff wage reduction will be limited to employees who are not required to perform any work at the current stage at entities excluded from or included in the work suspension decision.

According to Defence Order No. 6,private institutions are allowed to submit requests to the government to pay their employees who are not performing work during the curfew no less than 50 per cent of their usual wages, the Jordan News Agency, Petra reported.

Underthe Defence Order, institutions can make a request to reduce employees’ wages by up to 50 per cent, provided that the wages after the reduction are no less than the minimum wage of JD220, otherwise the minimum wage applies.

The regulations, published in the Official Gazette, gave the Minister of Labour the authority to specify the period during which any institution or establishment has approval to pay no less than 50 per cent of the usual wage to its workers.

The regulations also indicated that no institution or establishment may require an employee whose salary is already reduced by no less than 50 per cent to work.

If an employee is working, the employer must commit to paying the full salary of that employee. If the employee is required to work but is not paid in full, the employer shall be deemed in violation of the Defence Law No. 13 of 1992.