Flexible work regulations crucial in enhancing women’s labour force participation — report  

AMMAN — A report published by the Ministry of Labour in November 2022 said that implementing flexible work systems in the workplace can contribute to enhancing women’s economic participation in Jordan. 

The report, titled “Pre-assessing the Impact of Enhancing Women’s Participation in the Labour Market/The Flexible Work Regulation”, cited a 2021 report by the Department of Statistics (DoS), which showed that Jordanian women’s economic participation in 2021 stood at 14 per cent, while that of men reached 54 per cent. It also revealed that the employment rate for females between the ages of 24 and 40 stood at 18.4 per cent compared with 71.2 per cent for their male counterparts. 

The ministry’s report stated that there are “social hindrances” that prevent women in Jordan from joining the labour force, as men are still the main breadwinners of Jordanian households, “except in exceptional and compelling circumstances”, while women are expected to prioritise household duties and work in a limited number of professions. 

It cited a survey issued by the Higher Population Council in 2018, showing that 56.4 male participants and 31.1 female participants agreed that women’s work goes against societal customs and traditions.

Rama, a 24-year-old electric engineer, shared her job search journey in a male-dominated sector with The Jordan Times, noting that she was “faced with tonnes of biased interviews and rejections”. 

“Since most jobs in the engineering sector require a lot of on-site work and dealing with people outside the office, the majority of interviewers made it clear that they prefer male engineers, assuming that they’d be more social and bold,” she said. 

Rama is currently a “Service Desk Engineer”, whose job allows her to work remotely four out of five days per week. However, her first job required her to spend eight hours a day in an office. 

“The worst part about that was the time and money I spent on transportation, which is why I prefer the flexible work system at my current job,”

The lack of affordable and convenient transport means is also a barrier to women’s labour force participation, according to the report, which said that a 2018 DoS report estimated that the gender pay gap in Jordan stands at 18 per cent in the public sector and at 14.1 per cent in the private sector. 

Its findings show that a flexible work system can contribute to addressing these obstacles and increasing women’s employment rates by enhancing their ability to balance work and family life. 

“The traditional eight-hour workdays don’t align with the technological advances that impacted the business environment and workers’ urgent need to meet their social responsibilities,” it stated. 

The report recommended expanding and legislating untraditional and flexible forms of work and stressed the need to close legislative gaps in order to create female-friendly workplaces and increase formal inspection campaigns to ensure that there isn’t any form of gender discrimination or legal violations in workplaces. 

It also featured the results of a survey on enhancing Jordanian women’s participation in the labour market, conducted with the participation of workers from both the private and the public sector. 

55.6 per cent, of respondents said that low wages as well as minimum wage violations are the reason for women’s decreased participation in the Jordanian labour market, and 48.1 per cent of respondents attributed this to the lack of childcare facilities in the workplace.

The overwhelming majority of respondents, 70.4 per cent, answered yes to the question; “Will implementing a flexible work system increase women’s participation in the labour market?” and 63 per cent suggested flexible work hours as a solution to enhancing women’s participation in the labour force. 

Director of the Phenix Centre for Economics and Informatics Studies (PCEIS) Ahmad Awad noted that need to review the Flexible Work Regulation No. 22 of 2017, which organises part-time and remote work for employees who meet certain requirements, also allowing them the option of reducing or redistributing their work hours or days if their employer and the nature of their job allow that.

“In some cases, a flexible work system should be mandatory in order to ensure that targeted categories, such as women and persons with disabilities, fully benefit from it, so long as the nature of their jobs permits it,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Women still disproportionately carry the burden of unpaid care and domestic work; therefore a flexible work system will encourage women to join the labour market by helping them balance their home-work responsibilities, he added. 

A part-time or remote work system can help female workers navigate the issue of the “poor” public transport services in Jordan, marked by the lack of affordable, safe and reliable options for women, he continued.

Awad also pointed out that low wages are a “primary hindrance” to women’s economic participation. 

“The findings of this study, issued by the Labour Ministry, show that low salaries are a hindrance to female employment, which necessitates developing and committing to a clear strategy to increase the minimum wage in Jordan,” he said. 

The ministry’s report pointed out that women make up almost half, 47 per cent, of “Jordan’s population and production capacity”, which means that enabling them and enhancing their “economic participation is necessary to achieving social justice, building a productive, just and advanced society and ensure political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security”. 

Research findings show a correlation between decreasing female labour force participation and stifling social and economic progress, it stated.