LEBANESE LABOR

LAW
3/7/2021
 Labor law

I. Definition:

• Lebanese Labor Law was promulgated on September 23,

1946. It is the branch of private law which deals with legal
problems arising from employment agreements.

• Primarily, Labor Law is concerned with the relationship

between employer and employee, known as the
employment contract. With the development of trade
unions and employers organizations and the increasing
intervention of the State, it will be more accurate to say
that labor law deals with the relationship between
employer /employee / collective organization/ State.
• According to Article 8 of the Labor Code, employers and
employees are covered by the general rules of Labor law,
except for those mentioned in a special text.

• Also, it covers all kinds of establishments, with its branches,

whether it is commercial or industrial.
 II. Sources of labor law (Makki p.12)

 The sources of labor law are the same as the sources of law but
what differs is the content.
• There are national sources and international sources
1. National sources of labor law:
a. Legal sources:
i. The constitution: The Lebanese constitution was, until
1990, silent about the social issue. For the first time, with
the "Taef agreement" came the constitutional law n° 18 of
September 21, 1990 to mention, in the third and seventh
paragraphs of its preamble, the social justice and the social
balanced development of the regions. Accordingly, the
social justice became a constitutional principle.
Preamble:
c. Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic based on respect
for public liberties, especially the freedom of opinion and belief,
and respect for social justice and equality of rights and duties
among all citizens without discrimination.
G. The even development among regions on the educational, social,
and economic levels shall be a basic pillar of the unity of the
state and the stability of the system.

i. Ordinary laws:
1.The Code of Labor of 1946.
2.The Code of Collective Labor Agreements, Mediation
and Arbitration of 1964.
3.The Code of Occupational injuries of 1983.
4.The Code of Social security of 1963.
 ii. Regulations (decree - ministerial order by-law): The
regulations in labor matters are many and diversified and
cannot be limited; in any case, those regulations must comply
with the applicable laws.
b. Extra-legal sources: Extra-legal sources are subdivided into
two categories: professional sources and extra-professional
sources.

i. Professional sources:
1.Customs and usages: All sources of law began as
customary laws. In labor law customary law entails what
is called vested rights: if a custom is settled in certain
professions or enterprises, such as hotels or restaurants,
then it must be applied as a source of labor law as long
as it is compatible with the applicable laws.
2. Collective labor agreements and internal regulations:
a.Collective labor agreements are provided and regulated by the
law enforced by decree n° 17386 of September 2nd, 1964; they
are the only negotiated legal texts which are consensual.

b.Internal regulations are provided by article 66 and following of

the Code of Labor. They are not negotiated and issued solely by
the employer without consulting the employees and without
their consent. In France, the employer must consult the
employees, under penalty of nullity, before issuing the internal
regulation.
ii. Extra-professional sources: It is meant by extra-professional
sources: doctrine and precedents.
2. International sources of labor law:
a. Reasons for international legislation: Labor law is not the only
law that has international sources, but it is, perhaps, the only
law that has specific international sources, and this is because
the social issue is intimately linked to humans. This is why the
United Nations found it necessary to unify the social
measures of different countries; social measures don't
concern the human rights only, but the economy and the
political situation as well. Legal writings and doctrine have had
a significant impact on this field.
b. Methods of elaborating international legislation: First, there
were bilateral treaties, and then multilateral treaties appeared,
specifically European treaties. All of these led to the creation of
the international labor law which is the sum of international
labor conventions.
The United Nations has early created the International
Labor Organization (ILO), which only has an organizing role.
The international Labor Organization runs through the
International Labor Office and was probably at the basis of
every international labor convention.
It played a major role in improving labor law, especially in
the countries in need of progress. For African and Asian
countries, and for Eastern European countries, international
treaties are very beneficial. Arab Labor Organization (ALO)
and the Arab Labor Office were also created.
• International labor conventions are not binding unless
they are ratified by the parliament.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGoP41DhH3A
III. The Scope of Labor Law
 Employer The employer is any person, natural or
juridical, who in an industrial, trading, or agricultural
enterprise employs a worker in some capacity against
wage or salary, even if this wage or salary is paid in
kind or in profit-sharing.

 Employee: The worker is any man, woman (18 years),

or juvenile (13 years normal tasks and 16 special
tasks) who works for consideration of a wage or
salary in a employer’s premises within the terms of
reference indicated in the preceding article, in
accordance with an individual or group contract,
written or oral.
• Parties excluded from the Labor Law

1. Domestic servants employed in private houses;

2. Agricultural Unions which have no connection with

trade or industry that will be subject of a special law;

3. Family Enterprises employing solely members of the

family under the management of the father , mother, or
the guardian;

4. Municipal or government department employees that

are bound by special law
IV. Labor Contract (Employment Contract) and its formation:
• A labor contract, known as employment contract, is a legal
relationship between employers and employees, including a
trial period of three months.
• Employment contracts could be written or oral. In both cases.
they are subject to the general provisions of the Labor Code.

• The written contract must be in Arabic, and it could be

translated to a foreign language if the employer or the employee
were foreigners.

• It is prohibited for persons to conclude an employment contract

for all his life or to have an employment contract which prohibits
him from working in certain professions for all his life.
• These types of clauses are void with absolute nullity.
• Employment contracts with children that are below thirteen
are prohibited by law, and it is the responsibility of the
employer to examine the age of the other party by checking
his identity card before employment.
• Every person, physical or juristic, employing more than 15
employees must submit a request to the Labor Ministry in this
regard within a time limit of two months. Also, he must
submit with his request an internal regulation which compiles
with the provisions and the principals of labor law.
• V-Rights and Obligations of the Parties:
• The maximum working hours in a week are forty-eight hours. If the
working hours exceed six hours per day for men and five hours for
women, the employer must give his employees at the middle of the day
one-hour of rest, and every twenty-four hours nine consecutive hours
of rest.

• Also,

a. Employees have the right to take, without interruption, thirty-six

hours of rest, and the employer can choose their day-off.
b. Every employee who loses any member of his family has the right to
take two days of leave, fully paid.

c. Every employee has the right, every year, to take fifteen days of leave
if one year has passed from the date of the conclusion of the
employment contract.
d. Employers could choose the date for such leaves according to
work circumstances. The employer cannot dismiss the employee
or send him a warning or a notice during his leave.
e. If the employee gets sick with a sickness not resulting from his
employment, then he is entitled for a sick leave that will be given
based on a medical report.
f. The employer has no right to neither dismiss the employee from
work nor send him a warning during his sick leave.
g. The minimum average of the salary should be enough to cover the
necessary needs of the employee and his family, taking into
consideration the type of work. The salary should not be less than
the average of the official minimum salary. Nowadays, the
minimum salary as fixed by the Government is 675.000 LBP.
h.The employee has the right to leave work for one hour to search
for another job if any resignation occurs.
i. The employer must pay to the dismissed employee a remuneration
equivalent to the salary of one month for every year he had
worked, and the salary of half a month if his period of work was
less than one year.

j. The employee who reached the age of sixty or who has spent
twenty five years at the same job could ask for a dismissal, and he
could benefit from the leave indemnity.

k. If the number of employees exceeds fifteen, the employer must

make an internal regulation to organize work at his establishment.
Such a regulation must be approved by the Minister of Economy &
Trade.
• If the employee gets sick outside work and not because of a work
accident as stipulated in legislative decree nº 25 of May 4th, 1943,
his right for a sick leave is as follows:

1. Half a month with a full salary and half a month with half a salary
for employees that have spent from three months to two years at
work.

2. One month with a full salary and one month with half a salary for
employees that have spent from two to four years at work.

3. One month and a half with a full salary and one month and a half
with half a salary for employees that have spent from four to six
years at work.

4. Two months with a full salary and two months with half a salary
for employees that have spent from six to ten years at work.
 Employee’s Obligations (in brief)
 To perform as agreed
 To perform as a prudent administrator
 To follow orders
 To work under the supervision of the employer
 To refrain from competition (time/distance)
 • Employer’s Obligations(in brief)
 To pay salary weekly or monthly
o Cash
o In kind
 To provide a healthy work place
o No hazardous environment
o Safe equipment
 To treat the employee with dignity
o No insult
o no harassment
 To allow the employee to do his/her job
o Allowing the employee to enter the premises
o Providing the employee with the pertinent tools to fulfill the
task
 To organize the limit of working hours per week
o 48 hours per week
o It can be amended by specific circumstances
 To put a work policy
o If he/she has 15 employees or more
 To give different types of paid leaves
o Maternity leaves (7 weeks)
o Weekly leaves (36 yours)
o Annual leaves (15 days after one year of employment) t
o In case of family death {father, mother, children, grand F/M} (2
days)
o In case of injury not related to his/her employment (15 days
fully paid, 15 days half paid) the more at work the more leaves
he/she gets
• Not to warn the employee during leaves
VI. Resiliation of the Labor Contract:
1. Resiliation by the mutual consent of the parties: In this case,
both parties will decide to put an end to the employment
contract.
2. Strong events: Any strong event (force majeure) which might
happen to the employer, to the employee or to the
establishment, such as the reduction in the size of the
establishment or substituting a line of production with
another, or the permanent stop from working could lead to
the termination of the employment contract.
3. Unilateral resiliation, by the employer or the employee, of
the employment contracts that are made for an
undetermined duration.
4. Resiliation by the employer: The employer could resiliate the
employment contract without a remuneration in the following
cases:
a. If the employee has assumed a nationality that is not his;
b. If the period of work was set as a trial and the employer
refused him during the three-month time limit.
c. If the employee commits or causes any damage to the
employer. It must be noted that in this case, the latter must
mention this infringement in a written document and submit
it to the Labor Ministry within three days from the date of his
being sure of these infringements. The abovementioned will
be applied if the employee, and despite the warning, has
committed three infringements that are against the internal
regulations within one year.
d. If the employee has been absent, with no legal excuse, for
more than fifteen days in one year, or for seven consecutive
days.
e. If the employee was imprisoned for one year or more
because he committed a felony or a misdemeanor at work or
through his work.
f. If the employee attacked the employer or the manager at
work
5. Resiliation by the employee: The employee has the right to
leave his work before the end of the employment contract
in the following cases:
a. If the employer or his representative misleads the
employee in the employment contract. (about the
conditions of work) The employee must benefit from
this right within thirty days from the date of his start at
work.
b.If the employer didn't execute his obligations.
c. If the employer commits an unethical act against the
employee or against a member of his family.
d.If the employer or his representative commits a violent
act against the employee.
6. Abusive Resiliation: Those are the cases in which the employer
will abuse his dominant position and will resiliate the contract for
no just reason. In this case, he will have to pay damages to the
employee. The cases of abusive resilistion are the following:
a. Resiliation for no just reason, which is not related to work.
b. Resiliation because the employee is a member in a certain
Union.
c. Resiliation if the employee is running for elections or has been
elected in the office of a certain Union.
d. Resiliation if the employee submits a plaint to the official
department of the Labor Ministry, related to the
implementation of the rules of labor law and if he presents a
plaint against the employer.
e. Resiliation if the employee uses his right of personal freedom
within the rules of laws.
• In case of abuse of rights, the damaged party could claim
before the Labor Council, within one month from the date of
his knowledge about the resiliation, and he could use all kind
of proof. The Labor Council must take his decision within
three months.
VII- Judicial Competency:
• In each district (Mouhafaza), there is one or more Labor
Council which treats disputes arising between employers and
employees. The Labor Council is formed from:
1. A judge from the 11th degree and above as president.
2. Two members, one of them as a representative for the
employees and the other as a representative for the
employers. Two additional members are appointed to fill any
absence of those two members.
3. A Government representative from the third degree.
(Government Commissioner).
• Its competency involves:

a. Resolving disputes which are related to the minimum salary.

b. Resolving disputes that are related to labor emergencies.
c. Resolving disputes resulting from the leave of work.
d. Resolving all disputes between employers and employees.
• 
• All the decisions rendered by the Labor Council cannot be re-
examined, except by the recourse to the same court, or by
seizing the Supreme Court according to the rules of the Code
of Civil Procedures.