EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Farida Rezk, Omar Aboul-Ella, Mariam Rabie and Mohamed Selim, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
fourth copy to be submitted to the competent administrative authority. Pursuant to the New Labour Law, in the absence of a written contract, both the employee and employer have the right to prove the employ - ment relationship, its duration, and all associ - ated rights through any means of proof. This marks a departure from the Previous Labour Law, which granted this evidentiary right solely to employees. The employment contract may be concluded for either a definite or indefinite period or for the execution of a specific task or project. Notably, the Labour Law does not determine the maxi - mum or minimum duration of the employment contract. 4.3 Working Time According to both the Previous and New Labour Law, the maximum applicable working hours of employees shall not exceed eight hours per day or forty-eight hours per week excluding rest breaks. These limits are regulated by public order rules and cannot be superseded or extended by any form of agreement. The New Labour Law provides that overtime work is only allowed in cases of emergency, unu - sual and/or exceptional circumstances in work conditions, provided that: • the employer notifies the relevant administra - tive authority (ie, Ministry of Labour) within seven days of the occurrence of extraordinary work conditions or exceptional circumstanc - es, providing justifications for additional work and the duration of the required work; and • the total daily working hours shall not exceed twelve hours and the employees shall be entitled to monetary compensation.
Notably, this change eliminates the requirement under the Previous Labour Law for prior written approval from the competent authority before implementing overtime. Under both the New and Previous Labour Law, overtime work shall be compensated as follows: • Overtime During Working Days: In addition to their regular pay, employees are entitled to receive a 35% increase in their salary for overtime during the day, and a 70% increase for overtime hours worked at night. • Overtime During Weekends: In addition to their regular pay, employees are entitled to an additional 100% of their salary for overtime worked. The employer is also obliged to grant the employee a day off during the following week in place of the lost rest day. • Overtime During Public Holidays: In addition to their regular pay, employees are entitled to either double their regular pay, or a compen - satory day off, subject to a written request submitted by the employee in accordance with the New Labour Law. 4.4 Termination of Employment Contracts The New Labour as well as the Previous Labour Law stipulate that an employee may be dis - missed if they commit one of the following acts, which shall be deemed a gross error (“Gross Error”), including, inter alia: • assumption of a false identity or submission of false documents; • failure to follow safety instructions; • disclosure of the secrets of the establishment at which they work, leading to the occurrence of serious damage to the establishment; • competing with the employer in the same field;
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