EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd, Farida Rezk, Omar Aboul-Ella, Mariam Rabie and Mohamed Selim, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
• visible intoxication or being under the influ - ence of drugs during working hours; • acts of aggression against the employer or general manager and/or committing serious aggression against any superiors either dur - ing work hours or related to work; and The authority to impose the penalty of dismissal lies within the competent labour court. Notably, the Previous Labour Law considered absence from work without legitimate reason as a Gross Error if it exceeded twenty non-consec - utive days within a year or ten consecutive days. Additionally, failure to comply with the Labour Law provisions concerning the right of employ - ees to strike was also deemed a Gross Error. In contrast, the New Labour Law stipulates that absences exceeding the aforementioned dura - tions shall result in the employee being consid - ered as having resigned. There are different procedures for terminating employment contracts, depending on whether they are fixed or permanent. Termination of a Fixed-Term Employment Contract An employer shall not have the right to termi - nate a fixed-term employment contract prior to its expiry, unless the employee commits a Gross Error. The burden of proof rests with the employ - er to establish that such misconduct occurred. Unlike the Previous Labour Law – which does not explicitly regulate compensation for the ter - mination of fixed-term employment contract and left the determination to judicial discretion, often resulting in awarded compensation equivalent to the employee’s salary for the remaining contract duration or based on actual damages under the Civil Code – the New Labour Law introduces a
specific provision in this regard. If an employer terminates a fixed-term employment contract prior to its expiry, the employee is entitled to compensation equivalent to one month’s salary for each year of service. As a general rule, the New Labour Law provides that the employee shall not have the right to ter - minate a fixed-term employment contract early except in the following cases: • If the employee resigns, in which case the resignation must be submitted to the employ - er, to be duly signed by the employee or their authorised representative, and certified by the competent administrative authority (Ministry of Labour, its directorates, or Labour Offices). The employment relationship will not termi - nate unless a formal decision of acceptance is issued by the employer. • If the employment relationship exceeds five years, the employee may have the right to terminate the employment relationship by providing three months’ notice in accordance with the Previous and New Labour Law. Termination of a Permanent Employment Contract An employer shall not have the right to terminate a permanent employment contract unless the employee commits a Gross Error. The employer has the burden of proving that the employee has committed a Gross Error. Furthermore, should the employer intend to ter - minate a permanent employment contract, they are required to provide the employee with notice. The New Labour Law establishes a standardised notice period for the termination of indefinite- term employment contracts, now set at three months, irrespective of the employee’s length of service. This amendment supersedes the
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