Updated March 2021
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KEY LEGISLATION |
PRIVATE SECTORS (OTHER THAN DOMESTIC WORKERS) Labour Code 1946. |
DOMESTIC WORKERS There is no specific legislation that regulates domestic workers in Lebanon. This section therefore only covers the Standard Unified Contract (SUC), as established by Unified Contract Decree No. 19/1, 2009, and governed by the Code of Contracts and Obligations. A revised SUC was issued by the Caretaker Minister of Labour on 8 September 2020, but was later suspended by the Shura Council 2 and thus is not currently in force. |
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RECRUITMENT |
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RECRUITMENT FEES |
It is not explicitly prohibited under the law to charge recruitment fees to workers. |
It is prohibited for recruitment agencies to charge fees to domestic workers. 3 |
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PASSPORT CONFISCATION |
It is prohibited for employers to confiscated workers’ passports. 4 |
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WORKING CONDITIONS |
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CONTRACT |
An employment contract may be written or verbal. Written contracts should be in Arabic, but may be translated to another language if the worker does not know Arabic. |
The signed copy of the SUC must be in Arabic, but a translated version can be attached. The contract enters into force once signed before a notary public. 5 |
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MINIMUM WAGE |
675,000 Lebanese pounds. 6 The minimum wage legislation does not explicitly differentiate between nationals and migrants. |
Not applicable. |
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WORKING HOURS |
The Rule Nine hours a day; 40 hours per week. Exceptions May be increased to 48 hours per week. |
A maximum of ten non-consecutive hours a day, accounting for 60 hours per week. A minimum of a daily continuous eight- hour rest at night. |
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REST PERIODS |
Men: Minimum of one hour of rest for every six consecutive hours of work. Women: Minimum of one hour of rest for every five consecutive hours of work. A consecutive nine-hour rest period must be permitted every 24 hours. |
A minimum of 24 hours of consecutive rest per week, the conditions of which are to be agreed upon between both parties. |
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OVERTIME |
Overtime provisions are at a rate of 150 per cent of normal pay. |
Not specified. |
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PAYMENT OF WAGES |
Employers have to pay workers at least on a monthly basis, or by agreement in case of piece work. |
Employers have to pay domestic workers on a monthly basis without “unjustified delay”. The employer must pay the salary in cash or via bank transfer, and a written receipt must be provided. |
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ANNUAL LEAVE |
15 days per year. The number of paid sick leave days depends on the period of service:
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Six days per year. Half a month of paid sick leave and another half a month with half pay, based on a medical report. 7 |
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OTHER REQUIREMENTS |
Not applicable. |
The employer must allow the domestic worker to receive telephone calls and to communicate with their family once a month at the employer’s expense. The employer must provide food, clothing and accommodation that respect the domestic worker’s dignity and right to privacy. The employer must guarantee medical care and obtain an insurance policy in accordance with the special conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Labour. 8 |
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END OF SERVICE GRATUITY |
One month of wages per year of service (half a month for service of less than one year). 9 |
Not provided. |
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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION |
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RIGHT TO JOIN TRADE UNIONS |
Workers can join a trade union (but not form their own, or lead an existing union). |
As domestic workers are outside of the Labour Code, they are unable to join trade unions. |
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GRIEVANCES AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION |
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LODGING COMPLAINTS/ RESOLVING DISPUTES |
Conciliation Workers can apply for conciliation with the Ministry of Labour (MOL) via a lawyer or in person at the MOL office. Conciliation is undertaken by a labour inspector and is free of charge. 10 Judicial remedy Workers can bring an individual dispute to the Labour Arbitration Council 11 provided that it is within the statute of limitations. 12 |
Conciliation In theory, domestic workers can apply for conciliation through the MOL, but few have the capacity to do so in practice. 13 Judicial remedy Domestic workers are not covered by the Lebanese Labour Code, but they can file a complaint before the Labour Arbitration Council, which applies the Code of Contracts and Obligations and not the Labour Code. |
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SHELTERS AND PROTECTION SERVICES |
There are shelters run by civil society organizations. |
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SPONSORSHIP AND CHANGING EMPLOYERS |
With permission of employer 14 Anytime. Without permission of employer Only possible with the employer’s approval. In case of abuse, the worker can inform General Security or the MOL, which decide whether to transfer the sponsorship. |
With permission of employer Anytime, but limited to three times only (after which, the worker must first leave the country if they wish to switch sponsors). Without permission of employer Only possible with the employer’s approval. In case of abuse or non-payment of wages for a period exceeding or equivalent to three months, the domestic worker can inform General Security or the MOL, which will decide whether to transfer the sponsorship or not. |
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LEAVING THE COUNTRY |
There is no requirement for an exit permit to leave the country. 15 |
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- This factsheet was prepared by the ILO FAIRWAY Project, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It was reviewed by representatives of Migrant Forum in Asia and Migrant-Rights.Org.
- The Shura Council is Lebanon’s top administrative court.
- Order No. 1/1 Governing the Work of Placement Agencies, 2011.
- Previous judgements regarding passport confiscation have relied on articles 670 to 673 of the Lebanese Criminal Code.
- For certain nationalities, a signed employment contract in English is a mandatory condition set by their embassy (for example, the Philippines).
- While according to the official exchange rate this amount is still equivalent to US$450, in reality, the rapid devaluation of the Lebanese pound has meant that the actual exchange rate is much lower.
- Only in relation to sickness, not ailments/injuries derived from the domestic worker’s service.
- This is a special health insurance designed for migrant domestic workers and contains only minimal health coverage.
- The amount of end of service gratuity and its conditions are subject to the circumstances of the contract termination (dismissal or resignation); the number of years of registration with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as an employee; the age and gender of the employee; and the type of activity the persons would like to exercise after having cashed their end of service gratuity. The compensation may range from 50 per cent of one month’s service for an NSSF registration of less than five years, to 100 per cent of one month’s service for more than 20 years of registration (articles 51 and 52 of the Lebanese NSSF Law).
- Article 5 of Ministerial Decision No. 2/13 (1996). The law does not specify any time limit on the MOL to close the matter pending before it. The labour inspector will explain to the worker their rights and will provide legal advice on how to resolve the matter. Both parties should be convened by the conciliator at an early date, taking into consideration that the conciliation and investigation processes must be completed by applying urgent procedures.
- The Council is composed of a worker representative, an employer representative, a commissioner from the Department of Labour, as well as a chief judge. There are several Labour Arbitration Councils – in Beirut, Mount Lebanon (Baabda), Tripoli, Saida and Zahle.
- In case of dismissal, the employee has a time limit of one month starting from the date of notification. In the case of work accidents, the employee has a time limit of one year. For all other complaints, the statute of limitations is two years.
- Recruitment agencies are required by Ministerial Decision No. 1/168 of 2015 to report disputes between workers and employers to the MOL and to file a complaint.
- This is referred to as a “transfer” procedure and is completed via public notaries. The term “no objection certificate” is not used in Lebanon.
- Syrians residing in Lebanon are subject to different regulations related to entry, residency and exit of territory due to their specific status consequent to the Syria crisis. They are granted permission to leave the country by the Lebanese General Security under conditions listed on their website and that may vary due to changes in Syria or Lebanon. See: http://www.general-security.gov.lb/ar/posts/36.