A total of 8,278 employees have faced termination of services due to the coronavirus crisis, since the beginning of the pandemic, said the Minister of Labor, Nidal Bataineh, on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Labour has received more than 52,000 complaints related to wages and termination of services through the Ministry’s various platforms, Bataineh added.

Bataineh said the Ministry of Labour’s inspection teams follow up on all complaints related to wage delays and termination of services. During this period, a total of 349,763 male and female workers have filed complaints against 11,551 establishments.

In addition, 7,853 establishments with 325,871 workers have committed to pay salaries to their employees during this pandemic after the issue of Defense Order No. 6, while a total of 8,287 workers had their services terminated.

The Ministry confirmed that complaints have been lawfully processed to include:

• 3,121 legal employee terminations
• 5,043 re-assignations of employees upon proven unlawful terminations
• 123 unprocessed complaints for due follow-up
• 701 violations against establishments have been transferred to judiciaries for follow up

All complaints received by the Ministry of Labour’s inspection department via the ‘HEMAYA’ Platform are as follows:

• 8,225 establishments with complaints related to wage delays
• 763 establishments with violations against Defense Order No. 6 in 2020
• 3,326 establishments with complaints related to termination of services

Bataineh said the continuous efforts in light of the defense orders and how awareness within the private sector has resulted in a decline of delays in wage payments within establishments. The number of establishments with wage delays has gone from 5,786 to 953.

However, he added that all statistics mentioned are related only to those who have complained to the Ministry of Labour.

In addition to Defense Order No. 11, the Ministry of Labour launched an inspection campaign in order to inspect occupational health and safety measures:

• 6,215 establishments have been inspected
• 5,500 establishments have committed to the measures
• 715 establishments have received closure warnings
• 160 establishments have been closed