Article 12

Article 12 of the Jordanian Labor Law aims to regulate foreign workers in the country and limit the high number of illegal workers by requiring them to obtain an approval from the Minister or his representative. Foreign workers will need to apply for a work permit provided that the given work cannot be performed by a Jordanian citizen. The changes come in response to high unemployment rates in the kingdom as the government aims to regulate the job market and mediating companies to employ Jordanian workers inside and outside the country.

• Employment of a non-Jordanian worker in any of the following cases shall be considered a violation of the provisions of this Law:

1. Employ the worker without obtaining a work permit or with an expired work permit for no more than ninety days;
2. Employ the worker for an employer other than the employer he was authorized to work for, unless he obtains permission to do so from the competent authority in the Ministry;
3. Employ the worker in a profession other than the profession he was authorized to work in.

Article 29

This article was amended to protect employee from abuse and to create a safer environment in the workplace. Another key change in Article 29 is the addition of “sexual harassment” in text of the article and imposing a penalty of a minimum 2000 and maximum 5000 dinars on “managers or their representative” who are found guilty of physical assault, sexual assault or practicing any form of sexual harassment on their employees.

Article 69

Furthermore, repealing the following text of Article 69 that gives the Minister discretionary powers to determine the working hours, industries, and businesses where it is forbidden to employ women:

In accordance with a resolution of the Minister after consulting the competent official authorities, the following shall be specified:

A. Industries and occupations in which employing women is prohibited.

B. Times in which it is prohibited to make women work and the excluded cases.

and replacing it by the following text that prohibits gender-based discrimination in the workplace and issuing the necessary instructions to granting protection for minorities as stated in the new text of Article 69:

A. Any discrimination on the basis of gender among workers, that may affect equal opportunities, shall be prohibited; and

B. The Minister shall issue the necessary instructions to protect pregnant and breastfeeding women, disabled people, and people who perform work at night shift, to create a safe work environment,

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