Labour Law shines light on employer-employee relations

The New Labour Law issued by Royal Decree 53/2023 has underlined the role of an employer vis-à-vis the employee.

Article 52 of the law states that the employer is obligated to create a special file for each worker that includes his full personal and even professional details, which include the date of joining, leaves, penalties, performance, and the termination of the contract.

The employer will be required to keep the employee file for a period of at least one year from the date of termination of the employment relationship.

In all cases, the employer must maintain the confidentiality of the information provided by the worker or seen by the employer in accordance with the provisions of this law, and the worker shall be given a receipt for the papers and certificates he may have deposited with the employer.

Article 53 states that the employer may not violate the contract's provisions or assign the worker to work other than agreed upon unless necessary to prevent the occurrence of an accident, repair the consequences thereof, or in case of force majeure, and on a temporary basis.

The employer may assign the worker to work that is not agreed upon if that work is not fundamentally different from the original work, provided that this does not prejudice the rights of the worker and that it does not result in serious harm or financial burdens without fair consideration.

Article 57 states that the employer is obligated to provide the means of first aid for his workers in the establishment, and in the event that the number of his workers in one place exceeds 200 workers, he must appoint a qualified nurse to provide medical aid, or contract with a specialised institution to provide these services.

If the worker is treated in a government or private hospital and health insurance coverage is not available, the employer must bear the expenses of treatment, medicine, and hospital stay in accordance with the financial regulations and systems in force in those hospitals.

Article 58 states that an employer who carries on work in the areas specified by the Minister shall provide his workers with appropriate means of transportation and shall provide them with adequate housing, meals, and drinking water in places he prepares for this purpose.

Article 59 states that the employer may, when necessary and in agreement with the worker, transfer the worker from his original work site to any other work site in the same establishment or from his original work to any other job in one of his other establishments after being authorised to do so by the Ministry in this case.

In all cases, the employer shall bear all the costs incurred.

Article 60 states that the employer must provide a place for women to rest in the premises of the establishment in which the number of female workers exceeds 25 female workers.

Article 61 states that without prejudice to the provisions of Article (48) of this law, the employer must, at the end of the working relationship of workers who do not benefit from the provisions of the Social Protection Law, pay the worker a reward for his period of service, not less than a basic wage for each year of his service.

The provision of this article applies until the saving system stipulated in the Social Protection Law comes into force, and the employer may settle the worker's rights for the period of his service before the start of the saving system to the saving system or to the worker, provided that the settlement is calculated with the basic wage in this case on the settlement date.

Article 62 states that the employer is obligated to hand over to the worker, at his request and free of charge, an end-of-service certificate indicating the date of his entry into the service, the date of his exit from it, the type of work he was performing, the wage and other rewards and other privileges, if any.

The employer shall return to the worker whatever papers or certificates he may have deposited with him, and the worker shall sign on receiving his papers and certificates.

Article 63 states that the employer may not impose any penalty on the worker except after notifying him in writing of what has been attributed to him, hearing his statements, investigating his defence, and recording them in writing in a report prepared for this purpose.

Article 66 states that the employer may investigate the worker himself or assign one of the workers in the establishment to investigate the worker provided that the job level of the investigator is not less than that of the violating worker, and he may assign the investigation to another person with expertise in the matter of the violation if the violation is serious.

The worker referred to the investigation shall have the right to review the investigation procedures and related documents and to obtain a copy of these documents.