Labour minister commends private sector employers for ‘responsible’ actions

AMMAN — Minister of Labour Nidal Bataineh on Wednesday praised private sector employers' "swift and responsible" response to Defence Order No. 6 in terms of paying March salaries and reinstating some employees by the end of the fourth day of the grace period for payments and reinstatements.

In a statement, Bataineh said that since the beginning of the crisis, 14,004 workers have filed wage delay-related complaints with the ministry.

The cases of 11,755 workers were resolved and their salaries were paid, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported him as saying.

The minister noted that the remaining cases are expected to be resolved by Sunday, which marks the end of the time limit set by the ministry for the payment of March wages.

He also said that a total of 1,330 workers filed complaints with the ministry after their employers terminated their contracts. Of these workers, 457 were under probation or were employed under fixed-term contracts, whereby their employers were not legally required to reinstate them.

Bataineh said that 522 dismissed employees have been reinstated to their jobs, noting that this is “a very positive indicator”, adding that the number is expected to increase “significantly” by the end of Sunday.