An employer’s duties to staff in Iraq, arranged by when they fall due
Business owners often ask the Law Office of Ali Barakat in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, for “the list” of what they owe their staff. A list by article number is hard to use. What helps more is to arrange the duties by the moment they fall due: before the person is hired, on payday, on every working day, once a year, and when the job ends. That is how this page is organised, drawing on Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 and the Workers’ Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023.
Before the first day
Tell the worker what the job involves. The employer must explain the risks of the work and make the worker aware of them before the contract is made (art. 41, second paragraph, item i).
Tell the worker how pay is built. Before contracting, the worker must be told the elements of his pay, in particular the allowances, how overtime is calculated, any additions or deductions, and the intervals, method, place and day of payment, and he must be told again whenever any of these changes (art. 59, first paragraph).
Hire without discrimination. Work is a right of every citizen able to do it, on the basis of equal opportunity (art. 4), and ending discrimination at work is one of the core principles the State upholds (art. 6). The worker’s rights include equality of opportunity and treatment in hiring and employment (art. 42).
Collect documents properly. If the worker hands over documents when he starts, the employer gives him a receipt for them and returns them when the contract ends or when he asks, unless returning them would harm the employer (art. 41, second paragraph, item f).
Register the worker for social security. Enrolling a covered worker with the Department of Workers’ Pension and Social Security is a duty under Law No. 18 of 2023, covered in detail on the page on the employer’s social security duties.
On every payday
- Currency and form: cash wages are paid in Iraqi currency unless the contract provides otherwise. Payment by cheque or bank transfer needs a collective agreement, an arbitration award, or the worker’s written consent, which he may withdraw at any time. Promissory notes, vouchers and other substitutes for currency are forbidden (art. 53, first, second and fourth paragraphs).
- Timing and place: at the end of the week for weekly pay or the end of the month for monthly pay, at or close to the workplace, with a delay of no more than five days (art. 53, third paragraph).
- To whom: to the worker directly, or into a bank account agreed by both sides in writing, or to his agent. If he dies, everything owed goes to his successors under the law (art. 54).
- Equal pay: a woman and a man are paid equally for work of equal value (art. 53, fifth paragraph).
- A written statement: every payment comes with a detailed written statement of the period worked, allowances, overtime and any additions or deductions (art. 59, second paragraph).
- Hands off the pay: the employer may not restrict how the worker uses his wage, or make him buy the business’s products or goods it imports (art. 55). Any waiver of statutory wages is void, and wages may be attached only under a final court judgment (art. 56). What may be deducted, and up to what ceiling, is on the page on permitted deductions.
- The register: a wage and overtime register, with no gaps, deletions or insertions, open to labour inspectors (art. 61).
Late payment, and what the worker can do about it, is on the page on delayed wages and remedies.
On every working day
Hours and rest. Eight hours a day or forty-eight a week as the baseline, with listed exceptions (art. 67). Breaks of half an hour to an hour within the day, eleven hours off between working days (art. 68), and one paid day off each week lasting no less than twenty-four unbroken hours (art. 70). Overtime only in the cases and within the ceilings of article 71, as set out on the page on overtime and annual leave.
Safety. The employer provides the means to do the work, healthy conditions and the precautions needed to protect the worker (art. 41, second paragraph, items b and d), and posts the internal work schedule and the safety instructions in a visible place (art. 107). The safety chapter in detail is on the page on occupational safety duties.
Respect and complaints. The worker is entitled to a workplace free of harassment and to respect in working relations (art. 42). The employer must set up a suitable way to handle workers’ complaints and grievances and deal with them promptly. A worker facing forced labour, discrimination or harassment may take a complaint to the Labour Court (art. 11).
Once a year
Paid annual leave of at least twenty-one days after the first year, thirty in hazardous work, with extra days as service lengthens (art. 75). The employer must allow the worker to take it (art. 78), and a waiver of that minimum has no effect (art. 79). Sick leave of thirty paid days a year, which can build to a 180-day ceiling, is in article 80, and personal leave in article 82.
When the job ends
- Final payment: the wage account is closed from the day after the contract ends, and where the worker ended it, what he is owed is paid within seven days of his leaving (art. 60).
- Papers: a certificate showing the start and end dates and the type of work, with any further accurate details the worker asks for, and a clearance document once the worker has met his own obligations. If the employer refuses the clearance, the worker may go to the Labour Court (art. 41, second paragraph, items g and h).
- End-of-service benefit and termination rules: articles 43 to 47, each on its own page.
If a duty is broken
Where the employer breaches a duty under the Law, the internal work rules or the individual contract, the worker may end the contract at once without notice (art. 49). He may also take a dispute over an existing right to the Employment and Loans Department and then to the Labour Court (art. 157).
Legal basis and sources
- Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4386 of 9/11/2015)
- Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4734 of 28/8/2023)
Frequently asked questions
How late can wages be?
No more than five days after the end of the week or month for which they are due (art. 53, third paragraph).
Can we pay everyone by bank transfer?
Yes, if a collective agreement or arbitration award provides for it, or each worker agrees in writing. A worker may withdraw that consent at any time (art. 53, second paragraph).
Where is a worker registered for social security?
With the Department of Workers’ Pension and Social Security under Law No. 18 of 2023. That is separate from the Employment and Loans Department, and from the National Retirement Authority, which deals with public servants.
Related topics and articles
- 01When wages arrive late: the calendar the Labour Law sets and the path to recover themThe calendar for paying wages under articles 53 and 60 of Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, the rule that a waiver of wages due is void, and how a wage claim moves to the department and the Court of Labor.
- 02“Stay late tonight” and “put off your leave”: the limits on what an employer can askWhen an employer in Iraq may ask for extra hours, up to what ceiling and at what rate of pay; how much annual and sick leave a worker has; who sets the dates; and why leave cannot be sold.
- 03The employer’s occupational safety and health dutiesEmployer and worker occupational safety duties under articles 113–123 of Labour Law 37/2015, and the role of the National Center.
- 04End-of-service entitlements under Labour Law No. 37 of 2015The end-of-service gratuity under Labour Law 37/2015: the two-week formula, the statutory exceptions, and how it differs from benefits under Law 18/2023.
- 05Which labour and social-security rules apply in the governorates and in the Kurdistan Region?The reach of Labour Law 37/2015 and Law 18/2023 in the governorates not organised in a region, and how work is organised in the Kurdistan Region.