Which labour and social-security rules apply in the governorates and in the Kurdistan Region?

The Law Office of Ali Barakat, from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, sets out which labour and social-security rules are read in the governorates not organised in a region, and what is organised in the Kurdistan Region. The first federal source is Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, published in the Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4386, of 9/11/2015, together with the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023.

What applies under the federal Labour Law?

Article 3 of Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 states that its provisions apply to all workers in the Republic of Iraq, or those treated as such, unless the second clause provides otherwise. They do not apply to public officials appointed under the Civil Service Law or a special statutory text, nor to members of the armed forces or of the police and internal security. A State employee's service dispute therefore follows official discipline or the administrative courts, not the Court of Labor.

In this Law the Ministry is the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the Department is the Department of Employment and Loans, under article 1. Among that Department's functions is the lodging of the third copy of a written employment contract, under article 37, and the consideration of a dispute over existing rights that is referred to it, under article 157. One or more Courts of Labor are formed in each governorate, composed of a judge nominated by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council on a proposal of the President of the Court of Appeal, under article 165. The Court of Labor has jurisdiction over the civil and criminal cases provided for in the Labour Law, in the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law, and in other legislation, under article 166.

That framework identifies how an employment relationship is administered in the governorates not organised in a region: the contract, wages and termination under the federal texts; referral to the Department of Employment and Loans and then to the Court of Labor in the governorate; and cassation before the Labour Cases Panel of the Federal Court of Cassation, under articles 167 and 168. The structure of the Law is set out on the page Labour Law No. 37 of 2015.

Workers' social security in the governorates not organised in a region

Enrolment of a worker in social security is a path tied to the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023, published in the Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4734, of 28/8/2023. The Department in that Law is the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Its seat is in Baghdad, and it may open sections in the centres of the governorates not organised in a region, under article 4 of the Social Security Law. The detail of coverage and contributions is on the page Workers' social security.

In those governorates, three paths are therefore kept apart, and none takes the place of the others: the employment relationship under the Labour Law before the Department of Employment and Loans and the Court of Labor; social-security enrolment before the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers; and a work permit for a person who is not Iraqi, before the Department of Labour and Vocational Training under the instructions in force, as set out on the page Work permits. Confusing the names sends the file to a body other than the one the text names.

What is organised in the Kurdistan Region?

The Kurdistan Region has its own institutions that organise employment relations and workers' social security inside the Region. Registering an employment contract in the Region, and registering an employer on the Region's labour portal, are paths read in the Region before its labour departments. They are not to be confused with the path before the federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, nor with lodging a copy of the contract with the federal Department of Employment and Loans. The detail is on the page Registering an employment contract in the Kurdistan Region, and on the page The Kurdistan labour portal for employers.

If the worker is not Iraqi and works in the Region, a work permit and residence remain separate paths: the permit is read from the Labour Law and the instructions in force before the Department of Labour and Vocational Training in the federal framework, or from what the Region organises within its limits, and residence is read first from Foreigners' Residence Law No. 76 of 2017 before the General Directorate of Residence, together with any local procedures the Region organises for a residence card. That is set out on the page A residence card in the Kurdistan Region. A work permit does not take the place of a residence document.

A labour dispute that arises in the Region is brought before the judicial and administrative bodies that the Region organises for labour cases there. It is not to be inferred from the application of article 3 to workers in the Republic of Iraq that a federal Court of Labor in a governorate not organised in a region is the court that hears a dispute arising from work performed inside the Region, unless the file itself supplies a basis that identifies the court and the reason its jurisdiction is engaged. The reading is taken from the place of work, from the text that governs the relationship, and from the body that applies that text in that place.

The office follows this distinction from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, with no branch in the Region. The Region's procedures are not mixed with those of the federal Ministry.

Legal basis and sources

1. Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4386 of 9/11/2015)
2. Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4734 of 28/8/2023)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 01Where is an employment contract registered in the Kurdistan Region?Registering an employment contract in the Kurdistan Region before the Region's labour departments, not the federal Department of Employment and Loans.
• 02Employer registration on the Kurdistan Region labour portalEmployer registration on the Kurdistan Region labour portal before the Region's labour departments, not mixed with the federal ministry's path.
• 03Labour Law No. 37 of 2015: its chapters and the questions they raiseAn educational reading of the chapters of Labour Law No. 37 of 2015: the contract, wages, termination and the courts, not an article-by-article text.
• 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.
• 05What is reviewed in the employment contract, a non-Iraqi's work permit, and social-security enrolment?What is reviewed in an employment file: the written contract, a non-Iraqi's work permit, and social-security enrolment,.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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