Has Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 been amended, and what is the status of any amendment proposal?
The Law Office of Ali Barakat, from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, addresses whether Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 is still in force, whether any later amendment has been published in the Official Gazette, and what remains of any amendment proposal before the Council of Representatives. The first source is the legislation card in the Iraqi Legislation Database, identifier 32566, and the text published in the Official Gazette, issue 4386, of 9/11/2015. The card was reviewed on 14/11/2026. This page distinguishes what has been published and brought into force from what remains a proposal that has not been published as a law in the Official Gazette.
What in-force text appears on the official card?
Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 is a federal statute of the type “law.” The card dates it 9/11/2015, cites the Official Gazette, issue 4386, of that date, and records a length of eighty-eight pages. The card marks it as in force. The notes state that the Law takes effect ninety days after the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The Law rests on what the Council of Representatives adopted under article 61, first, and article 73, third, of the Constitution, and on the President of the Republic’s decision to issue it dated 19/10/2015.
On the review date given above, the card showed no later amending law published in the Official Gazette and attached to this statute or changing the numbering of its articles. The provisions of the Law are therefore read, in the governorates not organised in a region, from the text published in 2015, unless the same official source itself records a later amendment and its publication. The reading is renewed if a new card or a new Gazette issue appears.
Under article 172, this Law repealed Labour Law No. 71 of 1987, while leaving in force the regulations, instructions, and internal rules issued under the repealed law insofar as they do not conflict with the new Law, until something is issued to replace or repeal them. The federal repeal of the 1987 Law is one matter. The labour rules that apply in the Kurdistan Region are another, and are reviewed in Which labour and social-security rules apply in the governorates not organised in a region and in the Kurdistan Region?, without confusing the two texts.
The in-force Law’s parts and topics are set out in Labour Law No. 37 of 2015.
What about the proposed first amendment?
A proposal entitled the First Amendment Law to Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 was placed before the Council of Representatives. Its first reading was completed on 25/7/2026, according to reports of the Council’s work on that date. On 6/9/2026, the Media Directorate of the Council of Representatives announced that the Committee on Labour, Civil Society Organisations, Federal Public Service, Youth, Sports, Culture, Tourism and Antiquities had continued discussing the proposal with representatives of the federation of unions and the federation of industries. An independent legislative monitor described the proposal as still under study, recorded that it had not been approved, and stated that the reading stage had stopped at the first reading.
That parliamentary path means that, as of this page’s review on 14/11/2026, the proposal has not yet completed the conditions of a statute published in the Official Gazette: adoption by the Council of Representatives through its readings, a decision of the President of the Republic, and publication in the Official Gazette. A proposal, so long as it has not been published as a law, does not amend the articles of the in-force Law and cannot be relied on as a standing rule. It records only that, as of the review date, the Legislation Database showed no published amending law changing the 2015 text.
If an amending law is later published in the Official Gazette, the published text and its date of entry into force will govern, not the wording of a proposal during a reading. Until that happens, the source for an employment dispute, the contract, wages, and termination remains Law No. 37 of 2015 as drawn in issue 4386.
How should a rumour or an unpublished draft be treated?
The file may ask: is the rule relied on found in the text published in 2015? Has an amendment been shown on the Database card or in an Official Gazette issue with a number and a date? If publication is not established, a legal position is not built on a parliamentary reading or on the circulating wording of a proposal. Instructions issued by the Minister under the in-force Law, including those article 33 authorises in relation to the recruitment of foreign workers, are read within their legal basis.
Any later amendment is read from the Official Gazette and the Legislation Database, not from a report that has not been shown in the Official Gazette or the Database.
Legal basis and sources
- Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4386 of 9/11/2015)
- Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4386 of 9/11/2015, including article 172, and the legislation card in the Iraqi Legislation Database (reviewed 14/11/2026)
Frequently asked questions
Is Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 still in force?
Yes, according to the legislation card in the Iraqi Legislation Database on 14/11/2026: the Law is marked as in force, it was published in the Official Gazette, issue 4386, of 9/11/2015, and it takes effect ninety days after publication. The card showed, on review, no later published amending law.
Does a first reading of the proposed first amendment amend the Law?
No. A first reading is a stage in the work of the Council of Representatives. A proposal becomes a law only when the constitutional path is completed and the text is published in the Official Gazette. As of the date of this page, neither approval nor publication of that proposal in the Official Gazette has been established.
Does Labour Law No. 71 of 1987 retain any effect?
Article 172 of the 2015 Law repeals Law No. 71 of 1987, and leaves in force the regulations, instructions, and internal rules issued under it insofar as they do not conflict with the new Law, until something is issued to replace or repeal them. The labour rules that apply inside the Kurdistan Region are a separate question.
Related topics and articles
- 01Labour 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.
- 02Which 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.
- 03How is a labour dispute taken to the Department before the Court of Labor?Referring a labour dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans and then to the Court of Labor, reading articles 157 and 168 of Law 37/2015 together.
- 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,.