The Court of Labor in Basrah, termination of the contract, and the end-of-service gratuity
The Law Office of Ali Barakat, from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, sets out the jurisdiction of the Court of Labor in Basrah over disputes concerning the ending of an employment contract and the end-of-service gratuity, under Labour Law No. 37 of 2015. This is informational coverage about the Basrah governorate, and it does not mean that the office has a branch there. The employment rules that apply to oil, construction and logistics companies are a separate page.
The Court of Labor in the governorate
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. Under article 166, the Court of Labor has jurisdiction over the civil and criminal cases and disputes provided for in the Labour Law, in the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law, and in other legislation; over interim decisions in cases within its jurisdiction — and, if there is no Court of Labor, the Court of First Instance has that jurisdiction; and over cases and matters that other statutes assign to it. A worker who sues, or the worker's union organisation, is exempt from court fees at all stages, and labour cases are treated as expedited.
Basrah is a governorate not organised in a region, so a Court of Labor is formed there on that basis, and it hears disputes arising from an employment relationship to which the federal Law applies. The place of work in Basrah, or the domicile the law fixes for bringing the claim, is read from the file and from the rules of territorial jurisdiction. If at some time there is no Court of Labor, the residual jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance is itself stated in article 166.
Before the court, if a dispute arises over existing rights consisting in the application of the Labour Law, of other statutes on labour and workers, of a collective agreement in force, or of an arbitral decision, either party or both may refer the dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans for a decision within fourteen days of receiving written notice, under article 157. The Department's decision binds the parties. If no resolution is reached, or a party is not satisfied with the decision, either may resort to the Court of Labor, which is to decide the dispute within thirty days of the complaint being filed. Article 157 describes the court's decision, in that setting, as final. Article 168 allows a Court of Labor judgment to be challenged by objection to a judgment in absentia, by cassation, and by retrial, and the judgment may be challenged before the Court of Cassation within thirty days beginning the day after service. The two texts are read together. How they apply to a particular file depends on the kind of decision and on what the Court of Labor and the Labour Cases Panel of the Federal Court of Cassation decide. The detail of cassation is on the page Cassation in labour disputes.
Disputes over ending the contract in Basrah
The causes of the ending of the contract, ending by the employer, and written notice of not less than thirty days are set out on the page Ending an employment contract. What this page adds is that a challenge to a decision ending service is brought before the Service-Termination Committee or before the labour courts within thirty days of notification, under article 46, and that choosing one of those paths extinguishes the right to the other. A decision of the committee may be challenged before the Court of Labor within thirty days. The burden of proving that the ending was lawful lies on the employer.
If the Court of Labor in Basrah hears a challenge to the ending of service, article 47 draws the effect: the worker is returned to work and paid wages in full for the period of the ending if the ending did not rest on a cause in article 43; or the contract ends from the date of the decision and compensation equal to twice the end-of-service gratuity is paid if a return to work is not practicable. In projects that regularly employ fewer than five workers, the contract is treated as ended from the date it was in fact ended if the committee or the court so decides, provided that compensation is paid.
These rules apply in Basrah as they apply in the other governorates not organised in a region, because they are rules of a federal statute. The type of activity of the project, in oil, construction or the ports, does not supply a cause of ending that article 43 does not mention, and it does not dispense with the notice required by article 44.
The end-of-service gratuity before the court
A worker whose service has been ended is entitled to an end-of-service gratuity of two weeks' wages for each year of service with the employer, under article 45, subject to the exceptions that article makes by reference to article 43. If retirement age is reached, the referral is to the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law, as set out on the page End-of-service entitlements.
A dispute over the gratuity is a dispute over an existing right connected with the application of the Labour Law, and it therefore enters the path drawn by article 157 and the jurisdiction of the Court of Labor under article 166. A single claim may combine a request to set aside the ending and a request for the gratuity or for compensation, and the court decides the claims according to what the file establishes and what the text requires. Social security, if the worker is insured, is a path before the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers, and is not mixed with a claim for the gratuity under article 45 except to the extent the Law itself refers to that path.
The office follows these questions from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, with no branch in Basrah.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Where is a labour claim about ending the contract or about the gratuity filed if the work is in Basrah?
Before the Court of Labor formed in the governorate under article 165, and after referral of the dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans where article 157 so requires. If there is no Court of Labor, the Court of First Instance has the interim jurisdiction and the residual jurisdiction that article 166 states.
What is the time limit for challenging a decision ending service?
Thirty days from the date of notification of the ending of service, before the Service-Termination Committee or before the labour courts, under article 46. Choosing one of the two paths extinguishes the right to the other.
May a judgment of the Court of Labor in Basrah be challenged in cassation?
Article 168 allows a challenge in cassation before the Court of Cassation within thirty days beginning the day after service, and it is heard by the Labour Cases Panel. That rule is read together with the wording of article 157 in the path that article organises.
Does the office have a branch in Basrah that conducts these cases?
No. The page is informational coverage from the Baghdad office, al-Yarmouk, with no branch in Basrah.
Related topics and articles
- 01Labour rules for oil, construction and logistics companies in BasrahLabour Law 37/2015 and Law 18/2023 for oil, construction and logistics companies in Basrah: information from the Baghdad office, with no branch.
- 02When a job ends in Iraq: who ends it, on what ground, and what followsA practical map of ending a private-sector employment contract in Iraq: what ends it automatically, when the employer or the worker may end it, barred grounds, and the challenge deadline.
- 03End-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.
- 04The role of the Federal Court of Cassation and the Labour Cases Panel in labour disputesCassation of a Court of Labor judgment before the Labour Cases Panel of the Federal Court of Cassation, under articles 167 and 168 of Law 37/2015.
- 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.