Employer’s disciplinary powers against staff Thursday, 07 October 2010 04:44

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abour Law No 14/2004, concerning the employer’s disciplinary authority, states that the employer who employs ten workers or more shall have a penalties regulation including violations and punitive procedures against perpetrators as well as conditions and terms thereof. In order to legalize the penalties regulation and its amendments, it shall be approved by the Manager within one month of its submission to the Management. If the such period elapses without any objection, the regulation is considered as approved and the employer shall show the regulation at the work site to be viewed by the employees. The regulation shall be considered effective only after fifteen days of announcement.
The disciplinary penalties permitted to be applied against employees are:
•  Notice: it is serviced under a written letter directed to the employee notifying the committed violations with a warning of more powerful penalty in case of repetition.
• Deduction of maximum five days the employee’s salary for one violation. Cessation of work with deduction of no more than five days salary for one violation.
•  Ceasing the employee without salary or reduced salary until the charge is decided. If the employee is innocent or the charge is being reserved, the cessation is considered as it was not and the employee’s accruals for the time of cessation shall be paid.
•  Delaying the annual bonus for no more than six months or depriving the employee of it in the companies adopting bonus system.
•  Delaying the promotion for maximum one year in the companies adopting such system.
•   Dismissal with preserving the right of end of service gratuity.
Dismissal with depriving the employee of end of service gratuity.  
Legal restriction shall be complied with when imposing penalties against employees, provided that the deductions of their salary shall not exceed five days monthly. The employer shall record the penalties imposed against employees including the employee’s name and amount of deduction along with cause of penalty and its date with condition that such record shall be subject to the work inspection authority.
Imposing penalties against violators shall be complied with the following:
Penalty should be imposed against the employee only after notifying the employee with the charge and interrogating them in writing. Investigation may be orally in simple violations for which the penalty regulation stipulates notice or deduction of one day salary, provided that the above should be written in a minute saved in the employee’s file.
One penalty should be applied on the employee for one violation.
No penalty should be imposed for an act not mentioned in the penalties regulation.
The employee, before appealing the penalty imposed against them in front of the court of jurisdiction, submit a complaint to the employer within seven days of the date of acknowledgment and the complaint shall be decided with seven days of the date of its submission. The elapse of this period with decision shall be a rejection. If the complaint is rejected or is not decided with the period referred to, the employee shall submit a complaint to the management for the penalty imposed against them with seven days of the date of rejection.
The management shall decide the employee’s complaint with seven days of its submission and the management decision shall be final. The elapse of this period without deciding the complaint shall be considered as it has been rejected. As an exception, the employee may appeal the dismissal decision before the court of jurisdiction.
If the court ascertains that the employee has been dismissed arbitrarily or contrary to the provisions of this law, the court decides either to cancel the dismissal penalty and rejoin the employee to the work with paying the salary for the period they were deprived of work as a result of penalty or to compensate the employee appropriately including salary and other benefits that the employee deprived of due to such dismissal.