General Definitions and principles

  Scope of labor laws

  Employment agreement and basic conditions governing its conclusion

  Suspension of employment agreement

  The period of compulsory military

  In cases where due to force majored or unpredictable

  The employment agreements concluded

  The employment of a worker

  Termination of employment Agreement

  Indemnification of any type of damages and payment of severance benefits

  Working conditions

  The duration time

  Holidays and vacations

  Working conditions of women

  Working conditions for youths

  Welfare services to workers

  Safety & lab our Hygiene

  Employment of foreign Nationals

  Collective lab our negotiations and contracts

  Dispute settlement forums

  Fines and penalties

  Regulation of hard and hazardous works (1371.9.29)

Pre face:

First in civil law (Ghanone Madani) that was approved in 1307 articles 512 and 515 had been discussed about hiring of servants and employees. After foundation of labor and publicity ministry in 1325, the first labor law including 21 articles and 15 wavers was approved by industry and commercial committee of council 1328. Second labor law including 60 articles and 33 wavers was approved by that committee of council in 1337 that until late of 1369 governed the labor relations. In 1369 Iran’s law labor including 12 articles, 203 provisions and 121 wavers was approved by convention of recognition of policy system and since 14 of Esfand in 1369 was implemented. In 1378 based on single provision that was approved by Islamic council, work shops and trades that have 5 employees and lees ware exempted from labor law until finishing of third program of development Iran’s constitution was definite in article 19 (about peoples rights): “people of Iran from every race have identical rights and color, race and language does not have any grant”. Article 20 says: “all the people include men and woman are identical in protection of law and by regarding Islamic manual, have human, policy, economic, social and cultural rights”. Article 28 say:”

Every body has rights to select favorable that is not anti social and contrary to Islam and others rights. Government is responsible for making employments and identical conditions to people according to employment requirements of society”.

According to article 29:”having social insurance from view point of retiring unemployment, age, incapacitation, derelict, accidents, incidents and requirement of health care as insurance is public right and government should provide financial protections and services for everybody in the country according to laws from public incomes and incomes that result from communion of people”.

In article 43, the following cases are parts of economic criterion of Iran: providing labor conditions and services for everyone in order to achieve complete employment. Giving labor instruments for every body wants to work but does not have necessary instruments. Adjusting of country’s economic program so that schema, content and hours of work are as everybody therewith labor effort, has enough power and opportunity to moral, policy and social self making and active participation in conduction of country and increasing skill and invention. Observing of freedom about selecting labor and do not impelling people to special labor and preventing from gavel of others labor and do not allowing harming others, training of skillful persons. Above criterions show that labor and safe economic activity in economic system of Iran has superior value.

General Definitions and principles

Worker: For the purpose of this law (labor law), a worker is one who works in any capacity against receipt of remuneration including wages, salary, share of profit and other benefits at the request of the employer. (Article 2)

Employer: An employer is a natural person or a juridical entity at whose request and accounts a worker works again receipt of remuneration. The directors, officials and in general, all those individuals who are assigned with the task of administering workshops shall be deemed to be representatives of the employer an employer shall be responsible for all commitments made by the said represent tatives to wards workers. Should the employer’s representative undertake any commitment outside the scope of his powers and such commitments shall not be acceptable to the employer, he will be responsible to wards the employer. (Article 3)

Workshop: workshop is a place like industrial, agricultural, mining, construction, transportation, passenger transport, services, commercial and production institutes, public premises and their likes, where the worker in which performs his work at the request of the employer or his representative.

All facilities, belonging to a workshop such as prayer room, canteen, cooperative shop, nursery, kindergarten, clinic, bath, vocational training institute, reading room, literacy classes and other training centers as well as premises of the Islamic council and society, and workers mobilization unit, gymnasium and means of transportation and their likes, with due regard to the type of the work shall be considered as parts of the workshop. (Article 4)

Scope of labor laws

Iran’s labor law, in part of its articles determined its scope and governing of this law and its articles:

1- All employers, workers, workshops and production, industrial, services and agricultural institutes shall be obligated to observe the provisions of this law. (Article 1)

All workers, employers, representatives there of and trainees and also the workshops shall be governed by provisions of this law. (Article 5)

The individuals covered by the civil servants act or other special employment laws and regulations and also the workers in family workshops whose work is performed exclusively by the employer and his spouse and blood relatives of first degree shall not be governed by the provisions of this law. (Article 188)

In the agricultural sector, activities on cultivation of and benefiting from fruit trees, various types of plantations, forests, pastures, parks built-in forests, and also animal husbandry, production and raising of poultry and fowls, silk industry, aqua culture and honey bee production and the process of cultivation and harvesting as well as other operations in this sphere may be exempted from a part of provisions of this law upon the proposal of HLC and approval by the council of ministers. (Article 189)

Employment agreement and basic conditions governing its conclusion

Agreement: An employment agreement is a written or oral agreement under which a worker performs a job for the employer against receipt of remuneration for a definite (temporary) or indefinite period. (Article 7) And In cases where a work is performed through a contract, the assigner of contractual works shall be obligated to insert some provisions in the contract he enters into with all the provisions of this law in respect of his workers. (Article 13)

legitimacy of the object of the agreement. Specification of the object of the agreement.

- Non prohibition under the law and sharia of the parties to possess property to perform of the specified work.(Article 9)

In an employment agreement the following points must be inserted in addition to insertion of full particulars of the parties: (Article 10)

- Type of work, vocation or duty which must be performed by the worker

- Basic salary or wages, and fringe benefits.

- Working hours, holidays and vacations.

- The location in which the work shall be performed.

- Date of conclusion of agreement.

- Duration of agreement, in case the work is to be performed for a definite period.

- Other matters which are required to be included by the custom and practice of the job or the locality.

The terms laid down in the employment agreement or later amendments there of shall come into force only in case the benefits stipulated there in for the worker shall not be less than those provided in the instant law. (Article 8)

Any legal change in the proprietary status of a workshop such as the sale or transfer in any from, a shift in the production line, merger with another institute, nationalization, demise of the owner and their likes shall not affect the contractual relations of those workers whose contracts have been finalized, and the new employer shall become the successor to the obligations and rights of the former employer. (Article 12)

In cases where an employment agreement shall be in written form, it shall be drawn up in four copies, and one copy each shall be provided to the local lab our department, the worker him self, the employer and the Islamic lab our council. In workshop devoid of such council, to the workers representative. (Note of Article 10)

The parties may, through manual agreement, determine a period as Probation period. In the course of this period, either party shall have the right to terminate the agreement with out prior notice and without any obligation to indemnify damages. Should the work relation ship be terminated by the employer, he would be under the obligation to pay the salary for the whole probation period. If such a move is taken by the worker, he shall be entitled to collect salary only for the period of performance of work (Article 11). The duration of the probation period must be stated in the employment agreement. This period shall not exceed one month in case of unskilled and semi skilled workers, and three months in case of skilled workers possessing high level specialization (Note of Article11). The amounts due to workers shall be deemed to be preferred debts, and the assigners are obligated to pay the debts of their contractors to their respective workers out of the claims of the contractor under the good performance bond which may be paid to workers in accordance with the verdict of judicial authorities. (Note 1 of Article 13)

Suspension of employment agreement

In cases where performance of obligations of any one of the parties shall be temporarily halted due to the reasons stated in the following articles, the employment agreement shall be suspended. After removal of such cases, the employment agreement (with regard to retirement and wage increase) shall be revived with due calculation of the previous service record. (Article 14)

The period of compulsory military

The period of compulsory military service and also the period of voluntary participation of workers in the war front, shall be considered to be a part of their service record.

In cases where due to force majored or unpredictable

In cases where due to force majored or unpredictable events occurring beyond the control of the parties, the whole or a part of the workshop is closed down or where performance of the obligations of a worker or an employer becomes temporarily impossible, the employment agreements concluded with the workers of the whole or such part of the workshop which is clod down shall be suspended. The ministry of lab our and social Affairs shall determine the above said cases (Article 15)

The employment agreements concluded

The employment agreements concluded with those workers who benefit from academic study leave or other leaves without salary or wages under this law shall be suspended in the course of such leave for a two year period. (Article 16)

The employment of a worker

The employment of a worker who is under detention not leading to conviction shall be suspended during the detention period; the worker shall resume work upon his release. (Article 17)

Should a workers detention result from a complaint field by the employer and such complaint shall fail to lead to conviction by the dispute settlement authorities, the detention period shall be considered to be a part of the workers service record and the employer shall be obligated, apart from compensating for losses so inflicted (which shall be paid to the workers under the court verdict) to also pay the wages and benefits for the period of detention to the workers concerned. (Article 18)

Until the fate of such worker has not been determined by the above said authorities, the employer shall be under the obligation to pay an account, at least 50% of the monthly salary of the worker to his family in order to meet their requirements. (Note of Article 18)

In any of the cases stated in above articles, should the employer refrain from reinstating the worker, at the end of the state of suspension, such act shall be considered as illegal dismissal, and the worker shall have the right to refer to the fact finding board within a period of 30 days. In the event employer cannot prove that Non reinstatement of the worker has been due to some plausible justification, he shall be under the obligation, as to be decided by the above said board, to reinstate the worker and pay his salary or wages as of the date of his referral to the workshop.

How ever, if the may prove the same, the employer must pay to the worker an amount equivalent to 45 days f the last wages for each year of service (Article 20). Should a worker fail, without any valid reason, to notify the employer of his readiness to return to work within 30 days after the end of the state of suspension, or fail to refer to the fact finding board after his refertal to the employer and refusal on his part, he shall be considered to have resigned. In this case, the worker shall be entitled to receive severance pay equivalent to one month of his last salary for each year of service. (Note of Article 20)

Termination of employment Agreement

The employment agreement may be terminated in any of the following cases: (Article21)

1- Death of worker.

2- Retirement of worker.

3- Total disability of worker.

4- Expiry of duration of definite employment agreements and their non renewal explicitly or implicitly.

5- Completion of work in the contracts for specific task.

6- Resignation of worker.

Upon completion of work, all claims arising out of the employment agreement and the period of employment in the above cases shall be paid to the worker and in the event of his death, to his legal heirs. (Article 22)

In terms of receipt of salary or pension arising out of death, sickness, retirement, underpayment, suspension, total or partial disability or protective regulations and conditions relating to them, workers shall be covered by SSO.

Any worker tendering his resignation shall be obligated to remain on the job for one month and to initially notify the employer of his resignation in writing. Should a worker notify the employer of his intention to withdraw his earlier resignation in writing within a period of 15 days, such resignation shall he deemed to be void, and the worker shall be required to submit copies of his resignation letter and the subsequent letter withdrawing his earlier decision to the Islamic council of the workshop or the guild society or the workers representative (Note of Article 21). Should a worker neglect performance of the assigned obligations or breach the disciplinary by-laws of workshop despite written notices, the employer, based on the assenting opinion of the Islamic labor council, shall have the right to terminate the employment agreement, and pay to the worker an amount equivalent to one month of the last salary as annuity in addition to his out standing claims and salary. (Article 27)

In cases where an employment agreement has been concluded for a definite period or for performance of a specific work, neither party may cancel it unilaterally (Article 25). Disputes arising out of such employments shall be decided by the fact finding board and dispute settlement board (Note of 25).

Indemnification of any type of damages and payment of severance benefits

Should on the basis of the verdict of the dispute settlement board, the employer be considered to be responsible for suspension of employment by the worker, the worker will be entitled to receive the damages arising out of such suspension, and the employer shall be obligated to reinstate the suspended worker. (Article 29)

Should the workshop, as a result of force majeure (earth quake, flood and their likes) or unforeseeable incidents (war and its likes), be closed down rendering its workshop operations, to reinstate the jobless workers in their original jobs in the same restructured unit and in the jobs created there in. (Article 30)

Should the employment agreement be terminated due to total disability or retirement of a worker, the employer must pay to such worker an amount equivalent to 30 days of his last wages for each year of his fully paid service. This amount is in addition to the disability or retirement pension paid to workers by SSO. (Article 31)

Should on employment be terminated due to a decline in the physical and mental capabilities of a worker in his work (as assessed by the medical committee of the regional health organization upon the recommendation of the Islamic labor council or the legal representatives of the workers), the employer will be obligated to pay him an amount equivalent to two month of his last salary for each year of service. (Article 32)

Working conditions

Emoluments: All official receipts collected by a worker by virtue of the employment agreement including the wages, salary, family allowances and housing, food and transport expenses, aid in kind, bonus for production increase, annual 1 and their likes are known as emoluments. (Article 34)

Wage: wages comprise the cash amount, aid in kind or their total which are paid to the worker against performance of work. (Article 35)

Should wages be paid on the basis of hours of performance of work, these will be called hourly wages.

In the event these are based on the volume of work performed or pieces of a product produced, these will be termed as commission. If these are in accordance with the product produced or the volume of work performed during a fixed period such will be called hourly commission. (Note1 of Article35)

The wages must be paid at regular intervals on working days and during working hours in cash and in the currency of the country, or through mutual agreement of the parities by a bank cheque duly observing the following conditions:

1- Should, under the employment agreement or the common practice of a workshop, the amount of wages be determined on a daily or hourly basis, its payment must take place after calculation at the end of the day, the week or the fort night in proportion to the hours or days of work so performed.

2- Should the wages be paid monthly on the basis of an agreement or common practice of the workshop, such payment must be made at the end of the month. In such a case, these wages shall be called salary (Article 37). In months having 31 days, the benefits and salary must be calculated and paid to workers on the basis of 31 days. (Note of Article 37)

In compensating for equal work performed under equal conditions at a workshop equal wages mast is paid to men and women. Discrimination in determining the wages on the basis of age, sex, race, nationality and political and religious beliefs shall be prohibited. (Article 38)

The minimum wages must exclusively be paid in cash. The payment in kind, stipulated in any from in employment agreements, shall be treated as payments in excess of the minimum wages (Article 42). The high labor council shall be under the obligation to annually determine the minimum wages of the workers in different parts of the country or in various industries in accordance with the following criteria:

1- The minimum wages of workers in consideration of the percentage of inflation announced by the central bank of the Islamic republic of Iran.

2- The minimum wages, without considering the physical and mental characteristics of the workers and the specificity of the work assigned to them must be to the extent that it may support a family whose average number shall be announced by official authorities (Article 41). In cases where a part of wages were paid, through mutual agreement of the parties in kind, the cash value set for such payments must be fair and logical (Article 40). The workers engaged in commission basic work, shall be entitled to receive wages for Fridays, official holidays and vacations. The basis of calculation shall be the average of their commission on the days of work during their last working month. In any case, the amount thus paid must not be less than the official minimum wages. (Article 43)

Fixed wages consist of the total amount of the wages for the job and fixed benefits payable on that job (Article 36). In workshops which are not governed by a job are those benefits which are paid according to the nature of the job, environment of work and for adjusting wages during normal working hours. These include hazardous work benefits, supervisory allowances and job allowances (Note1 of article 36). Only in the following cases an employer may make deductions from a workers wages:

1- Instances express under a law.

2- Where the employer has paid an amount to the worker as advance payment.

3- Installments of loans extended by the employer to the worker in accordance with the applicable regulations.

4- In case of excess payment being made due to an error in computation.

5- The changes for accommodation provided by the management (whose amount has been determined mutually by the parties). Should the accommodation be rented out to an employee, the rental shall be fixed through mutual agreement of the parties.

6- Amounts whose payment has been undertaken by the worker for the purchase of essential goods from the consumer cooperative society of the workshop (Article 45)

The duration time

The duration of period during which a worker places his energy or time at the disposal of an employer for the performance of work. Barring the cases excepted in this law, the working hours per day must not exceed hours. (Article 51)

Day time work is the work whose period of performance is from 6 A.M to 10 P.M and night time work is the work which is performed between 10 P.M and 6 A.M. mixed time work is the work whose period of performance is partly during day time and partly during night time. In mixed time work, the workers shall be entitled to the allowance, set forth under Article 58 below, for the hours of night time work (Article 53). Alternate work is the work which is not typically performed in cones caitre hours but during specific hours of the day (Article 54). The intervals between alternate works shall be at the discretion of the worker and his presence at the workshop shall not be obligatory. In alternate jobs, the total working hours, intervals and overtime work from the start to finish must not exceed is hours per day (Note of Article 54). Shift work is the work which rotates during the month in such a manner that the shifts occur during the morning, afternoon or at night (Article 55). Working hours in shift work may exceed 8 hours per day and 44 hours per week, but the total working hours in four consecutive weeks may not exceed 176 hours (Article 57).workers performing shift work during one month with shift in the morning and afternoon shall receive 10% with shifts in the morning and at night or in the afternoon and at night 22.5% of the wages as shift allowance in addition of the wages (Article 56). Under normal conditions, assignment of overtime work to workers shall be permitted with the following conditions: consent of the worker and payment of 40% in addition to the wages for every hour. Ever time work assigned to workers must not exceed 4 hours per day (other than in exceptional cases with the mutual agreement of the parties). Assignment of over time work at the discretion of the employer, for the period required to tackle with the following circumstances, shall be permissible on the condition of payment of overtime pay and the maximum overtime shall be 8 hours per day:

1- resumption of the activity of the workshop in case such activity has been ceased due to the occurrence of a mishap or natural calamities such as flood, earthquake or other unforeseeable events.

2- Prevention of anticipated events or indemnification of the losses caused by these events.

Following the performance of overtime work in the above cases, the employer shall notify the department of labor arid social affairs within a maximum period of 48 hours so that the exigency of overtime work and duration there of may be confirmed. Assignment of over time works to the workers doing night time work or dangerous hard and hazardous work is prohibited (Article 61)

Holidays and vacations

Holidays: Friday is the weekly holiday for workers; allow my payment of wages (Article 62). Apart from the official holidays, the labor day (11 Ordibehesht) shall also be considered as a part of the workers official holidays (Article 63). Should the weekly working days be less than six, the wages for the weekly holiday of the worker will be equivalent to one-sixth of the total wages or salary thus received by him on the working days during the week. The workers who on any ground work on Friday shall receive an amount equivalent to 40% of the wages in addition to their usual wages for non utilization of the holiday on Friday. In the workshops where workers enjoy two holidays by working five days and for 44 lice a week, the wages for each of these two weekly holidays shall be equivalent to the daily wages.

Vacations: The annual privilege vacations of the workers, with full wages and including four Fridays, total one month. Other holidays shall not be treated as a part of privilege vacations, for a working period of less than one year, the said vacations shall be calculated in proportion to the period of work actually performed. A worker may not accumulate more than, days of this annual privilege vacation. Every worker shall have the right to benefit from one month of privilege vacation or vacation without pay for performing the obligatory hajj pilgrimage only once during the entire period of his work.

All the workers shall be entitled to three days of vacation with wages in the following cases: (Permanent marriage, death of spouse, father, mother or children)

The date of utilization of vacation shall be determined with the mutual agreement of the worker and the employer. In case of dispute between a worker and an employer, the decision of the local labor department and shall be binding. In the case of inter-connected tasks as well as all the jobs which necessitate constant presence of at least a specific number of workers during working days, the employer shall be obligated to prepare a time table for utilization of vacation by the workers during the last quarter of every year for the following year and to announce the same after confirmation by the Islamic labor council, guild society, or the workers representative. The manner of liti lization of unpaid vacations by a worker, its duration and conditions governing resumption of work by him following utilization of vacation shall be determined with the written agreement of the worker or his legal representative and the employer (Article 72). The period of sick leave shall be considered a part of the service record and retirement of workers with the approval of the social security organization (Article 74)

Working conditions of women

It is prohibited for female workers to perform dangerous, hard and hazardous works as well as to physical lift loads in excess of the authorized limit without the use of mechanical devices (Article 75). In cases where the physical of the social security organization considers the work to be hazardous or hard for a pregnant worker, the employer shall be required to assign a lighter and more suitable work to her until the completion of her pregnancy without reduction of the compensation (Article 77). The female workers maternity leave totally comes to 90 days at least 45 days of this leave, as much as possible, must be utilized after delivery. In case of multiple deliveries, 14 days shall be added to the period of leave (Article 76). At the end of the maternity have a female worker shall resume the former work. This period, upon approval by the social security organization, shall be considered a part of her service record. In workshops haring female workers, the employer shall be obligated to allow half an hour to the mother for nursing the baby after every three hours up to the end of the child’s second year. Such period shall be considered a part of the females working hours. Also the employer shall be duty bound to set up centers related to child care (such as nursery, kindergarten, etc) proportionate to the number of children considering their age groups.

Working conditions for youths

It is prohibited to employ individuals of below 15 years of age (Article 79). Any worker aged between 15 and 18 years is called a youth worker who must go through medical examination. The daily working hours of a young worker shall be half an hour less than the normal working hours of workers. The manner of benefiting from this privilege shall be determined with the mutual agreement of the worker and the employer. Assignment of any type of extra work, night time work and also hard, hazardous and dangerous work as well as tasks involving lifting of load in excess of the authorized limit without using mechanical devices to young workers shall be prohibited. Medical examination of a young worker must be renewed at last once every year, and the related documents preserved in the employment file. The physician shall comment on the harmony of the type of work with the capability of the young worker. Should the physician consider the related work UN suitable, the employer shall be required to change the workers job the extent possible.

Welfare services to workers

Employers of workshops subject of this law, shall be obligated in accordance with the social security Act to insure their works (Article 148).

Employers are required to extend necessary cooperation to housing cooperatives and in the event of absence of such cooperatives, directly to the workers devoid of housing units, in providing suitable private housing for them, Also employers of large workshops shall be under the obligation to construct official housing units in the vicinity of the workshops or at any other appropriate location (Article 149).

In the case of remoteness of the workshop and insufficiency of public transportation, the employer must place appropriate means of transportation at the disposal of the employees thereof (Article 152).

Employers are duty bound to provide necessary facilities such as premises means of work and their likes for the establishment and administration of the workers cooperative societies of their workshops (Article 153).

employers shall be required to establish suitable place for use by workers in various fields of sports, with the participation of the ministry of lab our and social affairs and the national physical education organization (Article 154). All employers, subject of this law, shall be under the obligation to provide a proper place in the workshop for performance of daily prayers. Also, during the blessed month of Ramazan, they must to respect religious rites and those observing fast. Arrange the working hours as well as the conditions of work in such a way that working shall not undermine the obligation of fasting such arrangement shall be made in cooperation with the Islamic society and Islamic lab our council or other legal representative of works. More over them must specify a certain period of these working hours for the performance of prayers and breaking the fast at sunset and observing it before sunrise (Article 150).  

In workshops which re set up for a limited period and for a specific work (road construction and its like) located far from residential areas, employers shall be obligated to provide their works with appropriate and low priced meals (break fast, lunch and dinner) with at least one of them being a hot meal. In such workshops, a suitable rest house, as required by the season, location and duration of work must also be provided for workers (Article 151).

All workshops shall be obligated to open literacy education classes in accordance with the announcement of the ministry of social affairs and under the supervision of the said ministry as well as the organizations in charge of adult literacy education. The criteria on the manner of carrying out this obligation, the formation of the classes, the participation of workers in them, the selection of instructors and other related cases shall be formulated jointly by the ministry of lab our and social affairs and approved by the council of ministers.

Safety & lab our Hygiene

In order to preserve the workforce and financial resources of the country, observance of the instruction formulated by the high council of technical safety (for provision of technical safety) and the ministry of health and medical education (for prevention vocation related diseases and provision of lab our, worker and working environment hygiene) shall be binding for all workshops employers workers and trainees (Article 85). Employers and officials of all units shall be obligated on the basis of the approvals of the high council of technical safety, to provide necessary facilities for the safety, health and hygiene of the workers in the working environment and put the same at their disposal. They must teach them the mode of operating the aforesaid equipment and supervise observance of safety and hygiene regulations. The above said persons shall also be obligated to benefit from and maintain the invidual safety and hygiene equipment and enforce the relevant directives of the workshop (Article 91). The employer or the official of the units shall be under the obligation to record all the accident out of work, in a special register whose format shall be provided by the ministry of lab our and social affairs deportment in writing natural persons and judicial entities seeking to set up new workshops or expand the existing ones shall be under the desired projects in respect of technical safety and lab our hygiene for comments and approval to the ministry of lab our and social affairs. The ministry of lab our and social affairs shall be obligated to announce its opinion with in on month. The operation of the above said workshops shall be subject to the observance of the safety and hygiene regulations (Article 87). Natural persons and judicial entities, engaged in the manufacture or import and supply of machineries, shall be required to observe appropriate safety and protection cases (Article 88). Prior to putting into operation such machineries, devices and equipment whose testing has been considered essential under the by lows approved by the high council of technical safety, (HCTS) the employers shall be obligated to carry out the necessary test through the LICTS approved lab our atories and centres to retain the related documents and to submit coppices of these documents to the ministry of lab our and social affairs for information (Article 89). In the event the employer or managers of the units may have put necessary implements and facilities at the disposal of the worker for technical safety and lab our hygiene and the worker despite necessary training and prior instructions may not have used them disregard the existing directives and regulations, the employer shall bear no responsibility In case of a dispute, the decision of the dispute settlement board shall prevail (Note 2 Article 95).

Lab our inspection: In order to property implement this law and the technical safety criteria, the general deportment for inspection, ministry of lab our and social affairs shall be established to perform the following functions:

1- Supervision over enforcement of the regulations governing the working conditions, especially the regulations aimed at providing protection against hard, hazardous and dangerous works duration of work, wages, lab our welfare, employment of woman and youngsters.

2- Supervision over proper enforcement of the provision of the lab our law, and the by laws and instructions pertaining to technical safety.

3- Training matters pertaining to technical safety and guidance of workers, employers and all the individuals and dangers arising out of work.

4- Study and research with regard to problems caused by the enforcement of technical safety regulations and formation of necessary proposals to technological progress and advancement.

5- Investigation of accidents arising out of work in the applicable workshops and conducting general and statistical analysis of such cases in order to prevent accidents (Article 96). Regular inspections shall be carried out, duly pointing out the problems, defects and constraints and calling for the prosecution of the offenders by competent authorities, if necessary. A lab our inspector’s appointment shall be subject to completion of theoretical and practical training courses at the outset. Lab our inspectors and lab our hygiene experts shall have the right, within the scope of their duties to enter the instituted falling under this law, without prior notice and at any time round the clock and engage in inspection. They may also refer to relevant books and documents in those institutes, and acquire copies of all or part of them, if necessary. In order to acquire information composition of the substances with which contact or which are used by them during lab our inspectors and lab our hygiene expert’s right to obtain specimen against receipt needed for testing and to hand it over to officers. lab our inspectors and lab our hygiene experts may not carry out inspection of the  workshop where they hem selves, one of their blood relatives up to the third degree or one of their first degree relatives through marriage are direct beneficiaries (Article 102). Should there be the probability of occurrence of an accident or a hazardous mishap in the workshop during the inspection ion. As deemed by the lab our inspector or the lab our hygiene expert, the labor inspector or labor hygiene expert shall be under the obligation to immediately report the matter in writing to the employer, or his representative and also to his own official in charge (Article 105).

Employers and other persons blocking the entry of lab our inspectors and labor hygiene experts into the workshops covered by this law, preventing the performance of their duties or refraining from provision of the essential information and documents to them shall be condemned to the punishments stipulated in this law, as the case maybe. Labor inspectors and labor hygiene experts shall not have the right, even after being removed from the government service to disclose the secrets and information secured by them as a result of their position or the names of those persons who have finished such information or the case of violation (Article 103). All labor inspectors shall possess a special card bearing the signature of the minister of health and medical education as the case may be. They must carry such cards at the time of inspection and produce the same to the official authorities or officials of a workshop upon request (Article 100). The reports of the lab our inspectors in matters related to the scope of heir duties and authorities shall be tantamount to the reports of the enforcement officials of the ministry of justice (Article 100)

Employment of foreign Nationals

Foreign nationals may not work in Iran unless they initially hold an entry visa with the right to engage in a specific job, and secondly obtain a work permit under relevant laws and by-laws (Article 120). Work permits shall be issued renewed or extended for a period not exceeding one year with due observance of the provisions of this law (Article 124). Where the interests of national industries demand the immediate employment of a foreign national in an exceptional case, the minister concerned shall notify the matter to the ministry of labor and social affair and a temporary work permit shall be issued to the foreign national with the approval of the ministry of labor and social affairs without observance of related formalities on the issuance of visa with the right to work (Article 126). Employers who employ foreign nationals without obtaining work permits or whose work permits have expired, or assign to foreign national other than those specified in their work permits or fail to inform the ministry of lab our and social affairs in cases where employment relationship of the foreign national with the employer has been terminated, shall be sentenced in consideration of the conditions and possibilities of the offender and the degree of the offence, to a jail term ranging between 91 and 180 days (Article 181)

Collective lab our negotiations and contracts

The goal of collective negotiations is to resolve the vocational or occupational problems of workers or to improve their production conditions or welfare affairs. This goal shall be achieved through determining criteria for facting the problems, providing grounds for the participation of the parties in resolving them or through determining or changing the conditions and their likes at workshops, vocations or industries with the mutual agreement of the parties. The demands set forth by the parties must be supported by necessary evidence and documents (Article 139). Any matter which in lab our relations, entails formulation of regulations and establishment of criteria through collective negotiations, may be mooted as the subject of negotiations provided that the prevailing regulations in the country including the governments planned policies, may not have prohibited adoption of decisions on it. Collective negotiations must be continued for the purpose of reaching an agreement and amicably setting the disputes with due observance of the prestige of the parties and refraining from any act that may disrupt the meetings.

Collective lab our contracts shall be legally valid and enforceable only when:

- The benefits stipulated there in not less than those provided in the lab our law.

- These are not repugnant to the current laws and regulations of the country and statutory decrees of government.

- The ministry of lab our and social affairs confirms lack of inconsistency of the subjects of the contracts with above paragraphs of this article (Article 141). In case of collective lab our contracts concluded for a specific period, neither party may unilaterally seek an amendment there of prior to expiration of the period, unless in exceptional conditions, at the discretion of the ministry of lab our and social affairs (Article144). In all individual lab our contracts concluded by the employer prior to or after the signing of the collective labor contract, the provisions of the collective lab our contract shall be binding, excluding the cases where individual contracts provide more benefits than those in collective contracts in terms of wages (Article 146). Should the proposal of the dispute settlement board be refused by the parties within three days, the head of the labor and social affairs department will be obligated to immediately report the matter to the ministry of labor and social affairs for adopting necessary decision. If necessary the council of ministers may administer the affairs of the workshop on behalf of the employer, in any manner deemed expedient, so long as the dispute continues (Article 143)

Dispute settlement forums

Any dispute between an employer and a worker or an apprentice arising out of the enforcement of this law and other lab our regulations, training contract, workshop agreements or collective lab our agreement shall at the out set be settled through a direct compromise between the employer and worker or trainee or their representatives in the Islamic labor council. In cases where no Islamic labor council exists in a unit the dispute shall be settled through he workers guild society or legal representatives of workers and the employer. Failing to reach an accord, such dispute shall be examined and settled through dispute probe and dispute settlement boards in the following order (Article 157).

The dispute probe team stipulated in this law shall be composed of the following individuals:

- A representative of the ministry of labor and social affairs.

- A representative of workers to be named by the provincial association for coordination of Islamic lab our councils.

- A representative of the directors of industries to be named by the provincial association of the volume of work of the boards, the ministry of the labor and social affairs may set up a number of dispute probe boards in each province. Decisions of the dispute probe boards shall become binding after 15 days from the date of service. Should either party have an objection to the said decision, a written objection will be submitted to the dispute settlement board within the said period. The decision of the dispute settlement board, following its issuance, shall be final and binding.

The comments of the board members must be recorded in the file (Article 159). Any worker who is removed in accordance with the opinion of the dispute probe team shall have the right to refer to the dispute settlement board concerning this decision and file a plaint (Note of Article 158). The provincial dispute settlement board shall be formed with the composition of three workers representatives to be named by the provincial association for coordination of Islamic lab our councils, association of workers guild societies or the workers representatives assembly of regional units and three state representatives of the employers to be named by the directors of regional units and the representatives of the government for two years (Article 160). Dispute settlement boards shall send written notices to the parties to the dispute and shall call them to attend the hearing session. Non presence of either party or its fully authorized representative at the session shall not preclude the investigation and issuance of verdict by the board unless the board deems the presence of the parties essential. In such a case, the notice shall be renewed only once. In any case, the board shall as much as possible, investigate the case and render the necessary decision within one month after the receipt of the file in question (Article 162). Final decisions rendered by the dispute settlement authorities shall be binding and shall be affected through the justice ministry’s verdict enforcement department (Article 166)

Fines and penalties

Performance of any work under compulsion is prohibited and the offender shall be sentenced, a part from paying the wages for the work performed and the related compensation to a jail term ranging between 91 days to one year and cash fine equivalent to 50 to 200 times the minimum daily wages. In the event that an individual is compelled to perform work by a number of individuals collectively or through an institute, each of the offenders shall be sentenced to the above said penalties and shall be jointly liable to pay the wages, unless where the main offender is more at fault than the accomplice in which case the main offender shall be personally responsible (Article 172). Employers who employ foreign nationals without obtaining work permits or whose work permits have expired or assign to foreign national jobs other than those specified in their work permits or fail to inform the ministry of labor and social affairs in cases where employment relationship of the foreign national with the employer has been terminated, shall be sentenced in considerations of the conditions and possibilities of the offender and the degree of the offence to a jail term ranging between 91 and 180 days (Article 181). Employers who contrary to the provisions of Article 192 of this law refrain from supplying the stipulated information and statistics to the ministry of labor and social affairs, apart from the compulsion to provide the information shall be sentenced in each case in consideration of the offence to a cash fine of 50 to 250 times the minimum daily wages of a worker (Article 182). Employers who refrain from insuring their workers, shall be sentenced, apart from paying all the rights related to the worker in consideration of the offence to a cash fine equivalent to 2 to 10 times the related insurance premium (Article 183) persons violating any of the cases mentioned, in addition to remedying the violations within the respite set by the court through securing the opinion of the representative of the ministry of lab our and social affairs with due regard to the number of workers and volume of workshop, shall be sentenced to pay a cash fine ranging between 70 and 150 times the minimum official daily wages of a worker at the time of the issuance of the verdict (in case of times the minimum daily wages shall be added to the aforesaid maximum fine in case of every 100 additional workers in the workshop. Those violating any of the cases stipulated in above articles shall be sentenced in case f each worker, as follows:

- For up to 10 workers, 200 to 500 time the minimum daily wages of a worker.

- For up to 100 workers, in respect of workers exceeding 10 individuals, 20 to 50 time the minimum daily wages of a worker.

- For more than 100 workers in respect of workers exceeding 100 individuals 10 to 20 times the minimum daily wages of a worker.

Should the violation be repeated, the violators shall be sentenced to a jail term ranging between 91 to 180 days. Those violating any of the cases stipulated above, for every single case of violation (in addition to remedying the violation and paying the wages of the worker or both within the respite set by court through seeking the opinion of the representative of social affairs), shall be sentenced to a jail term ranging between 91 to 120 days or cash fine as follows:

- In workshops having up to 10 workers 300 to 600 times the minimum daily wages of a worker.

- In workshops having over 100 workers, 800 to 1500 times the minimum daily wages of a worker.

Should the violation be repeated the violators shall be sentenced a jail term ranging between 121 to 180 days.

Regulation of hard and hazardous works (1371.9.29)

Article 1: These jobs are the jobs that their physical, chemical, mechanical and biological agents of workshop are not standard and in the case of workers engagement it may be caused natural effects (physical and mental) so it results engagement unhealthy and its effects.

Note: In the works that their factors and conditions of workshop are not standard due to defect or not using of technical and engineering equipments, if by removal of defect and using above equipments could a chive to standard factors, in this case these are not hard and hazardous works.

Article 2: Recognition of this case is the responsibility of the committee of Article 18 of this regulation. So upon this hard and hazardous works will be as follow articles working in mines either subterranean or on the surface of ground is required workers to derivate in tunnels and porch corridors.

Note: derivation include segregation or bursting of materials, carrying of operations materials related to burst, controlling of water and electricity installations within mine and in general every supervision that is required worker to work in tunnels, corridors or beams of mines.

Article 3: Digging of aqueducts, shafts, sewages, underground tunnels and working in tanks.

Article 4: Discharging and carrying of molten materials from working stores and continuum working adjacent to melt stoves so that the worker is subject to direct heat or hazardous gases from stove.

Article 5: The work of workers that is directly and continuously is related to production in tan workshops and garbage collecting and continuum work in sewers, collecting, carrying and burial of garbage’s.

Article 6: Workers whose works are related to collect carry and repository of dung’s in ranch and binds units.

Article 7: Continuum working in campus and in the height that is more than fire meters from earth on the trellis, skeletons, and mobile modules.

Article 8: Continuum working on lines and posts of electricity transmission with 63 kilovolt stress.

Article 9: Works of graveling decoction of handmade asphalt.

Article 10: Operations of welding within tanks.

Article 11: The works that their continuous abuse diseases related to rays like working with radioactive materials and disposal of ion rays by recognition of competent authorities and evidence of protection law against ray.

Article 12: Working in the places with environment stress is more than allowable extent like diving.

Article 13: Continuous working in environments that despite observance of protection manual cause ear disease or deaf of worker.

Article 14: Working at spraying of gardens, trees, champs and disinfecting of places, sta555bles and aviculture parts in the time of spraying.

Article15: Workers whose jobs are directly related to product and mixture of poisons and insecticides.

Article16: Working with vibrators that are pernicious for the health of worker.

Artice17: the research and training center of workers protection and hygiene suggest permissive extend and standard of each of these chemical materials, biological and physical agents after formation of expertise committees of assigning and in order to approve to technical protection of council. The council of technical protection is determined the composition of professional committees.