In a first, an Egyptian labor court has ordered compensation for a woman unfairly dismissed from her job to be calculated using the national minimum wage, not her previous salary.
Rights advocates hailed the decision as a potential precedent for future labor disputes, especially those involving low-income or informal workers. They said basing compensation on the minimum wage could offer stronger protections for employees whose salaries fall below legal thresholds or are not formally documented.
The case was brought by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) on behalf of a former employee of El-Hennawy Tobacco and Molasses Factory. Damanhour Primary Court awarded compensation based on Egypt’s minimum wage—2,400 Egyptian pounds in 2022 and 2,700 pounds in 2023—rather than the woman’s monthly salary of 1,722 pounds at the time of her dismissal.
“This judgment relied on Article 1(c) of Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, which defines wages and their components, and on the minimum-wage rates set by the National Council for Wages until 2023, when the worker was dismissed,” said Malek Adly, director of ECESR, in an interview with Al Manassa.
Adly said the ruling confirmed that employers are legally bound by minimum wage standards and cannot evade them. “The judge recognized that workers should not be penalized for an employer’s non-compliance, and accepted the center’s petition to calculate compensation on the actual legal minimum,” he said.
The decision in this case, and others involving El-Hennawy, also imposed 4% annual legal interest on the amount owed from the judgment date until full payment, a rare but significant step in labor cases under Egypt’s civil code.
ECESR described the ruling as “unprecedented” and called on other labor courts to adopt similar reasoning, especially under Egypt’s anticipated new labor law. Advocates argue that workers dismissed unfairly should retain wage protections, even when employers cite financial constraints.
The center also criticized the Labor Ministry for failing to set up exemption committees to review employer requests to pay below the minimum wage, saying the gap leaves workers vulnerable to abuse. In the same session, the court issued five more rulings in favor of female workers dismissed from the El-Hennawy factory, bringing the total to 10.
19 additional unfair dismissal cases remain pending.
