Parliament approves allowance law for government employees

CAIRO – 10 May 2017: The final draft of a special allowance law for employees who are not included in the state civil service law was approved by a majority at parliament on Wednesday.

The new allowance law will be sent to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to be signed and published in the Official Gazette. It will apply retroactively from 1 July 2016.
There are around 6.5 million employees of government institutions in Egypt, with only 3.5 million working in accordance with the Civil Service Law. Meanwhile, the remaining will work in accordance with the bonus law.

Here are the eight articles of the law:

Article I
All the state employees who are not included in the Civil Service Law - amounting to about 3 million employees - shall be granted a special monthly allowance of 10% of base pay starting from July 2016, with a minimum rate of 65 EGP and a maximum of 120 EGP.

Article II

The state employees in the application of the provisions of this law are those permanent and temporary employees with comprehensive rewards and persons with public office and with fixed wage within the Arab Republic of Egypt, who are not included in the Civil Service Law, as well as state employees whose affairs are organized by laws or special regulations.

Article III

The public sector and the public business sector are allowed to grant their employees a special bonus of maximum 10 percent of the basic wage starting from 30 June 2016, taking into account the minimum and maximum rates stipulated in Article I of this law. Each company is entitled to set its own measures of paying this allowance.

Article IV

It is not permissible to combine the special allowance provided in this law, and the increase that is determined as of 1 July 2016 in pension regulation, to the same employee, and taking into consideration the following:

1. If the employee who is less than the prescribed age of retirement deserves a special allowance, if this allowance is less than the increase in the retirement pension increased by the difference between them.

2. If the employee has reached the legal age of termination, deserved increase in the pension, if the increase in the pension is less than the allowance he should take the difference between the two from the entity he works for.

Article V

The state employees who are not included in the Civil Service Law shall continue to receive incentives, bonuses, overtime, allowances and all other payments - except insurance benefits - under the same rules and conditions set before the approval of this law.

Article VI

The Minister of Finance shall issue the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of this law.

Article VII

All provisions that contradict this law or its provisions shall be null.

Article VIII

This law shall be published in the Official Gazette and come into force from 1 July 2016.