Labour Code Amendments Article (72)

In 2019, the successful reform of the Labour Code in 2019 to address gender specific barriers in the labour market which include the following amendments:

  • Article (2) to include a definition of Flexi working hours.
  • Articles (53) (54) to include clauses incriminating pay inequity in the workplace.
  • Article (66) which introduced a three-day paternity leave for the first time in Jordanian legislation.
  • Article (72) which made workplace daycares a right for men in addition to women, offered alternative models of setting up daycares to ease establishment of employers and expanded to achieve social justice by including working families in various sectors and workplaces and not just large sized companies.

These amendments were the result of efforts of several organizations who worked relentlessly and jointly since 2011, namely the National Committee for Pay Equity (NCPE) and SADAQA with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The final push came in 2018 when 39 articles out of the 140 articles Labor Code was reopened for debate, SADAQA, who’s main advocacy work was around lessening the care-burden, put together a coalition of women’s rights organizations under the name “Coalition 72” to push for amending Article (72) of the Labor Code regarding the right of working mothers/ families to workplace daycares.

 

“Coalition 72” was successful in getting the Lower House Labour Committee to adopt their suggested amendments, and sent them to the House for deliberation.

 

Building upon this success, SADAQA decided to widen the coalition to include a larger number of organizations that were supportive of incorporating gender policies in labor policies, thus forming “Haq (Rights) Coalition” to work on amending the aforementioned articles.

Social Security Corporation Law Amendments Article (42)

In addition to the limited availability of childcare facilities in Jordan, the care sector itself is a marginalized sector, and caregivers lack basic labor rights and remain poorly trained and often provided with poor working conditions and low wages. In general, there is a need to raise the capacities of caregivers in accordance with international standards and guidelines set by the Ministry of Social Development to ensure quality education, safety, cleanliness and other important measures. There is also a need to enhance the sustainability of daycares in Jordan by ensuring daycares have good financial and human resource systems and by ensuring daycares contribute to social security and benefit from social security including Article 42 related to social security maternity fund.

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on women’s work and the care economy at large, came unannounced causing ongoing negative effect to women’s economic participation pushing at least 20,000 women out of the labor force. Moreover, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the care sector due to the fragile context in which it has been operating during years of de-prioritization, weak public policy, and scarce support by the government.

 

This raised a new sense of urgency for SADAQA. The plan SADAQA was working on in 2020 was interrupted by COVID-19 pushing the leadership team to devise an emergency COVID-19 intervention strategy with the aim of protecting women’s work and cushioning the blow for care workers and daycare owners.

In 2019, prior to the pandemic, SADAQA had just succeeded in lobbying for the amendment of Article 72 of the Labour Law after a decade- long and was preparing for the implementation phase of the national frameworks for daycares and transportation with partners from relevant government entities, coalitions, UN Women, and ILO.

 

When the pandemic hit, the Defence Law went into effect. This was a harsh reminder of the fragility of an already disenfranchised sector and confirmed the anticipated fear that a disproportionate number of daycares around Jordan will not survive the accumulation of debts and running costs of returning to business and will eventually close down forcing many working mothers (and fathers) with children under five to leave the workforce to care for their children.

 

SADAQA’s emergency response supported the needs of the childcare sector during the pandemic by amplifying their voices through its platform “Voices of Women Workers”. It put forth women’s demands in a systematic manner and identified the needed actions for advocacy. The mapping and documentation effort conducted by the field team informed all actions SADAQA took in order to advocate for the rights of workers and employers in this sector. The findings influenced SADAQA’s COVID-19 mitigation plan for the sector and influenced its decision to request an alteration in the execution of activities under the funded projects. The main finding was the need for an urgent intervention by the government and donors to provide direct financial support of the sector post COVID-19. SADAQA with the support of its partners were the only intervention in Jordan that offered a response to the childcare sector needs in light of COVID-19. SADAQA’s work managed to provide a total of 50 daycares in 2020 with support to return to operation and cover the costs incurred by the health and safety requirements imposed by MoSD.