Disciplinary Penalties: Allowed Types, and Your Right to Object Within 15 Days

"The disciplinary penalties an employer may impose on a worker: 1- Warning. 2- Fine. 3- Deprivation of, or delay of, a bonus for a period not exceeding one year, where the bonus is set by the employer. 4- Delay of promotion for a period not exceeding one year, where promotion is set by the employer. 5- Suspension from work with loss of wages. 6- Dismissal from work in the cases prescribed by the Law."

"An employer may not impose on a worker a penalty not provided for in this Law or in the work organization regulation."

"No disciplinary penalty may be imposed on a worker for an act committed outside the workplace unless connected to the work, the employer, or the responsible manager. Nor may a fine exceeding five days' wages be imposed for a single violation, nor more than one penalty for the same violation, nor may deductions from wages for fines exceed five days' wages in a single month, nor may the period of suspension without pay exceed five days in a month."

"No disciplinary penalty may be imposed on a worker except after notifying them in writing of the charge, interrogating them, hearing their defense, and recording this in a report kept in their personal file. The interrogation may be oral for minor violations where the penalty does not exceed a warning or a fine of no more than one day's wage, provided this is recorded in the report."

"The worker must be notified in writing of the decision to impose a penalty; if they refuse to receive it or are absent, the notice is sent by registered letter to the address in their file. The worker has the right to object to the penalty decision within fifteen days — excluding official holidays — from the date of being notified of the final decision imposing the penalty. The objection is submitted to the Labor Disputes Settlement Authority, which must issue its decision within thirty days of the objection being registered."

"A worker may not be accused of a violation more than thirty days after its discovery, nor may a disciplinary penalty be imposed more than thirty days after the investigation into the violation is concluded and the violation is established against the worker."

"The penalty may not be increased for a repeated violation if one hundred and eighty days have passed since the worker was notified of the penalty imposed for the earlier violation."

"Fines imposed on workers must be recorded in a special register stating the worker's name, wage, the fine amount, the reason for it, and the date. Fines may not be spent except for the benefit of the establishment's workers, and only after obtaining the Ministry's approval."