Egyptian Officials Protest Over New Civil Service Law
More than 2,000 Egyptian government officials have protested against a new civil service law, in one of the country’s largest anti-government rallies amid a crackdown on dissent, according to media reports.
In March 2015 President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ratified a new version of the civil service law, which set out a new system for salaries, incentives and compensations and which centralises the recruitment process.
The law was passed shortly before Egypt’s International Economic Conference, which aimed to draw foreign investment.
The government says the law will improve Egypt’s administrative apparatus by curbing bureaucratic inefficiencies, streamlining hiring practices and complex wage-structures in government institutions.
Ahram Online reports that, according to the new law, basic salaries would constitute 80% of overall wages in all government institutions as opposed to the older unit-by-unit system of determination, while bonuses, traditionally dependent on seniority, would be calculated based on performance.
Tax authority officials, who organised Monday’s protest say the reforms weaken workers’ rights.
Tarek El-Kashef, the director of the tax authority, told Ahram Online that his organisation has been among the most harmed institutions by the law and called for the law to be annulled.
“There are no guarantees for the employee [in the law],” he said. “If my employer doesn’t like me, he can easily fire me or send me to investigation.”
Critics also say the law should have been consulted on, given its wide scope.
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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