Egypt Labor Law 14/2025: What HR Managers Must Know

Why Law 14/2025 Matters More Than the Headlines Suggest

Egypt's previous labor code, Law 12/2003, had been patched with ministerial decrees for two decades. Law 14/2025 consolidates those patches, closes several gaps that employers exploited, and introduces penalties that are meaningfully higher than before. Ignoring the transition is not a low-risk option — fines for non-compliance now start at EGP 20,000 per violation, up from EGP 2,000 under the old law.

The law takes effect in September 2025. That gives HR teams roughly one payroll cycle to audit contracts, update policies, and brief line managers. The sections below cover the articles most likely to require immediate action.

Annual Leave Entitlements — Article 47

Article 47 keeps the basic structure familiar but tightens the carry-over rules:

• Employees with less than 10 years of combined service (at all employers): 21 working days per year.
• Employees with 10 or more years of service, or anyone over 50 years old: 30 working days per year.
• Workers in hazardous or hard-labor classifications: a minimum of 30 days regardless of tenure.

The critical change: unused leave can only be carried over for one subsequent year. After that, the employer must either pay it out or lose the right to offset it against a future claim. Build a leave-balance report now and clear anything older than 12 months before September.

Probation Period Rules — Article 35

Article 35 caps probation at three months for most roles. Specialist and senior positions can extend to six months, but the contract must state this explicitly. Key points:

• Only one probation period is permitted per employee per employer, even if the role changes.
• Either party may terminate during probation without notice and without end-of-service entitlement — but social insurance contributions are still due for the period worked.
• If the employer keeps the employee beyond the stated probation end date without issuing a new contract clause, the period is deemed complete and full termination protections apply immediately.

Overtime Limits and Pay Rates — Article 70

Article 70 sets a hard ceiling of two overtime hours per day in normal circumstances, and 90 hours per year in aggregate. Exceeding these limits requires written approval from the Ministry of Manpower — a step very few employers were taking under the old law.

Pay rates remain:

• Daytime overtime: basic hourly rate + 35%
• Night-shift overtime (between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.): basic hourly rate + 70%
• Overtime on official holidays: basic hourly rate + 100%

Payroll systems that calculate overtime off gross salary rather than basic salary will produce incorrect figures. Audit your formula before the first September payroll run.

Termination Procedures — Articles 110–120

This section saw the most significant rewording. Under Article 110, termination for cause requires the employer to follow a written disciplinary process before dismissal — a verbal warning is no longer sufficient documentation. The required steps:

1. Written notice of the alleged violation, delivered to the employee.
2. A formal hearing within seven working days, with the employee given the right to respond or bring a representative.
3. A written decision issued within 15 working days of the hearing.

Skipping any step exposes the employer to a court award of up to 24 months' wages in compensation. Notice periods for without-cause termination are now tied to tenure:

• Less than 3 years of service: 60 days notice
• 3–10 years: 75 days
• More than 10 years: 90 days

Maternity and Paternity Leave — Article 95

Maternity leave stays at 90 days at full pay, but Article 95 now restricts it to three instances over the entire employment relationship with one employer, down from an unlimited count. Employers may not make this restriction a condition of hiring — the article is explicit on that point.

The notable addition: paternity leave of 7 days at full pay, taken within 30 days of the birth. This is new — the old law had no paternity provision. Update your leave policy documents to include it before an employee requests it unprepared.

Ramadan Working Hours — Article 60

Article 60 codifies what was previously handled by annual ministerial circulars. During Ramadan, the standard workday for Muslim employees is reduced by two hours, with no corresponding deduction in pay. Non-Muslim employees are not covered by this reduction unless the employer chooses to apply it uniformly. Shift-based industries must still meet their production hours — the article permits adjustments to shift scheduling rather than simply cutting output time.

End-of-Service Gratuity — Article 130

The calculation basis shifts from basic salary to total compensation (basic + fixed monthly allowances). For each year of service, an employee is entitled to:

• One month of total compensation for the first five years
• 1.5 months per year from year six onward

Run a simulation on your highest-tenured employees now. The jump from basic-only to total-comp calculations will materially increase provisions for anyone receiving large transport, housing, or cost-of-living allowances.

Practical Compliance Checklist

Use this list in your next HR team meeting:

• Contracts: Add explicit probation duration language for senior roles; remove any clause waiving overtime limits.
• Leave balances: Run a report; pay out or schedule any balance older than 12 months before September.
• Payroll formulas: Switch overtime base to basic salary; switch end-of-service base to total compensation.
• Disciplinary process: Draft a written warning template and a hearing invitation template; train line managers on the 7-day and 15-day windows.
• Notice period schedule: Update the HR system to auto-calculate the correct notice period by tenure band.
• Paternity leave policy: Add the 7-day paternity entitlement to your employee handbook.
• Attendance records: Confirm your system logs daily overtime hours separately — inspectors may request this. Cloud-based attendance platforms that export per-employee overtime reports will make this significantly easier to produce on short notice.
• Social insurance: Coordinate with your insurance office to verify that the new compensation definition aligns with reported insurable wages.

"The gap between reading a new law and actually changing your internal processes is where most compliance failures happen. The checklist above is a starting point, not a finish line."

What to Watch After September

Law 14/2025 gives the Ministry of Manpower authority to issue executive regulations within six months of the effective date. Those regulations will fill in implementation details — particularly around the hazardous-work classifications and the overtime approval process. Assign someone on your legal or HR team to monitor the Official Gazette (Al-Jarida Al-Rasmiya) for those publications. Missing an executive regulation can be just as costly as missing the law itself.

Ready to talk?

If your team needs help reviewing contracts, restructuring payroll calculations, or building HR workflows that hold up under Law 14/2025, the team at ProgMine works with Egyptian businesses on exactly these problems. Get in touch and we'll scope out what your situation actually needs.