Deteriorating Conditions for Workers in Hard and Hazardous Jobs; Troublesome Directives

A directive and insistence from the Ministry of Labor of the Islamic Republic regarding the transfer of the 4% pension contribution for "hard and hazardous" jobs from the main employer to the contractor has faced criticism from labor activists, who believe this directive is "anti-worker" and will make retirement for hard and hazardous jobs more difficult. In this context, ILNA news agency quoted Saeed Fattahi, head of the Association of Trade Unions of Workers in East Azerbaijan Province, stating that "the most essential and vital laws for workers have been completely sidelined, and they have written a directive that further constrains workers in hard and hazardous jobs." Fattahi believes this action will deprive many workers of the opportunity for early retirement, and workers will not be able to find the contractors they previously worked with when they reach retirement age, resulting in them having to pay this 4% themselves or give up on early retirement. ISNA news agency also reported on June 13 that according to directive number 57 from the Ministry of Labor's Labor Relations, if there is a dispute regarding the payment of the 4% insurance premium for hard and hazardous jobs, the worker must file a lawsuit against the contractor. ISNA specifically emphasized that this directive confuses workers and causes problems at the time of retirement. The news agency criticized the Ministry of Labor, stating: "Finding contractors who left the company years ago and filing a lawsuit against them is impossible." According to reports, the problems faced by workers in hard and hazardous jobs have increased in recent months, with ILNA emphasizing last February that "the implementation of a new directive in social security branches for early retirement of workers in hard and hazardous jobs has seriously created problems." This news agency referred to directive 1777, which addressed the "reform of job titles and determination of wage history resulting from assessment committees." Following the issuance of this directive, labor activists announced that these reforms have created serious issues for workers in hard and hazardous jobs who are nearing retirement. Consequently, employers are required to pay the difference amounts from the mentioned reforms, and without this payment, workers' retirement requests have been suspended. A supervisor from the Supreme Council of Islamic Labor Councils also stated on May 19 that "this process has increased barriers to the retirement of hard and hazardous jobs and has led to worker dissatisfaction." According to this report, individuals with hard and hazardous jobs can apply for retirement without age conditions if they have 20 years of continuous insurance or 25 years of non-continuous insurance, but the new directives from the Ministry of Labor have disrupted their legal retirement process.