10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10963
Lebanon is facing an economic and political crisis unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes; especially after October 17, 2019 when anti-government demonstrations began to intensify. The government declared a "public health emergency” on March 15, and business operations were interrupted. The measures set out by the Ministry of Labour to address the impact of the national lockdown on working conditions and business operations were limited. It included modification of working time and counselling businesses facing difficulties. Additional measures were taken by the Central Bank and the National Social Security Fund to alleviate the monetary burden on disadvantaged businesses. Also, the government enlarged the scope of the anti-poverty program to aid new vulnerable populations. Yet, the impact of taken measures was falling behind the emergent economic challenges. The governmental action plan was based on a political interest rather than an understanding of the unprecedented economic crisis. It reflected, among other things, the absence of an effective social dialogue structure. 
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Sari Madi
Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Social dialogue
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Lebanon
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National Reports
2020-05-11
2020-05-11
2020-04-15
2020-09-15
ILLeJ
Sari Madi
2020/05/11
10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10963
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Social dialogue
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: Lebanon
https://illej.unibo.it/article/download/10963/10836
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: Lebanon                                                     Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Sari Madi                                                                           Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
sari.madi@umontreal.ca                                                Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                                  ISSN 1561-8048
                                                                   https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10963




                   COVID-19 and Labour Law: Lebanon
                              Sari Madi*

                                                    Abstract

     Lebanon is facing an economic and political crisis unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes;
     especially after October 17, 2019 when anti-government demonstrations began to intensify. The
     government declared a "public health emergency” on March 15, and business operations were
     interrupted. The measures set out by the Ministry of Labour to address the impact of the national
     lockdown on working conditions and business operations were limited. It included modification
     of working time and counselling businesses facing difficulties. Additional measures were taken
     by the Central Bank and the National Social Security Fund to alleviate the monetary burden on
     disadvantaged businesses. Also, the government enlarged the scope of the anti-poverty program
     to aid new vulnerable populations. Yet, the impact of taken measures was falling behind the
     emergent economic challenges. The governmental action plan was based on a political interest
     rather than an understanding of the unprecedented economic crisis. It reflected, among other
     things, the absence of an effective social dialogue structure.



     Keywords: Covid-19; Labour Law; Health and Safety; Social assistance; Social dialogue.




 1. Timeline of key dates and events

     The lack of geographic proximity and direct link between Lebanon and China, the first
 epicenter of the outbreak, has delayed the transmission of COVID-19 to the country. The
 first diagnosed cases in Lebanon were confirmed after the return of travellers back home
 from countries with close ties to Lebanon and suffering from large outbreaks, such as Iran
 and Italy. The first detected case was registered on February 201 after the return of the
 pilgrims from the city of Qom in Iran and a priest from Italy.
     A governmental committee was formed to deal with the outbreak and the Ministry of
 Public Health (MoPH) prepared a containment section at the public hospital of Beirut, the
 Rafic Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), to isolate patients. The committee made available
 a phone number for symptomatic people and asked returnees to quarantine themselves for
 14 days. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) made more “Polymerase
 chain reaction” (PCR) tests available. These collaborative efforts contained the spread for a
 few days.


 *
     Ph.D. candidate and Lecturer, School of Industrial Relations, University of Montreal.
 1   Epidemiological Surveillance Program: https://www.moph.gov.lb/maps/covid19.php
    Sari Madi                                                                      Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                                  Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                     Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                       Section: National Reports




   The government issued several circulars on preventive measures in schools and the public
sector. It introduced travel restrictions for non-residents from countries with a large
COVID-19 outbreak. On February 29, pushed by national panic, the government ordered
to close all schools and public markets for one week. The ministerial committee, the WHO,
and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) argued that
the source of the spread was still external. They believed the school closures were a hasty
order. The MoPH formed a committee to monitor the effectiveness of preventive measures
and issued daily reports. The committee asked people to practice social distancing and avoid
gatherings. The Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) was first to declare the passage from
containment to the mitigation phase with ten confirmed cases. The MoPH, five days later,
announces the official mitigation phase with two new confirmed cases from local
transmission in the country.
   The ministerial committee extended the school closures along with restaurants, coffee
shops, and entertainment places until March 14. On the eve of the WHO's announcement
of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the Lebanese national death toll was five new cases on average
per day. On March 13, the government shut down the airport and ordered the closure of
public facilities.
   By March 15, hundred cases were confirmed. The virus was still rapidly spreading. The
government declared the "State of General Mobilization"2 for two weeks then extended to
May 10. This resulted in total closure of the economy, except for essential services. The State
of General Mobilization (which is a state of military emergency3) was adopted because of the
absence of a state of a medical emergency in the Lebanese Law4. On March 20, Lebanon was
in a situation of local transmission. With a surge of confirmed new cases, averaging 35 per
day, the government announced a night curfew (19h-5h) until April 12.
   However, towards the end of March, Lebanon appeared to be among the top countries
best protecting its citizens against the novel virus. Although that raised concerns regarding
undiagnosed cases, the MoPH announced slower disease transmission in the country with a
doubling time of ten days versus three days in other countries. On April 4, the number of
infected people exceeded 500 cases with an average of 15 new cases per day and a death toll
of 17 cases. The ministry of interior affairs applied driving restrictions: cars with odd number
plates allowed to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while those with even number
plates will be allowed to run on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday5. The exponential growth
was stemmed. The compliance with the confinement measures reduced the transmission
rate.
   On April 7, the LOP and MoPH would disagree, one more time, on adopting “Rapid tests
anticorps” as suggested by LOP to discover asymptomatic carriers of the virus. The MoPH

2 Decisions of the Council of Ministers on March 15, 2020:
http://www.pcm.gov.lb/Library/Files/Decision%20n1%2015-3-2020.pdf
3 Legislative Decree n° 102 of September 16, 1983.
4 The declared state differs from the State of Emergency (Legislative Decree n° 52 of August 5, 1967) in that it

does not impose restrictions on fundamental rights, and it limits the prerogatives of the armed forces to the
application of the measures taken by the government.
5 Decision of the Ministry of the Interior n° 479 relating to circulation schedule:

http://www.interior.gov.lb/AdsDetails.aspx?ida=339

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    Sari Madi                                                                  Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                              Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                 Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                   Section: National Reports




was concerned regarding the reliability of these mobile tests. Eventually, the MoPH proceeds
with random PCR testing using mobile clinics and took additional measures such as
increasing the number of daily performed tests. On April 21, no new cases were detected in
the country. Despite the “State of general mobilization”, the government planned to
gradually reopen certain sectors. On April 27, the reopening phase began with three new
cases out of 1360 tests performed per day. A total of 708 cases in the country, 146 recovered
and 24 deceased.


2. Labour market measures

    Prior to the global health pandemic, businesses were pressured by the economic
uncertainty and the massive waves of protests that the country witnessed since October 17,
2019. Multiple instant collective dismissals happened. In the case of the banking sector, the
Ministry of Labour (MoL) and the Federation of Syndicates of Banks Employees negotiated
the suggested compensation. The Federation objected to the low compensation provided by
article 50 (a) of the Labour Code (i.e., two to twelve months) and pushed to obtain between
24 to 36 months of compensation.
    With the spread of COVID-19 across the country, companies adjusted their employment
conditions. Private schools’ teachers received a 60 to 70 % reduction in their March salary.
The teachers' union refused the salary reduction by an official communication to the Ministry
of Labour. Companies managed the economic burden of the lockdown differently; the
Habtoor Grand Hotel and the ABC Group, took advantage of the force majeure event to
suspend contracts, while others, such as the Middle East Airlines and LibanPost, have
mandated employees use vacation time for missed days of work without reducing wages.
    This economic burden has equally affected the health sector. Representatives of the Order
of Nurses met with the Minister of Labour6 to raise their concerns regarding the changes in
wages such as non-payment, cuts, and unpaid leave. For example, the Lebanese French
hospital issued a written statement to impose part-time hours and leave without pay7 to its
employees.
    Facing these challenges, the MoL devised a plan to address the workers’ wellbeing. It
issued multiple circulars to protect the health and safety of workers, especially in essential
services, such as grocery stores and industrial establishments8. It recommended compliance
with social distancing, the use of personal protective equipment, and adherence to hygiene
directives. Most importantly, working hours were reorganised into shifts, including
mandatory breaks, to decrease exposure. The MoL published also a multitude of work
specific protocols to help protect workers and consumers of food-related and maintenance
or housekeeping businesses9. The plan included meeting with companies that decided to
shut down their businesses (such as the Le Bristol Hotel and the AZADEA Group company)

6 https://www.labor.gov.lb/LatestNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=16298
7 https://www.aljoumhouria.com/ar/news/525597/30
8 Circulars n° 25/1 and n° 26/1.
9 https://www.labor.gov.lb/LatestNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=16287



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     Sari Madi                                                            Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                         Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                            Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                              Section: National Reports




to reiterate the legal procedure to follow during dismissal for economic reasons or force
majeure event (Article 50 of the Labour Code, paragraph f); the dismissal would be fair only
if the employer consult the MoL one month prior to the expected closure date. For the
healthcare workers, the MoL determined in decision n° 20/1 the period of self-isolation for
COVID-19 would be considered a paid sick leave. In the case of COVID-19 disease
contracting by a healthcare worker, the decree n°136 of September 16, 1983 on work-related
injuries and emergencies will apply10. Labour inspectors ensured compliance with the
proposed measures and two hotlines were made available by MoL for workers to report
problems at work. One of those hotlines is specific for domestic workers who are most at
risk of domestic violence11.
    The Bank of Lebanon (BDL) and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) worked
alongside with the MoL to support businesses. An example of that would be the circular
issued by the BDL on March 23, 202012. Inspired by the Jordanian emergency plan, the BDL
encouraged private banks to offer loans to their business clients with zero interest for a
period of five years in order to continue paying salaries and afford other operating expenses.
The NSSF helped to minimize the financial burden of the pandemic on businesses by
postponing the social security contributions13 and renewing the “Attestation of fees
payment” until June 3014. This latter measure was supposed to help challenged enterprises
reorganize their businesses (e.g, to sell, reduce the capital, and change the rules of procedure)
without the intervention of the NSSF inspectors.


3. Social assistance measures

    To address the social impact of the public health crisis, the government relied on social
assistant measures. The National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP) of the Ministry of
Social Affairs (MoSA) was expanded to include new vulnerable populations, such as daily
workers, farmers, disabled people, taxi drivers, and the families of students of public schools.
The NPTP, funded by the World Bank, was implemented as part of the economic reforms
requested by the International donors in 2007. This anti-poverty program was however
transformed in the time of COVID-19. Management of the NPTP transitioned from the
MoSA to the Lebanese Army in collaboration with municipal councils to maintain the
fairness of monetary distributions. In mid-April, when the monetary assistance was
inappropriately assigned, the army intervened by withholding the distributions until April 21.
The food assistance program was replaced by monetary support of 400 thousand Lebanese
Pounds due to fear of food shortage in the country. In any event, social assistance seems to


10 http://www.orderofnurses.org.lb/Details?type=Press&id=1304
11 https://www.labor.gov.lb/LatestNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=16300
12 BDL’s circular n° 547 for March, April, May, and circular n°552 extending the measure to June.
13 Memorandum n° 634 of April 6, 2020 of the NSSF.
14 Decisions of the Council of Ministers on March 24, 2020:

http://www.pcm.gov.lb/Arabic/subpg.aspx?pageid=17394. The Council renewed the decree n° 6036 of
December 23, 2019 on the validation of the Attestation of Fees Payment until June 30.

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     Sari Madi                                                                    Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                                 Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                    Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                      Section: National Reports




be a one-time payment. The government has not succeeded in obtaining a new budget to its
social security plan on April 23 because the quorum was lost at the time of the proposition.
   In addition to the aforementioned measure, municipal councils contributed by providing
aid to people in need, such as the one in Tripoli, which distributed food vouchers to 40
thousand families. The government suspended certain provisions of article 32 of the 2020
finance law to allow municipal councils to dilute the social and economic impacts of the
health crisis15.


4. Social dialogue

    The involvement of the social partners in the definition of those measures remained
limited and based principally on public interventions on the matter. Although the Economic
and Social Council (EcoSoc) suggested monetary assistance of 500 thousand Lebanese
Pounds for a period of three months16, the government approved a one-time contribution
of 400 thousand Lebanese pounds. The Lebanese Economic Organization, i.e., the peak
employers’ organization, suggested monetary assistance equivalent to the minimum wage
(i.e., 675 thousand Lebanese Pounds) to the private sector employees. The organization
thought of using the NSSF End of Service sub-fund to finance this plan. The NSSF in
collaboration with the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (GCLW) renounced the
proposition. The GCLW kept a low profile and played a marginal role in the crisis. No actions
were made aside from requesting social dialogue between social actors to guarantee worker’s
rights during the pandemic and suggesting the operationalisation of the National Labour
Council which is a tripartite advisory body to the MoL17. The Confederation reiterated its
position on the need for unemployment insurance. The Association of Lebanese
Industrialists did not find a projection of their concerns in the governmental decision. They
contested the decision of the government on the circulation schedules and asked for better
coordination of the next measures.
    The lack of an effective social dialogue was, in like manner, observed in the public sector.
Twenty days after the detection of the first case in the country, the League of Public
Administration Employees shut down all offices for five days (March 11 to March 15) to
push the government to provide them with adequate hygiene measures. While the parliament
was closed for disinfection purposes, the frontline healthcare workers at RHUH organized a
sit down on March 12 to demand their right in access to personal protective equipment and
adequate cleaning and disinfection. Many of these workers in the public sector are non-
regular employees. The 2020 finance law has set aside a budget to cover the salaries of those
non-regular employees. The government chose, instead of paying salaries, to include daily
workers in the social assistance program, while other categories, such as contractual teachers,
may be paid 70% of their salaries.

15 Decisions of the Council of Ministers on March 24, 2020:
http://www.pcm.gov.lb/Arabic/subpg.aspx?pageid=17394
16 https://www.annahar.com/article/1151176- ‫ﻓﻘﺮا‬-‫اﻷﻛﺜﺮ‬-‫ﻟﻠﻌﺎﺋﻼت‬-‫ﺷﮭﺮﯾﺎ‬-‫ﻟﯿﺮة‬-‫أﻟﻒ‬-500-‫ﻟﺘﻘﺪﯾﻢ‬-‫اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدي‬-‫اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺲ‬
17 Decree n° 6304 of December 5, 1966.



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     Sari Madi                                                            Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                         Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                            Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                              Section: National Reports




5. Limits of the government action plan

   The government has successfully contained the first wave of COVD-19 but failed to
diminish the social and economic collateral damages of the lockdown, especially to workers.
The measures of the MoL have remained in keeping with previous limited follow-up actions.
The Ministry has taken steps to reorganize working time, but no special arrangements have
been made on termination of employment or social dialogue. There is, however, a glaring
gap between a struggling economy and the unprecedented public health crisis. Dismissed
employees could still turn alternatively to self-employment, the informal sector, or family
support. The national health emergency requires more robust legal measures given the total
closure of the economy and the dependence of tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens on
their salaries.
   The Labour Code states that in the event of force majeure the employer has to notify the
MoL one month prior to termination of employment to establish jointly an execution plan
(Article 50, paragraph f). Rather than the cessation of the business activities, that would allow
measures such as unpaid leaves or reduced hours. Although the Labour Code prioritises
dismissed employees to be reinstated whenever the company resumes operations. (Article
50, paragraph g), it does not guarantee the same employment conditions in terms of salary,
nor it specifies the order of recall to work. What is more, commonly employers do not abide
by this Code, and the judicial process in the case of a complaint from the employee is low.
From a broader perspective, the Lebanese labour market policies are marked by the lack of
unemployment insurance to which employees could have recourse.
   The MoL embraced, then, a social solidarity approach based on non-binding measures.
Given the numerous weaknesses in the national legislation, the government should have
brought forward a different approach. By way of comparison, Tunisia, which is another
middle-income country and characterized by the absence of an unemployment insurance
fund, has taken protective measures by Laws Decrees of the Head of Government on the
date of 14 April 2020. Those Laws Decrees contributed to job security for workers in two
ways. On one hand, the Law Decree n° 2020-2 suspended, in its first article, the application
of force majeure on employment contracts (Article 14, paragraph 3, subparagraph C of the
Tunisian Labour Code) until the end of the national public health emergency. On the other
hand, the Law Decree n° 2020-4 encouraged companies to remedy the situation through a
series of measures, such as the application of the annual vacation with full pay, the early
payment of the annual vacation, or the payment of the whole or a part of the salary. In doing
so, companies guarantee their employees the right to the exceptional and temporary
compensation that worth two hundred (200) Tunisian Pounds. In Lebanon, those measures
could be easily adopted considering that the government has ratified the Convention n°15
of the Arab Labour Organization18. Article 7 of this Convention states that workers shall be
entitled to full wages, even in the case of a work stoppage due to circumstances beyond the
control of workers.


18   Ratified by the law n° 183 of May 24, 2000.

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 Sari Madi                                                                Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                         Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                            Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                              Section: National Reports




    The lack of legislative initiatives on termination of employment and social dialogue could
not be compensated by social assistance. The one-time payment was fixed at a very low level.
Even the employers’ Confederation suggested a higher amount. All of these limited measures
paved the way for a greater role of the non-state welfare in the public health crisis. Hence,
all major political parties in the country have offered social and medical assistance to their
supporters. Those services go from large scale measures, such as the mobilization of 25,000
health care workers and the preparation of treatment centers to distributing food packages.
    Although Lebanon is in a difficult economic situation, the choice of the action plan to
address the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on working conditions remains a political
choice. The government held, at the ministerial level, meetings with multiple social actors
during the decision-making process, but the crisis response mechanisms would reflect a lack
of genuine social dialogue between the concerned parties. The Economic and Social Council
(EcoSoc) was adopted under Law n° 389 of 1995 to issue non-binding advisory opinions at
the request of the government. It allows participation of the civic society in legislative
reforms, but it was inactive for almost fifteen years (2001-2017). The organisational structure
of the Labour Confederation does not provide for effective workers representation since it
is not based on the proportional system. Ultimately, the grip of the political regime on the
members of the EcoSoc and the Labour Confederation transformed them into other state
institutions paralyzed by sectarian divisions. The action plan would have been different had
they been able to influence further. The “State of General Mobilization” has led the
government to cease investments, except salaries payment. The Minister’s Council froze the
price of oil despite the drastic fall of the barrel price at the international price of a barrel.
Those actions provide direct cost savings for the State, which could be redirected, as
expenditure, towards a more generous action plan.




Copyright © 2020 Sari Madi. This article is released under a Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License




https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10963                                                           7
