Chapter VIII: The Workplace

Article 147: The government is obliged to provide health and medical support for the workers and farmers covered by this law and their families.

Article 148: Employers of workplaces covered by this law are obliged to provide retirement to the workers of their unit on the basis of the Social Security Law.

Article 149: Employers are obliged to provide the necessary cooperation with housing cooperatives and, should in their absence, directly with the workers who lack homes to secure appropriate private homes. Similarly, the employers of large workplaces are obliged to establish homes in the vicinity of the workplace or in another appropriate neighborhood.

Note 1: The government is obliged to show the necessary cooperation with bank discounts and the resources of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Construction, municipalities, and other relevant institutions.

Note 2: The nature and scale of cooperation and participation of the workers, employers, and government institutions and the type of large workplaces covered by this article shall be in accord with bylaws which shall be drafted by the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and of Housing and Urban Construction and confirmed by the cabinet.

Article 150: All the employers covered by this law are obliged to build appropriate places in the workplace for fulfilling devotional obligations and, during the blessed month of Ramadan, to increase religious sensibilities and be in accordance with the state of those observing the fast, and must arrange conditions and hours of work in cooperation with the Islamic Society and Islamic Labor Council and the other workers’ legal representatives in an orderly fashion so that the hours of work do not interfere with the obligations of the fast. Similarly, a period of working time must be given to fulfilling the prayer obligations, breaking the fast, and the pre-fast meal.

Article 151: In workplaces which are placed far from residential areas for a limited time and for the performance of a specific task (road construction, etc.), employers are obliged to provide three appropriate and inexpensive meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for their workers, at least one of which is to be a hot meal. An appropriate dormitory must also be built for the workers in these workplaces, depending on the needs of the season, location, and length of work.

Article 152: Should the workplace be distant and there be inadequate public transportation, management must provide appropriate means of transportation for its workers’ coming and going to work.

Article 153: Employers are obliged to provide the necessary conveniences, such as location, tools, etc., for the workers to create and manage the affairs of the workplace’s workers’ cooperative companies.

Note: The relevant instructions for how to implement this article will be drafted by the Supreme Labor Council and confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Article 154: All employers are obliged to create an appropriate place for the workers to use for various sorts of exercise, with the participation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Organization for Physical Training of the Country.

Note: The bylaws on how to create them and the relevant regulations for them, as well as the amount of time for the workers to participate in gymnastic or sports competitions, and the standard hours for exercise shall be decided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Organization for Physical Training of the Country and confirmed by the cabinet.

Article 155: All workplaces are obliged, in accordance with the announcement of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and under the supervision of this ministry and the organizations responsible in the matter of teaching literacy, to form literacy classes. The regulations for how to implement this duty, how to form classes, workers’ participation in these classes, the selection of tutors, and other matters shall be drafted collectively by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Literacy Campaign, to be confirmed by the cabinet.

Article 156: Instructions related to matters of health and the working environment (eating, bathing, the bathroom) shall be in accordance with regulations which shall be confirmed by the Ministry of Health, Medication, and Medical Training and then implemented.