Economists urge expanding the adoption of electronic payment in market transactions

Economists urge expanding the adoption of electronic payment in market transactions

Social Security Law...absent privileges

Iraq  02/22/2024

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 Baghdad: Haider Al-Jaber
Citizens are varyingly willing to benefit from the Social Security Law, as several obstacles stand in the way of fully benefiting from the law that was approved in the middle of last year and entered into force last August.
One of the most important of these obstacles is the media’s failure to shed light on this important law, which is expected to ease the burden on government jobs with the benefits it provides that equal private sector workers with government employees, in addition to citizens’ unwillingness to pay any financial costs, even if they are minor. 
Media Advisor to the Minister of Labor, Kazem Al-Atwani, praised the law and highlighted its important advantages, revealing the existence of inspection committees that visit small and large projects for the purpose of registering workers in them.
Al-Atwani told Al-Sabah: “The Social Security Law entered into force last year, and we are receiving requests from citizens who want security at the individual level.” He added, “There are inspection committees from the Ministry of Labor that visit factories, companies, and other popular professions to demand workers’ security,” pointing out that “Employers are afraid of the financial consequences, and these committees have standards and controls that they work on, and they estimate the number of workers in each project.”
He continued, "The law has been put into effect and there is a demand from craftsmen and professionals," and warned that "many citizens are ignorant of the privileges of this law," stressing, "We need an effective media effort to highlight the importance of this law to the worker."
Al-Atwani stated, “The citizen thinks about the suspensions and ignores the positives, such as retirement and health insurance,” and pointed out that “this law almost equates the worker with the government employee.”
Regarding workers in home projects, Al-Atwani stressed that “a worker at home, such as a seamstress or food processor, can protect herself with ease, and that this procedure only takes one visit to the ministry,” stressing that “these workers are included in maternity leave.”
According to the Social Security Law, it includes all categories of workers in the private sector, as well as the resigned employee and those who had military service during the Iraq-Iran war, who work in the private sector.
This law represents the main element for protecting and guaranteeing workers’ rights, and revitalizing the private sector in which more than 5 million workers work. The law will also ensure the expansion of the umbrella of inclusion by adding the security branch for voluntary retirement, and adding labor service in the government sector for the purposes of bonuses, promotions, and retirement, as well as including A retirement equation that provides psychological and financial stability, ensuring their equality with government retirees.

Edited by: Muhammad Al-Ansari
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