ILO lauds Jordan for protecting private school teacher wages through digital payments

-Shaheennews

The International Labour Organization (ILO) lauded the government of Prime Minister Omar Razzaz for safeguarding the salaries of private school teachers by requiring employers to deposit their salaries electronically.

In a statement on its website, the ILO said the newly endorsed Regulation of Registration and Licensing of Private and International Schools will ensure that all 37,000 teachers – the majority of whom are women – will receive their wages through bank transfers or e-wallets only.

The move, it added, will help guarantee that they receive their financial compensation in full. While salary transfers in cash come with a risk of underpayments, electronic salary transfers are safer as they leave a paper trace that provide security for both parties.

The National Committee for Pay Equity (NCPE) and the Stand-up with Teachers Campaign have lobbied for the move since late 2017 with the technical and financial support of the ILO, the statement reads.

In 2017, the Union of Workers of Private Education and the Owners of Private Schools Association signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that brought new rights to teachers working in Jordan’s private schools. Some were lobbied for by the ILO in partnership with the NCPE and the Stand up with Teachers Campaign.

The ILO considers this legislation a significant step forward in protecting teachers’ pay in Jordan and an important tool to ensure justice for private school employees. The ILO will continue working with the government of Jordan, as well as the NCPE, in order to find solutions to protect wages in other sectors through digital payments, the statement pointed out.

//Petra// YK