Iraqi Parliament approves long leave for employees — five years with full nominal pay and allowed to work in private sector
The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted on a law granting employees an ordinary long leave of five years with full nominal pay, renewable once for an additional five years at half pay, while allowing employees to work in the private sector during the leave. Here are the main details of the law.
The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted, in its session on Sunday, October 25, on a law granting employees a long ordinary leave, a measure affecting a wide segment of state employees and opening the door for them to work in the private sector while retaining their jobs.
Five years with full nominal salary
According to details of the law disclosed by members of the parliamentary committees, a permanently appointed employee who has completed actual service in the position has the right, at his request, to obtain an ordinary leave of five years during which he will receive his full nominal salary, provided he bears the pension deductions. The law allows the leave to be renewed once for another five years at half the nominal salary.
Working in the private sector and cutting short the leave
The law permits an employee on leave to work in the private sector for the duration of his leave, as an exception to the provisions of related laws, provided that the Council of Ministers sets the regulatory controls for that. The employee also has the right to cut the leave and return to his job after half of its duration has elapsed without being required to return the salaries he received, while the leave period is counted as service for retirement purposes.
Extension of the legislative term by 30 days
The law obliges the Council of Ministers to issue instructions to facilitate its implementation based on a proposal from the Minister of Finance, and it enters into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. It also cancels a number of decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council relating to leave. In the same session, the council voted to extend its legislative term for 30 days starting from November 1.
