CHAPT7ER SIX:
Employment Policies
ARTICLE 48- Ministry of
the Interior is required to take appropriate measures to identify within the
first year of the Third Five-year Economic, Social and Cultural Development
Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran all foreign nationals who do not possess
the permit to work in Iran and deport them to their country of origin, provided
that their lives will not be jeopardized.
Otherwise they should be confined to live in the refugee camps.
The final judgment as to the existence of such a condition rests with Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The executive by-law for
this Item shall be prepared
jointly by Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and shall
be approved by the Cabinet.
ARTICLE 49-In order to
encourage employers of industrial establishments and factories to employ new
work-force, government is required
to offer the following privileges to those employers who employ new labor force
through the Employment Service Centers of the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs:
A- To rebate the employer’s contribution
to the social insurance premium, and provide the necessary funds in the
country’s budget,
B- To reduce tax obligations of the employers of these
industrial establishments up to an amount equivalent to the taxes charged on
the salary of the newly employed work-force.
The executive by-law of
this Article shall be prepared within a maximum period of three months from the
date of enactment of this Law, jointly by
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Medicare and
Medical Education and the Plan and Budget Organization, and shall be approved
by the Cabinet.
Note: New industrial
establishments reaching their operational stage during the Plan period will be
entitled to the privileges provided in this Article for the employment in
excess of the work-force envisaged in the feasibility report of the project and
the establishment permit.
ARTICLE 50- In order to
create employment opportunities in the least developed regions, government is
authorized to:
A- provide exemptions to
the investors who make investment in these regions during the Plan period with
respect to the government duties and charges. The by-law governing such an arrangement shall be prepared jointly
by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, Ministry of Industries,
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and Plan and Budget Organization, and
shall be approved by the Cabinet
B- pay part of the
profit accruing to the credit facilities granted to the investors of the
private and cooperative sectors including producer, services cooperatives,
rural and nomadic production cooperatives, as well as interest payable to the
credit facilities extended to the activities related to exploitation of natural
resources and self-employed projects.
C- allocate the facilities envisaged within the annual
budgets and their executive by-laws, with preference given to the least
developed regions and in proportion to their unemployment so that a balance of
employment could be reached throughout the country by the end of the Plan period.
ARTICLE 51- To develop
both the quality and quantity of the technical and vocational skills of the
labor force and to lay the ground for the provision of appropriate training
programs, government is required
to take necessary measures to establish a special fund in order to subsidize
interest accruing on the credit and facilities granted to the investors of the
private and cooperative sectors who set up technical and vocational schools.
ARTICLE 52- To
rationalize the cost of electricity, gas, telephone , water and sewer, and also
to rationalize the preferential rates in order to protect the production
sectors (as compared to other economic sectors), a committee consisting of
representatives of the ministries governing production and infrastructure
affairs (as the case may be) shall determine the criteria for the tariffs and
subscriptions on an annual basis and in a way consistent with the above
objectives and shall propose them to the Economic Council.
The subscription costs
of the above infrastructures for the production, industrial, mining, and
agricultural units plus the cost of drilling operation for the preparation of
wells, the land price and the charges for the building permit used in non-public
production units which apply for subscription during the Third Plan period
shall be collected by the relevant agency in five year installments from the
date of operationalization of the unit.
Ministries of “Energy”,
“Petroleum”, “Post-Telegraph-and Telephone”, and “Road and Transportation” are
required to supply the needed water, electricity, gas, telephone and access
roads (up to the entrance of the industrial towns and industrial zones) as
specified by the Ministry of Industries.
ARTICLE 53-The activities
pertaining to the planning, directing, supervision, and also provision of the
necessary laws and regulations governing dispatch of the labor force to other
countries shall be entrusted to a committee consisting of the Ministries of
“Foreign affairs”, “Labor and Social Affairs”, “Economic Affairs and Finance”,
and the Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The executive by-law of this Article
including the manner of providing facilities and legal support for both the
dispatched labor force and the dispatching agencies (private labor exchange
agencies) and realization of the remittances of the dispatched persons shall be
prepared by the committee and approved by the Cabinet.
ARTICLE 54-Government is
authorized to provide, within the framework of the annual budget bills and
through the administered funds, credit facilities to the investment applicants
in the context of job-creating projects and also small scale industries in
proportion to their contribution in financing the projects. A portion of the interest* and bank service charges accruing
to the said credit will also be honored by the government within the framework
of this Law. Moreover, a portion
of the credit facilities of the banking system shall be appropriated to the promotion
of small scale and employment-creating industries.
The executive by-law of
this Article shall be approved by the Cabinet within a maximum period of six
months.
ARTICLE 55- Three
percent (3%) of the banks’ legal deposits with the Central Bank of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, (on the basis of the percentage stipulated for the year
1378(1999/00)) shall be entrusted to the Bank Keshavarzi (Agriculture Bank),
Housing Bank, Industry and Mining Bank (1% for each bank) to finance
agricultural, animal husbandry, building , and housing projects, and completion
of industrial and mining projects in non-public employment-generating sectors.
The executive by-law of
this Article shall be prepared by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of
Iran in the context of the Usury-Free Banking operation and shall be approved
by the Money and Credit Council.
ARTICLE 56- To implement Item (2) of Article forty three
(43) of the Constitution, the country’s banking system is required to undertake
planning,
and act in such a manner that after deducting the legal and
prudential reserves accruing to interest-free (Gharzol-Hassanah) saving
deposits that shall never exceed a maximum of twenty percent (20%) of the deposit, a minimum of seventy
percent (70%) of the residual will be provided as loans to individuals
incapable of acquiring tools and equipment needed for their work. The facility
should be in the form of interest-free loan, the banking charges of which will
be determined by the Money and Credit Council. Unemployed residents of the rural areas, jobless women heads
of households, and also skilled individuals of technical and vocational fields
of the public and non-governmental sectors shall entertain priority. The maximum amount of loan to each
applicant shall be ten million (10,000,000) Rials. The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is required
to take appropriate measures on the basis of an executive by-law that will be
prepared by the bank and shall be approved by the Cabinet, to contrive the most
simple method of granting this one-time credit and repayment of the loan that
must be based upon the principle of trust, realism, and be compatible with the
economic condition of the borrower.
Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting Organization is obliged to prepare and launch, in cooperation with
relevant organizations, ministries and agencies, an educational campaign to
educate people through various media networks, on the ways and means of forming
small scale business and occupations that would require limited capital. Emphasis of the educational campaign
shall be on utilization of local resources, facilities, raw material as well as
local markets.
Minister of Economic
Affairs and Finance is required to submit semi-annual progress reports on the
subject to the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
ARTICLE 57-The
War-veterans shall entertain priority in all job-creating projects and in
receiving facilities and privileges. Government is required to provide sufficient
protection and take measures to assure the occupational stability of this
group.
*
The term “interest”
used throughout this English version of the Law must be interpreted as the
profit expected to be realized from the investments and other activities
undertaken by the bank on the basis of the Islamic Oquuds (=the Islamic financing
contracts). (Translator)