Egyptian Labour Law End of Service Benefits Explained

If you're leaving a job in Egypt — or letting someone go — you need to know what's actually owed on the way out. The rules sit in Labour Law No. 12 of 2003, plus the Social Insurance and Pensions Law No. 148 of 2019, and they don't always match what HR tells you.

Quick answer

Egyptian Labour Law end of service benefits aren't a single lump sum like in the Gulf. For indefinite-term private sector workers, Law 12/2003 gives you accrued entitlements on exit: unpaid wages, cash for untaken annual leave, notice pay (2 or 3 months depending on tenure), and — if dismissal was arbitrary or without justified cause — compensation of at least 2 months' full wage per year of service. Retirement pension comes separately through social insurance. Fixed-term contracts have their own rules under Articles 104–110.

What the law actually promises

Here's the honest part most summaries skip: Egypt doesn't have a Gulf-style "gratuity" for private sector staff on indefinite contracts. What you get instead is a bundle.

On any termination you're owed:

• Unpaid salary through your last working day.
• Cash equivalent of accrued annual leave you didn't take (Article 48, Law 12/2003). Annual leave is 21 days after 1 year of service, 30 days after 10 years or once you turn 50. ^[1]
• Notice period pay if the employer skips notice: 2 months if you've been there under 10 years, 3 months if more (Article 111). ^[1]
• End-of-service certificate and release of your file.

Then come the situation-specific pieces. Dismissed without a valid reason? Article 122 entitles you to compensation of not less than 2 months' comprehensive wage for every year of service, assessed by the labour court. Resigned on your own after a long run? You get the bundle above but no Article 122 compensation.

Fixed-term contract cut short without cause? Article 110 gives you the wages you would have earned for the remaining term, unless the employer proves damages were lower.

Pension and social insurance — the other half

The real "end of service" money for most Egyptian workers comes from the National Organisation for Social Insurance (NOSI), under Law 148/2019.

Both you and your employer pay monthly contributions throughout your career — currently 11% employee and 18.75% employer on the insurance wage, as published by NOSI. ^[2] At the end of the road you get one of three things:

• A retirement pension at age 60 with at least 180 contribution months.
• A lump-sum compensation if you don't qualify for a pension (fewer than 120 months of contributions at retirement age, broadly).
• End-of-service grant in specific cases like disability or death — paid to you or your heirs.

Most people get this wrong: they expect their employer to hand them a gratuity cheque. The employer's role is to keep your Form 1 and Form 6 filings accurate and up to date with NOSI. The money comes from the state fund.

Watch out: If your employer under-declared your wage to NOSI to cut contributions, your eventual pension is calculated on the declared figure — not what you actually earned. Check your record at NOSI before you need it.

How the numbers get calculated

The phrase "comprehensive wage" (الأجر الشامل) matters. Under Article 1 of Law 12/2003 it means basic salary plus everything else of fixed, regular nature: commissions, allowances, bonuses that recur, in-kind benefits with a cash value. Not one-off discretionary payments.

So if your basic is EGP 15,000 but you reliably pull EGP 25,000 with a monthly performance bonus and transport allowance, your Article 122 compensation and your leave encashment should be calculated on roughly EGP 25,000 — not the basic.

A worked example. You worked 7 years, basic EGP 10,000, comprehensive wage EGP 16,000, and were dismissed without justified cause with 15 untaken leave days:

• Notice pay (under 10 years): 2 × 16,000 = EGP 32,000
• Leave encashment: (16,000 ÷ 30) × 15 = EGP 8,000
• Article 122 compensation: 7 × 2 × 16,000 = EGP 224,000 (minimum; court can award more)
• Any unpaid salary for days worked

That's the floor. The labour court can increase Article 122 compensation based on the circumstances of dismissal — length of service, age, job market, employer conduct.

When the employer can refuse to pay

Not every termination triggers compensation. Article 69 lists the grounds where an employer can dismiss without notice and without Article 122 compensation — things like fraud, repeated serious misconduct after written warnings, disclosing employer trade secrets, assault at work, or being absent more than 20 non-consecutive days (or 10 consecutive) in a year without justification. ^[1]

Even then, you still get:

• Unpaid wages
• Accrued leave encashment
• Your social insurance entitlements (NOSI doesn't care why you left)

If the employer invokes Article 69 and you disagree, the fight goes to the labour court. Burden of proof sits on the employer. Honestly, many Article 69 dismissals get overturned because the paperwork — written warnings, investigation minutes, the Article 68 disciplinary procedure — wasn't done right.

How to actually collect what you're owed

File fast. Labour claims under Law 12/2003 have a one-year limitation period from the date rights become due (Article 698 of the Civil Code applies generally; labour-specific deadlines in Article 149 of Law 12/2003 for certain claims). ^[1] Sleep on it and you lose.

The route:

1. Written demand to the employer first — registered mail or notarised notice. Lists amounts, breaks them down, gives a deadline.
2. File at the local Labour Office for a reconciliation attempt. Mandatory before court. They usually schedule a session within a few weeks.
3. Labour Court if reconciliation fails. Court fees for labour cases are heavily reduced — workers are largely exempt from filing fees under Article 76 of Law 12/2003.
4. Verify NOSI record separately through the social insurance office or the online portal.

Keep every payslip, bank transfer confirmation, contract, warning letter, and WhatsApp exchange with your manager. Cases turn on documentation.

For more on employment disputes and worker rights, see our broader coverage at /answers/employment.