Amman- March 29,2020- Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights recommended that payments of all small and micro loans be postponed; supporting small business owners and farmers by providing loans with low interest rates not exceeding 1%; and the incorporation of affected workers and daily workers in the Social Protection Fund.

These recommendations were made as part of a report issued by Tamkeen that was entitled: “The impact of the Corona Virus on Women’s Labour”. The report fleshed out the status of women in the labour market, whether they are workers or employers, and whether they work formally or informally. These female workers are employed in several sectors that include: Private Schools; Productive Kitchens; Agriculture; Textile; Beauty Salons; Home-Based Businesses; and Online Work. It covers the period between 18 and 26 of March, as it assessed the impact of the governmental procedures which it implemented to curtail the spread of the Corona Virus, the last of which was the Kingdom-wide imposed curfew.

Private Schools:

Workers on Private Schools and Teaching Institutions have reported being subjected to numerous types of violations. It was noted that these workers were afraid to submit their complaints due to their fears of losing their jobs, or other concerns.

Since the onset of the crisis and the subsequent procedures taken by the government to stop the spread of the virus, the sector has witnessed an uptick in violations. The most noted violations that were noted by Tamkeen include schools not abiding by the paid holiday decision that was announced by the Ministry of Labour. These schools claimed that since the students did not pay their monthly tuitions, then they cannot pay the workers’ wages; even though teachers continue to provide online lessons.

Other schools forced teachers to sign resignation letters, after promising them that they will be reinstated once the Corona Virus ends; while Tamkeen received other reports that state that some schools informed its workers that the holiday will be paid till the end of March. However, if it was extended any further then it will be unpaid.

Productive Kitchens

Productive Kitchen workers were negatively affected by the crisis, as their work is dependent on orders. In light of the closure of economic institutions, these orders have stopped, which meant the loss of the workers’ income, even though the majority of them are the main providers for their families.

The women also suffered great financial losses as some of them bought the basic materials that they were expected to use in their Mothers’ Day orders, without receiving any compensations for these losses.

Agriculture Sector

According to the report, the majority of Agricultural Workers work on a daily basis, as they receive their wages on a daily or weekly basis or once the season ends. In light of the current circumstances and even though the Agricultural sector was excluded from Defence Order No.1, the majority of the workers in Deir Alla, Irbid, Mafraq, Azraq as well as Lubban district in Amman reported that they were unable to reach their working places. Their inability meant that these workers would be unable to receive their daily wages. Meanwhile, workers who reside inside the farms or in areas near it reported that they are still working.

As for the provision of occupational safety tools specifically for COVID-19 or even in general, the workers reported that they have to provide it on their account for themselves. Workers also reported that the crisis has negatively affected their living conditions, as they are unable to secure their livelihoods, especially their basic needs and those of their babies. These conditions are further complicated by the special status of work in the Agriculture sector. The majority of these workers are daily workers who receive low wages. Thus, they are unable to save any money for days when they do not have work.

Beauty Salon

Both workers and employers in hair salons are struggling with the impact of the complete stoppage to all of their activities. The cessation is not just the result of the issuance of Defence Order No. 2 as the sector was not included in the excluded sectors, but also due to the possibility of the spread of the virus through the tools used in salons, as it has direct contacts with both the worker and the customer.

Workers in the sector have confirmed that they are unable to provide for their basic livelihoods, like the other sectors. The most important of these needs are the rents to their shops and houses; as well as their loans instalments; their electricity and water bills; and the basic needs of their houses from food and drinks.

Workers, whether those employed formally registered salons or those working for home, have been affected. In East Amman for example, a Syrian shared her experience as she is now with neither work nor wage, as she was informed by her employer. The worker is not fearful about not receiving her wages for the current 14 days official holiday. Indeed, her main concern is related to the possibility of this holiday being extended as she will also not receive wages for that period either.

As for employers, they have expressed real concerns about their livelihoods as they were forced to close their salons to comply with the provision of Defence Order No.2. These women said that the curfew is affecting their financial capabilities, as they are obliged to pay the rent of their salons to their landlord. Others shared their fears that their makeup will expire in case this curfew lasts for too long, as well as their fears related to the possible loss of customers and the resulting financial losses.

Textile

The impact of the crisis was felt by workers in the Textile sector on two fronts: the first of which was due to the stop of requests by customers to workers, whether those working at home or in factories; while the second relates to the inability of workers to reach their working place. Thus, the impact was felt by workers whose income was stopped; or were not paid their wages by the employers as factories are usually committed to producing a certain number of clothes. In cases where these factories cannot meet their numbers and deliver their products on time, they will not pay the wages of their workers.

Domestic Workers

In this particular sector, two categories of workers have been monitored: Domestic Workers who do general cleaning services, and others who are entrusted with care of the elderly.

Because of the trends related to spread of the virus, women who work in the houses are clearly affected by the fears shared by them and their employers. Another aspect to the fear relates to its economic impacts as some of them have lost their main source of income, since they no longer can go to clean houses and the women will not call on them anyway as there is currently no need for their services.

Working from Home

The reported highlighted the status of women who own Home-Based Businesses like kindergartens. These women said that their work has stopped as mothers stopped sending their children- those who are under 7- since they did not have to work either. As a result, these owners do not except to receive the usual monthly sum from these mothers, and it is expected that even in the upcoming months their work will be affected, especially if some of these mothers lost their jobs as a result of this crisis.

Distance Working

Another category that the report shed light on was distance workers. The report shows that while some institutions initially said that they will be complying with the holiday decision, they then informed their workers that it will be counted as part of their annual holidays. The same institution informed its supportive services workers that the wages for this period will be deducted from their salaries.

As for institutions where they are allowed to work, a number of translators expressed their disapproval as their working conditions have differed in the current crisis in several ways. These differences include long working hours, as some employer think that flexible working hours mean that employees should respond to the demands at any hours, whether during the day or even late at night. Workers also reported that they were asked to do more tasks, some of them were outside their job description and usual assignments.

Others reported that weak communication channels between workers and employers, as they tend to communicate through social media platforms instead of direct communication. These methods of communication have an impact on work as required tasks are performed in a different way compared to what is actually required. Moreover, weak internet connections also affected them, since it resulted in some delays in terms of delivering the required tasks. Employers though do not show any understanding towards these issues as some workers have to work overtime, which is not calculated within their working hours and they are not given any compensations for it.

Regarding Freelance Workers, like programmers or graphic designers, they expressed fears that their contractors will be unable to pay them their wages, as some of them do not have electronic wallets and in light of the closure of banks and the curfew that is imposed.

Other sectors

Throughout the monitoring process, workers in other sectors in the Northern and Central governorates reported that they did not receive any wages during this period. Some of these workers are employed in an energy company, while others work in food companies. As for supportive services in a hospital in Jerash, workers reported that they were asked to work 10 hours a day instead of 8 hours. These workers were told that they will later be given vacations instead of overtime wages. Other supportive service workers who work in a university in the North reported that they were given unpaid vacations.

For More: The Impact of Corona Virus on Women’s Labour