Foreign employees' contracts in Egypt: content, language and term

Executive summary

• Foreign workers are governed by their individual employment contracts and by collective labour agreements, and, where these contain no special provision, by Labour Law 14 of 2025 (article 1 of the issuing articles; article 34 of Minister of Labour Decree 279 of 2025).
• The foreign worker's contract is filed with the permit application and must state the type of work, its place, the wage, benefits and allowances, and the start and end dates of the contract and its renewal if extended (article 6 of the decree).
• Where the worker is a foreigner who does not have a good command of Arabic, the contract may be written in Arabic and the worker's language, and the Arabic text prevails in case of a difference (article 89 of the law).
• A fixed-term contract that the parties keep performing after its term ends, without a written agreement, is treated as indefinite from the date it was concluded (article 88).
• The decree prohibits holding the foreign worker's passport and papers, restricting their movement and "deducting part of their salary in any form or manner" (article 36, our translation). The scope of the ban on deductions can be read in two ways.

The permit itself, its conditions, fees and the cap on foreign staff are covered in foreign work permits in Egypt. Of the general rules for every employment contract, its particulars, language and copies are covered in the individual employment contract in Egypt, its term in fixed-term and indefinite employment contracts in Egypt, and its termination in our bulletin on ending the employment relationship.

The rules that govern a foreigner's contract

The Labour Law applies "to foreign workers inside the Arab Republic of Egypt in matters on which there is no special provision in individual employment contracts or collective labour agreements" (article 1 of the issuing articles, our translation). Article 34 of Decree 279 of 2025, published in Al-Waqa'i Al-Misriya No. 290 (continued) (B) of 24 December 2025 and in force from the day after publication (article 40), says the same. Article 6 of the law provides that "any condition or agreement contrary to the provisions of this law shall be void ... if it involves a reduction of the worker's rights established by it" (our translation), while better benefits or conditions in individual contracts continue to apply.

The words "no special provision" can be read in two ways. On the first reading, the foreigner's contract is the primary reference for whatever it covers, and the law applies only where the contract is silent. On the second, the words are read with article 6: a contract may give a foreigner more than the law provides, but not less, because article 6 speaks of "the worker" without distinction and article 36 of the decree prohibits different treatment on grounds of nationality. In our view, a foreigner's contract should be drafted on the second reading, so that it contains no condition reducing a right the law establishes.

Content and language

The establishment files the permit application with, among its documents, the foreigner's employment contract "stating the following: the type of work, its place, the wage, and the benefits and allowances; the start and end dates of the contract, and its renewal if it is extended" (article 6 of the decree, our translation). No contract is required from those assigned "specific work for a period of six months and not exceeding one year", or from experts working under an international agreement. Compared with the list that article 89 of the law requires in every employment contract:

What the decree adds, then, is the end date and the renewal term; the rest of the article 89 particulars still apply to a foreigner's contract.

The general rule is that "the employer shall write the employment contract in Arabic in four copies" (our translation). The same article goes on:

"Where the worker is a foreigner and does not have a good command of Arabic, the employment contract may be written in Arabic and in the worker's language, and in case of a difference in interpretation the contract written in Arabic applies" (article 89, our translation).

Both conditions must be met, and the second language is the worker's own. On our reading, a contract written in a foreign language alone does not satisfy this article, because Arabic is the base text, not an alternative.

Term and renewal

An individual employment contract is concluded "for an indefinite term, or for a fixed term if the nature of the work requires it", and the parties may agree to renew it for similar periods (article 87, our translation). It is treated as indefinite from the date it was concluded if it is not in writing, if it does not state its term, or "if it was concluded for a fixed term and the parties continued to perform it after that term ended without a written agreement between them" (article 88, our translation). The permit, for its part, is issued "for one year or less" (article 18 of the decree), and an employer may not employ a foreigner without one (article 71 of the law).

No provision of the law or the decree links the term of the contract to the term of the permit. Read together, the two texts allow two views: that a foreigner's need for a temporary, renewable permit makes a fixed term something the work requires; or that "the nature of the work" in article 87 means the nature of the job itself, which does not change because the holder is a foreigner, and a ministerial decree cannot add a ground for a fixed term that the law does not give. In our view, until the point is settled, the practical course is to write the contract with a start date, an end date and a renewal clause, as the decree requires, and to renew it in writing before it expires, because performance continued without a written agreement makes it indefinite from the outset under article 88.

What the employer may not do

"The employer is prohibited from holding the foreign worker's passport or any personal or identity papers, depriving them of freedom of movement within Egyptian territory, deducting part of their salary in any form or manner, or engaging in any conduct that treats workers differently on account of their race or nationality, or any form of discrimination set out in article (5) of the Labour Law" (article 36 of the decree, our translation).

A contract clause under which the worker hands their passport to the employer therefore has no place.

The ban on deductions can be read in two ways. On its face it prohibits any deduction from a foreigner's pay, including those the law allows for other workers: up to ten per cent to repay a loan from the employer or wages paid in advance (article 113), and deductions to settle a debt within twenty-five per cent of the wage, which may be raised to fifty per cent for a maintenance debt (article 114). On the second reading it is aimed at deductions without a legal basis, because article 34 of the decree itself applies the law to foreign workers, and article 114 calculates its percentage "after deduction of income tax on the wage, and the contributions and amounts due under the Social Insurance and Pensions Law" (our translation). In our view, income tax and social insurance contributions are deducted from a foreigner's pay as from anyone else's, and until the point is clarified the employer should not make deductions on its own account, such as repayment of its loans or of wages paid in advance.

The permit is tied to the employer. One of the grounds for cancelling it is "use of the permit in an occupation or with an employer other than the one on the basis of which it was issued" (article 30, our translation), and where the authorities find that the foreigner is working for another employer, the foreigner must be warned to amend the permit details within a month, "without prejudice to the employer's right of recourse against the foreign worker, and subject to the terms of the employment contract" (article 28, our translation). A foreign employee should therefore not be transferred or seconded to another company, even within the same group, before the permit is amended.

End of the contract and social insurance

The establishment notifies the competent labour directorate or office "within a week from the date the contract with the foreigner ends or the foreigner leaves work", and returns the permit to the body that issued it (article 32 of the decree, our translation). The employer must return the foreign worker to the country from which they were recruited "at the employer's own expense when the employment relationship ends, unless the employment contract provides otherwise" (article 74 of the law, our translation). The contract is therefore the place to agree who bears the cost of the return.

On social insurance, Law 148 of 2019, as corrected, covers "workers in the private sector subject to the Labour Law, provided that the employment relationship between the insured person and the employer is regular", and requires the insured person to be at least eighteen (article 2, item first/3, our translation). Its executive regulations (Prime Minister's Decree 2437 of 2021) list among employed persons "foreigners subject to the employment laws or the Labour Law" (article 3, item 5, our translation). On our reading, a foreigner subject to the Labour Law is insured on the same two conditions; the detail is in representative office employees in Egypt.

What this requires

• A contract in Arabic, or in Arabic and the worker's language where the worker does not have a good command of Arabic, stating that the Arabic text prevails in case of a difference.
• All the particulars of article 6 of the decree and article 89 of the law, including the end date and renewal clause, before the permit application is filed.
• A review of the standard contract to remove any condition that reduces a right the law establishes.
• A schedule of contract and permit expiry dates, with the contract renewed in writing before it expires.
• No holding of passports or papers, no deductions from pay on the employer's own account, and no transfer to another employer before the permit is amended.
• An express clause on the cost of return, and, when the relationship ends, notice to the directorate and return of the permit within a week.
• Social insurance contributions for the foreign employee once the relationship is regular and the employee is eighteen or over.

The firm's Social Insurance & Labour Department reviews and drafts foreign employees' contracts against the law and the decree, and follows up the related notices with the labour directorate, as part of its social insurance and labour compliance services.

Mahmoud Nassef, Founder Partner
Chartered Accountant, Ministry of Finance, Egypt

Member, Egyptian Society of Accountants & Auditors
Member, Egyptian Tax Society
Member, Egyptian Society for Public Finance and Taxation

Partner profile · Book a consultation

Disclaimer: This bulletin is prepared for general information on the legislation in force at the date of its publication. It does not constitute a professional opinion or tax or legal advice on any particular matter, and it should not be relied upon in place of advice based on an examination of the circumstances of each case. Nassef & Partners International accepts no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, in reliance on its contents. The positions stated remain subject to subsequent legislation and decisions.