Before any penalty, notify the employee in writing of the alleged violation, hear their defense, and record it in minutes placed in their file. These are the conditions of Article 141 of Egypt's Labor Law No. 14 of 2025, which also requires the investigation to start within seven days of discovering the violation and the penalty decision to state its reasons.
Step by step
- 1
Secure the facts
Collect documents, recordings and witness names as soon as the violation is discovered, and start the investigation within seven days at most under Article 141.
- 2
Choose the investigator
The establishment's legal affairs department investigates, and if there is none, the employer assigns an experienced person or an employee, provided the investigator's job level is not lower than that of the employee investigated, under Article 142.
- 3
Notify the employee in writing
Of the violation attributed to them and the date of the investigation, so they can prepare a response and present what they have.
- 4
Hear and record
Neutral questions about the facts, the employee's answers in their own words, and witness statements and documents, in minutes signed by the investigator and the employee.
- 5
A reasoned, proportionate decision
A penalty from those listed in the regulations that fits the violation, in a reasoned decision, which may not be imposed more than 30 days after the investigation ends under Article 138.
- 6
Time limits and exceptions
The investigation may not exceed three months from its start, extendable by three more months if new facts or documents emerge, and it may be oral for violations punished by a warning or a deduction from basic pay of up to one day's pay, under Article 141.
Imposing the penalty before the investigation breaches Article 141, and having a manager who is a party to the dispute investigate it undermines the investigation's neutrality. In the Gulf states, follow your country's labor law and your company's approved regulations.
- disciplinary investigation procedure
- employee investigation report