Over the past few weeks, some of the largest public demonstrations in Egypt in a while were sparked by a new law governing civil servants in the country. The Civil Service Law No. 18 of 2015 is supposed to help reform and trim bureaucracy as well as end a clearly unsustainable situation that sees the number of state employees continuously rising and the corresponding rise in state salaries. Meanwhile it also seems as though public services are worsening along with existing civil servants’ working conditions. The new law is supposed to change all this.

Over the past few weeks, some of the largest public demonstrations in Egypt in a while were sparked by a new law governing civil servants in the country. The Civil Service Law No. 18 of 2015 is supposed to help reform and trim bureaucracy as well as end a clearly unsustainable situation that sees the number of state employees continuously rising and the corresponding rise in state salaries. Meanwhile it also seems as though public services are worsening along with existing civil servants’ working conditions. The new law is supposed to change all this.

As Al Ahram reported in detail: “The new Law sets forth a comprehensive, ambitious framework for the reform of the bureaucracy: it introduces a human resource development approach in government agencies; transparent announcement of vacant positions, standardised testing to fill them; it increases the proportion of base pay to variable pay and organizes a system of voluntary early retirement; it also creates the new post of permanent undersecretary in all ministries and puts term limits on leadership positions; it offers a longer maternity leave; and it establishes a new system for assessing employee performance thus allowing career advancement for those who excel”.

Yet people are still protesting. Esmat Elya Andrewas heads the Directorate of Finance in the central Egyptian governorate of Asyut and in an interview, he spoke about why the new law is better than the old and why its critics are wrong.

How many employees are covered by this law?

More than 3 million.

And which sectors will be covered by the law?

The new law will cover all positions in ministries, directorates, governmental apparatuses, local administration units and public commissions. The new law has tackled the difference between employees’ current and new salaries in addition to compensatory incentives which were adopted by the Prime Minister to fix this issue. There is definitely a huge number of employees in the customs and tax sector who will be affected by the new law as they used to get incentives reaching up to 1,400 percent of their basic salaries – instead their new incentives will depend on their performance.

Were certain sectors excluded from this law?

Yes, they were. This includes university teaching staff, research staff, the police force, the presidency, diplomatic staff, miners and quarry workers, teachers at the Ministry of Education, doctors and nurses and judicial bodies, among others.

Why was the law adopted now?

In my view, over the past few years, there was a state of upheaval and financial chaos. Since the January 25 revolution, salaries have almost doubled and more than a million employees became part of the administration. This has cost the public treasury a lot. So the law was issued to try and get things back to normal.

Why are members of the General Syndicate for Finance and Tax Workers leading protests against the law?

Because they are the most affected by the law; they used to get incentives that could go as high as 1,400 percent of their monthly salaries. The pay rise, which was added to their salaries, made those incentives even higher. The new law cancels this out.

So what are the new law’s advantages?

It gives women a four-month maternity leave and takes care of people with special needs, giving them leave for 45 days compared to only 15 days for the average employee. They only get 45 days when they turn 50. It also allows them to come to work half an hour later and leave half an hour earlier.

Article 29 says that promotions be given by choice. This cancels out an earlier law that said senior staff should be promoted before junior staff.

The new law is excellent when it comes to promotions as it eliminates promotions for those performing poorly. Seniority does not prove that any given employee is qualified for leadership.

Some employees are worried about the performance evaluations. What would you advise them?

Employees can also play a role in evaluating their managers. I tackled this issue in previous courses where trainees evaluated their trainers, and vice versa. In case there is an unfair manager, employees can get together and go to the general manager to complain and demand an investigation.

How were employee evaluations conducted under earlier laws?

The law stipulated that employees be evaluated annually by their managers in writing. The new law requires two annual reports and between one and three monthly reports. It also gives employees the right to evaluate their superiors.

How has the system of pay rises changed?

Under the new law, employees are given an annual pay rise of 5 percent of their salaries. These represent a real increase compared to previous years. Nobody can say that salaries have decreased with the new law for two reasons: Firstly, the state carries the burden of the tax difference by giving staff compensatory incentives and, secondly, it requires the 5 percent pay rise.

Will pensions also increase under the new law?

The new law was supposed to feature modifications to laws on pensions. Despite the annual pay rise, this has not happened. Pensions will not increase under the new law. That is why I am demanding that the old law on pensions is modified.

Does the new law eliminate favoritism?

It tries to avoid nepotism and also bans employees working under their first-degree relatives.