Article 1: Persons who are subject to the Social Security Law, included in the labor and agricultural labor regulations, shall be entitled to the rules and regulations of the present Law.
Note: The following groups shall be excluded from entitlement to the aforementioned law.
- Retired and totally disabled.
- Self employed and the voluntary insured.
- Foreigners residing in Iran.
Article 2: According to this Law, an unemployed person shall be defined as an insured person ready for work, made unemployed due to reasons other than his or her own fault.
Note 1: Those insured persons, recognized by the relevant Ministry and affirmed by the Labor High Council as temporary unemployed due to changes in economic structure, shall also be subject to the rules and regulations of this Law.
Note 2: Those insured persons made unemployed due to the occurrence of unforeseen and natural disasters such as flood, earthquake, war, fire, etc. by recommendation of the regional Labor and Social Affairs Unit shall use the unemployment insurance benefit.
Article 3: Unemployment insurance shall be regarded as one of the social security protections and the Organization shall be obliged to pay unemployment benefits to those who are considered to be unemployed and have paid the due contribution.
Article 4: The unemployed insured shall enjoy the benefits of this Law with the written recommendation of the Regional Labor and Social Affairs Unit.
Note: The unemployed persons entitled to this Law shall receive all the related benefits and compensations cited in the Labor Law.
Article 5: The unemployment insurance contribution shall be equal to 3% of the insured person's wage, provided and paid totally by the employer.
Note: The insured person's wage, the method of determination of the unemployment contribution and its collection, the obligations of the insured person and the employer, as well as the manner of dealing with complaints, violations and other relevant rules and regulations in this regard shall be based on the standards criteria for the contributions of other Social Security benefits in the Social Security Law.
Article 6: The unemployed insured shall enjoy receipt of the unemployment benefit by fulfilling the following conditions:
- The insured person shall have a record of at least six months of contribution payment prior to becoming unemployed. Those subject to Note 2 of Article 2 of this Law shall be excluded from entitlement to this phrase.
- The insured person is obliged, within 30 days after the termination of his employment, to inform the Labor and Social Affairs Unit of his unemployment as well as his readiness for specialized work or a similar job. It is possible for up to three months after this period (30 days) for the unemployed person to fulfill this obligation with a justified reason and the findings of the Disputes Board.
- The unemployed insured is obliged to participate in the literacy and job training courses assigned by the Labor and Social Affairs Unit; and the Literacy Movement Institute or other relevant units confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and to submit the required certificate in this regard to the Social Security branches every two months.
Note 1: At the time of the receipt of the unemployment benefit, for those workers assigned to a job with a wage less than that of the unemployment benefit, the difference shall be paid from the account of the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Note 2: The period of receipt of the unemployment benefit shall be accounted at the same records used for the insured person's contribution payment for retirement, disability and death.
Article 7: The duration and amount of payment of the unemployment benefit shall be as follows:
The total duration of the payment of the benefit since the beginning of its allocation shall be a maximum of 36 months for single persons and 50 months for married persons or those with dependents, according to the length of the contribution payment and based on the following table.
These periods of receiving unemployment benefits shall apply for both the experimental and permanent implementation of the Unemployment Law.
Note: Insured persons, aged 55 or older, receive unemployment benefits up to retirement age.
The minimum benefit is 55% of average earnings. This amount is increased by 10% for each of the first four dependents. However, the total benefit should not be less than minimum wages or exceed 80% of average earnings of the insured.
The benefit is payable since the first day of the unemployment.
Note 1: The unemployed insured person's average daily wage or salary for the calculation of unemployment benefit shall be the total insured person's income, subject to calculation of contribution, in the last 90 days before unemployment divided by the working days in this period. For those insured persons that receive commissions, the last wage shall be considered as the total insured person's income, subject to calculation of insurance contribution, in the last 90 days before unemployment divided
by 90. If the insured person (piece worker) has received income compensation during this period, the average wage that was used for the basis of the calculation of income compensation shall be considered in as the amount of wage during the period of unemployment and will be used in calculations.
Note 2: The dependent persons subject to this article shall be:
- Spouse (husband or wife);
- Single and unemployed daughters;
- Sons under age 18, sons who are full time students, or any age if totally disabled according to the findings of the “Reference Physician” of the Organization;
- Parents over 60 years of age, or those regarded as totally disabled according to “Reference Physician” of Organization or those exclusively dependent on the insured;
- Dependent sisters and brothers subject to items 2 and 3 of the present Note
Note 3: Receiving the unemployment insurance benefit shall not prevent from receiving partial pension.
Note 4: In case both spouses become unemployed at the same time, only one of them (husband or wife) shall be subject to the increase of benefit for each of the children.
Note 5: The insured person and his/her dependents shall enjoy the health care services mentioned in items A and B of Article 3 of the Social Security Law during the period they receive unemployment benefits.
Note 6: The unemployment benefit, like every other social security benefit, shall be exempted from all taxes.
Article 8: Under the following circumstances the unemployment benefit shall be terminated.
- Reemployment of the insured person;
- Nonparticipation of the insured person, with no justifiable reason, in required literacy and vocational training courses, as reported by the Labor and Social Affairs Unit, the Literacy Movement Institute or other relevant units, confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs;
- Refusal by the insured person to accept his/her specialized job, or a job similar to it;
- Entitlement of the unemployed insured person to Retirement or disability pension while receiving unemployment benefits.
- Return of the insured person, to the previous job with receipt of the suspended wages.
Note 1: After the payment of unemployment benefit if it becomes clear that the unemployment has been due to the unemployed person's own free will, he or she shall be obliged to return the received unemployment sums to the Organization. Those subject to item e of the present Article shall also be obliged to return the received benefit to the Organization.
Note 2: If the unemployed insured person conceals his/her reemployment and receives the unemployment benefit, he/she shall be obliged to return all the sums received since the date of his reemployment.
Note 3: Receipt of income support during vocational training does not conflict with receipt of unemployment benefit.
Article 9: The employers shall be obliged to report the list of job vacancies to the regional Employment Service Centers in coordination with Islamic Councils or workers' representatives. These vacancies (with exception of vacancies at the expert level or higher) shall be exclusively filled by the Employment Service Centers through the unemployed people.
Note 1: The government shall be obliged to stipulate certain employment activating projects in the annual budget, and implement the projects itself or through cooperative or private enterprises under the supervision of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, with the aim to employ those subject to this Law. These projects will be funded through the banking system, the Social Security Organization credit resource funds and interest-free loan credits.
Note 2: By recommendation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the unemployed persons subject to this law shall have the priority in receiving work permits, agreements in principles and establishment of economic units from the Industrial, Agricultural and Service Ministries.
Note 3: The Technical and Vocational Training Organization of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs shall be obliged, along with the implementation of the Unemployment Insurance Law, to provide unemployed persons with the proper trainings suitable to the current labor market. Such trainings shall include retraining and upgrading the skills of those workers receiving the benefits of the unemployment insurance, mentioned in part c of Article 7 of the present Law, in the Technical and Vocational Training Centers or factory training units. The relevant expenses shall be paid from the credits of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, in accordance with the regulations to be prepared by the Technical and Vocational Training Organization and the Social Security Organization, which will be ratified by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, and Medical Education accordingly.
Note 4: The Literacy Movement Institute shall be obliged to hold literacy courses for those subject to the current Law, in cooperation with the employers and the relevant Ministries.
Article 10: The Social Security Organization shall be obliged to keep the accounts of the Unemployment Insurance Fund income and the unemployment contribution payments separately, and reflect them in its financial statement and annually reports its financial performance to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Minister of Health and Medical Education and the council of Economics.
Article 11: The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Social Security Organization shall implement the current Law.
Article 12: The Social Security Organization shall be obliged to pay all the expenses subject to the current Law from the income produced exclusively through execution of Unemployment Law.
The administrative expenditures of the two executive organizations shall be determined and allocated with the confirmation of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and the Minister of Health, and Medical Education. The administrative expenditures shall not exceed 10% of the paid benefit to the insured persons.
Article 13: This Law shall become enforceable at the end of the experimental period for the Unemployment Insurance Law (1369/5/6 = July 1990)
Article 14: The executive regulation of the current Law shall be prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Social Security Organization and shall be ratified by the Cabinet.
The above Law including 14 articles and 21 notes has been ratified in the open session of the Islamic Parliament held on September 16, 1990 (Sharivar 26, 1369) and was confirmed by the Guardian council at (69/7/10 = October 1990)
