Five Compensation Judgments Issued in Favor of Al-Hannawi Female Workers Worth Nearly EGP 1 Million, Bringing Total Rulings to 17

The Damanhour Primary Labor Court has issued five new judicial rulings ordering compensation in favor of female workers at Al-Hannawi Tobacco and Molasses Company, amounting to approximately EGP 1 million, in addition to statutory legal interest at a rate of 4% per annum calculated from the date of each judgment until full payment.

The cases concern claims of arbitrary dismissal filed by Mohamed Mamdouh El-Demiaty, a lawyer with the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), on behalf of the affected workers.

In Case No. 2135 of 2025 (Damanhour Primary Labor Court), the court ordered the company to pay EGP 157,032 to the worker Hind A.A.H., comprising EGP 120,000 in compensation for arbitrary dismissal, EGP 5,100 in lieu of the statutory notice period, and EGP 31,932 representing compensation for accrued unused annual leave, together with legal interest at 4% from the date of judgment until full payment.

The court also granted all claims submitted by ECESR’s counsel in two additional cases. In Case No. 3259 of 2025, the court ordered the company to pay EGP 190,860 to the worker Mabrouka A.A., including EGP 119,000 as compensation for arbitrary dismissal, EGP 8,100 in lieu of the notice period, EGP 50,760 representing accrued annual leave, and EGP 13,000 in wage differentials for the years 2022 and 2023, in addition to statutory legal interest.

In a second related case, the court ruled in favor of the worker Amina A.A.A., awarding a total of EGP 205,416, distributed as EGP 127,000 in compensation for arbitrary dismissal, EGP 8,100 in lieu of notice, EGP 68,220 for accrued annual leave, and EGP 2,096 in wage differentials, together with legal interest at the statutory rate.

In Case No. 1809 of 2025, the worker Zeinab S.A.A., who had over 33 years of service, obtained a ruling ordering the company to pay EGP 180,000 in compensation for arbitrary dismissal, EGP 7,943 in lieu of the statutory notice period, and EGP 82,392 representing accrued annual leave, in addition to legal interest at 4% from the date of judgment until payment.

The court further ruled that certain additional claims were barred by the one-year statute of limitations, and noted that the first-instance judgment did not include the statutory minimum wage among the elements used to calculate the worker’s financial entitlements.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal, in a ruling issued on January 20, 2026, amended a previous judgment in favor of the worker Samah F.M. following an appeal against the first-instance decision, which had failed to take the statutory minimum wage into account. The appellate court revised the compensation to EGP 145,000 for arbitrary dismissal calculated on the basis of the legally mandated minimum wage, in addition to EGP 10,329.78 in outstanding wage differentials and EGP 11,493 representing accrued annual leave.

This appellate ruling was widely regarded as affirming the legal principle that workers’ entitlements must be calculated on the basis of the legally mandated wage, rather than the lower wages imposed by some employers in violation of labor legislation.

The dispute arose after the company’s management issued a decision to transfer workers from Damanhour to Borg El-Arab. The workers had previously obtained a court judgment declaring the transfer decision unenforceable. However, the company subsequently refused to allow workers who opposed the transfer to access their workplace, prompting them to file lawsuits for arbitrary dismissal and to claim compensation and their statutory labor entitlements, including the application of the statutory minimum wage and legally mandated allowances.

During the proceedings, the court referred the cases to the Damanhour Experts Office to determine the workers’ financial entitlements. The company, for its part, relied on requests submitted to the Federation of Egyptian Industries seeking exemption from the minimum wage requirement, as well as leave records and judicial rulings issued in other cases.

Counsel for the workers challenged the evidentiary value of these documents, arguing that they were not applicable to the present dispute or lacked sufficient legal basis, relying in part on Court of Cassation precedents establishing that the initiation of judicial proceedings interrupts the limitation period pursuant to Article 383 of the Egyptian Civil Code.

With the issuance of these five new judgments, the total number of rulings rendered in favor of female workers at the Al-Hannawi factory has risen to 17, out of 29 arbitrary dismissal cases that remain pending before the courts.

These rulings come within the context of a series of successive judicial victories secured by ECESR’s legal team on behalf of the workers, which have reinforced the principle that compensation and labor entitlements in cases of arbitrary dismissal must be calculated on the basis of the legally mandated minimum wage. This standard represents the minimum level of protection guaranteed under labor legislation, rather than the lower wages imposed by certain employers in contravention of the law.