Many workers In Iran face severe challenges when they are dismissed or go months without receiving their wages. Labor authorities, who are responsible for resolving these disputes, often take an excessively long time to address complaints. Workers frequently find themselves waiting for six months or more for their cases to be heard, leaving them and their families in financial limbo during that time. This lengthy process compounds the difficulties for those living on the edge of poverty, turning an already precarious situation into a full-blown crisis.
Iran’s Labour News Agency (ILNA) recently shed light on the plight of workers who are left unpaid for months before being laid off. Employers often cite “retrenchment,” a vague justification for cutting jobs, forcing workers into a slow and inefficient legal process to seek justice. Workers in these situations have no choice but to turn to labor dispute resolution authorities, hoping to recover their unpaid wages. Yet, as ILNA reports, this process is anything but quick.
In one case, a worker who had not been paid for three months was fired and subsequently filed a complaint with the labor department. He was told to wait for months, as the system moves at a glacial pace. “Workers don’t wait for days or weeks, but months,” ILNA stated, emphasizing the frustration and inefficiency plaguing the system. As these workers wait for their cases to be heard, they are left without income, struggling to cover even the most basic necessities like food and shelter. For families already living paycheck to paycheck, the delays are devastating.
Labor law expert Armin Khoshvakhti has been vocal in his criticism of Iran’s labor dispute resolution system, describing it as painfully slow and ineffective. Workers can wait as long as six months for their complaints to be processed. This delay is especially difficult for workers who have already gone months without pay before filing their complaints. Khoshvakhti stressed that the delays worsen the financial strain on these workers, as they are left in limbo without any form of income during the waiting period.
Labor activist Ehsan Sohrabi also criticized the systemic issues that allow employers to exploit their workers. He pointed out that some employers manipulate the system in their favor, often aligning their practices with the economic interests of the Chamber of Commerce rather than addressing the needs of their workers. In many cases, workers are forced to navigate the bureaucratic maze of provincial labor departments, fighting for justice while facing employer influence and indifference. Sohrabi noted that in labor-intensive provinces, the situation is particularly dire, as the sheer volume of complaints overwhelms an already underperforming system.
By the time some workers finally receive their back wages, it feels more like a token gesture than fair compensation for months of labor. The delays in wage distribution, coupled with the widening gap between wages and living costs, have created a deep sense of frustration among Iran’s working class. Many families are barely surviving, and the slow resolution of labor disputes only deepens their financial and emotional suffering.
Rising living costs, unpaid wages, and an inefficient dispute resolution system have created a mounting crisis for workers across Iran. ILNA reports that many workers have lost hope of recovering their unpaid wages, especially in cases where they are dismissed by employers without justification. The report concluded on a bleak note, stating, “There is no hope for a worker who has not received his wages for months, especially in a situation where exploitative employers have unjustly terminated him.”
This growing disillusionment among Iran’s working class has sparked numerous protests and strikes in recent years. Workers across the country have been demanding better pay, timely wage payments, and reforms to the labor dispute system. Despite these efforts, little has changed. The systemic problems persist, and workers’ demands for fair treatment continue to fall on deaf ears.
Without significant reforms, the situation for Iran’s workforce is unlikely to improve. The ever-widening gap between wages and living costs, combined with a broken dispute resolution process, is pushing more and more workers and their families into financial desperation. The protests and strikes are a clear sign of growing unrest, but unless real changes are made, the struggles of Iran’s workers will only worsen.