In a sudden procedure, the Lebanese American University of Beirut (LAU) laid off about 800 employees from various branches due to the economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as explained by University official sources.
As a first reaction, hundreds of university employees staged a sit-in yesterday in front of LAU’s headquarters after their layoff decision was issued.
LAU announced that it had made a settlement with the laid-off employees at the Ministry of Labor and with the employees’ union at the university.
It appears that this settlement did not take into account Article 50 of the Lebanese Labor Law, which stipulated that when exceptional or economic circumstances exist, the institution must consult with the Ministry of Labor a month prior to the layoff to set a final plan for the contract termination process, so that it would be set according to specific criteria that take into account seniority, age, specialty, family and social status, and more importantly to find the necessary means to use their expertise.
A number of laid-off employees stressed that the process included those who exceeded ten years of seniority, and in other cases did not take into account the social status of those who were dismissed.
Protesters at the sit-in confirmed their intention to file a lawsuit, about the invalidity of the procedures, to the judicial authorities, which is the “Arbitration Work Council”. They said they will undertake the necessary actions to restore their right to return to work or to consider the layoffs as arbitrary and thereby obtain the required full compensation.
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