What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Iran?

Breaking occupational safety rules in Iran can lead to court-imposed fines, imprisonment for repeat or serious breaches, closure of the workplace and criminal and civil liability for any accident. The fines are in Chapter 11 of the Labour Law (Articles 171 to 186). They are expressed as multiples of the worker minimum daily wage, usually per worker, so the cash amount rises each year with the minimum wage.

Short answer

• Safety means, training and supervision (Article 91) and protections in hazardous work, for women and for young workers: Article 176 sets a fine per worker of 200 to 500 times the minimum daily wage for the first 10 workers, 20 to 50 times for each worker from 11 to 100, and 10 to 20 times for each worker above 100. A repeat offence brings 91 to 180 days' imprisonment.
• Medical files and annual examinations (Article 92): Article 175 sets a fine per worker of 30 to 100, 10 to 30 and 5 to 10 times by the same bands. A repeat offence brings 1.1 to 1.5 times the maximum fine or 91 to 120 days' imprisonment.
• Plan approval, harmful machinery tests, approval of safety equipment (Articles 87, 89, 90): Article 177 sets 91 to 120 days' imprisonment or a fine of 300 to 1,500 times the minimum daily wage, depending on workplace size. A repeat offence brings 121 to 180 days.
• Obstructing inspectors: Article 179 sets a fine of 100 to 300 times, and 91 to 120 days' imprisonment on repetition.
• Accidents: under Article 95 the employer or manager is criminally and civilly liable when an accident follows a breach. The court also decides the employer's other obligations when a worker loses a limb or dies (Article 171).
• Closure: on an inspector's report the court can close and seal all or part of the workplace, and wages must still be paid (Article 105).

How the penalty system works

Penalties are imposed by the criminal courts, not by the inspectors, and the courts must give these cases priority (Article 185). The court also sets a deadline to correct the breach, after hearing the Ministry of Labour's representative. It takes into account the offender's circumstances and means and the seriousness of the breach (Article 171). The figures above are taken from the Persian text of the law. The English translation available online leaves out the repeat-offence clauses of Articles 175 and 176 and gives 91 to 180 days instead of 91 to 120 days for a first offence under Article 177.

The base unit is the worker minimum daily wage on the date of the judgment. The Supreme Labour Council sets the minimum wage every year (Article 41). The rial amounts therefore change every Iranian year, and no current amount is given here. Use the minimum wage decision in force on the date of the judgment.

When the employer is a company, compensation and wage claims are paid from its assets. The criminal penalty, including imprisonment and fines, falls on the managing director or the manager who ordered the breach (Article 184). Fines go to a fund for workers' welfare, education and culture under the Ministry of Labour (Article 186).

Worked example: how large can an Article 176 fine be?

A workshop with 60 workers fails to provide guarding and training (Article 91). Using Article 176, and taking the minimum daily wage as W:

The fine is between 3,000 and 7,500 times the minimum daily wage, and the court also orders the breach corrected within a deadline. If the same breach is repeated, the responsible manager faces 91 to 180 days' imprisonment. This example shows how the mechanism works. The court decides how many workers to count and where in the range to set the fine.

Liability for accidents

Article 95 is the key liability rule. If an accident happens because the employer or managers did not follow the technical protection and occupational health rules, they are criminally and civilly liable, in addition to the penalties in the Labour Law. Injury and death cases also fall under the general criminal law, the Islamic Penal Code, including compensation (diya), and under the Social Security Law for benefits. The employer's main defence is Article 95, Note 2: the safety means were provided and the worker ignored them despite training and earlier warnings.

Common mistakes

• Quoting a rial amount from an old source. Fines follow the yearly minimum wage; recalculate.
• Assuming the company alone is punished. Imprisonment and fines fall on the managing director or the manager who gave the order (Article 184).
• Ignoring an inspector's written warning. It can lead to a court closure order under Article 105, during which wages must still be paid.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Iran: law, authorities and employer duties
• What is the main occupational safety and health law in Iran and who enforces it?
• How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in Iran?

Standards and further reading

• Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1990, Chapter 11 (Articles 171 to 186): English translation, Iran Data Portal; Persian original (PDF).
• Labour Law, Chapter 3 including Article 41 (annual minimum wage): Iran Data Portal; Chapter 4 (Articles 91, 92, 95, 105): Iran Data Portal.

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.