Introduction

According to legal standards, exploitation or investment is when certain individuals or groups unfairly take advantage of the efforts and services of others, through various means such as forced labor, inadequate payment of wages, and taking them as slaves, and exploiting them through difficult and exhausting tasks. Due to the destructive consequences of exploiting the work of others and exploiting workers, various international and domestic documents on human rights and labor rights have been dedicated to the prohibition of exploitation of different segments of society, especially the working class. In this article, we intend to examine the legal background of worker exploitation in Iran. It should be noted that before delving into this topic, we will also attempt to address the foundations of the prohibition of worker exploitation in society and separately examine them in the international legal system and the domestic legal system of Iran.

The foundations of preventing workers’ investment in domestic and international legal systems.

Denial of exploitation of workers in the international system
One of the most important international documents that has been developed in the field of preventing exploitation or investment of workers is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which according to Article 23, states that everyone has the right to demand fair and satisfactory conditions for their work and to be protected against unemployment, and everyone has the right to receive equal pay for equal work without any discrimination, in order to provide for themselves and their families in accordance with human dignity. Article 30 of the Islamic Declaration of Human Rights also states, in addition to freedom of choice of employment and prevention of exploitation or any other harm, that every worker, regardless of gender, has the right to receive fair wages for the work they provide, and to use their entitlements for leave, bonuses, and promotions. According to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, member states have recognized the right to work, which means living through a job that a person has chosen with their own consent. Article 7

Denial of exploitation of workers in Iran’s rights

As mentioned in the previous section, the prohibition of exploitation of workers or their investment has led to the adoption of regulations in the international legal system. The importance of this issue has also led the legislator in the Iranian domestic legal system to address the protection of workers in the field of preventing exploitation, as discussed below. Prevention of exploitation of another person’s work and its prohibition is one of the fundamental conditions that is enshrined in Article 40 of the Constitution and is in line with the freedom to choose a profession. Paragraph 3 of this article can be considered as a condition for dealing with exploitation of another person’s work and investment, which is the regulation of the country’s economic plan in such a way that the form, content, and working hours allow each individual to have the opportunity and ability to self-improvement in moral, political, and social aspects, as well as participation in the leadership of the country and increasing skills and initiative. In addition to this condition in the Constitution of

Labor Law and Reduction of Legal Protection for Workers

Labor Law and Deprivation of Trade Union Rights

The reality is that the Islamic Republic has strived and continues to strive, from its inception, to suppress any independent workers’ actions and with inappropriate legal frameworks that it has created in this regard, to prevent the implementation of the provisions of the 1998 International Labor Organization Declaration. Therefore, according to this declaration, all member states of the International Labor Organization – regardless of whether they have ratified the 1987 and 1998 conventions or not – are obliged to recognize the provisions and principles contained in these fundamental conventions in their laws within a specified period of time. Whether the Islamic Republic and employers in Iran recognize this right or not, whether the right to freedom of association is included in the Iranian labor law based on the provisions of the 1987 and 1998 conventions, does not change the nature of the obligation to recognize this right and any laws and regulations that violate the right to freedom of association are illegal and unjust. Therefore, the workers of the country have the right to freely form

Labor Law and the Issue of Discrimination

First Article: Discrimination based on religion and nationality.
Definitions and general principles of the law state that based on some of the regulations and principles of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, individuals are not forced to perform certain work or prohibited from benefiting from others. However, it should be read as “not prohibited” and the people of Iran, regardless of their ethnicity or tribe, are entitled to equal rights and race, ethnicity, language, and the like will not be a factor of privilege. See, the issue here is that you are not saying anything or when you do, you throw the most fundamental points in the same text. Your intention is the same as what has been mentioned, that for this basis, discrimination that is not mentioned is accepted. Here, nationality is not mentioned, religion is not mentioned, gender is not mentioned, instead it says tribe and ethnicity! I want to know how many different tribes the workers of Iran come from for this law to be written for them! What does tribe even mean? And the law says tribe

Labor Law and Temporary Contracts

Lack of job security for workers

One of the most important and fundamental problems that the working society is facing today is job insecurity and the spread of temporary contracts. Today, we see that more than 95% of our workers, despite many of them having permanent jobs, are still employed on temporary contracts for one, three, or six months. In fact, temporary contracts have tarnished the dignity of the workforce, as workers cannot even plan for a year ahead. With this situation, they cannot even defend their minimum rights, as when faced with short-term contracts of one or three months, if they want to pursue their legal rights, they are met with the end of their contract due to lack of need or renewal.

Temporary employment contracts and labor unions

The truth is that temporary employment contracts not only tarnish the dignity of the workforce, but also deprive them of their freedom to form labor unions, and provide a platform for the exploitation of workers. For example, when a person who is a legal representative of workers in the Islamic Labor Council is employed on a three-month contract, naturally if they want to pursue the demands of the workers, they will not be favored by the employer and after the contract expires, they will face non-renewal and lose their job. Our proposal in this article regarding this issue is to differentiate between jobs in which workers are employed, so that all workers must have permanent contracts, but in my opinion, a worker in a job that is continuous in nature must have a permanent employment contract. On the other hand, a worker who is employed in seasonal jobs must have a seasonal contract. Additionally, a worker who is employed in temporary and specific projects must have a temporary employment contract.

Conclusion

As mentioned in detail, the weakness in legislation and the creation of unfair legal conditions has paved the way for the exploitation of labor and workers’ rights in Iran. This includes discrimination based on gender, nationality, and religion in laws, as well as the absence of independent labor unions that can defend workers’ rights. Unfortunately, the main goal pursued in employment contracts is not only delayed or non-payment of wages and benefits, but also providing job insecurity and creating an environment for exploitation. When labor organizations and the bargaining power of workers are weakened due to the employer-friendly approach of the government, workers whose rights have been violated by contractors are not able to pursue their rights even through legal means. In such a society, not only do workers not receive their rights, but the conditions for their exploitation are provided by those in power and employers. If the law is seen to only serve the interests of one party, it creates an environment for exploitation and it will no longer be possible to address it.