In May 27 2020, Rich Pine International Group terminated the contracts of 200 Jordanian workers at a garment factory in Irbid Cyber City, claiming that their contracts have expired. The factory, which is owned by a Taiwanese investor, has nearly 1,700 workers of different nationalities, including Chinese, Bangladeshi, and Sri Lankan and Jordanian workers. The factory usually renews its workers’ contracts every three months. However, many workers have confirmed to Jordan Labour Watch (JLW) that the factory did not renew their contracts. According to JLW, the same factory was accused in 2012 of exposing its migrant workers to difficult work conditions including slavery and non-payment of overtime work.

It is not the first case in Jordan where a garment factory refused to renew the contracts of its workers due the economic impact of Covid-19. For instance, on 6 May, a garment factory in Al-Hassan Industrial Zone has terminated the contracts of 72 workers under the pretext that their contracts have expired.

 JLW published a report on 4 April 2020 the Jordanian government calling upon the government to issue a defense order prohibiting the dismissal of workers from all private sector enterprises, obliging enterprises to pay wages as usual and prohibiting any deductions from the wages during the period of work suspension. Similarly, JLW issued a statement on 7 May urging the Jordanian government to take immediate measures to prevent labor rights violations and to address the challenges faced by the private sector workers, including dismissal of workers. On 31 May 2020, the Jordanian Council of Ministers issued a new order pursuant to Defense Order no.6 regulating the relationship between the private sector and workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The new order obliges employers to renew the fixed-term contracts of their Jordanian workers only, for similar periods until the application of the Defense Law comes to an end. The order only applies to contracts which expired on 30 April 2020 or will expire after this date, provided that the said contracts have been renewed at least three times before 30 April 2020.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre contacted Rich Pine for a response to this allegation; the factory did not respond.