While the precariousness of employment remains at the heart of social claims in Tunisia, Parliament is about to debate an explosive bill. Adopted this Friday, May 16, 2025 by the Commission for Health and Social Affairs, this text aims to reform in depth hiring practices and to eradicate subcontracting in certain sectors. The measure, praised by the unions, strongly worries employers.
MP Raouf Fekiri, commission rapporteur, has announced that the bill introduces an unprecedented measure: the pure and simple ban on subcontracting in the fields of safety and cleaning, two sectors historically marked by a strong precariousness.
“Companies will now have to hire their security or cleanliness agents directly. It will no longer be permissible to delegate these tasks via intermediate companies, “he said during his visit to Express FM.
Exemplary sanctions for offenders
This legislative hardening is accompanied by heavy sentences for offender employers. Any company illegally using subcontracting will be a fine of 10,000 dinars, with prison terms of 3 to 6 months provided for in the event of recurrence.
A severity that marks a break with the flexibility of the current framework, where subcontracting, even criticized, remained largely tolerated.
The bill also intends to drastically reduce the use of fixed -term contracts (CDD). The latter will only be authorized in three specific cases: seasonal work (especially in agriculture and tourism); replacing an absent employee; temporary activity peaks.
Apart from these situations, the indefinite contract (CDI) becomes the standard. The trial period is also framed: limited to six months, renewable only once.
Another major novelty: the retroactivity of certain measures. Any employee dismissed from March 14, 2025 – Date of table of the bill – will be deemed to be on permanent contracts, unless proven otherwise. This provision, registered in article 6 of the transitional clauses, could lead to a wave of contracts for contracts and reopen old disputes.
This reform is an extension of the statements of the Kais Saied president, who had repeatedly denounced subcontracting as a “weakest operating system”. The Head of State had promised to “end this injustice” and to anchor the right to work worthy in the texts. This project, led by the government under its leadership, concretizes this political promise.
Decisive vote, May 20
Faced with this hardening, employers’ organizations express their fears. CONECT (Confederation of Citizen Companies of Tunisia) notably requested the abolition of prison sentences, while accepting an increase in fines. Several business leaders fear an explosion in wage charges, increased rigidity of the job market, and a drop in competitiveness in outsourced services.
Thus, the plenary of Tuesday, May 20, 2025 promises to be crucial. If the text is adopted, it will upset the economy of services, personnel management practices, and labor law rules. It redraws in depth the border between flexibility and precariousness.
