Unequal bonuses raise concerns among Hama workers

According to testimonies, information and complaints received by ANHA correspondents, a financial bonus of 500,000 Syrian pounds in the old currency — equivalent to 5,000 Syrian pounds in the new denomination — was paid to some employees at the Hama branch of the Syrian Company for the Storage and Distribution of Petroleum Products, known as Mahrouqat. However, not all employees received the payment, prompting some workers to question the basis for selecting beneficiaries and the eligibility criteria applied.

The complaints indicate that the disparity was not limited to different employment categories. Some employees said that certain contract workers received the bonus while other contractors performing similar duties did not.

The complaints also pointed to similar disparities among non-contract employees, with the nature of the work or level of responsibility, according to those who raised the complaints, not serving as clear and publicly announced criteria for determining eligibility.

One employee who did not receive the bonus told ANHA correspondent that workers "perform the same tasks and bear the same burdens," questioning the criteria that allowed some employees to receive an amount equivalent to a significant portion of their monthly income while others were denied the same payment.

Another worker said the issue was not the value of the bonus itself, but rather "the lack of clarity over the basis for its distribution," particularly amid reports from employees at other institutions of delays in salaries and financial entitlements.

Existing Incentive System

The complaints come as an established regulatory framework for incentives already exists within Mahrouqat. The Ministry of Administrative Development had previously announced the approval of an employee incentive system for workers at the Syrian Company for the Storage and Distribution of Petroleum Products, along with entities affiliated with the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources, through the Central Committee for Incentives, Allowances and Bonuses.

The ministry said at the time that incentive systems were intended to link bonuses to performance levels and the nature of the activity and work.

The regulatory framework governing the company also grants authorities the power to establish the basis for employee bonuses under the company's employment system. This means that, in principle, the payment of incentives and bonuses is not outside the administrative and regulatory framework, but is expected to be based on specific rules and criteria.

As of the preparation of this report, our agency had not identified any recent official circular explaining the bonus payment referred to at the Hama branch or specifying its beneficiaries or the criteria used to select them.

Salary Delays at Other Institutions

The issue of financial entitlements is not limited to complaints over incentives. In recent months, our agency has documented cases of salary delays at a number of institutions and in several parts of Syria.

To date, employees and workers at service institutions in Hama, Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Hasakah have continued to stage protests demanding the payment of overdue salaries, while some workers say they have not received their entitlements for several months.

In Hasakah, workers at the Shaddadi municipality went on strike in June to protest six months of unpaid salaries. The regional administration attributed the issue to procedures for integrating employees of institutions formerly affiliated with the Autonomous Administration into state structures.

Finance Minister Mohammad Yasser Bernieh said in March that the ministry was following up on employees' complaints over delayed salaries and was working to address the causes at their root.

Between the Institution's Right to Incentives and Employees' Right to Fairness

Observers say the disparity between incentive payments at some institutions or branches and salary delays at others raises a broader question about public spending management, particularly the transparency of standards governing incentives and bonuses and whether they reach those entitled to them on the basis of performance and responsibility rather than undisclosed considerations.

Legal experts, meanwhile, stress that the existence of bonuses or incentives for employees does not in itself constitute a violation, provided they are based on an approved legal and financial framework. The problem arises when the criteria are not made public or employees cannot understand why some of their colleagues receive bonuses while others performing similar duties are excluded.

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ANHA