DON’T MAKE THE FORMAL PRIVATE SECTOR PAY FOR STATE FAILURE
Lebanon’s long-standing economic collapse has now reached a critical tipping point in the National Social Security Fund’s (NSSF) End-of-Service Indemnity system. The NSSF is applying outdated legal provisions and coercive practices to collect indemnities from the formal private sector—despite already having depleted these funds due to inflation, mismanagement, and the collapse of the Lebanese pound.
Lebanon’s private sector and its employees are both victims of the state’s fiscal collapse. It is unjust—and unsustainable—to make the formal sector absorb the cost of a broken system.
We call for an immediate, comprehensive, and just resolution that:
Protects the rights of workers,
Preserves the viability of the formal economy, and
Holds the state accountable for its liabilities.
Our key concerns:
·Root Cause: The real crisis lies in the government’s refusal to acknowledge its liability toward the NSSF and its inability to finance the indemnity system it created.
Unfair Burden: The private sector is being forced to pay indemnities calculated on today’s inflated wages, even for service periods pre-dating the crisis—an impossible burden.
Legal Vacuum: Article 51 remains in effect pending implementing decrees. Yet no special law has addressed the pre-2024 period, rendering collections during that period legally questionable.
Dangerous Precedent: Using clearance certificates to pressure compliance is legally abusive and sets a dangerous tone for governance.
Economic Consequences: Mishandling this issue will accelerate the collapse of formality in Lebanon’s economy. Employers are incentivized to go informal or exploit personal connections to bypass the system.
Regional Warning: Mismanaged pension systems have triggered economic collapse in other countries. Lebanon is on the same path unless action is taken immediately.
Our demands
Acknowledgment of State Liability: The government must recognize and legally assume its fiscal obligations to the NSSF and not deflect the crisis onto productive enterprises; the parliament must fulfill its obligations and pass a law to regularize the situation; the judiciary must respect Article 102 of the Commercial Code, which exempts companies from presenting the CNSS clearance certificate during formalities at the Commercial Register
Alternative Financing Mechanism: A realistic liquidity plan is urgently needed to stabilize the NSSF—whether through targeted taxation, external support, or structured settlement funds.
Suspension of Abusive Collection Practices: The use of clearance certificates and liens as pressure tools must be halted immediately pending legal clarity.
Legislative Action: Parliament must pass the special law promised in Article 18 of the 2024 Budget to regulate pre-2024 indemnities.
Inclusive Dialogue: Private sector representatives must be formally involved in all discussions concerning the future of social security reform in Lebanon.
This is not merely a technical or financial issue—it is an economic, legal, fiscal, and social time bomb. The longer it remains unresolved, the greater the erosion of trust, the expansion of informality, and the weakening of Lebanon’s recovery prospects. The Lebanese private sector and its workforce deserve justice, not punishment, for surviving crisis after crisis.