At the time of the interviews, teachers reported being paid from 110 to 150 JD per month in private schools depending on their years of experience, yet salaries were facing further downward pressure, we were told, because of Iraqis and Syrians without work permits ‘who will work for 50-60 JD’ 152. Interviewees saw little opportunity for their wages to be raised, even to the minimum legal rate. As a woman in her mid-20s explained 153: If I want to join the teachers’ syndicate, I won’t be allowed to because I don’t have a national number. Business owners prefer to hire people like us. This is because of the restrictions we face in everything, which in turn means that we are willing to accept any salary. This is the case in private schools: I do not have a national number, so I would accept any salary. I cannot negotiate the salary, because they will just tell me they don’t need me in the first place. [...] We cannot complain because we don’t have an employment record in the Ministry of Education. Referring to the potential efficacy of spot-checks and monitoring of smaller schools by inspectors, she continued: [I]n my first year of working for the school, someone from the [Ministry] was visiting. [...] He asked me how much my salary was. I said it was 110 JD. So, he wrote that down. The [school] manager was mad at me and asked me why I told him how much my salary was. They also told all other teachers to say that their salary is 190 JD. Last year when he [the inspector] came again [...] [management] told him [incorrectly] that they give me transport allowance of 165 JD, and medical insurance of 145 JD. [...] We once complained that the salary should at least meet the minimum wage, which is 190 JD. [...] So they fired the teacher who filed the complaint about the wages. Whilst most interviewees expressed some dissatisfaction with their salary, the women interviewed teaching in private schools were otherwise fairly content. Industrial estates and other industrial facilities Ex-Gazans can work in industrial facilities including Jordan’s Industrial Estates. Jerash camp women can find work in garment factories, while men may find work in the Hikma production plant and the Jabri factory in Zarqa. A shuttle bus operates between the camp and the factories provided there are enough workers. A group of women (and a few men) interviewed confirmed that working conditions were generally formalised in the Industrial Estates, with most signing a year-long contract with enrolment in social security schemes154 upon taking up employment. Despite the high levels of poverty and the availability of work (with transport) in the Industrial Estates 155 and other large industrial areas, relatively few women, and virtually no men, from Jerash camp actually work there: some 24 women work in al-Hassan Industrial Estate (near Irbid, around 30 km from Jerash camp) and about 45 commute to the industrial area of Zarqa 156. The reasons revolved around several often linked concerns: Female, age 26, Jerash town, 27 January 2016. Female, age 26, Jerash town, 27 January 2016. 154 Interviewees confirmed that maternity provisions, including 3 months’ paid maternity leave and a maternity bonus of 25 JD per month after return to work for two years was provided. 155 Interviewees noted that the camp receives many requests from factories in the Industrial Estates. One man explained that, “[w]e receive so many requests from factories because they are targeting cheap labour [..] Even if transport is provided, it is insufficient given the high cost of living” (focus group discussion with men, Jerash camp, 21 Oct 2015). However, it is worth noting that our interviews pre-date the Jordan Compact and push to get Syrians into Industrial Estates. 156 Focus group discussion with women working in Industrial Estates, Jerash camp, 29 January 2016. 152 153 Fafo Report 2019:34 102