Former lower-ranking Baath party members will be allowed to take up old government jobs under a law signed off by Iraq's presidency council.
The move on Sunday is believed to affect 38,000 former members of Saddam Hussein’s administration.
Those who have reached retirement age since the fall of Saddam's regime are able to claim government pensions under the "Accountability and Justice Law".
The law aims to promote reconciliation between Shia and Sunni Arabs.
However, Iraq's Shia-led government has faced opposition to the passing of the law.
Tareq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice president and member of the presidential council, criticised the law because it may pension off 7,000 members of the Iraqi security services who formerly worked for Saddam's secret police.
Fears
Al-Hashemi said late last week he would not back the legislation because it would force many people given jobs after the 2003 US-led invasion out of those posts.
There are also fears that those going back to jobs will be demoted or badly treated.
Many ex-Baathists have re-joined public service already and are worried that the law could mean their removal for a second time.
Yet, for many of those eligible it is their only option for work.
George Bush, the US president, has said that the law was the first of 18 pieces of benchmark legislation to promote reconciliation between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq.
The law was originally passed by parliament on January 12.