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Burkina Faso - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Ouagadougou

 

CLIMATE

Tropical; warm, dry winters and hot, wet summers.

 

LANGUAGES

French (official), and native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Burkina Faso’s legal system is based on French civil law system and customary law.

 

CURRENCY

Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (1 USD = 744.500 XOF as of April 15, 2002).

Note: responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States.

 

BURKINA FASO - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

BURKINA FASO - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Ouagadougou

01 B.P. 35

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Telephone: [226] 30-67-23 through 30-67-25

Fax: [226] 31-23-68

Email: amembouaga@state.gov

http://usembassy.state.gov/ouagadougou/

 

Embassy of Burkina Faso at Washington D.C.

2340 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 332-5577

Fax: (202) 265-6972

 

BURKINA FASO - HOLIDAYS

BURKINA FASO - LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 14 weeks – 100% of pay (paid by social security and employer).

 

BURKINA FASO - MINIMUM AGE

The Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years. The law permits children under the age of 14 to perform limited activities for up to 4 1/2 hours per day.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Burkina Faso – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

BURKINA FASO - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The Labor Code mandates a minimum monthly wage of 28,811 CFA francs (approximately $40) in the formal sector; it does not apply to subsistence agriculture.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Burkina Faso – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

BURKINA FASO - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

BURKINA FASO - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Labor Code has been amended several times during the past decade. In 2000 the Government repealed provisions requiring public servants to respect the revolutionary order under penalty of disciplinary sanctions, a provision which had been criticized by the ILO for many years. Under this legislation, workers, including civil servants, traditionally have enjoyed a legal right of association, which is recognized under the Constitution. There are 4 major labor confederations and 12 autonomous trade unions linked by a national confederal committee. They represent a wide ideological spectrum; the largest and most vocal member espouses socialist doctrine. Approximately 85 percent of the workforce are engaged in subsistence agriculture. Of the remainder, approximately 50 percent of private sector employees and 60 percent of public sector employees are union members. Essential workers, such as police, may not join unions. The ILO Committee of Experts has expressed concern about the right to strike of public servants, particularly the law that allows the authorities to requisition striking civil servants and state officials.

 

The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and workers use strike actions to achieve labor goals. Many strikes were called during the year both by labor organizations to advance worker objectives, such as opposing the privatization of state-owned enterprises, and by the Collective of Mass Organizations and Political Parties to press for justice in the aftermath of the Zongo killings. For example, on June 30, union members joined Collective demonstrators in an antigovernment protest. On August 16, unions held a peaceful general strike to protest planned privatizations. On September 24 and 25, truck drivers held a nationwide strike after a presidential guard shot and killed a truck driver on September 18. In September BICIA-B bank employees went on strike, and although the strike was not resolved, it resulted in the dismissal of a senior bank official. There was no governmental interference in these demonstrations and strikes.

 

The General Union of Burkina Faso Students, a confederation of student unions, and its affiliate members have been unable to conduct meetings on the University of Ouagadougou campus following a 2000 University ban on peaceful, outdoor demonstrations on campus.

 

Labor unions may affiliate freely with international trade unions. The National Confederation of Burkinabe Workers (CSB) and the National Organization of Free Trade Unions (ONSL) are both affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Unions have the right to bargain for wages and other benefits, both directly with employers and with industry associations. These negotiations are governed by minimums on wages and other benefits contained in the Interprofessional Collective Convention and the Commercial Sector Collective Convention, which are established with government participation. If no agreement is reached, employees may exercise their right to strike. Either labor or management may refer an impasse in negotiations to labor tribunals. Appeals may be pursued through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, whose decision is binding on both parties. Collective bargaining is extensive in the modern wage sector, but it encompasses only a small percentage of workers.

 

The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination. The Labor Ministry handles complaints about such discrimination, which the plaintiff may appeal to a labor tribunal. If the tribunal sustains the appeal, the employer must reinstate the worker. Union officials believe that this system functions adequately.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such practices occurred. There were occasional reports of trafficking in women for prostitution or domestic service.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, there are reports of household employment of children outside their own families without any status or formal remuneration as well as the procurement and exploitation of young immigrant girls. The Government has informed the ILO that it is taking actions to improve awareness of these problems. There were occasional reports of trafficking in children for prostitution or domestic service.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years; however, child labor is a problem. In the domestic and agricultural sectors, the law permits children under the age of 14 to perform limited activities for up to 41/2 hours per day; however, many children under the age of 14 years work longer hours. According to a pamphlet published by the Ministry of Labor in 2000, more than 50 percent of children work, largely as domestics or in the agricultural or mining sectors. The percentage of employed children did not diminish during the last decade. Children commonly work with their parents in rural areas or in family-owned small businesses in villages and cities. Most children actually begin work at an earlier age on small, family subsistence farms, in the traditional apprenticeship system, and in the informal sector. There are no reports of children under the age of 14 employed in either state or large private companies.

 

The Ministry of Employment, Labor, and Social Security, which oversees labor standards, lacks the means to enforce this provision adequately, even in the small business sector. In cooperation with UNICEF, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and local NGO's in July 1997, the Government developed a national plan of action on child labor. The Government also has organized workshops and produced films and a television series on the problem of child labor.

 

In July the Government ratified ILO convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, there were occasional reports of trafficking in children for prostitution or domestic service.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Labor Code mandates a minimum monthly wage, which is approximately $40 (28,811 CFA francs) in the formal sector; it does not apply to subsistence agriculture. The Government last set a minimum wage in 1996; it does not provide a decent standard of living for an urban worker and family. Wage earners usually supplement their income through reliance on the extended family, subsistence agriculture, or trading in the informal sector. The Labor Code also mandates a standard workweek of 40 hours with at least one 24-hour rest period for nondomestic workers and a 60-hour workweek for household workers, and establishes safety and health provisions.

 

A system of government inspections under the Ministry of Employment, Labor, and Social Security and the labor tribunals is responsible for overseeing occupational health and safety standards in the small industrial and commercial sectors, but these standards do not apply in the subsistence agricultural sector. However, the Government's Labor Inspector Corps does not have sufficient resources to fulfill its duties adequately. Every company is required to have a work safety committee. If a workplace has been declared unsafe by the Government's Labor Inspection Office for any reason, workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work without jeopardy to continued employment. In practice there are indications that this right is respected, but such declarations are relatively rare.

 

Foreign workers, both legal and illegal, are protected by the law governing working conditions.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

There is no law that specifically criminalizes the act of trafficking; however, a range of other relevant laws may be used to prosecute traffickers. The Constitution specifically prohibits slavery, inhumane treatment, torture, and mistreatment of children and adults. The Penal Code prohibits kidnaping, violence, and mistreatment of children.

 

The country is a source, transit, and destination country for internationally trafficked persons, including children. It is an occasional source country for women who travel to Europe to work as domestics, but, upon their arrival, are exploited sexually. The country is a transit point for trafficked children, notably from Mali. Children from Mali often are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire. Malian children also are trafficked into the country. Destinations for trafficked Burkinabe children include Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria.

 

In many instances, children voluntarily travel to Cote d'Ivoire to work as agricultural laborers to escape poverty at home; however, in other cases, children are lured to plantation work in Cote d'Ivoire by false promises of generous remuneration, only to be forced to work under very harsh conditions for little or no payment. Some children are forced to work long hours without pay, allegedly to repay costs of their transport to Cote d'Ivoire and the costs of food and housing on the plantation.

 

In an official note delivered to foreign missions resident in Ouagadougou, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to conventions protecting children's rights and to international principles and standards of child protection. The note stated that the Government has instructed officials to investigate and prosecute violations related to the trafficking, transport, harboring, or trading in children. It also appealed to UNICEF, the ILO, and the international community to help the country eradicate child trafficking.

 

BURKINA FASO - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

BURKINA FASO - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Labor Code also mandates a standard workweek of 40 hours with at least one 24-hour rest period for nondomestic workers and a 60-hour workweek for household workers.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Burkina Faso – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)