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Central African Republic - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Bangui

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate; hot, dry winters and mild to hot, wet summers.

 

LANGUAGES

French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), Arabic, Hunsa, and Swahili.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

The Central African Republic’s legal system is based on French law.

 

CURRENCY

Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (1 USD = 776.640 XAF as of April 15, 2002).

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Bangui

Avenue David Dacko

B.P. 924

Bangui, Central African Republic

Telephone: (236) 61-02-00

Fax: (236) 61-44-94

 

 

Embassy of the Central African Republic at Washington D.C.

1618 22nd Street N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 483-7800

Fax: (202) 332-9893

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - HOLIDAYS

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 14 weeks – 50% of pay (paid by social security).

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - MINIMUM AGE

The Labor Code forbids the employment of children under 14 years of age.

 

The Labor Code generally covers all labor sectors, although specific regulations cover specific sectors. In some cases, the Labor Code provides that the minimum age for employment could be reduced to 12 years for some types of light work in traditional agricultural activities or home services.

 

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The Labor Code states that the Minister of Labor must set minimum wages by decree. The minimum wage varies by sector and by kind of work. For example, the monthly minimum wage is equivalent to 7,800 CFA francs (approximately $12) for agricultural workers but 18,000 CFA francs (approximately $28) for office workers. The minimum wage does not provide a worker and family a decent standard of living.

 

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - REMUNERATION

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Under the Labor Code, all workers are free to form or join unions without prior authorization. A relatively small part of the workforce has exercised this right, chiefly wage earners such as civil servants. There are five recognized labor federations. The two most important are the Organization of Free Public Sector Unions and the Labor Union of Central African Workers (USTC), which are independent of the Government.

 

Unions have the right to strike in both the public and private sectors. To be legal, strikes must be preceded by the union's presentation of demands, the employer's response to these demands, a conciliation meeting between labor and management, and a finding by an arbitration council that union and employer failed to reach agreement on valid demands. The union also must provide 8 days' advance written notification of a planned strike. The Labor Code states that if employers initiate a lockout that is not in accordance with the code, the employer is required to pay workers for all days of the lockout. However, the Government has the authority to end strikes because of public interest. Other than this, the code makes no provisions regarding sanctions on employers for acting against strikers. There were no reports of employer actions against strikers.

 

Health workers and teachers went on separate strikes on several occasions to protest unpaid salaries and poor working conditions. On March 5, the unions and the Government signed an agreement, which applied to both groups of workers and ended a 5-month series of strikes over salary arrears. The Government agreed to make regular salary payments during the year. As a result, the unions suspended their strikes for 2 months pending implementation of the agreement and civil servants returned to work; however, the Government did not make regular payments. Despite the nonpayment, union leaders encouraged their colleagues to keep working following the coup attempt. Since October 2000, the major labor federations have mobilized all striking civil servants to demand that the Government pay at least 12 months worth of salary arrears. Some salaries were paid during the year; however, the Government still owes 14 months of salary arrears to military personnel and 16 months of salary arrears to civilian employees.

 

On February 8, authorities prevented three trade union leaders from leaving Bangui to attend a seminar in Kenya; however, the three traveled later in the year without restriction. In June the General Secretary of the USTC was arrested, questioned, and subsequently released after attending a meeting of the ICFTU-AFRO Congress in Nairobi.

 

Labor federations are free to affiliate internationally. The USTC is affiliated with the ICFTU.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The Labor Code grants trade unions full legal status, including the right to sue in court. It requires that union officials be full-time wage-earning employees in their occupation, but they may conduct union business during working hours. The Code does not provide specifically that unions may bargain collectively; however, the law protects workers from employer interference in their right to organize and administer their unions. The Government usually is involved in the collective bargaining process. While collective bargaining has taken place in some instances, no collective bargaining occurred during the year.

 

The Ministry of Labor and Civil Service sets wage scales. Collective bargaining plays a role in setting wages in private industry. Salary arrears continued during the year for both civilian (16 months) and military (14 months) personnel; the arrears continued to be a major complaint of the unions, but with minimal results.

 

The law expressly forbids discrimination against employees on the basis of union membership or union activity. Employees can have their cases heard in the labor court. The Labor Code does not state whether employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are required to reinstate workers fired for union activities; however, employers legally are required to pay damages, including back pay and lost wages.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition on Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Labor Code specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, prisoners were forced to work without compensation for government officials or magistrates. The Ba'Aka often are coerced into agricultural, domestic, and other types of labor for different ethnic groups.

 

Trafficking in persons, particularly children, is a problem.

 

The Labor Code prohibition of forced or compulsory labor applies to children, although they are not mentioned specifically; however, forced child labor occurs. The Government does not have sufficient resources to enforce the prohibition effectively. Some parents force their daughters into prostitution to help support the family, and children frequently work on farms at rural schools.

 

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

 

The Labor Code forbids the employment of children under 14 years of age; however, the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service enforces the provision only loosely. In practice child labor is common in many sectors of the economy, especially in rural areas. In some rural areas, teachers or principals use school children as labor on farms, ostensibly to teach them how to work the land since many students do not further their education beyond secondary school. The schools use the proceeds from the sale of the farm produce to purchase school supplies and equipment and to fund school-related activities. The Labor Code generally covers all labor sectors, although specific regulations cover specific sectors. In some cases, the Labor Code provides that the minimum age for employment could be reduced to 12 years for some types of light work in traditional agricultural activities or home services. An international agency reported that children worked in the diamond fields alongside adult relatives.

 

Child prostitution is a problem.

 

The Labor Code prohibition of forced or compulsory labor applies to children, although they are not mentioned specifically; however, there were reports of forced labor, including prostitution, by children.

 

Trafficking in children occurs.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Labor Code states that the Minister of Labor must set minimum wages by decree. The minimum wage varies by sector and by kind of work. For example, the monthly minimum wage is equivalent to approximately $12 (7,800 CFA francs) for agricultural workers but approximately $28 (18,000 CFA francs) for office workers. The minimum wage does not provide a worker and family a decent standard of living. Most labor is performed outside the wage and social security system, especially by farmers in the large subsistence agricultural sector. The Government owes at least 16 months worth of salary arrears to civil servants and 14 months of salary arrears to the military. The law sets a standard workweek of 40 hours for government employees and most private sector employees. Household employees may work up to 55 hours per week. The law also requires a minimum rest period of 48 hours a week.

 

There also are general laws on health and safety standards in the workplace, but the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service neither precisely defines nor actively enforces them, a matter about which the ILO has expressed concern to the Government for many years. The Labor Code states that a labor inspector may force an employer to correct unsafe or unhealthy work conditions, but it does not provide the right for workers to remove themselves from such conditions without risk of loss of employment.

 

The Labor Code protects both legal and illegal foreign workers.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were reports that persons, particularly children, were trafficked to and possibly within the country. The Government has recognized that trafficking in persons occurs; however, statistics and specific examples of trafficking are not available. Trafficking is confined primarily to children who are brought in by the foreign Muslim community from Nigeria, Sudan, and Chad to be used as domestic servants, shop helpers, and agricultural workers. Merchants, herders, and other foreigners doing business in and transiting the country also bring girls and boys into the country. Such children, who may or may not be related to their caretakers, are not afforded the benefit of a formal education, even though of mandatory school age, and work without remuneration for their labor. There is no evidence or indication of sexual exploitation, but there were reports that children were beaten publicly.

 

The indigenous Ba'Aka often are coerced into agricultural, domestic, and other types of labor within the country. The Ba'Aka often are considered to be the slaves of other local ethnic groups, and subjected to wages far below those prescribed by the labor code. Additionally there have been credible reports of three cases in which persons obtained a Ba'Aka child by deception and subsequently sent the child to Europe for adoption. One of the cases reportedly involved the implicit cooperation of government authorities.

 

The law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in persons; however, traffickers can be prosecuted under laws against slavery, labor code violations, mandatory school age laws, and laws against the exploitation of prostitution by means of coercion or fraud. Specific laws address the crime of prostitution and punish those who traffic women for the purposes of prostitution. The Government does not investigate actively cases of trafficking, nor does it use or have access to special investigative techniques in trafficking investigations.

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law sets a standard workweek of 40 hours for government employees and most private sector employees. Household employees may work up to 55 hours per week. The law also requires a minimum rest period of 48 hours a week.

 

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