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Congo (Republic of the) - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Brazzaville

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate; rainy season from March to June and dry season from June to October; constantly high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator.

 

LANGUAGES

French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), and many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo has the most users).

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

The Republic of Congo’s legal system is based on French civil law system and customary 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.

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

The U.S. embassy's operations in Brazzaville were suspended on June 18, 1997, because of the country’s civil war. An office representing U.S. interests in Brazzaville is located at U.S. Embassy at Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

 

U.S. Embassy at Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Brazzaville Embassy Office

c/o American Embassy Kinshasa

310 Avenue des Aviateurs

Box 31550

APO AE 09828

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Telephone: [243] 88 43608

Fax: [243] 88 43467

http://usembassy.state.gov/kinshasa/

 

Embassy of the Republic of the Congo at Washington D.C.

4891 Colorado Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20011

Telephone: (202) 726-5500

Fax: (202) 726-1860

Email: info@embassyofcongo.com

http://www.embassyofcongo.org

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - HOLIDAYS

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - MINIMUM AGE

Child labor is illegal. The minimum age for employment is 14 years of age.

 

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

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The minimum wage is 50,000 CFA Francs per month (approximately $64).

 

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

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Fundamental Act provides workers with the right to form unions, and the Government respected this right in practice. Any worker is free to join a union of his choice. The Labor Code affirms the right to associate freely and prohibits restrictions on the formation of trade unions. Most workers in the formal wage sector were union members, and unions have made efforts to organize informal sectors such as agriculture and retail trade.

 

The Fundamental Act also affirms workers' right to strike, subject to conditions established by law. Unions are free to strike after filing a letter of intent with the Ministry of Labor, thereby starting a process of nonbinding arbitration under the auspices of a regional labor inspector from the Ministry. The letter of intent must include the strike date, at which time the strike legally may begin, even if arbitration is not complete. Employers have the right to fire workers if they do not give advance notice of a strike. No formal strikes occurred during the year; however, some informal work stoppages occurred. For example, in May and June some teachers attempted to strike; however, the courts and the Government declared it illegal, effectively stopping the action.

 

During the year, the Government sought organized labor's agreement to a "social truce" during the period of post-conflict reconstruction, which was opposed by some labor organizations. The Government accepted certain conditions, such as regularization of salaries and rehiring of certain workers in several sectors; these conditions continued to be observed at year's end.

 

Unions are free to affiliate with international trade unions and they maintain cooperative accords with foreign trade union organizations, such as the ILO.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The Labor Code allows for collective bargaining, and this right was respected and practiced freely. However, collective bargaining was not widespread due to the social and economic disruption and extreme hardship that occurred during much of the 1990's. The Government sets industry-specific minimum wage scales, but unions usually were able to negotiate higher wages for their members. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees who join a union. There were no reported firings for union activities; however, salaries were withheld from teachers who attempted to strike.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced, compulsory, and bonded labor, including by children; however, such practices occur. There was no credible information on whether Pygmies were forced to work as indentured servants for Bantus. Many Pygmies, possibly including children, have been exploited by Bantus; however, little information was available regarding the extent of the problem during the year.

 

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

 

The Ministry of Labor, which is responsible for enforcing child labor laws, concentrates its efforts only on the formal wage sector. Child labor is illegal, the minimum age for employment is 14 years of age; however, child labor persists among children who continued to work for their families in rural areas and in the informal sector in cities without government supervision or monitoring. There have been reports of isolated cases of child prostitution, particularly among the growing numbers of street children; however, the extent of the problem was not believed to be widespread. There were some reports that child soldiers were used during the 1997 civil war and 1998-1999 conflict; however, the numbers appear to have been small, and there were no reports of child soldiers during the year.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, there have been allegations of exploitation of Pygmy children.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Fundamental Law provides that each citizen has the right to remuneration according to his work and merit. The Labor Code stipulates that overtime must be paid for all work in excess of 40 hours per week and that regular days of leisure must be granted by employers. The minimum wage is $64 (50,000 CFA francs) per month. It is not sufficient to provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living. High urban prices and dependent extended families oblige many workers, including teachers and health workers, to seek secondary employment beyond their principal employment.

 

Although health and safety regulations call for twice-yearly visits by inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, in practice such visits occurred less regularly. While unions generally were vigilant in calling attention to dangerous working conditions, the observance of safety standards was often lax. Workers have no specific right to remove themselves from dangerous working conditions without risking loss of employment. Legal foreign workers were protected by the same law that protected citizen workers; illegal workers were not protected by the law and faced deportation.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country. An ILO study conducted in March and April 2000 in Yaounde, Douala, and Bamenda, Cameroon, indicated that regional traffickers transported children between the Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Chad, Togo, and the Central African Republic, through Cameroon.

 

1 The United States Embassy evacuated its facilities in the country during the 1997 civil war and subsequently has operated out of the American Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

CONGO (REPUBLIC OF THE) - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Labor Code stipulates that overtime must be paid for all work in excess of 40 hours per week and that regular days of leisure must be granted by employers.

 

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