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Cote d'Ivoire - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Yamousoukro

 

CLIMATE

Tropical along the coast, semiarid in the far north. Cote d'Ivoire has three seasons, warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October).

 

LANGUAGES

French (official) and 60 native dialects with Dioula being the most widely spoken.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Based on the French civil law system and customary law. Judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. Has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (1 USD = 743.200 XOF as of April 15, 2002).

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Abidjan

5 Rue Jesse Owens

01 B.P. 1712

Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire

Telephone: (225) 21-09-79

Fax: (225) 22-32-59

http://usembassy.state.gov/abidjan/

 

Embassy of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire at Washington D.C.

2424 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 797-0300

http://www.cotedivoire.com/

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - HOLIDAYS

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - MINIMUM AGE

In most instances, the legal minimum working age is 14. Labor law limits the hours of young workers, defined as those under the age of 18.

 

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

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The Government administratively determines monthly minimum wage rates, which last were adjusted in 1996. Minimum wages vary according to occupation, with the lowest set at 36,607 CFA francs per month (approximately $52) for the industrial sector, which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. A slightly higher minimum wage rate applies for construction workers.

 

The majority of the labor force works in agriculture or in the informal sector where the minimum wage does not apply. According to a Labor Ministry survey, workers in the agricultural and fishing sector receive an average of 726,453 CFA francs a year (approximately $1,040).

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Cote d’Ivoire – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - REMUNERATION

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

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution and the Labor Code grant all citizens, except members of the police and military services, the right to form or join unions. Registration of a new union requires 3 months. The three largest labor federations are the General Union of Workers of Cote d'Ivoire (UGTCI), and the Federation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Cote d'Ivoire, and Dignite; there also are two other registered labor federations not affiliated with the Government, including the Dignite labor federation. Unions legally are free to join federations other than the UGTCI, although in the past the Government pressured unions to join the UGTCI. Only a small percentage of the workforce is organized, and most laborers work in the informal sector that includes small farms and a multitude of small roadside businesses and shops; however, large industrial farms and some trades are organized.

 

The right to strike is provided by the Constitution and by statute. The Labor Code requires a protracted series of negotiations and a 6-day notification period before a strike may take place, making legal strikes difficult to organize. Since the 1999 coup, the CNSP and the Labor Ministry arbitrated more than 80 labor-related conflicts. Due in large part to the weak economy, working conditions did not improve during the year and, in many cases, continued to decrease. There continued to be strikes in the private and government sectors over working conditions; however, the strikes generally were tolerated and did not result in violence.

 

The Labor Ministry arbitrated more than 20 labor conflicts during the year, in spite of the social truce asked for by the Government. Employees may appeal decisions made by labor inspectors to labor courts.

 

In June the Government started paying full salaries to the primary, secondary, and university teachers hired under a 1991 law that cut starting salaries to half the amounts of those hired previously. These payments put an end to a 10-year struggle of strikes and negotiations, led by the teachers' unions, against the Governments of four successive presidents.

 

On June 5, the administration of the country's 33 prisons went on strike to demand an improvement of prison guards' living and working conditions. The guards locked the prison doors during the strike; visitors were not allowed inside the prison, and prisoners were not allowed to leave for scheduled trials during the strike. The guards complained about low pay, inadequate weapons, and a lack of vehicles to transport prisoners to court for trial.

 

In 2000 the union of employees of the company Blohorn-Unilever attempted to negotiate a reduction in the substantial difference in salary between foreign workers (especially European) and those hired locally. Complaining of what workers called "Salary Apartheid," union leaders called a 72-hour strike after talks failed. The strike ended when management promised to "look into the issue;" however, no improvements were made by year's end.

 

The police intervened directly in labor disputes, sometimes arresting and intimidating parties.

 

On June 22, police officers used tear gas and beat employees at Blohorn-Unilever company in Vridi, an industrial area in Abidjan. Several employees were injured seriously, and 18 of them, including several department heads, were arrested. According to the employees, the beatings followed an incident on a bus between a Blohorn employee and a member of the mobile police squad. The management of Blohorn filed a complaint with the police station; however, no action was taken by year's end.

 

On July 17, police in Abidjan used tear gas and truncheons to disperse a demonstration by elementary school teachers, who were demanding payment of their overdue salary from the 2000-2001 school year. On August 30, the school teachers organized another march in Abidjan to demand payment before the start of the 2001-2002 school year; as of August 30, only 454 of 1,991 school teachers had received any salary for the previous school year. The Minister of Labor, Civil Service, and Administrative Reforms promised to pay them at the end of October; however, by year's end, they had not been paid, and a strike was planned for 2002.

 

There were no developments in the trial of a gendarme who had shot a striking minibus driver in November 2000.

 

Unions are free to join international bodies.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law protects persons working in the formal sector (approximately 1.5 million workers) from employer interference in their right to organize and administer unions; however, this number includes only approximately 15 percent of the workforce. The Constitution provides for collective bargaining, and the Labor Code grants all citizens, except members of the police and military services, the right to bargain collectively. Collective bargaining agreements are in effect in many major business enterprises and sectors of the civil service. In most cases in which wages are not established in direct negotiations between unions and employers, salaries are set by job categories by the Ministry of Employment and Civil Service.

 

Labor inspectors have the responsibility to enforce a law that prohibits antiunion discrimination. There have been no known prosecutions or convictions under this law, nor have there been reports of antiunion discrimination.

 

There were no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced labor or compulsory labor; however, the International Labor Organization's Committee of Experts in its 2000 annual report questioned a decree that places certain categories of prisoners at the disposal of private enterprises for work assignments without their apparent consent. Legislation exists allowing inmates to work outside of prison walls; however, because of a lack of funds to hire warden guards to supervise the inmates, the law often is not invoked. In 2000 the NGO Doctors without Borders funded a project in which inmates were hired to improve the sanitation system in their prison. Although it did not finance the project, the Government did permit the prisoners to receive a salary from the NGO for their work.

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were credible reports that it occurs.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded child labor; however, the Government did not acknowledge the problem until recently and does not enforce the prohibition effectively. Children regularly are trafficked into the country from neighboring countries and sold into forced labor on agricultural farms and plantations, where they are subject to widespread abuse.

 

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

 

In most instances, the legal minimum working age is 14; however, the Ministry of Employment and Civil Service enforces this provision effectively only in the civil service and in large multinational companies. Labor law limits the hours of young workers, defined as those under the age of 18. However, children often work on family farms, and some children routinely act as vendors, shoe shiners, errand boys, car watchers, and washers of car windows in the informal sector in cities. There are reliable reports of some use of children in "sweatshop" conditions in small workshops. Children also work in family-operated artisanal gold and diamond mines.

 

Although the Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor, it does not enforce this prohibition effectively. Children regularly are trafficked into the country from neighboring countries and sold into forced labor.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Government administratively determines monthly minimum wage rates, which last were adjusted in 1996. President Gbagbo promised an overall pay raise; however, no such raises were granted by year's end. Minimum wages vary according to occupation, with the lowest set at approximately $52 (36,607 CFA francs) per month for the industrial sector, which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. A slightly higher minimum wage rate applies for construction workers. The Government enforces the minimum wage rates only for salaried workers employed by the Government or registered with the social security office. The majority of the labor force works in agriculture or in the informal sector where the minimum wage does not apply. According to a Labor Ministry survey, workers in the agricultural and fishing sector receive an average of $1,040 (726,453 CFA francs) a year.

 

In June the Government started paying full salaries to the primary, secondary, and university teachers hired under a 1991 law that cut starting salaries to half the amounts of those hired previously.

 

Labor federations such as Dignite are working to provide some relief to workers when companies fail to meet minimum salary requirements. For example, the sanitary services company ASH continues to pay wages as low as $15.50 (12,000 CFA francs) a month to female employees who work sweeping the streets of Abidjan. According to Dignite, labor inspectors continue to ignore this clear violation of the law. The shipbuilding company Carena discriminates between European engineers who are paid $11,400 (8 million CFA francs) a month, compared with their African colleagues who receive $114 (80,000 CFA francs) a month. Government labor and employment authorities have not been able to stop the discrimination.

 

Through the Ministry of Employment and the Civil Service, the Government enforces a comprehensive Labor Code that governs the terms and conditions of service for wage earners and salaried workers and provides for occupational safety and health standards. Those employed in the formal sector generally are protected against unjust compensation, excessive hours, and arbitrary discharge from employment. The standard legal workweek is 40 hours. The law requires overtime payment on a graduated scale for additional hours. The Labor Code provides for at least one 24-hour rest period per week.

 

Government labor inspectors can order employers to improve substandard conditions, and a labor court can levy fines if the employer fails to comply with the Labor Code. However, in the large informal sector of the economy involving both urban and rural workers, the Government's occupational health and safety regulations are enforced erratically, if at all. The practice of labor inspectors accepting bribes is a growing problem, and observers believe that it is widespread. Workers in the formal sector have the right under the Labor Code to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued employment by utilizing the Ministry of Labor's inspection system to document dangerous working conditions. However, workers in the informal sector ordinarily cannot remove themselves from such labor without risking the loss of their employment.

 

Foreign workers typically are found in the informal labor sector, where labor laws do not apply.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were credible reports that it occurs; however, the Government prosecutes traffickers under existing laws against the kidnaping of children. The country is a source and destination country for women and children.

 

Women and children are trafficked to African, European, and Middle Eastern countries. Children are trafficked to the country from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Mauritania for indentured or domestic servitude, farm labor, and sexual exploitation. Women principally are trafficked to the country from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Asian countries. The extent of the problem was unknown. The country's cities and farms still provide ample opportunities for traffickers, especially of children and women. The informal labor sectors are not regulated under current labor laws, so domestics, most nonindustrial farm laborers and those who work in the country's vast network of street shops and restaurants remain outside most government protection.

 

Media reports continue to expose the widespread practice of importing and indenturing Malian boys for field work on Ivoirian farms and plantations under abusive conditions. For example, children recruited by Malians in the border town of Sikasso are promised easy and lucrative jobs in Cote d'Ivoire, transported across the border, and then sold to other Malians who disperse them throughout the farms and plantations of the central and western regions. Many are under 12 years of age, are placed in indentured servitude for $140 (100,000 CFA francs), work 12-hour days under grueling conditions for $135 to $189 (95,000 to 125,000 CFA francs) per year, and locked at night in crowded sheds, with their clothing confiscated. The Governments of Mali and Cote d'Ivoire confirmed these reports in a joint February 2000 press conference with UNICEF. The Government of Mali and UNICEF took steps to halt this trafficking and repatriate the children in Mali; more than 420 Malian children were returned to their families during the year; 300 of the repatriated children had been working on small farms. It is estimated that thousands of Malian children work on Ivoirian cocoa and coffee plantations. The number is difficult to estimate because many Malian adults also worked on Ivoirian farms and plantations in the same area under difficult conditions, and no thorough survey has been conducted; however, the international NGO Save the Children estimated that approximately 15,000 trafficked children are working on plantations in the country.

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

COTE D'IVOIRE - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard legal workweek is 40 hours. The law requires overtime payment on a graduated scale for additional hours. The Labor Code provides for at least one 24-hour rest period per week.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Cote d’Ivoire – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)