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Cuba - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Havana

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate moderated by trade winds. Cuba has dry a season (November to April) and a rainy season (May to October).

 

LANGUAGES

Spanish

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

The Cuban legal system is based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory. Cuba does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Cuba Pesos (1 USD = 2.34800 CUP as of April 15, 2002)

 

CUBA - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

CUBA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

The United States does not maintain an embassy in Cuba. U.S. citizens who travel to Cuba may contact and register with the Swiss Embassy. Note: Travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens is restricted. For more information visit: http://travel.state.gov/cuba.html.

 

Embassy of Switzerland at Cuba

U.S. Interests Section

Calzada (between L and M streets)

Vedado, Havana

Cuba

Telephone: [53] (7) 33-3551

Fax: [53] (7) 33-3869

Email: InfoUnitHavana@state.gov

http://usembassy.state.gov/

 

Cuba does not maintain an embassy in the United States. Cuba does maintain an office in the Swiss Embassy in Washington.

 

Embassy of Switzerland at Washington, D.C.

Cuban Interests Section

2630 16th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20009

Telephone: (202) 797-8518

 

CUBA - HOLIDAYS

 

CUBA - LEAVE

Maternity Leave: One year – 100% of pay (paid by social security).

 

CUBA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The legal minimum working age is 17 years. However, the Labor Code permitted the employment of 15- and 16-year-old children to obtain training or to fill labor shortages.

 

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

 

CUBA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The State Committee for Work and Social Security (CETSS) sets the minimum wage, which varies by occupation.

For example, the minimum monthly wage:

 

The Government supplements the minimum wage with free education, subsidized medical care (daily pay is reduced by 40 percent after the third day of being admitted to a hospital), housing, and some food (this subsidized food is enough for about 1 week per month). However, even with these subsidies, the minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

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

 

CUBA - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution gives priority to state or collective needs over individual choices regarding free association or provision of employment. The demands of the economy and society take precedence over individual workers' preferences. The law prohibits strikes; none were known to have occurred. Established official labor organizations have a mobilization function and do not act as trade unions, promote worker rights, or protect the right to strike. Such organizations are under the control of the State and the Communist Party, which also manage the enterprises for which the laborers work.

 

The Communist Party selects the leaders of the sole legal labor confederation, the Confederation of Cuban Workers, whose principal responsibility is to ensure that government production goals are met. Despite disclaimers in international forums, the Government explicitly prohibits independent unions and none are recognized. There has been no change in conditions since the 1992 International Labor Organization (ILO) finding that the Government violated ILO norms on the freedom of association and the right to organize. Those who attempted to engage in unofficial union activities faced government harassment.

 

Workers may lose, and many have lost their jobs for their political beliefs, including their refusal to join the official union. Several small independent labor organizations have been created but function without legal recognition and were unable to represent workers effectively or work on their behalf. The Government actively harassed these organizations. On January 26, the Government released Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, the secretary general of the Council of Cuban Workers (CUTC), without charging him; he had been arrested in October 2000. On February 3, Jordanis Rivas Hernandez and Cecilia Chavez Gonzalez, both workers in an agroindustrial plant in the province of Villa Clara, reportedly were expelled for "lack of confidence," a reference to their involvement in independent labor movements (see Section 1.f.). On June 8, independent labor activist Jose Orlando Gonzalez Bridon of the Confederation of Democratic Workers of Cuba was sentenced to 2 years in jail (see Section 1.e.); he was released after serving

1 year, including pretrial detention. On July 23, police briefly detained Nestor Gonzalez Penton, a member of the Confederation of Democratic Workers of Cuba in Santa Clara. During his interrogation, Gonzalez was told that if he did not find work soon he would be incarcerated for "dangerousness." Most political dissidents lose their jobs and remain unemployed; the only work they are offered is cleaning streets. On September 3, the first national conference of the Confederation of Independent Workers was held in the house of independent journalist Aleida Godinez Soler. Fourteen of the 30 delegates arrived before security forces began telling persons to leave, and 2 persons were detained and released the same day. In the document "the Declaration of September," the members affirmed their commitment to criticize labor violations and to work with workers arbitrarily dismissed from their jobs for political reasons.

 

The CTC is a member of the Communist, formerly Soviet-dominated World Federation of Trade Unions.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Collective bargaining does not exist. The State Committee for Work and Social Security (CETSS) sets wages and salaries for the state sector, which is almost the only employer in the country. Because all legal unions are government entities, antiunion discrimination by definition does not exist.

 

The 1995 Foreign Investment Law denies workers the right to contract directly with foreign companies investing in the country without special government permission. Although a few firms have managed to negotiate exceptions, the Government requires foreign investors to contract workers through state employment agencies, which are paid in foreign currency and, in turn, pay workers very low wages in pesos. Typically workers received 5 percent of the salary paid by the companies to the state. Workers subcontracted by state employment agencies must meet certain political qualifications. According to Minister of Basic Industry Marcos Portal, the state employment agencies consult with the Party, the CTC, and the Union of Communist Youth to ensure that the workers chosen "deserve" to work in a joint enterprise.

 

There were no functioning export processing zones, although the law authorizes the establishment of free trade zones and industrial parks.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

Neither the Constitution nor the Labor Code prohibits forced labor. The Government maintained correctional centers where it sent persons for crimes such as dangerousness. Prisoners held there were forced to work on farms or building sites; for example, doing construction, agricultural work, or metal working. The authorities often imprisoned internees who did not cooperate.

 

The Government employs special groups of workers, known as "microbrigades," who are reassigned temporarily from their usual jobs to work on special building projects. These microbrigades increasingly have become important in the Government's efforts to complete tourist and other priority projects. Workers who refused to volunteer for these jobs often risked discrimination or job loss. Microbrigade workers reportedly received priority consideration for housing assignments. The military assigns some conscripts to the Youth Labor Army, where they serve a 2-year military service requirement working on farms that supply both the armed forces and the civilian population.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, the Government required children to work without compensation. All students over age 11 were expected to devote 30 to 45 days of their summer vacation to farm work, laboring up to 8 hours per day. The Ministry of Agriculture used "voluntary labor" by student work brigades extensively in the farming sector.

 

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

 

The legal minimum working age is 17 years. However, the Labor Code permitted the employment of 15- and 16-year-old children to obtain training or to fill labor shortages. The Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor; however, it strongly encouraged children to work without compensation. According to school rules, refusal to do agricultural work could affect the student's ability to continue studying at the institution.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The CETSS sets the minimum wage, which varies by occupation. For example, the minimum monthly wage for a maid is $8.25 (165 pesos); for a bilingual office clerk, $9.50 (190 pesos); and for a gardener $10.75 (216 pesos). The Government supplements the minimum wage with free education, subsidized medical care (daily pay is reduced by 40 percent after the third day of being admitted to a hospital), housing, and some food (this subsidized food is enough for about 1 week per month). However, even with these subsidies, the minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Corruption and black market activities were pervasive. The Government rations most basic necessities such as food, medicine, clothing, and cooking gas, which were in very short supply.

 

The Government requires foreign companies in joint ventures with state entities to hire and pay workers through the State. Human Rights Watch noted that the required reliance on state-controlled employment agencies effectively leaves workers without any capacity directly to negotiate wages, benefits, the basis of promotions, and the length of the workers' trial period at the job with the employer. Foreign companies pay the Government as much as $500 to $600 per worker per month while the workers in turn receive only a small fraction of that in pesos from the Government.

 

The standard workweek is 44 hours, with shorter workweeks in hazardous occupations, such as mining. The Government reduced the workday in some government offices and state enterprises to save energy.

 

Workplace environmental and safety controls usually were inadequate, and the Government lacked effective enforcement mechanisms. Industrial accidents apparently were frequent, but the Government suppressed such reports. The Labor Code establishes that a worker who considers his life in danger because of hazardous conditions has the right not to work in his position or not to engage in specific activities until such risks are eliminated. According to the Labor Code, the worker remains obligated to work temporarily in whatever other position may be assigned him at a salary provided for under the law.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The Penal Code prohibits trafficking in persons through or from the country and provides for penalties for violations, including a term of 7 to 15 years' imprisonment for organizing or cooperating in alien smuggling through the country; 10 to 20 years' imprisonment for entering the country to smuggle persons out of the country; and 20 years to life in prison for using violence, causing harm or death, or putting lives in danger in engaging in such smuggling. These provisions were directed primarily at persons engaging in organized smuggling of would-be emigrants. In addition the revised code made it illegal to promote or organize the entrance of persons into or the exit of persons from the country for the purpose of prostitution; violators are subject to 20 to 30 years' imprisonment.

 

There were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country for the purpose of providing forced labor or services.

 

CUBA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

CUBA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard workweek is 44 hours, with shorter workweeks in hazardous occupations, such as mining.

 

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