Generate/ERILOGO1.gif About ERI Disclaimer

Eritrea - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Asmara

 

CLIMATE

The climate varies from a hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast to cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually), and semiarid in western hills and lowlands. Rainfall is heaviest during June through September except in the coastal desert.

 

LANGUAGES

Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, and other Cushitic languages.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Eritrea’s legal system operates on the basis of transitional laws that incorporate pre-independence statutes of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, revised Ethiopian laws, customary laws, and post independence enacted laws.

 

CURRENCY

Nakfa (1 USD = 13.55 ERN as of March 31, 2002).

 

ERITREA - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

ERITREA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Asmara

Franklin D. Roosevelt St.

P.O. Box 211

Asmara, Eritrea

Telephone: [291] (1) 120004

Fax: [291] (1) 127584

 

Embassy of Eritrea at Washington D.C.

1708 New Hampshire Ave N.W.

Washington D.C. 20009

Telephone: (202) 319-1991

Fax: (202) 319-1304

 

ERITREA - HOLIDAYS

ERITREA - MINIMUM AGE

The legal minimum age for employment is 18 years, although apprentices may be hired at age 14. The law also prohibits apprentices under 18 years of age from performing certain dangerous and abusive labor, such as working in mines or sewers.

 

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

 

ERITREA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

There are two systems that regulate employment conditions--the civil service system and the labor law system. There is no legally mandated minimum wage in the private sector. In the civil service sector, wages vary from 320 to 3,800 Nakfa (approximately $24 to $288) per month, with factory workers in government-owned enterprises earning the highest wages. The minimum wage in the civil service sector does not provide the average worker and family with a decent standard of living.

 

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

 

ERITREA - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Some government policies restrict free association or prevent the formation of unions, including within the civil service, the military, the police, and other essential services. The Ministry of Labor must grant special approval for groups of 20 or fewer persons seeking to form a union. There were no reports that the Government opposed the formation of any labor associations during the year.

 

Proclamation 8 provides workers with the legal right to form unions and to strike to protect their interests. The National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW), which was part of the EPLF during the war, maintains a close affiliation with the Government, and its leadership consists of high-ranking PFDJ members. The NCEW represents more than 25,000 workers from 250 unions and receives some assistance from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and foreign labor organizations. The largest union within the NCEW is the Textile, Leather, and Shoe Federation. There were no strikes reported during the year.

 

Unions may affiliate internationally, and all five workers' federations within the NCEW maintained affiliations with international unions during the year.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Under the new labor code, which was ratified on November 15, a tripartite board composed of workers, employers, and Ministry of Labor officials is required to resolve differences. Under the labor law in force during the year, disputes were taken to court. During the year, the NCEW brought 54 cases to court, while an additional 17 NCEW cases remained pending. By August, 20 of the 71 cases were settled through agreements between the parties, 11 were settled through the Ministry of Labor, and 3 were adjudicated.

 

There are no export processing zones. A free trade zone, which included the ports of Massawa and Assab, was being established at year's end.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were unconfirmed reports that it occurred during the year. All citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 are required to participate in the National Service Program, which includes military training as well as civic action programs. In addition some national service inductees have been released back to their civilian jobs, while nominally kept in the military, because their skills are deemed critical to the functioning of the Government or the economy. These individuals are required to forfeit to the Government earnings in excess of the national service salary and also are required to perform farm labor. High school students also are required to participate in a paid summer work program.

 

Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that Ethiopian civilian detainees were forced to perform paid farm labor and road repair.

 

During the year, the Government announced that university students were required to participate in a paid summer work program for 1 month or would be ineligible to continue their studies. This requirement was first imposed on university students in 1999 but suspended in 2000 because of the war. The students objected to the work program, in part because many students must work during the summer to earn the money needed for their academic and living costs, which are approximately $200-$300 (2,700-41,000 Nakfa) per year. The students objected that the Government's payment of approximately $78 (1,050 Nafka), out of which the students would have to pay their food, lodging, travel, and other expenses, was insufficient. The Government arrested the president of the Asmara University Students' Association because of his opposition to this policy, and many students who opposed the work program. The Government required others to report for the program. The students were later sent to coastal areas to perform road work under conditions of extreme heat.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor by children, and there were no reports that it occurred.

 

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

 

The legal minimum age for employment is 18 years, although apprentices may be hired at age 14. The law also prohibits apprentices under 18 years of age from performing certain dangerous and abusive labor, such as working in mines or sewers. Labor inspectors in the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare are responsible for the enforcement of laws pertaining to the employment of children; however, due to the small number of inspectors, inspections are infrequent. According to the Ministry of Education, only 37 to 38 percent of children attend school due, in part, to a shortage of schools and teachers. It is common for rural children who do not attend classes to work on family farms, fetching firewood and water, and herding livestock among other activities. In urban areas, some children work as street vendors of cigarettes, newspapers, or chewing gum. Children also work as child-minders, traders, and in small-scale manufacturing. There were reports that the Government inadvertently employed children under the age of 18 as soldiers.

 

The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or bonded labor, including that performed by children, and there were no reports that it occurred.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

There are two systems that regulate employment conditions--the civil service system and the labor law system. There is no legally mandated minimum wage in the private sector. In the civil service sector, wages vary from $24 to $288 (320 to 3,800 Nakfa) per month, with factory workers in government-owned enterprises earning the highest wages. The minimum wage in the civil service sector does not provide the average worker and family with a decent standard of living.

 

The standard workweek is 44 1/2 hours, but many persons work fewer hours. Under the Labor Law, workers are entitled to one day of rest per week, and most workers are allowed 1 to 1 1/2 days off per week. The Government has instituted occupational health and safety standards, but inspection and enforcement vary widely among factories. Workers are permitted to remove themselves from dangerous work sites without retaliation.

 

Foreign and Eritrean workers are treated equally under the law.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that such trafficking occurred to, from, or within the country.

 

ERITREA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

ERITREA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard workweek is 44 1/2 hours, but many persons work fewer hours. Under the Labor Law, workers are entitled to one day of rest per week, and most workers are allowed 1 to 1 1/2 days off per week.

 

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