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Malawi - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Lilongwe

 

CLIMATE

A sub-tropical climate exists in Malawi; with a rainy season (November to May), and a dry season (May to November).

 

LANGUAGES

English (official), Chichewa (official), and other languages important regionally.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Malawi’s legal system is based on English common law and customary law with judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal. Malawi has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Malawian Kwacha (1 USD = 78.27200 MWK as of May 1, 2002).

 

MALAWI - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

MALAWI - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Lilongwe

Area 40, Plot 24

Kenyatta Road

Lilongwe 3, Malawi

P.O. Box 30016

Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Telephone: [265] 773-166

Fax: [265] 770-471

 

Embassy of Malawi at Washington D.C.

2408 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 797-1007

 

MALAWI - HOLIDAYS

 

MALAWI - MINIMUM AGE

The Constitution defines children as persons under 16 years of age, and the law prohibits the employment of persons less than 14 years of age. It also prohibits the employment of children less than 18 years of age in work that is hazardous, harmful, or interferes with their education.

 

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

 

MALAWI - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The urban minimum wage amounts to MK 55 per day (approximately $0.89); in all other areas, it is MK 40.70 per day (approximately $0.66).

 

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

 

MALAWI - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The law governs labor-management relations. Workers have the legal right to form and join trade unions; however, union membership is low due to the small percentage of the work force in the formal sector, the lack of awareness of worker rights and benefits, and a resistance on the part of many employees to join unions. Army personnel and police may not belong to trade unions, but other civil servants are allowed to form unions. Union leaders estimate that 15 percent of the formal sector workforce belong to unions; however, accurate statistics on the numbers of union members are not available. Trade union rights have existed for 8 years, and labor relations still are evolving. Employers, labor unions, and the Government lack sufficient knowledge of their legitimate roles in labor relations and disputes, which limits the effectiveness in the implementation and enforcement of the law.

 

Unions must register with the Registrar of Trade Unions and Employers' Organizations in the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MOLVT). At year's end, 22 unions were registered. There are no unusually difficult registration procedures. Unions are independent of the Government, parties, and other political forces.

 

The law allows members of a registered union to strike or go through a formal mediation process overseen by the MOLVT. A registered union must attempt to resolve the issue through mediation. A strike can only occur after all dispute settlement procedures established in a collective agreement (an understanding, not necessarily signed, reached by both parties to attempt mediation) and conciliation procedures have failed. The law requires a notice in writing to the employer and the MOLVT at least 7 days before a strike. The law also forbids the temporary replacement of labor and allows peaceful picketing during strikes. Members of a registered union in "essential services" only have a limited right to strike. Essential services are specified as services whose interruption would endanger the life, health, or personal safety of the whole or part of the population; they are determined by the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) upon application by the Minister of Labor. The law provides similar procedures for lockouts. Laws do not prohibit specifically retaliation against strikers. There is no prohibition on actions against unions that are not registered legally. Arbitration rulings are enforceable legally. However, due to the lack of funding and 2-year case backlog, the IRC cannot monitor cases and enforce the laws in practice adequately.

 

In March the support staff at the University of Malawi went on strike because they argued that the 40 percent wage increase that was approved by university management was insufficient. The University initially refused to negotiate with the strikers and asked the High Court to declare the strike illegal. The High Court refused to hear the case stating that the IRC had jurisdiction. The University did not refile the case with the IRC; however, the University negotiated the acceptance of the 40 percent increase with the leaders of the support staff by year's end.

 

In September medical workers from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre went on strike after the hospital failed to grant salary increases that it promised to begin in July. The hospital negotiated an initial settlement for a risk premium increase, but the case still was pending Ministry of Labor approval at year's end. Due to the limited right to strike for essential services unions, the 28 leaders of the strike were suspended and restricted from travel outside the country pending prosecution for endangering the health and welfare of patients. Their cases were awaiting action at year's end.

 

In October teachers began a series of sporadic strikes and nonwork actions because of the differences between rural and urban salaries and benefits (see Section 6.e.). Although there were indications of progress, no formal settlement was announced by year's end. There were reports that up to 50,000 teachers participated in the strikes in the rural areas.

 

Unions may form or join federations and have the right to affiliate with and participate in international workers' organizations, with the permission of the Government. There are no restrictions on the number of union federations. There are two federations in the country: The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), with 19 affiliates; and the Congress of Malawi Trade Unions (COMATU), with 3 affiliates.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Unions have the right to organize and bargain collectively. The law requires that at least 20 percent of employees (excluding senior managerial staff) belong to a union before such a union can engage in collective bargaining at the enterprise level. The law requires at least 15 percent union membership for collective bargaining at the sector level. The law provides for the establishment of industrial councils in the absence of collective agreements for sector-level bargaining. Industrial council functions include wage negotiation, dispute resolution, and industry-specific labor policy development. The law is not implemented effectively in practice due to the lack of sufficient knowledge of the law by employers, trade unions, and government officials (see Section 6.a.). Collective agreements are binding legally, and both parties must deposit them with the Registrar of Trade Unions.

 

The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers and requires that employers reinstate workers dismissed because of union activities.

 

At year's end, 20 firms held licenses to operate under export processing zone (EPZ) status, and all were operational. The full range of labor regulations applies to the EPZ's.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there are allegations that some large agricultural estates engage in the practice.

 

The Government does not prohibit specifically forced and bonded labor by children, and one local NGO reported that in urban areas, it is not uncommon to find young girls working outside of their family as domestic servants, receiving little or no wages, and existing in a state of indentured servitude (see Section 6.d.).

 

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

 

The Constitution defines children as persons under 16 years of age, and the law prohibits the employment of persons less than 14 years of age. It also prohibits the employment of children less than 18 years of age in work that is hazardous, harmful, or interferes with their education. Significant child labor in agricultural work and domestic service occurs largely as a result of extreme poverty and long-standing cultural traditions. Budgetary constraints largely preclude minimum work age and child labor law enforcement by police and MOLVT inspectors. There is significant child labor on tobacco and tea farms, subsistence farms, and in domestic service. There is no special legal restriction on children's work hours.

 

In 2000 the Ministry of Labor began a 12-month International Labor Organization (ILO) funded study to establish the magnitude of child labor and to use the results as a basis for drafting an action plan to implement ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor. During the year, the MOLVT conducted a pilot study and trained evaluators for the full study, which is scheduled to begin in April 2002.

 

The law does not prohibit forced and bonded labor by children specifically, and there was at least one report that it occurred (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The MOLVT sets separate urban and rural minimum wage rates based on recommendations of the Tripartite Wage Advisory Board (TWAB) composed of representatives of labor, government, and the private sector. However, the TWAB has encountered problems due to inefficient organizational structure and inadequate funding, which hindered timely and accurate revision of the wage rate recommendations. The urban minimum wage amounts to approximately $0.89 (MK 55) per day; in all other areas, it is roughly $0.66 (MK 40.70) per day. Although minimum wage rates were raised in December 2000, they do not provide a worker and family with a decent standard of living. Wage earners tend to supplement their incomes through farming activities. The MOLVT lacks the resources to enforce the minimum wage effectively. However, the minimum wage largely is irrelevant for the great majority of citizens, who earn their livelihood outside the formal wage sector.

 

The maximum legal workweek is 48 hours, with a mandatory weekly 24-hour rest period. The laws require payment for overtime work and prohibit compulsory overtime. In practice employers frequently violate statutory time restrictions.

 

The law includes extensive occupational health and safety standards. Enforcement of these standards by the MOLVT is erratic. Workers--particularly in industrial jobs--often work without basic safety clothing and equipment. Workers dismissed for filing complaints about workplace conditions have the right to file a complaint at the labor office or sue the employer for wrongful dismissal. Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued employment. However, given the low level of education of most workers and the high level of unemployment, they are unlikely to exercise this right.

 

Mechanisms for protecting internationally recognized worker rights are weak. There are serious manpower shortages at the Ministry of Labor; as a result, there are almost no labor standards inspections.

 

The law protects foreign workers in correct legal status. Illegal foreign workers are subject to deportation.

 

According to the Government "policy statement and new guidelines" for the issuance and renewal of employment permits (the temporary employment permit or "TEP"), foreign investors may employ foreign personnel in areas where there is a shortage of "suitable and qualified" citizens. The guidelines also mandated that processing times for TEP applications shall not exceed 40 working days. Although the TEP program appears to function smoothly, the press has reported delays in application processing for at least one major company.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons specifically; however, the Penal Code contains several provisions relating to prostitution and indecency that could be used to prosecute traffickers, and there are indications, although not well documented, that some trafficking of women and girls does occur. It is believed that Malawian women are trafficked to South Africa. For example, in March a local newspaper reported that several young women were stranded in brothels in South Africa after being lured by false job offers. Despite a number of press reports, there was no indication of any police investigation of trafficking cases during the year. In 1999 a Malawian woman was tried and acquitted of luring three young women to the Netherlands and subsequently forcing them into prostitution.

 

The extent of the trafficking problem is undocumented, and neither the Government nor NGO's have viewed it as a problem; however, during the year, increasing media and NGO attention was devoted to the problem. The police and the Ministry of Gender, Youth, and Community Services handle any cases that arise.

 

In October a bill was introduced in the National Assembly, which proposed 14-year sentences for anyone convicted of promoting, managing, or transporting any person into or out of the country with the purpose of engaging that person in prostitution. The National Assembly is expected to vote on this bill during the 2002 session.

 

There is no government funding for NGO services to victims of trafficking, and there is no training for government officials on how to provide assistance to trafficking victims.

 

MALAWI - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

MALAWI - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The maximum legal workweek is 48 hours, with a mandatory weekly 24-hour rest period. The laws require payment for overtime work and prohibit compulsory overtime.

 

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