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Mozambique - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Maputo

 

CLIMATE

Tropical to subtropical climate.

 

LANGUAGES

Portuguese (official), and indigenous dialects.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Mozambique’s legal system is based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law.

 

CURRENCY

Mozambique Metical (1 USD = 23,230.0 MZM as of May 15, 2002).

 

MOZAMBIQUE - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

MOZAMBIQUE - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Maputo

Avenida Kenneth Kaunda 193

P.O. Box 783

Maputo, Mozambique

Telephone: [258] (1) 49-27-97

Fax: [258] (1) 49-04-48

http://www.usembassy-maputo.gov.mz/

 

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

1990 M Street N.W., Suite 570

Washington D.C. 20036

Telephone: (202) 293-7146

Fax: (202) 835-0245

 

MOZAMBIQUE - HOLIDAYS

 

MOZAMBIQUE - LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 60 days – 100% of pay (paid by employer).

 

MOZAMBIQUE - MINIMUM AGE

The labor law permits children between the ages of 15 and 18 to work subject to certain restrictions. Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are permitted to work under special conditions authorized jointly by the Ministries of Labor, Health, and Education. For children between 15 and 18 years of age, the employer is required to provide for their education and professional training and to ensure conditions of work that are not damaging to their physical and moral development.

 

For minors under 18 years, the maximum workweek is 38 hours, and the maximum workday is 7 hours. Minors under 18 years of age are not permitted to work in unhealthy or dangerous occupations or those requiring significant physical effort. Children must undergo a medical examination before beginning work. By law children must be paid at least the minimum wage or a minimum of two-thirds of the adult salary, whichever is higher.

 

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

 

MOZAMBIQUE - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The industrial minimum wage of 447,741 meticais per month (approximately $30) is set by ministerial decree, although the level is recommended through an administrative process that consists of a tripartite commission composed of labor unions, government representatives, and employer groups. There also is an agricultural minimum wage of 459,270 meticais per month (approximately $20), which is established through the same tripartite process.

 

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

 

MOZAMBIQUE - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution provides that all workers are free to join or refrain from joining a trade union, and workers enjoy these rights in practice. For example, a civil service union was established and registered legally during the year. Labor relations are governed by the revised Labor Law. Trade unions remained concerned that large-scale layoffs due to privatization and free trade zones created under the revised law would result in less favorable labor rights, due to government incentives offered to foreign investors. The percentage of workers belonging to labor unions was very small; it was estimated to be less than 1 percent. The majority of union members are in the larger cities where industries are located.

 

There are two trade union federations in the country: The Organization of Mozambican Workers (OTM), which formerly was affiliated with the FRELIMO party, and the Confederation of Free and Independent Unions of Mozambique (CONSILMO), which was formed by three unions that broke away from the OTM. CONSILMO is permitted to participate in national negotiations on the minimum wage with the Consultative Labor Commission, a body including representatives from labor, private employers, and Government. CONSILMO maintained a working relationship with the OTM, and includes the powerful 28,000-member Union of Industrial Construction Workers of Mozambique (SINTICIM) construction trades union, an early promoter of the rights of female workers. In August civil servants formed a new union, the Public Servants Union (SFP), which has gained recognition by the Ministry of Justice.

 

The OTM has declared itself free of commitments to any political party, companies, or religious groups, and its regulations prohibit persons holding high ranks within any political party from simultaneously holding top positions in the trade union; however, other labor unions maintain that the OTM is not independent of FRELIMO.

 

The Constitution explicitly provides for the right to strike, with the exception of civil servants, police, military personnel, and other essential services (which include sanitation, fire fighting, air traffic control, health care, water, electricity, fuel, post office, telecommunications, and funeral services). The law specifies that strikers must notify police, government, union, and employers 48 hours in advance of intended strikes.

 

In October two-thirds of the operators and maintenance workers at the MOZAL aluminum plant in Matola engaged in a walk-out, seeking to reopen negotiations for wages and benefits for their contract. After 3 weeks, the majority of workers returned to work, although 40 were fired, and disciplinary actions were applied to those who left work without permission. In August approximately 300 members of the Port and Railways Workers' Union (STPCF) engaged in a strike to gain a higher minimum wage, payment for actual hours worked, medical benefits, and paid leave. Following 2 weeks of sporadic negotiations, the strike, which was marred by incidents of vandalism and threats of dismissal, ended and workers returned to work without their demands being met.

 

In 2000 the OTM and other unions threatened a general strike following a lack of progress in resetting the minimum wage level in tripartite negotiations involving the unions, the Government, and employers' organizations (see Sections 6.b. and 6.e.). After negotiations came to a standstill, the Council of Ministers implemented a minimum wage increase of 26 percent in 2000 and agreed to an additional 4 percent increase, which was implemented in May as part of another 17 percent minimum wage increase.

 

Provisions of the Labor Law forbid retribution against strikers, the hiring of substitute workers, and lockouts by employers. Specific labor disputes generally are arbitrated through special workers' committees, formally recognized by the Government.

 

The Constitution and labor legislation give unions the right to join and participate in international bodies. The OTM is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity and the Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law protects the right of workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining. It expressly prohibits discrimination against organized labor. The Government does not set private sector salaries; existing unions are responsible for negotiating wage increases. The Consultative Commission on Labor met periodically to negotiate changes in the minimum wage. In 2000 the OTM and other unions threatened a general strike following a lack of progress in resetting the minimum wage level in tripartite negotiations involving the unions, the Government, and employers organizations (see Section 6.a.).

 

The law provides for the creation of export processing zones (EPZ's), and the Government is authorized to confer EPZ benefits to any export-oriented company that meets the criteria. In 2000 MOZAL became the first firm to produce goods in an EPZ. There was an EPZ in Maputo and one in Beira. Workers in EPZ's are subject to the same labor regulations as other workers, and worker rights are respected in practice.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor; there were no reports of such practices in the formal economy, and unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed cases of women being trafficked to South Africa for prostitution and forced labor (see Section 6.f.).

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, children in rural areas were used as labor to settle financial and other disputes, with their families delegating the children to work for limited periods of time to settle economic debts (see Sections 5 and 6.d.). The LDH continued to investigate a 2000 case involving the trafficking of a 17-year-old girl (see Section 6.f.).

 

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

 

Child labor remains a problem in the country, especially in rural areas where children sometimes work alongside their parents or independently in seasonal harvests or commercial plantations. Employers normally pay children on a piecework basis for such work, which principally involves picking cotton or tea leaves.

 

Child labor is regulated by the labor law. In the wage economy, the working age without restrictions is 18 years. The labor law permits children between the ages of 15 and 18 to work subject to certain restrictions. Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are permitted to work under special conditions authorized jointly by the Ministries of Labor, Health, and Education. For children between 15 and 18 years of age, the employer is required to provide for their education and professional training and to ensure conditions of work that are not damaging to their physical and moral development. For minors under 18 years, the maximum workweek is 38 hours, and the maximum workday is 7 hours. Minors under 18 years of age are not permitted to work in unhealthy or dangerous occupations or those requiring significant physical effort. Children must undergo a medical examination before beginning work. By law children must be paid at least the minimum wage or a minimum of two-thirds of the adult salary, whichever is higher. The Ministry of Labor regulates child labor in both the informal and formal sectors.

 

Because of high adult unemployment in the formal sector, estimated at around 50 percent, few children are employed in regular wage positions; however, children, including those under the age of 15, commonly work on family farms or in the urban informal sector, where they perform such tasks as "guarding" cars, collecting scrap metal, working as vendors, and selling trinkets and food in the streets. Regulations on the informal labor sector are not enforced. Children also are employed in domestic positions and the number appeared to be rising. In a 1999 newspaper survey, labor union representatives noted the growing presence of children in construction jobs. Child prostitution also appears to be growing, especially in the Maputo, Beira, and Nacala development corridors, which have highly mobile populations and a large number of transport workers. Child prostitution also appears to be growing in towns at major border crossings and at overnight stopping points on key transportation routes (see Section 5).

 

Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS often are forced to work because they are left without any adult family members or with only extended family members who are unable to support them.

 

Violations of child labor provisions are punishable with fines. Persons engaged in child prostitution, use of children for illicit activities, child pornography, child trafficking, or forced or bonded labor may be punished by prison sentences and fines. Labor inspectors are authorized to obtain court orders and use police to enforce compliance with child labor provisions.

 

Enforcement remedies generally are adequate in the formal sectors but remain inadequate in the regulation of informal child labor. The Labor Inspectorate and police force lack adequate staff, funds, and training to investigate child labor cases, especially in areas outside of the capital. The Government has provided training for police on child prostitution and abuse (including pornography); however, there is no specialized child labor training for the Labor Inspectorate. The Government has disseminated information and provided education about the dangers of child labor.

 

In 1999 the Government signed ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor; however, the Government had not ratified it by year's end. On July 25 and 26, the Ministry of Labor and UNICEF jointly held a conference on child labor and designed an action plan to address the worst forms of child labor through prevention, protection, and rehabilitation; however, no significant actions were taken on the action plan by year's end.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, children in rural areas were used as labor to settle financial and other disputes, with families delegating their children to work limited periods of time to settle economic debts (see Sections 5 and 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The industrial minimum wage of approximately $30 (447,741 meticais) per month is set by ministerial decree, although the level is recommended through an administrative process that consists of a tripartite commission composed of labor unions, government representatives, and employer groups. There also is an agricultural minimum wage of approximately $20 (459,270 meticais) per month, which is established through the same tripartite process. Neither minimum wage is considered sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for an average worker and family, and many workers must turn to a second job, if available, maintain their own gardens, or depend on the income of other family members to survive. Only a small percentage of laborers work at the minimum wage level. Less than 10 percent of workers are in salaried positions, and the majority of the labor force is employed in small-scale farming and the informal sector. Although the industrial sector frequently pays above minimum wage, there is little industry outside of the Maputo area. In May the Government increased both minimum wages by 17 percent following tripartite negotiations between the Government, employers, and labor unions. This included the remaining 4 percent promised in 2000 to complete that year's 30 percent minimum wage increase, which was promised following threats of a general strike by OTM and other unions.

 

The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage rates in the private sector, and the Ministry of Planning and Finance in the public sector. Violations of minimum wage rates usually are investigated only after workers register a complaint. It is customary for workers to receive benefits such as transportation and food in addition to wages. There is an obligation for workers or employers to participate in a social security scheme, although they voluntarily may create and contribute to private accounts or plans with the National Institute of Social Security to cover retirement, unemployment compensation, and emergency benefits. Worker complaints about employers deducting social security contributions from wages but failing to pay them into accounts grew. During the year, many workers were unable to claim unemployment benefits. Workers who previously had labored in East Germany have requested sums that were set aside from their wages to serve as pensions at a later date. The German Government provided these funds to a civil servant who was accused of embezzling the money. The Government claimed that it could not reimburse the workers. In August and September, hundreds of persons who had worked in East Germany held demonstrations in front of the Ministry of Labor (see Section 2.b.). In December they protested in front of the National Assembly building; police violently dispersed demonstrators, injuring two persons (see Section 2.b.). The Council of Ministers instructed the Ministries of Planning and Finance and of Labor to continue a dialog with the workers regarding the reimbursement problem. The National Assembly briefly debated this matter on December 6 and is scheduled to reconvene discussion on the issue during its next session that begins in March 2002.

 

The standard legal workweek is 44 hours, with a weekly 24-hour rest period.

 

In the small formal sector, the Government has enacted health and environmental laws to protect workers; however, the Ministry of Labor enforces these laws ineffectively, and the Government only occasionally has closed firms for noncompliance. The Labor Ministry estimated that there were more than 500 industrial accidents during the year, with between 20 and 30 deaths. Most of these accidents were blamed on unsafe practices or the lack of safety equipment. There continued to be significant violations of labor legislation in many companies and services. Workers have the right to remove themselves from work situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to their continued employment, although this right was restricted in practice by threats of dismissal and peer pressure. Although foreign workers are protected under this law, they also are constrained in exercising this right in practice for the same reasons.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

There are no specific laws that prohibit trafficking in persons, although trafficking can be addressed under labor, immigration, and child welfare laws; the country does not have a significant problem with trafficking in persons, but it may be a country of origin for a small number of trafficked persons.

 

Many citizens working illegally in South Africa and Swaziland are subject to abuses there. There were unconfirmed reports of trafficking during the year. Children's advocates reported that there are indications that a small number of children are trafficked to South Africa and Swaziland for prostitution; however, there were no confirmed cases during the year.

 

MOZAMBIQUE - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard legal workweek is 44 hours, with a weekly 24-hour rest period.

 

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