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Senegal - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Dakar

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate; hot, and humid with a rainy season from May to November; strong southeast winds; and a dry season from December to April that is dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind.

 

LANGUAGES

French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, and Mandinka.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Senegal’s legal system is based on French civil law system with judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court. The Council of State audits the government's accounting office. Senegal has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (1 USD = 722.790 XOF as of May 15, 2002).

Note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States.

 

SENEGAL - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

SENEGAL - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Dakar

B.P. 49

Avenue Jean XXIII, angle Rue Kleber

Dakar, Senegal

Telephone: [221] 823-4296

Fax: [221] 822-2991

http://usembassy.state.gov/dakar/

 

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

2112 Wyoming Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 234-0540

 

SENEGAL - HOLIDAYS

 

SENEGAL – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum one month annual leave.

 

Maternity Leave: 14 weeks – 100% of pay (paid by social security).

 

SENEGAL - MINIMUM AGE

Under the law, the minimum age for employment is 16 years for apprenticeships and 18 years for all other types of work.

 

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

 

SENEGAL - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The minimum wage is 223.7 CFA francs per hour (approximately $0.37). The law mandates a monthly minimum wage, and the Ministries of Labor and Finance determine wage rates after negotiating with the unions and management councils.

 

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

 

SENEGAL - REMUNERATION

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

 

SENEGAL - 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 provide all workers with the right of association, and they are free to form or join unions; however, the Labor Code requires the Minister of the Interior to give prior authorization before a trade union can exist legally.

 

The International Labor Organization (ILO) continued to call on the Government to ensure that trade unions are not subject to dissolution by administrative authority and to amend the law, which accords power to the Minister to approve the formation of unions. Any group of workers in the same occupation, similar trades, or the same professions may form a union. The Government may disband a union if its activities deviate from its charter. The Labor Code does not apply to the informal and agricultural sectors where most persons work.

 

Although they represent a small percentage of the working population, unions wield significant political influence because of their ability to disrupt vital sectors of the economy. The small industrial component of the total work force of 4 million was almost totally unionized. The only union in the agrarian sector was one representing workers at a privately owned sugar company. Some farmers were organized into the National Farming Association, an advocacy organization.

 

The National Confederation of Senegalese Workers (CNTS), the largest union organization, had close ties to the Socialist Party. While ostensibly an independent organization, the umbrella CNTS consistently supported government policies during the Diouf administration.

 

The rival to the CNTS is the National Union of Autonomous Labor Unions of Senegal (UNSAS). The UNSAS is a federation of strategically important unions such as those formed by electrical workers, telecommunication workers, teachers, water technicians, and hospital, railroad, and sugar workers.

 

The Constitution and the Labor Code provide for the right to strike, but with restrictions. Unions representing members of the civil service must notify the Government of their intent to strike no less than 1 month in advance, and private sector unions must make a similar notification 3 days in advance. The Government or the employer can use the time to seek a settlement to the dispute through mediation, which usually is provided by the Ministry of Labor; however, the Government or employer cannot stop the strike. Under the Constitution approved in January, the right to strike may not imperil the companies involved; however, this provision was not tested by year's end.

 

There were no illegal strikes during the year.

 

The Labor Code permits unions to affiliate with international bodies. The CNTS is active in regional and international labor organizations and was the dominant Senegalese member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law provides unions with the right to organize and to bargain collectively, and these rights were protected in practice. There also were legal prohibitions governing discrimination by employers against union members and organizers. Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are required to reinstate workers. There were no known instances in which workers were prevented from exercising the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) can intervene in disputes between labor and management if requested, and it plays a mediation role in the private and state enterprise sectors.

 

Labor laws apply to all industrial firms including those in the Dakar industrial free trade zone.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.

 

The Constitution prohibits child labor of all kinds, including forced and bonded labor, and the Government enforced this ban in the formal sector (see Section 6.d.). There were no reports that forced and bonded labor by children took place in the informal or agricultural sectors.

 

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

 

The Constitution bans child labor of all kinds, and the Government enforced this ban in the formal sector, which was under the purview of the labor law. However, instead of attending school, many children worked in their family's fields.

 

In 1998 the country began a 3-year program of action to eliminate child labor, the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). The program was scheduled for completion in December; however, it received additional funding, which allowed it to continue to operate for 2 more years. Under the law, the minimum age for employment is 16 years for apprenticeships and 18 years for all other types of work. Inspectors from the MOL closely monitor and enforce minimum age restrictions within the small formal wage sector, which includes state-owned corporations, large private enterprises, and cooperatives. However, children under the minimum age frequently work in the much larger traditional or informal sectors, such as family farms in rural areas or in small businesses, where the Government does not enforce minimum age and other workplace regulations.

 

The Constitution prohibits child labor of all kinds, including forced and bonded labor, and there was no evidence that forced and bonded child labor takes place in the informal or agricultural sectors (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The law mandates a monthly minimum wage, and the Ministries of Labor and Finance determined wage rates after negotiating with the unions and management councils. The minimum wage of $0.37 (223.7 CFA francs) per hour does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

Within the formal sector, the law mandates a standard workweek of 40 to 48 hours for most occupations, with at least one 24-hour rest period and 1 month per year of annual leave; enrollment in government systems for social security and retirement; safety standards; and a variety of other measures. These regulations are incorporated into the Labor Code and are supervised by inspectors from the MOL. However, enforcement is uneven, especially outside the formal sector.

 

There is no explicit legal protection for workers who file complaints about unsafe conditions. While there are legal regulations concerning workplace safety, government officials often do not enforce them. In theory workers have the right to remove themselves from unsafe working conditions, but in practice the right seldom was exercised because of high unemployment and a slow legal system.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, there were occasional reports that women were trafficked during the year.

 

SENEGAL - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

SENEGAL - STANDARD WORKWEEK

Within the formal sector, the law mandates a standard workweek of 40 to 48 hours for most occupations, with at least one 24-hour rest period and 1 month per year of annual leave.

 

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