About
ERI DisclaimerSudan - Compensation & Benefit Legislation
CAPITAL
Khartoum
CLIMATE
Tropical climate in the south and an arid desert climate in the north with a rainy season from April to October.
LANGUAGES
Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, and English.
LEGAL SYSTEM
Sudan’s legal system is based on English common law and Islamic law. As of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states. Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion. Sudan has some separate religious courts and accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations.
CURRENCY
Sudanese Dinar (1 USD = 256.000 SDD as of June 1, 2002).
SUDAN - COST-OF-LIVING
ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.
SUDAN - EMBASSY/CONSULATES
U.S. officials at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum were moved for security reasons in February 1996 and have been relocated to the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make periodic visits to Khartoum.
U.S. Embassy at Khartoum
Sharia Ali Abdul Latif
P.O. Box 699
APO AE 09829
Telephone: [249] (11) 77-46-11
Fax: [249] (11) 77-41-37
http://www.state.gov/
U. S. Embassy at Nairobi (Kenya)
Mombasa Road
P.O. Box 30137
Unit 64100
APO AE 09831
Nairobi, Kenya
Telephone: [254] (2) 537-800
Fax: [254] (2) 537-810
http://usembassy.state.gov/nairobi/
U. S. Embassy at Cairo (Egypt)
5 Latin America Street
Garden City Cairo
Egypt
APO AE 09839-4900
Cairo, Egypt
Telephone: [20] (2) 797-3300
Fax: [20] (2) 797-3200
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan at Washington D.C.
2210 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008
Telephone: (202) 338-8565
Fax: (202) 667-2406
Email: info@sudanembassyus.org
http://www.sudanembassyus.org/
SUDAN - HOLIDAYS
Independence Day (January 1)
Eid al-Adha
National Unity Day (March 3)
Islamic New Year
May Revolution Anniversary (May 25)
Revolution Day (June 30)
Prophet's Birthday
Eid al-Fitr
Christmas (December 25)
SUDAN – LEAVE
Maternity Leave: Eight weeks – 100% of pay (paid by employer).
SUDAN - MINIMUM AGE
The legal minimum age for workers is 18 years.
(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Sudan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)
SUDAN - MINIMUM REMUNERATION
The legislated minimum wage is enforced by the Ministry of Labor, which maintains field offices in most major cities. Employers generally respect the minimum wage. Workers who are denied the minimum wage may file a grievance with the local Ministry of Labor field office, which then is required to investigate and take appropriate action if there has been a violation of the law. In January 1999, the minimum wage theoretically was raised from 24,000 Sudanese pounds per month (approximately $9) to 3,000 Sudanese dinars or 30,000 Sudanese pounds per month (approximately $11); however, most government offices continue to pay the old rate.
(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Sudan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)
SUDAN - REMUNERATION
ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.
SUDAN - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides for the right of association for trade unions; however, the RCC abolished the pre-1989 labor unions, closed union offices, froze union assets, forbade strikes, and prescribed severe punishments, including the death penalty, for violations of its labor decrees, and there is a continuing ban under the emergency decree on labor unions not sanctioned by the Government. The threat of worker unrest was a strong motivation for the Government's extension of the emergency decree in December. The government-controlled Sudan Workers' Trade Union Federation (SWTUF) functioned during the year; all other unions are banned. The Government dismissed many labor leaders from their jobs or detained them, although all of those arrested during the year were freed by year's end. Approximately 95,000 trade union members reportedly were dismissed from their jobs by the Government during purges of the civil service in the 1990's.
The SWTUF is the leading blue-collar labor organization with approximately 800,000 members and a leadership that is government-approved.
In April the employees of the Islamic bank in Khartoum went on strike after salary negotiations with management broke down to protest against the dismissal of various employees, some of whom were trade union members because of their union activities. The bank management declared the strike illegal and hired new employees to replace the striking workers.
There were some teacher strikes in 2000, some lasting several months, to protest the government's failure to pay salaries. During some of the strikes, police and security forces used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators; the security forces killed several persons, and detained and beat numerous individuals (see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.). No action was taken against the responsible members of the security forces.
The Government continued to dismiss summarily military personnel as well as civilian government employees whose loyalty it considered suspect. The government committee set up in 1995 to review cases of persons summarily dismissed since the 1989 coup continued to function in theory; however, it has released no results since May 1996.
Unions remained free to form federations and affiliate with international bodies, such as the African Workers' Union and the Arab Workers' Union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
A 1989 RCC government decree temporarily suspended the right to organize and bargain collectively. Although these rights were restored to labor organizing committees in 1996, government control of the steering committees meant in practice that the Government dominates the process of setting wages and working conditions. The continued absence of labor legislation allowing for union meetings, the filing of grievances, and other union activity greatly reduced the value of these formal rights. There were credible reports that the Government intervenes routinely to manipulate professional and trade union elections in favor of its own supporters. The Constitution provides for the right of organization for economic or trade union purposes; however, the emergency decree continued to supercede the constitutional provisions. Although local union officials have raised some grievances with employers, few carried them to the Government.
A tripartite committee comprising representatives of the Government, the SWTUF, and business sets wages. Specialized labor courts adjudicate standard labor disputes; however, the Ministry of Labor has the authority to refer a dispute to compulsory arbitration. A labor code was implemented in December 2000 that reinforces government control.
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers.
In 1993 the Government created two export processing zones (EPZ's); it later established a third at Khartoum International Airport. In 2000 only the EPZ at Khartoum International Airport was open. The labor laws do not apply in the EPZ's.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, slavery persists, particularly affecting Dinka women and children from northern Bahr al Ghazal. The taking of slaves, particularly in the war zones, and their transport to parts of central and northern Sudan continued.
There have been frequent and credible reports that militia raiders, supported by government troops, took women and children as slaves during raids in Bahr El Ghazal State and the Upper Nile (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.). The Government did not take any action to halt these practices or to punish the perpetrators and continued to support some tribal militias with horses, weapons, and ammunition. The majority of the victims were abducted in violent raids on settlements carried out by government-affiliated militias accompanying and guarding troop trains to the southern garrison town of Wau. During the raids, the militias, which frequently are not paid by the Government for their services, exact their own remuneration from the villages. Civilians often were killed, and villages were destroyed. Following the raids, there were credible reports of practices such as the sale and purchase of children, some in alleged slave markets, and the rape of women. Abductees frequently are forced to herd cattle, work in the fields, fetch water, dig wells, and do housework. Abductees are subjected to torture and rape, and at times, are killed. These practices all have a pronounced racial aspect, as the victims are exclusively black southerners and members of indigenous tribes of the Nuba Mountains.
The Government continued to deny that slavery and forced labor exist, but acknowledges that abductions occur. The Government also denies involvement or complicity in slavery, and states that hostage taking often accompanies tribal warfare, particularly in war zones not under government control. However, in 1998 the Government formed the Committee to Eliminate the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) and pledged to end the practice of hostage-taking. Despite the creation of CEAWC, reports of abductions and slavery continued during the year. During the year, the Government refused to approve flight clearances for the transfers of the abductees, which has prevented additional reunifications, and the Government did not record the identity of the abductors or forced labor owners and chose not to prosecute them.
The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, the Government does not enforce it effectively. There continued to be credible reports that government or government-associated forces took children as slaves.
Both the Government and rebel factions continued to conscript men and boys forcibly into the fighting forces (see Sections 1.f. and 5). There were reports that the PDF seized underage boys from the streets in Khartoum. Conscripts face significant hardship and abuse in military service, often serving on the front lines with insufficient military training. The rebel factions continued to force southern men to work as laborers or porters.
Between 3,000 and 10,000 Ugandan children have been forced to become soldiers or sex slaves for the LRA, a Ugandan armed opposition group in the south, which is supported actively by the Government (see Section 5).
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment
The legal minimum age for workers is 18 years; however, the law is not enforced in practice. Children as young as 11 or 12 years of age worked in a number of factories, particularly outside the capital, including the factories at Um Ruwaba that produce edible oils. In addition severe poverty has produced widespread child labor in the informal, unregulated economy. In rural areas, children traditionally assist their families with agricultural work from a very young age. The Constitution provides that the Government protect children from exploitation; however, it resulted in no changes in practice. The Government has not taken any action to investigate abuses or protect child workers.
The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, the Government does not enforce it effectively, and there were credible reports that children are taken as slaves (see Sections 6.c. and 6.f.).
Child labor exists in SPLM/SPLA-held areas, particularly in the agricultural sectors. Child labor in such areas is exacerbated by lack of schools, extreme poverty, and the lack of an effective legal minimum age for workers.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The legislated minimum wage is enforced by the Ministry of Labor, which maintains field offices in most major cities. Employers generally respect the minimum wage. Workers who are denied the minimum wage may file a grievance with the local Ministry of Labor field office, which then is required to investigate and take appropriate action if there has been a violation of the law. In January 1999, the minimum wage theoretically was raised from approximately $9 (24,000 Sudanese pounds) per month to approximately $11 (3,000 Sudanese dinars or 30,000 Sudanese pounds) per month; however, most government offices continue to pay the old rate. The Sudanese Workers Trade Union Federation requested the Minister of Finance to execute the increase retroactively, and the Minister promised to increase the minimum wage when submitting the next government budget; union officials reported that the minimum wage was increased during the year. The minimum wage is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for an average worker and family.
During the year, there were credible reports that some workers, including teachers and municipal workers, were not paid their regular wages for months at a time.
The workweek is limited by law to six 8-hour days, with a day of rest on Friday, which usually is respected.
Although the laws prescribe health and safety standards, working conditions generally were poor, and enforcement by the Ministry of Labor was minimal. The law does not address the right of workers to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without loss of employment.
Legal foreign workers have the same labor rights as domestic workers. Illegal workers have no such protections and, as a result, typically work for lower wages in worse conditions than legal workers. Southern IDP's generally occupy the lowest paying occupations and are subject to economic exploitation in rural and urban industries and activities.
f. Trafficking in Persons
Although the law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in persons, the Constitution specifically prohibits slavery and forced labor; however, slavery, forced labor, and trafficking continued to be problems, especially affecting women and children (see Sections 5 and 6.c.). The taking of slaves, particularly in war zones, and their transport to the central and northern parts of the country, continued. Credible reports persist of practices such as the sale and purchase of children, some in alleged slave markets.
Trafficking generally is initiated by government-affiliated militias accompanying troop trains to the southern garrison towns of Aweil and Wau. The militias abduct women and children as remuneration for their services.
Government-affiliated militias and tribesmen continued to engage in raids and abductions during the year. The Government tolerates, if not encourages, the abductions as a contribution to the war effort.
SUDAN - SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Security Office of International Programs:
http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html
SUDAN - STANDARD WORKWEEK
The workweek is limited by law to six 8-hour days, with a day of rest on Friday.
(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Sudan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)