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Tunisia - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Tunis

 

CLIMATE

Temperate climate in the north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert climate in the south.

 

LANGUAGES

Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce), and French (commerce).

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Tunisia’s legal system is based on French civil law system and Islamic law with some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session.

 

CURRENCY

Tunisian Dinar (1 USD = 1.43150 TND as of June 1, 2002).

 

TUNISIA - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

TUNISIA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Tunis

144 Ave. de la Liberte

1002 Tunis-Belvedere

Tunis, Tunisia

Telephone: [216] (71) 782-566

Fax: [216] (71) 789-719

http://usembassy.state.gov/tunis/

 

Embassy of Tunisia at Washington D.C.

1515 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20005

Telephone: (202) 862-1850

Fax: (202) 862-1858

 

TUNISIA - HOLIDAYS

 

TUNISIA – LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 30 day – 67% of pay (paid by social security).

 

TUNISIA - MINIMUM AGE

The minimum age for employment is 16 years. The minimum age for light work in the nonindustrial and agricultural sectors is 13 years. Workers between the ages of 14 and 18 must have 12 hours of rest per day, which must include the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 in nonagricultural sectors may work no more than 2 hours per day. The total time that children spend in school and work may not exceed 7 hours per day. The minimum age for hazardous work is 18.

 

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

 

TUNISIA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

In August 2001, the industrial minimum wage was raised to 195.5 dinars per month (approximately $138) for a 48-hour workweek and to 170.9 dinars per month (approximately $120) for a 40-hour workweek. The agricultural minimum wage is 6.1 dinars per day ($4.27). Wages are supplemented with transportation and family allowances.

 

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

 

TUNISIA - REMUNERATION

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

 

TUNISIA - 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 the right of workers to organize and unions. The Government respects this right. The Tunisian General Federation of Labor (UGTT) is the country's only labor federation, but there is no legal impediment to forming another union. The UGTT's historic strength has frustrated efforts over the years by dissidents to form a viable, rival confederation. About 15 percent of the 3.3 million person work force, including civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises, are members, and a considerably larger proportion of the work force is covered by union contracts. There is no legal prohibition against the establishment of other labor federations. A union may be dissolved only by court order.

 

The UGTT and its member unions legally are independent of the Government and the ruling party, but operate under regulations that restrict their freedom of action. The UGTT's membership includes persons associated with all political tendencies, although Islamists have been removed from union offices. There are credible reports that the UGTT receives substantial government subsidies to supplement modest union dues and funding from the National Social Security Account. While regional and sector-specific unions operate with more independence, the central UGTT leadership generally follows a policy of cooperation with the Government regarding its economic reform program, although throughout the year the UGTT board, which took charge in September 2000, began to exercise greater independence regarding economic and social issues and to support greater democracy in the country.

 

Unions, including those representing civil servants, have the right to strike, provided that they give 10 days' advance notice to the UGTT and it approves of the strike. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has characterized the requirement for prior UGTT approval of strikes as a violation of worker rights. However, such advance approval rarely is sought in practice. There were numerous short-lived strikes over failure by employers to fulfill contract provisions regarding pay and conditions and over efforts by employers to impede union activities. While the majority of the strikes technically were illegal, the Government did not prosecute workers for illegal strike activity, and the strikes were reported objectively in the press. The law prohibits retribution against strikers; however, there have been cases of employers punishing strikers, which force strikers to pursue costly and time-consuming legal remedies to protect their rights.

 

Labor disputes are settled through conciliation panels in which labor and management are represented equally. Tripartite regional arbitration commissions settle industrial disputes when conciliation fails.

 

Unions are free to associate with international bodies. The UGTT is a member of the ICFTU, Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, and Confederation of African Trade Unions; many individual unions are affiliated with relevant international sectoral confederations.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The right to organize and bargain collectively is protected by law and observed in practice. Wages and working conditions are set in triennial negotiations between the UGTT member unions and employers. Forty-seven collective bargaining agreements set standards for industries in the private sector and cover 80 percent of the total private sector workforce. Each agreement is negotiated by representatives of unions and employers in the area the agreement encompasses. The Government's role in the private sector negotiations is minimal, consisting mainly of lending its good offices if talks appear to be stalled. However, the Government must approve (but may not modify) the agreements. Once approved the agreements set standards for all employees, both union and nonunion, in the areas that they cover. The UGTT also negotiates wages and work conditions of civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises. The Government is the partner in such negotiations. The next round of triennial negotiations is to be held in 2002. The agreements signed in 2000 provided for annual wage increases ranging from 4 to 6 percent.

 

The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers. However, the UGTT claims that there is antiunion activity among private sector employers, especially firing of union activists and using temporary workers to avoid unionization. In certain industries, such as textiles, hotels, and construction, temporary workers account for a large majority of the work force. The Labor Code protects temporary workers, but enforcement is more difficult than in the case of permanent workers. A committee chaired by an officer from the Labor Inspectorate of the Office of the Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs, and including a labor representative and an employers' association representative, approves all worker dismissals.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor by either adults or children, and it is not known to occur. The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children, and the Government generally enforces this prohibition effectively; however, some families of teenage girls place them as household domestics to collect their wages (see Section 6.d.).

 

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

 

The minimum age for employment is 16 years. The minimum age for light work in the nonindustrial and agricultural sectors is 13 years. Workers between the ages of 14 and 18 must have 12 hours of rest per day, which must include the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 in nonagricultural sectors may work no more than 2 hours per day. The total time that children spend in school and work may not exceed 7 hours per day. The minimum age for hazardous work is 18. Inspectors of the Ministry of Social Affairs examine the records of employees to verify that employers comply with the minimum age law. There were no reports of sanctions against employers. Nonetheless, young children often perform agricultural work in rural areas and work as vendors in urban areas, primarily during the summer vacation from school.

 

Observers have expressed concern that child labor continues to exist, disguised as apprenticeship, particularly in the handicraft industry, and in the cases of teenage girls whose families place them as household domestics in order to collect their wages. There are no reliable statistics on the extent of this phenomenon; however, an independent lawyer who conducted a study of the practice in 2000 concluded that hiring of underage girls as household domestics has declined with increased government enforcement of school attendance and minimum work age laws. The law prohibits forced and bonded child labor, and the Government generally enforces this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Labor Code provides for a range of administratively determined minimum wages, which are set by a commission of representatives from the Ministries of Social Affairs, Planning, Finance, and National Economy, in consultation with the UGTT and the Employers' Association. The President approves the commission's recommendations. In August the industrial minimum wage was raised to $138 (195.5 dinars) per month for a 48-hour workweek and to $120 (170.9 dinars) per month for a 40-hour workweek. The agricultural minimum wage is $4.27 (6.1 dinars) per day. When supplemented by transportation and family allowances, the minimum wage provides for a decent standard of living for a worker and family, but covering only essential costs. The Labor Code sets a standard 48-hour workweek for most sectors and requires one 24-hour rest period per week.

 

Regional labor inspectors are responsible for enforcing wage and hour standards. They inspect most firms about once every 2 years. However, the Government often encounters difficulty in enforcing the minimum wage law, particularly in nonunionized sectors of the economy. Moreover, more than 240,000 workers are employed in the informal sector, which falls outside the purview of labor legislation.

 

The Ministry of Social Affairs has responsibility for enforcing health and safety standards in the workplace. There are special government regulations covering such hazardous occupations as mining, petroleum engineering, and construction. Working conditions and standards tend to be better in firms that are export oriented than in those producing exclusively for the domestic market. Workers are free to remove themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their employment, and they may take legal action against employers who retaliate against them for exercising this right.

 

The few foreign workers have the same protections as citizen workers.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, it prohibits slavery and bonded labor. There were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, within, or through the country.

 

TUNISIA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

TUNISIA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Labor Code sets a standard 48-hour workweek for most sectors and requires one 24-hour rest period per week.

 

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