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Yemen - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Sanaa

 

CLIMATE

Yemen is mostly desert; hot and humid along the west coast and temperate in the western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in the east.

 

LANGUAGES

Arabic.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Yemen’s legal system is based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law. Yemen has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Yemeni Rial (1 USD = YER as of June 1, 2002).

 

YEMEN - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

YEMEN - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Sanaa

Dhahr Himyar Zone

Sheraton Hotel District

P.O. Box 22347

Sanaa, Republic of Yemen

Telephone: [967] (1) 303-161

Fax: [967] (1) 303-182

http://www.usembassy.ye/

 

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

2600 Virginia Avenue N.W., Suite 705

Washington D.C. 20037

Telephone: (202) 965-4760

Fax: (202) 337-2017

Email: information@yemenembassy.org

http://www.yemenembassy.org

 

YEMEN - HOLIDAYS

YEMEN - MINIMUM AGE

The established minimum age for employment is 15 years in the private sector and 18 years in the public sector. By special permit, children between the ages of 12 and 15 may work. The Government rarely enforces these provisions, especially in rural and remote areas.

 

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

 

YEMEN - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

There is no established minimum wage for any type of employment.

 

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

 

YEMEN - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution and Labor Law provide that citizens have the right to form and join unions; however, this right is restricted in practice. The Government seeks to place its own personnel in positions of influence inside unions and trade union federations.

 

The General Federation of Trade Unions of Yemen (GFWTUY) remains the sole national umbrella organization. The GFWTUY claims approximately 350,000 members in 14 unions and denies any association with the Government, although it works closely with the Government to resolve labor disputes through negotiation. Observers suggest that the Government likely would not tolerate the establishment of an alternative labor federation unless it believed such an establishment to be in its best interest.

 

Only the General Assembly of the GFWTUY may dissolve unions. The law provides equal labor rights for women, and it confirms the freedom of workers to associate. The Labor Law does not stipulate a minimum membership for unions, nor does it limit them to a specific enterprise or firm. Thus, citizens may associate by profession or trade.

 

The Labor Law provides for the right to strike; however, strikes are not permitted unless a dispute between workers and employers is "final" and "incontestable" (a prior attempt must have been made to settle through negotiation or arbitration). The proposal to strike must be submitted to at least 60 percent of all concerned workers, of whom 25 percent must vote in favor of the proposal. Permission to strike also must be obtained from the GFWTUY. Strikes for explicit "political purposes" are prohibited.

 

There were several small strikes during the year. In April workers at the National Dockyard in Aden struck for 3 days to demand equal employment benefits with workers at the Port of Aden. These demands were met. In May employees at the General Corporation for Foreign Trade and Grain in Sana'a held a 1-day strike to protest the plan to transfer the building in which they worked to the Ministry of Higher Education; the Government agreed to seek another building for the Ministry. Also in May, the staff at the al-Thawra public hospital struck for 3 days for higher wages; a compromise solution was reached. The national teachers' union conducted a 2-day strike in several governorates in September to pressure the Government to implement the new Teachers' Law, which increases benefits. Teachers at Sana'a University struck for approximately 3 weeks in September to demand equal pay as foreign instructors at the university. There were no reports of violence in connection with these strikes.

 

The GFWTUY is affiliated with the Confederation of Arab Trade Unions and since November with the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The GFWTUY withdrew from the formerly Soviet-controlled World Federation of Trade Unions in January.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The 1995 Labor Law provides workers with the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Government permits these activities; however, it seeks to influence them by placing its own personnel inside groups and organizations. All collective

 

bargaining agreements must be deposited with and reviewed by the Ministry of Labor, a practice criticized by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Several such agreements exist. Agreements may be invalidated if they are "likely to cause a breach of security or to damage the economic interests of the country." Unions may negotiate wage settlements for their members and may resort to strikes or other actions to achieve their demands. Public sector employees must take their grievances to court.

 

The law generally protects employees from antiunion discrimination; however, during the year the International Confederation of Labor Unions identified weaknesses within this law. Employers do not have the right to dismiss an employee for union activities. Employees may appeal any disputes, including cases of antiunion discrimination, to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Employees also may take a case to the Labor Arbitration Committee, which is chaired by the Ministry of Labor and also consists of an employer representative and a GFWTUY representative. Such cases often are disposed favorably toward workers, especially if the employer is a foreign company.

 

There are no export processing zones (EPZ's) in operation; an EPZ is planned for Aden.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports of its practice. The law does not prohibit forced or bonded labor by children specifically, but such practices are not known to occur.

 

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

 

The law does not prohibit forced or bonded labor by children specifically, but such practices are not known to occur (see Section 6.c.).

 

The established minimum age for employment is 15 years in the private sector and 18 years in the public sector. By special permit, children between the ages of 12 and 15 may work. The Government rarely enforces these provisions, especially in rural and remote areas. The Government also does not enforce laws requiring 9 years of compulsory education for children.

 

Child labor is common, especially in rural areas. Many children are required to work in subsistence farming because of the poverty of their families. Even in urban areas, children work in stores and workshops, sell goods on the streets, and beg.

 

Many school-aged children work instead of attending school, particularly in areas in which schools are not easily accessible.

 

The results of the 1994 national census showed that 231,655 children between the ages of 10 and 14 years, or 6.5 percent of all children in that age group, were working. Experts believe that the number has increased since 1994.

 

In 2000 the President's Consultative Council (now the Shura Council) adopted the ILO's Child Labor Strategy to address persistent child labor problems. A special council, under the leadership of the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, uses the strategy as a government-wide guideline for enforcing existing child labor laws and formulating and implementing new laws.

 

In June 2000, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor signed a $1.3 million agreement with the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). During the year under the program, the Ministry established a child labor department and will begin to train teachers to make school curriculums more relevant to rural children, mobilize media to discuss child labor, establish a microenterprise program to help families establish businesses that will allow their children to stay in school, and seek the support of civil society to remove children from hazardous jobs. In addition in 2000, the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs in 2000 developed a plan to establish six centers for street children in six governorates over the next 5 years. Two centers were completed during the year.

 

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor occasionally inspects factories in the major population areas. Ministry officials state that they lack the resources to enforce child labor laws more effectively. However, since a great percentage of the country's underage work force is in the agricultural sector in remote rural areas, it is difficult for the Government to protect most child workers.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

There is no established minimum wage for any type of employment. The Labor Law states that "it shall not be permissible that the minimal level of the wage of a worker should be less than the minimal wages of government civil servants." During the year, the Government increased civil servants' wages. According to the Ministry of Civil Service and Social Security, the average minimum wage of civil servants is approximately $44 to $56 (7,500 to 9,500 riyals) per month, up from $37 to $56 (6,000 to 9,000 riyals) per month in 2000. Private sector workers, especially skilled technicians, earn a far higher wage. The average wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. A combination of inflation and the loss of government-provided subsidies continued to erode wages.

 

The law specifies a maximum 48-hour workweek with a maximum 8-hour workday, but many workshops and stores operate 10- to 12-hour shifts without penalty. The workweek for government employees is 35 hours: 7 hours per day from Saturday through Wednesday.

 

The Ministry of Labor is responsible for regulating workplace health and safety conditions. The requisite legislation for regulating occupational health is contained in the Labor Law, but enforcement is weak to nonexistent. Many workers regularly are exposed to toxic industrial products and develop respiratory illnesses. Some foreign-owned companies as well as major manufacturers implement higher health, safety, and environmental standards than the Government requires. Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations and may challenge dismissals in court. These laws are respected in practice.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law prohibits trafficking in persons, and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

 

YEMEN - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

YEMEN - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law specifies a maximum 48-hour workweek with a maximum 8-hour workday, but many workshops and stores operate 10- to 12-hour shifts without penalty. The workweek for government employees is 35 hours: 7 hours per day from Saturday through Wednesday.

 

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