REPUBLIC OF GUINEA

Work – Justice – Solidarity

LABOUR CODE OF THE

REPUBLIC OF GUINEA

LAW

N°L/2014/072/CNT

10 January 2014

-0-
PRELIMINARY TITLE: General provisions ............................................................... 4-6

BOOK 1: EMPLOYMENT ............................................................................................. 6

TITLE I: Placement, Recruitment and Conditions of use of the workforce ................... 6-7

TITLE II: Conclusion of an employment contract ........................................................ 7

CHAPTER I: General Provisions ................................................................................. 8-8

CHAPTER II: Special Provisions of the Fixed Term Employment Contract 9

TITLE III: Special Provisions for certain Workers and activities ..................................... 9

CHAPTER I: Foreign workers: ...................................................................................... 9-10

CHAPTER II: Ordinary seamen and crew members ..................................................... 10-11
CHAPTER III: Temporary Work .................................................................................... 11-12
CHAPTER IV: Piece-working or sub-contracting ........................................................... 12
CHAPTER V: Conditions for exercising subcontracting ................................................. 15
Section I: Operating conditions .............................................................................. 15
Section II: Welfare regime ...................................................................................... 15
Section III: Financial regime .................................................................................. 15
Section IV: Auditing measures and sanctions ......................................................... 15
CHAPTER VI: Female labour ....................................................................................... 15
Chapter VII: Child labour ............................................................................................. 15-16

TITLE IV: Vocational Training and Apprenticeship ........................................................ 16

CHAPTER I: Organisation and financing ...................................................................... 16

CHAPTER II: Apprenticeship contract .......................................................................... 17
Section I: Nature and form of apprenticeship contract .............................................. 17
Section II: Conditions of the apprenticeship contract ................................................ 18
Section III: Duties of masters and apprentices......................................................... 18-19
Section IV: Termination of apprenticeship contract .................................................. 19
CHAPTER III: Traditional apprenticeship .................................................................... 19-20
CHAPTER IV: Rights and obligations of trainees in vocational training ........................ 20
CHAPTER V: Work placement .................................................................................... 21
Section I: Nature and form of internship contract ...................................................... 21
Section II: Conditions of internship contract .............................................................. 21-22

TITLE V: Suspension of Employment Contract .......................................................... 22

CHAPTER I: General provisions .................................................... 22

CHAPTER II: Illnesses and accidents ........................................................................ 23
CHAPTER III: Maternity ............................................................................................. 24
CHAPTER IV: Military service .................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER V: Lay-offs and redundancies ................................................................... 26-27
Single Section: Common provisions for lay-offs and
Redundancies ............................................................................ 26-27
CHAPTER VI: Leave of absence ............................................................................... 27

TITLE VI: Amendment of Employment Contract ........................................................ 28

TITLE VII: Termination of the employment relationship ............................................. 28
CHAPTER I: Termination of fixed-term contracts ....................................................... 29
CHAPTER II: Termination of contracts for an indeterminate period .......................... 29-30
Section I: Justification of Dismissal ........................................................................ 30
Section II: Procedure for dismissal on personal grounds........................................ 30-31

-1-
Section III: Procedure for redundancy on economic reasons ............................................ 31-32
Section IV: Consequences of dismissal............................................................................. 32-33
Section V: Retirement ...................................................................................................... 34-35
Section VI: Resignation .................................................................................................... 35
Section VII: Death ............................................................................................................ 35

BOOK 2: Working conditions ............................................................................................. 35

TITLE I: Rules of Procedure and disciplinary law ............................................................... 35

CHAPTER I: Rules of Procedure ...................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER II: Disciplinary law ........................................................................................... 36-38

TITLE II: Working hours and leave ..................................................................................... 38-40

CHAPTER I: Working hours .............................................................................................. 40

CHAPTER II: Leave .......................................................................................................... 40
Section I: Weekly rest periods ......................................................................................... 40
Section II: Public holidays .............................................................................................. 40
Section III: Annual leave ................................................................................................ 40-41

TITLE III: Health and safety protection for workers ............................................................ 41

CHAPTER I: Health and safety at work .............................................................................. 41-45

Section I: General provisions ......................................................................................... 41-45
Section II: Special provisions applicable to building operations ...................................... 45-46
CHAPTER II: The Occupational Health Practitioner .......................................................... 46-48

TITLE IV: Salaries and fringe benefits ................................................................................ 48

CHAPTER I: Determination of salary ................................................................................. 48-49

CHAPTER II: Payment of salary ........................................................................................ 49
Section I: Method of payment of salary .......................................................................... 49-50
Section II: Privileges and guarantees of salary claims .................................................... 50-51
Section III: Prescriptive period for the payment of salaries .............................................. 51-52
CHAPTER III: Deductions from salaries, withholding of salaries and termination .............. 52-53
CHAPTER IV: Economats ................................................................................................. 52-53

BOOK 3: Representation of social partners ...................................................................... 53-54

TITLE I: Employer organisations ........................................................................................ 53-54

CHAPTER I: Constitution of employer organisations ......................................................... 53

CHAPTER II: Legal capacity of employer organisations .................................................... 54

TITLE II: Workers’ trade union ............................................................................................ 55-56

CHAPTER I: Principle of freedom of association ............................................................... 55

CHAPTER II: Constitution of trade unions ......................................................................... 56
CHAPTER III: Mandates of trade unions ........................................................................... 56-57
CHAPTER IV: Dissolution .................................................................................................. 57

TITLE III: Union representation within the company ............................................................ 57

CHAPTER I: Implementation of union delegates ................................................................ 57-58

CHAPTER II: Protection of union delegates ...................................................................... 58-59
CHAPTER III: Mandates and operating conditions ............................................................. 60

-2-
BOOK 4: Collective Bargaining Agreements and disputes ................................................. 60

TITLE I: Negotiation of Collective Bargaining Agreements .............................................. 61

CHAPTER I: Negotiation of branch or cross-industry

Collective Bargaining Agreements ............................................................ 61
Section I: General regulations .......................................................................................61
Section II: Special regulations regarding Collective Bargaining Agreements
Likely to be extended .......................................................................................62
CHAPTER II: Negotiation of company or establishment agreements .................................62

TITLE II: Implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreements ........................... 62-63

CHAPTER I: Conditions of implementation ......................................................... 63

CHAPTER II: Performance of he Collective Bargaining Agreement .................... 63-64
CHAPTER III: Revision and termination ............................................................. 63-64
CHAPTER IV: Extension of Collective Bargaining Agreements .......................... 64-65

TITLE III: Collective disputes ............................................................................. 65

CHAPTER I: Strikes ........................................................................................... 65-66

CHAPTER II: Lock-outs ..................................................................................... 67
CHAPTER III: Arbitration ..................................................................................... 67-68
CHAPTER IV: Implementation of conciliation agreements and arbitration awards. 68

BOOK 5: Labour Administration and jurisdiction .................................................. 69

TITLE I: Labour Administration ............................................................................. 69

CHAPTER I: General provisions ........................................................................... 69

CHAPTER II: Services of the Labour Administration .............................................. 69
CHAPTER III: Labour Inspection .......................................................................... 69-71
SECTION I: Organisation and Assignments ...................................................... 69-70
SECTION II: Powers and Obligations ............................................................... 70-71
CHAPTER IV: Public Employment Service ......................................................... 71-72
CHAPTER V: Advisory bodies .............................................................................. 72
SECTION I: Labour Advisory Committee and Social Legislation ........................ 72-73
SECTION II: Social dialogue ............................................................................ 74-75

TITLE II: Labour Court .......................................................................................... 75

CHAPTER I: Jurisdiction ...................................................................................... 75

CHAPTER II: Composition and Organisation ....................................................... 75-76
CHAPTER III: Procedure ..................................................................................... 77-79
CHAPTER IV: Penalties ......................................................................................... 79-81

TITLE III: FINAL PROVISIONS ............................................................................. 81-82

-3-
 PRELIMINARY TITLE - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: The provisions of this law shall be applicable to the individual and collective relations
between workers and employers performing their professional activity in the mixed and private
sectors in the Republic of Guinea.

Within the meaning of this law, a salaried worker is considered as a person, regardless of their
sex, religion, nationality or origin, that has undertaken to put their professional activity, in
exchange for payment, under the direction and authority of an individual or legal entity, public or
private, secular or religious, called the employer.

The provisions of this law apply equally to relations between masters and apprentices as well as
to internship contracts.

Domestic workers shall be governed by this law, as well as employers carrying out professional
services.

Public servants, persons appointed to a permanent post within the civil service, members of the
armed forces as well as permanent and temporary contracted State employees, are not
subjected to the provisions of this law.

Article 2: The right to work is afforded to everyone.

The State shall ensure equal opportunities and treatment of citizens with regard to access to
vocational training and work, irrespective of origin, race, sex, religion and philosophy.

Article 3: Forced or compulsory labour is forbidden.

The term forced or compulsory labour denotes any work or service demanded of an individual
under threat of penalty, and to which the individual has not given full consent.

However, the following shall not be deemed forced or compulsory labour within the meaning of
this law:

- Any work or service demanded of an individual for the purposes of national laws regarding
military service and assignment to works of a military nature;
- Any work or service arising from normal civic obligations of citizens;
- Any work or service enforced as a sentence imposed by a criminal court;
- Any work or service required in the event of circumstances that endanger or risk
endangering life or normal living conditions of all or part of the population in the case of
force majeure.

Article 4: Discrimination is forbidden under any form whatsoever.

No employer, or their representative or any other person may take into consideration the sex,
age, national background, race, religion, colour, political and religious opinion, social origin,
membership or otherwise of a union and union activity, disability in adopting decisions regarding
recruitment, the performance and distribution of work, vocational training, advancement,
promotion, remuneration the granting of benefits, discipline or termination of employment
contract.

Except where expressly stipulated by this Code or any other law or enactment protective of
women and children, as well as provisions relating to the status of foreigners, any contrary
discriminatory law or provision shall be absolutely null and void.

-4-
Distinctions, exclusions or preferences based on required skills for a determined position shall
not be considered as discriminatory, such as restrictions applicable to a limited number of
positions linked to special religious institutions or non-profit-making organisations.

Workers may refer a matter directly before the employment court to expose discriminatory acts
to which they have been a victim. However, they may refer the matter to the regional labour
inspector for reconciliation.

The status of a person living with real or alleged HIV must not be a reason for discrimination.
However, their state of health shall be decisive upon employment.

Article 5: Any employer or worker shall have the right to personal dignity.

Article 6: Violence at work shall be considered as any actual situation in which the employer or
worker is persecuted, threatened or attacked mentally or physically during the performance of
their work in the workplace.

Violence at work refers essentially to either physical or verbal aggressive behaviour.

Article 7: Moral harassment at work shall be considered as any abusive and repeated behaviour
of any origin, external or internal to the company which is exhibited particularly through
behaviour, words, intimidation, acts, unilateral gestures and writings aimed at causing offence to
the personality, dignity or physical or mental integrity of an employer or worker in a workplace,
endangering the company or employment or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,
humiliating or offensive environment.

Article 8: Sexual harassment shall be considered as any form of verbal, non-verbal or physical
behaviour of a sexual nature which affects the dignity of women or men in the workplace. The
same applies to any behaviour of a sexual nature which has the effect of creating an
intimidating, hostile or humiliating work environment for a person.

No worker may be sanctioned or dismissed for having sustained or refused to sustain actions of
sexual harassment from an employer, their representative or any person who, abusing the
authority conferred by their position or functions, has given orders, made threats, imposed
constraints or exercised pressure of any nature on this worker, in order to obtain favours of a
sexual nature to their benefit or the benefit of a third party.

No person may take into account the fact that the person has sustained or refused to sustain the
actions specified above or has witnessed such actions, in order to make a decision, in particular
as regards employment, remuneration, training, allocation, professional promotion, transfer or
renewal of an employment contract.

Any provision or contrary act shall be considered null and void.

Nobody may be sanctioned, dismissed, or penalised for having sustained, denounced, reported
or witnessed such actions.

Any provision or contrary act shall be considered null and void.

-5-
Article 9: The complainant or victim must establish facts from which it may be presumed that
harassment has occurred'. In the light of these elements, it is up to the defendant to prove that
these actions do not constitute harassment and that their decision is justified on the basis of
objective factors that do not involve harassment.

The Judge shall form his/her belief after having ordered, if appropriate, any investigative
measures which he/she considers useful.

Article 10: Subject to express exemption, the provisions of this Code shall be matters of public
policy. As a result, any rule resulting from a unilateral decision, contract or agreement and which
does not respect the provisions of this Code or enactments for the purpose of its implementation
shall be null and void.

With the exception of absolute public policy provisions, the nature of public policy shall not be an
obstacle to the fact that guarantees or rights superior to those provided by this Code be granted
to workers by the unilateral decision of an employer or employers’ association, through an
employment contract, a collective bargaining agreement or a custom.

Article 11: Workers shall continue to benefit from advantages which have been granted to them
when these are superior to those acknowledged by this Code.

Article 12: The employer shall be responsible, wherever possible, for providing to the sick
employee, as well as to their spouse and children who are under the age of majority and living
with them, the necessary medical treatment and medicinal products for their condition; they shall
be reimbursed later by the Social Security Fund in accordance with the current laws and
regulations.

The employer must have the transportable wounded and sick who may not be treated by the
means at its disposal, removed to the nearest medical centre.

Article 13: Within companies, workers or their representatives shall have the right to direct and
collective expression on the contents, operating conditions and organisation of work.

Workers’ opinions, regardless of their position in the professional hierarchy and given under their
right of expression, shall not justify a sanction or dismissal.

Article 14: A copy of this Code must be made available to the union delegates by the employer.

BOOK I - EMPLOYMENT

TITLE I: PLACEMENT, RECRUITMENT AND CONDITIONS OF USE OF THE

WORKFORCE

Article 110.1: Companies shall use their own workforce. They may also appeal to external
employees in the context of temporary work. They may also use the services of a piece-worker
under the conditions laid down in this Code.

Article 110.2: Employers may recruit and employ job seekers freely and without using
intermediaries.

They may also have recourse to the Public or private employment services.

-6-
Article 110.3: All employers must declare their personnel to the Public employment service no
later than 15 working days after having recruited same.

Article 110.4: Any individual or legal entity under private law whose main activity is the
recruitment, placement or temporary work of workers on behalf of a public or private employer,
secular or religious, shall be considered a private employment service.

Within thirty days following each recruitment exercise, private employment services shall send to
the Public employment service statistics related to same subject to a fine provided in article
523.20 of this Code.

Article 110.5: Private employment services are forbidden from requesting job seekers to pay for
the services offered or rendered as regards recruitment and placement.

Article 110.6: Based on a proposal by the Employment Minister, an order shall determine the
conditions under which authorisation for establishing or operating a private employment service
may be given or renewed, as well as the contents of the declaration referred to in article 110.4 of
this Code.

Article 110.7: Employment of workers with Guinean nationality shall not be subject to any prior
formality such as a declaration, authorisation, approval, visa or any other administrative
authorisation whatsoever.

Article 110.8: Companies may, on an optional basis, send their job offers to the Public
employment service. The Public employment service shall be responsible for publishing or
distributing by any means at its disposal those offers it receives. It shall also propose candidates
for available jobs to companies.

TITLE II: CONCLUSION OF AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

CHAPTER I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 121.1: The employment contract is the contract by which an individual or legal entity
undertakes to place their professional activity at the disposal of a person, under whose
subordination they place themselves in return for remuneration.

Article 121.2: The employment contract may be concluded for an indeterminate period or for a
fixed term. The contract concluded for an unlimited period shall be called a “contract for an
indeterminate period”; the fixed term contract is defined in article 122.1 of this Code.

Article 121.3: Any employment contract that does not meet the definitions of a fixed term
contract, an apprenticeship contract, a contract for a probationary period or an internship
contract, shall be considered as a contract for an indeterminate period.

Article 121.4: The employment contract may only be concluded with an individual that has
reached the minimum age of Sixteen.

Article 121.5: The conclusion of an employment contract is subject to the rules of common law.
The employment contract may be established in the form that the contracting parties agree to
adopt. When the parties to the contract opt for the form of a written contract, this shall be exempt
from any stamp duty.

Proof of a contract may be established by any available means.

-7-
Article 121.6: When the contracting parties agree to a probationary period, they must
necessarily conclude this in writing and insert a clause mentioning the duration of the trial period.
The formality of the written contract may be supplemented by a letter of engagement issued to
the worker no later than two days after the start of work and mentioning the probationary period.

The collective bargaining agreements may stipulate that any employment contract shall
necessarily include a probationary period for a duration that they shall fix, the validity of which
may not be subject to the drafting of a written record or the issuing of a letter of engagement.

The duration of the probationary period stipulated in the contract or mentioned in the letter of
engagement, or specified by the Collective Bargaining Agreement shall not, under any
circumstances, even if this is renewed, be longer than three months when the employed worker
is a manager, and longer than one month in other cases.

Article 121.7: Irrespective of the place where the contract is concluded and the place of
residence of one or the other of the parties, any contract executed on the territory of the
Republic of Guinea is subject to the provisions of this Code.

Article 121.8: The worker owes all their professional activity to the employer, unless stipulated
in the employment contract.

However, except for any contrary agreement, they are free to perform, outside of their working
hours, any activity unlikely to compete with (that of) the employer or damage the satisfactory
performance of the agreed services.

Any clause in an employment contract that prohibits the worker from exercising any activity
whatsoever upon expiry of the contract shall be considered null and void, unless the termination
is attributable to the worker or results from gross negligence on their part. However, in this case,
the prohibition may only concern an activity likely to compete with (that of) the employer; it may
not exceed one year and may only apply within a radius of thirty kilometres.

CHAPTER II: SPECIAL PROVISIONS REGARDING A FIXED TERM

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

Article 122.1: The fixed term employment contract is a contract for a fixed period determined by
the parties at the time it is concluded.

Article 122.2: The employer and the worker shall always have the discretion to conclude a fixed
term employment contract.

Except for the contracts referred to in article 122.6 of this Code, fixed-term contracts must be
made in writing or recorded in a letter of engagement before they commence.

Article 122.3: Contracts with a fixed term may not be concluded for a period exceeding two
years. They may be renewed provided that the total duration, including renewal, does not
exceed two years.

Employers and Workers may not conclude more than two fixed-term contracts within a period of
one year.

In the event these provisions are breached, the contract shall be deemed to be a contract for an
indeterminate period with the exception of those provisions referred to in article 131.1.

-8-
Fixed term contracts may include a probationary period which is included in the overall duration
of the contract, that may not exceed a period calculated at the rate of one day per week.
However, this period may not exceed one month.

Article 122.4: The employment contract may be concluded for a fixed term without this term
being determined precisely when the contract is concluded, when the following arises:

 an agricultural, commercial or industrial season;

 the replacement of an absent employee or where their contract is legally suspended;

 completion of a building site or works;
 the performance of a temporary task corresponding to an occasional extra workload or
where the company takes on an unusual activity.

In this respect, the contract shall be deemed to be of an indeterminate period. The period shall
then be determined either by the end of the season, the return of the replaced employee or the
termination of their employment contract, or by the completion of the building site, the occasional
extra workload or the unusual activity of the company.

At the time of hiring, the employer must give the worker information that may give the latter
some indication of the approximate length of their contract.

The length of the probationary period that may be agreed shall not exceed fifteen days.

Article 122.5: Contracts where the term is not determined precisely may be renewed indefinitely
and without loss of quality provided that the total period does not exceed two years, with the
exception of contracts relating to building sites or works, projects of public interest and dockers
responsible for materials handling within the confines of a port.

Article 122.6: The equivalent of contracts where the term is not determined precisely and which
may be renewed indefinitely are contracts for daily workers, employed by the hour or day for a
short-term job and who are paid at the end of the day, week or fortnight.

Article 122.7: If, after the expiry of a fixed term employment contract and in the absence of
regular renewal, labour relations remain between the employee and the employer, the employee
shall benefit from provisions relating to a contract for an indeterminate period.

TITLE III: SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN WORKERS AND CERTAIN

ACTIVITIES

CHAPTER I: FOREIGN WORKERS

Article 131.1: When an employer is considering employing a foreign worker outside the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), they must obtain the prior
authorisation of the Public employment service under the conditions determined by an order of
the Employment Minister.

Hiring foreign workers is governed by a special regulation.

Article 131.2: The term of an employment contract concluded with a foreign worker may not
exceed four years, including renewals.

Article 131.3: The employment contract concluded with a foreign worker must be subject to
written stipulations. It shall be submitted to the Public employment service for approval.

-9-
The employer is responsible for requesting a visa. A visa shall be implicitly granted when the
Public employment service administering the contract has not expressed an opinion within thirty
days following the date the request was filed. Failing the issue of a visa that has been implicitly
or explicitly granted, the employment contract cannot be put into effect.

Except for express provisions to the contrary, a tourist visa does not entitle the holder to take up
employment in the Republic of Guinea.

The issue of a residence visa for a foreign worker is subject to previously obtaining a work
permit issued by the Public employment service.

Article 131.4: The employer who uses the services of a foreign worker without having obtained
the prior authorisation of the Public employment service and the residence visa must bear in full
all the repatriation costs of the worker if it has brought in the worker from a foreign country.

CHAPTER II: ORDINARY SEAMEN AND CREW MEMBERS

Article 132.1: Any employment contract concluded between a ship owner or its representative
and a seafarer, the purpose of which is to carry out a service aboard a ship, or a seafarers'
employment agreement, shall be subject to the rules of he employment contract and to the
following rules.

Article 132.2: Under the terms of this Code, any individual company or public service on whose
behalf a ship is crewed shall be considered a ship owner.

Article 132.3: Under the terms of this Code, any person of either sex who makes an undertaking
to a ship owner or its representative in order to serve on board a ship, shall be considered a
seafarer.

Article 132.4: The employment agreement must be concluded in writing in clear terms and in
such a way that it leaves no doubt regarding the respective rights and obligations of the parties.

It must indicate if the contract is concluded for a fixed or indeterminate term or for a journey.

If the agreement is concluded for a journey, the contract must indicate the approximate duration
of the journey and mention by name, with sufficient indication, the port where the journey shall
terminate and determine at what time, during the commercial and maritime operations carried
out in this port, the journey shall be deemed to have ended.

Article 132.5: The seafarers' employment agreement must mention the service for which the
seafarer is employed and the function to be carried out, the amount of wages and benefits or the
bases on which profits shall be determined. The place and date of embarkation of the seafarer
must be mentioned on the crew list.

Article 132.6: The employment agreement shall be approved by the competent maritime
authority. The latter has the right to refuse its approval when the contract contains a clause that
is contrary to public policy.

Article 132.7: The general conditions of employment shall necessarily include:

1. Labour regulations aboard the ship;

2. The shipowner’s obligations towards the seafarer, in particular with regard to the places
and times of settlement and payment of wages;
3. The claims and privileges of the seafarer;
4. The food and sleeping conditions;
5. The treatment and benefits in the event of injuries and illnesses of the seafarer;

- 10 -
 6. Possible conditions for repatriation.

These general conditions of employment must be made available to seafarers by the shipowner
and read out by the maritime authority upon the seafarer’s registration on the crew list.

These employment conditions must be displayed in the crew’s quarters.

Article 132.8: Young people under the age of eighteen may only be employed aboard a ship
upon presentation of a medical certificate confirming their fitness to carry out this work, issued
by a doctor and approved by the Ministry for Maritime Transport.

The employment of young people in maritime work may only continue after renewal of the
medical examination at intervals not exceeding one year.

However, persons belonging to the same family working on the same ship are not subject to this
procedure.

CHAPTER III: TEMPORARY WORK

Article 133.1: Under the terms of this chapter, temporary work brings together three players:

 a temporary employment agency;

 a user company and,
 a worker bound to the temporary employment agency by an employment contract.

Any individual or legal entity shall be considered a temporary employment agency whereby their
exclusive activity is to place at the temporary disposal of a third person, either an individual or
legal entity, designated a the user, workers that it hires and pays to this effect.

The user company must, before using the worker or, in urgent cases, two days after the
commencement of work, conclude a written secondment contract with the temporary
employment agency.

Any temporary work activity carried out outside of the provisions of this chapter is forbidden.

Article 133.2: The establishment or operation of a temporary employment agency must be

authorised by an order of the Employment Minister.

Article 133.3: Temporary work agencies must send a statement of their assignments to the
Public employment service every quarter.

Article 133.4: An order of the Employment Minister shall determine the conditions under which
authorisation for establishing or operating a temporary employment agency must be given and
renewed, as well as the contents of the quarterly declaration referred to in the preceding article.

Article 133.5: It shall only be possible to resort to the services of a temporary employment
agency for tasks that are, by nature, temporary and only in the following cases:

1) The temporary absence of an employee or suspension of their employment contract,

during the period of absence or suspension;

- 11 -
 2) The end of a contract for an indeterminate period, pending the effective commencement
date of a replacement;

3) Urgent work requiring immediate execution in order to prevent accidents, organise

rescue measures or compensate for deficiencies in facilities, installation of facilities, or
where the company’s facilities or buildings present a danger to workers;
4) In event of an exceptional extra workload.

Article 133.6: It is forbidden to have recourse to the services of a temporary employment

agency to replace workers on strike.

The secondment of a temporary worker who has been made redundant within the preceding
twelve months with a user company is subject to the authorisation of the Labour Inspector of the
place, who must first of all ensure that the hiring priority is acknowledged by the dismissed
employees of the user company.

Orders of the Labour Minister shall also determine particularly dangerous work for which
recourse to temporary work is forbidden following a recommendation by the Labour Advisory
Committee and Social Legislation.

Article 133.7: The temporary work contract shall be concluded in writing between the temporary
employment agency and the worker placed at the disposal of the user. This contract is called an
assignment contract.

The temporary employment agency is deemed to be the employer. It holds rights and is
responsible for the obligations pertaining to this capacity.

Article 133.8: The salary paid to the temporary worker during each assignment is the
responsibility of their employer. Nevertheless, in the event of the employer’s insolvency, the user
company shall replace the latter for paying the worker’s wages.

Article 133.9: The secondment contract of a temporary worker between the temporary
employment agency and the user company must be in writing, subject to a fine. It shall expressly
mention the purpose of this secondment.

Article 133.10: The duration of temporary work assignments may not exceed six months. Failing
this, the temporary worker may plead the existence of an employment contract for an indefinite
term binding them to the user company.

When the temporary worker has been recruited to replace an absent employee or where their
contract has been suspended, the assignment may be extended for a period of three months
until the end of the absence or suspension. The assignment shall terminate when the replaced
employee returns. This period shall not, in any case, exceed six months, including renewals.

CHAPTER IV: PIECE-WORKING OR SUB-CONTRACTING

Article 134.1: A piece-worker is a foreman/sub-contractor, who shall recruit the necessary

labour and who, to perform certain work or provide certain services executed in the workshops,
warehouses or building sites of an enterprise, concludes a contract with the latter subject to a
fixed price.

This contract shall necessarily be in writing.

- 12 -
The piece-worker must be approved and registered with the Trade and Personal Property Credit
Register. They shall be subject to the same labour, workforce and social security regulations as
any other employer with regard to the application of social legislation.

Employees recruited by the piece-worker for performing a contract for piece-work must work
under the effective direction and control of the enterrpise.

Article 134.2: When work is carried out or services provided on the establishment, outbuildings
or worksite, in the event of the piece-worker’s insolvency, the main contractor shall replace the
latter insofar as paying the salaries and any benefits due to the employees, as well as social
security obligations. In the case of an aggrieved worker, they may initiate direct action against
the contractor.

When work is carried out or services provided in a location other than the main contractor’s
outbuildings or building site, the latter, in the event of the piece-worker’s insolvency, shall be
responsible for the part of the work carried out on behalf of the main contractor and for paying
the wages and any benefits due to the employees, as well as social security obligations.

Article 134.3: The piece-worker shall be responsible for providing their name(s), address and
status as a piece-worker, as well as the name and address of the enterprise, by way of a poster
to be displayed permanently in each of the workshops, warehouses and worksites used for the
purposes of its business.

Article 134.4: Before the commencement of works or services, the contractor is responsible for
sending the competent Labour Inspector a copy of the contract concluded with the piece-worker,
indicating the location of the work.

Article 134.5: The aggrieved worker and the social security bodies may, in the two cases
mentioned above, initiate an action directly against the main contractor. The latter may, in any
event, initiate proceedings for recourse against the sub-contractor or the piece-worker

CHAPTER V: CONDITIONS FOR EXERCISING SUBCONTRACTING

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 135.1: This law defines the notion of subcontracting and determines the conditions under
which it shall be performed.

Article 135.2: Within the meaning of this law, subcontracting is the activity that is carried out by
an enterprise or a company known as a sub-contractor, on behalf of an enterprise or a company
known as the main contractor, and which contributes to the achievement of the corporate
purpose of this enterprise or company, or to the execution of one or several elements of a
contract of the main contractor.

Article 135.3: An enterprise or a company is said to be a sub-contractor when their normal,

temporary or occasional activity is bound, by a contract or agreement, to the achievement of the
corporate purpose or to the execution of a contract of a main contractor.

Article 135.4: Sub-contracting is different from the ordinary provision of services in that it is not
bound to the corporate purpose or execution of one or several elements of a contract of the main
contractor.

Article 135.5: Sub-contracting, as defined by this law, concerns all business sectors, except for
legal services relating to certain business sectors or certain professions.

- 13 -
 SECTION I: OPERATING CONDITIONS

Article 135.6: The business of subcontracting may be carried out throughout the national
territory, including maritime areas under Guinean jurisdiction.

It is carried out through enterprises or companies, regardless of their legal form, legally
established in the Republic of Guinea and which warrant, in particular, a registered office on
national territory and a Board with all the attributes of a legal personality.

Article 135.7: When the period of subcontracting is under or equal to six months or when the
subcontracting business is carried out in an intermittent and precarious manner, the provisions
of article 135.6 above may be waived.

Article 135.8: The business of subcontracting shall be realised by a contract or an agreement

binding the enterprise or the sub-contractor to the main contractor. The contract or sub-
contracting agreement must mention all the usual constraints.

Article 135.9: The main contractor shall, each time this is possible, reserve priority of sub-
contracting contracts to enterprises or companies governed by Guinean law, promoted and
managed by Guineans and where the technical and managerial personnel is constituted by at
least 80% Guinean nationals.

It shall implement an extensive training policy within the company for the purposes of allowing
Guineans to acquire technical and other skills necessary for the performance of certain activities.

Participation of at least 60% of the share capital of sub-contractors shall be reserved for
nationals.

Local authorities may, if they so wish, acquire a stake in enterprises or sub-contractors. To this
end, they shall be incorporated during the tendering phase by the main contractor.

Article 135.10: Enterprises or companies that wish to sub-contract an activity, shall file the list of
bidders with the competent ministry.

Article 135.11: During the procurement process, the public services, local authorities,
enterprises and public institutions shall reserve 60% of the sub-contracting to nationals.

SECTION II: WELFARE REGIME

Article 135.12: Enterprises or sub-contractors, as defined in article 135.2 of this law, shall be
governed, from a social viewpoint, by the Labour Code and subsequent laws.

However, in industries where there are sub-contractors that share the same corporate purpose,
the relevant enterprises may set up a specific business sector and negotiate their own collective
bargaining agreement.

SECTION III: FINANCIAL REGIME

- 14 -
Article 135.13: Payments made to enterprises or sub-contractors for the benefit of third parties
as remuneration for work executed on the territory of the Republic of Guinea, shall be carried out
through Guinean banks, except where otherwise provided.

Article 135.14: Enterprises or sub-contractors shall be subject to the provisions of the Social
Security Code and may take out insurance with the insurance companies established in the
Republic of Guinea.

SECTION IV: AUDITING MEASURES AND SANCTIONS

Article 135.15: Audits with respect to the installation and operation of enterprises or sub-
contractors, their social, commercial, tax and customs regimes, shall be carried out by the
competent national or local authorities in the form and under the conditions provided by the laws
and regulations that govern each type of audit.

Any breach, observed during an audit, shall be prosecuted and punished by a fine, the amount
of which shall be determined by an order of the Labour Minister following a recommendation
from the Labour Advisory Committee and Social Legislation.

CHAPTER VI: FEMALE LABOUR

Article 136.1: Night work is forbidden for women in factories, plants, mines and quarries,
building sites, workshops and their outbuildings of any kind.

The prohibition specified in the preceding paragraph shall not be applicable to women who
occupy managerial or technical posts that imply responsibility

Article 136.2: This prohibition does not apply:

- In the event of force majeure when this concerns avoiding interruption of the operation;
- When it is a question of saving perishable materials from inevitable loss; - In the event of
working successive shifts if the applicable convention or collective agreement specifies this.

In the event of particular circumstances requiring women to work at night, the Labour Inspector,
referred to by the employer, may authorise exemptions to the prohibition provided in the first
paragraph of article 136.1.

CHAPTER VII: CHILD LABOUR Article 137.1:

Any individual under the age of eighteen shall be considered a child.

Article 137.2 Night work is forbidden for workers of either sex under the age of eighteen.

Article 137.3: Apprentices and workers under the age of eighteen may only be employed in
unhealthy or dangerous establishments where workers are exposed to fumes that are a danger
to their health under special protective conditions determined by an order of the Labour Minister
following a recommendation from the Labour Advisory Committee and Social Legislation.

Article 137.4: Dangerous work is forbidden for children.

The following is considered as dangerous:

- 15 -
a)- work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual services;

b)- work which is carried out in an unhealthy environment that may, for example, expose
children to dangerous substances, agents or processes, or to conditions of temperature, noise or
vibration that are dangerous to their health.

Article 137.5: Children may not be employed in any company before the age of sixteen at least,
except as an apprentice as provided in articles 142.1 and following in this Code. An order of the
Labour Minister shall determine the nature of work and the categories of companies forbidden to
young people under the age of eighteen and the age limit to which the prohibition applies.

Article 137.6: The following are considered the worst form of child labour: any form of slavery or
analogous practices such as the sale and exchange of children, debt bondage and serfdom, as
well as forced or obligatory labour, including forced and compulsory recruitment of children for
the purposes of using them in armed conflict; the use, recruitment or offer of a child for the
purposes of prostitution, the production of pornographic material or pornographic shows and the
use, recruitment or offer of a child for the purposes of illegal activities, in particular for the
production and traffic of narcotics, as defined in international conventions.

Article 137.7: Breach of the provisions of this chapter shall be sanctioned by the criminal laws
currently in force.

Article 137.8: The Labour Inspector may request a medical examination of the minors specified
in article 121.4 of this Code by an accredited doctor to ascertain whether the work performed by
them is beyond their physical capabilities. This requisition is legally binding when requested by
the parents or guardians of the interested parties.

The minor shall not be kept in employment which is found to be beyond their abilities and must
be assigned to a suitable job. If this is not possible, the employment contract must be terminated
with compensation in lieu of notice and severance pay.

TITLE IV: VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIP

Article 140.1: The present provisions shall benefit employees and persons who have lost their
job, or seeking their first job or vocational training.

CHAPTER I: ORGANISATION AND FINANCING

Article 141.1: Financing for vocational training and apprenticeship shall be funded by the State
and employers.

Article 141.2: Under the terms of this Code, any employer must contribute to the development
of continuous vocational training by contributing each year to the funding of training activities,
professional development and retraining.

The rate of contribution shall be fixed at one and a half per cent of the total payroll, of which half
a per cent shall be allocated to apprenticeship and one per cent to professional development,
the qualification and retraining of employees.

- 16 -
A joint order from the Labour and Finance Ministers may, as appropriate, amend this rate upon a
proposal by the Minister of Vocational Training and following a recommendation from the
Advisory Committee on Labour and Social Legislation.

Article 141.3: Employers’ contributions are paid into a fund called the National Fund for
Vocational Training.

Article 141.4: Each year the Finance Law shall fix the amount of participation from the State to
the financing of continuous vocational training and apprenticeship. Employers’ contributions are
paid into a fund called the National Fund for Vocational Training.

Article 141.5: The collection methods and use of employers’ contributions, as well as the
organisation and powers of authorities responsible for managing the National Fund for
Vocational Training, shall be determined by an order from the Minister of Vocational Training.

This order shall, moreover, determine the terms and conditions according to which employers
may obtain reimbursement of all or part of their contributions when they justify having financed
training activities within the framework of the training plan for employees of their companies.

Article 141.6: Any individual or legal entity that intends to exercise the activity of continuous
training provider must declare their existence, objectives and methods to the national service for
vocational training and professional development.

CHAPTER II: APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

SECTION I: NATURE AND FORM OF APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 142.1 The apprenticeship contract is that by which a head of an industrial or agricultural
organisation, an artisan or manufacturer undertakes to give or have given methodical and
complete vocational training to another person, and by which the latter undertakes, in return, to
abide by the instructions they shall receive and to execute the work entrusted to them related to
their apprenticeship, all under agreed terms and conditions and duration. The contract must be
established in writing, under penalty of nullity and exempt from any stamp or registration duty.

Article 142.2: The apprenticeship contract shall be established, taking into account the practices
and customs of the profession. In particular, it shall include:

1) The surname, first name(s), age, profession, domicile of the master and the name of the
company;

2) The surname, first name(s), age and domicile of the apprentice;

3) The surname, first name(s), profession and domicile of the father and mother, guardian
or person authorised by the parents or, failing this, by the Presiding Judge of the Court of
First Instance;

4) The date and duration of the contract;

5) The terms and conditions of remuneration, food, lodging and health care of the
apprentice;

- 17 -
 6) Information on the professional courses that the head of the organisation shall ensure the
apprentice follows, either within the establishment or outside of it, in accordance with the
Law on vocational training.

Article 142.3: The compensation to be paid in the event that the contract is terminated or
information on the elements used to calculate this compensation may be determined by the
contract. In the absence of these stipulations in the contract or in the event of a shortfall or
excess in the compensation amount laid down in the contract, the Labour Court referred to shall
determine or amend the compensation.

SECTION II: CONDITIONS OF THE APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 142.4: No person may take on minor apprentices if they are not at least twenty-one
years old.

No person may become an apprentice if they are not at least fourteen years old.

Article 142.5: No master, if they are single, a widow(er) or divorced, may lodge a minor as an
apprentice.

Article 142.6: Individuals who have been sentenced to unconditional imprisonment for a crime,
an offence against public morality or any other intentional crimes may not take on apprentices.

SECTION III: DUTIES OF MASTERS AND APPRENTICES

Article 142.7: The master must immediately alert the parents of the apprentice or their
representatives in the event of illness, absence or any other event likely to justify an intervention.

They must only employ an apprentice in accordance with the latter’s abilities for work and the
services that are relevant to the exercise of their profession.

Article 142.8: The master must treat the apprentice with due and proper care and provide the
best possible conditions for lodging, food and healthcare.

If the apprentice is unable to read, write or count, the master shall be responsible for providing
the necessary time and liberty for instruction. This time is assigned to the apprentice according
to an agreement made between the parties, but shall not exceed a period calculated on the
basis of two hours per working day.

Article 142.9: The master must teach the apprentice, progressively and completely, the special
art, trade or profession that is the subject of the contract.

At the end of the apprenticeship, they shall provide the apprentice with a skills certificate or a
certificate attesting completion of the contract.

Article 142.10: The apprentice, within the framework of the apprenticeship, shall obey and
respect the master. In accordance with its abilities and strength, the apprentice shall assist the
master.

When the apprenticeship period has terminated, the apprentice shall sit an examination
organised by the body designated by the Minister of Vocational Training according to the opinion
of the Labour Advisory Committee and Social Legislation. The certificate of professional
competence shall be delivered to the apprentice that successfully passes the examination.

At the end of the apprenticeship, the apprentice shall be responsible for replacing the time not
worked due to illness or an absence lasting over one month.

- 18 -
Article 142 .11: On pain of nullity, employment of young people bound by an apprenticeship
contract, students or trainees from schools or vocational training centres as a worker or
employee is forbidden and may give rise to damages due to the abandoned master or head of
the establishment.

SECTION IV: TERMINATION OF THE APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 142.12: The first two months of the apprenticeship shall be considered as a trial period,
during which time the contract may be terminated simply upon the wish of one of the parties. In
this event, no compensation shall be allocated to either party, in the absence of express
agreements.

Article 142.13: The apprenticeship contract shall be terminated, automatically, by law, in the
following cases:

1) Death of the master or apprentice;

2) If the apprentice or master is called up for military service;

3) The sentencing of the master or apprentice to a term of imprisonment;

4) Serious infringement by one of the parties of their obligations.

Article 142.14: The contract may be terminated upon request by the parties or one of the
parties:

1) In the event that one of the parties does not comply with the terms of the contract;
2) For serious or habitual infringement of the requirements of this title and other laws
regulating the working conditions of apprentices;

3) In the event of habitual misconduct on the part of the apprentice;

4) If the master transfers its residence to a region other than the one it lived in at the time of
the agreement. Nevertheless, the request to terminate this contract for this reason is only
admissible for three months as from the day the master has changed residence.

5) In the event of the apprentice’s incapability, ascertained by the master and confirmed by
a commission for vocational training, to keep up with the master’s lessons.

Article 142.15: If the agreed time for the apprenticeship period exceeds the maximum time
established by local practices, this time may be reduced or the contract terminated.

Article 142.16: An order by the Minister of Vocational Training shall determine the conditions
under which the master may be prohibited from taking on apprentices when it is found that at
end of their contract the latter are often not in a position to successfully pass the examination of
professional competence

CHAPTER III: TRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP

Article 143.1: The national service responsible for Professional Development and Training may
undertake any study covering the practice of traditional apprenticeship in the informal economy
sector.

It may develop training or professional development programmes, especially regarding literacy

aimed at masters and apprentices in this sector.

- 19 -
Article 143.2: The national service may, under conditions prescribed by the regulations, issue
certificates for young people who have following a traditional apprenticeship with a master.

CHAPTER IV: RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF TRAINEES IN VOCATIONAL

TRAINING

Article 144.1: Every year, the head of a company or organisation shall inform the union
delegates of their training plan.

Article 144.2: The employee chosen by the management of a company to follow a training or
professional development course shall continue to receive the wages it would have received
normally throughout the training course. They shall also continue to receive all the benefits
linked to their position as a worker.

The period of the training course shall be deemed to be a working period. It shall be taken into
account in the calculation of length of service and the right to paid leave.

During this period, the trainee shall benefit from an allowance equal to their remuneration at the
time they start the training course.

At the end of the training or professional development course, the employee that has received
the training is liable to remain in the service of their employer for a period that is at least
equivalent to that of the training or professional development course. Failing this, the employee
must reimburse the employer for all the expenses paid by the latter for the training or
professional development without prejudice to the payment of damages.

If the worker is employed by another employer, the latter shall be personally responsible for
reimbursing the expenses specified in the preceding paragraph.

CHAPTER V: WORK PLACEMENT SECTION I: NATURE

AND FORM OF THE INTERNSHIP CONTRACT

Article 145.1: An internship contract is that whereby an employer undertakes to give or have
given within their enterprise, company or non-governmental organisation, practical vocational
training to a person who is seeking their first job and through which the latter undertakes, in
return, to abide by the instructions they shall receive and to execute the work entrusted to them
for the purposes of their work placement.

The contract must be signed by the two parties with a copy to the Public employment service
and Labour Inspectorate.

The internship contract shall be established taking into account the qualifications of the
candidates and the field of activity of the companies.

SECTION II: CONDITIONS OF THE INTERNSHIP CONTRACT

Article 145.2: The work placement shall be either a sandwich course or an internship.

The sandwich course shall be associated with training in a teaching establishment, the purpose
being for the trainee to acquire new professional knowledge. It shall be concluded between the
trainee, the teaching establishment and the trainee’s host establishment. The terms and
conditions, contents and duration of the sandwich course shall necessarily be contained in a
training agreement and must comply with the teaching programme of the

- 20 -
training followed by the trainee. In the absence of a training agreement meeting the above
conditions, the work placement shall be deemed to be an internship.

A internship is independent of any training and is aimed at involving the trainee in the life of the
host company or establishment via their activities and or their production or sales processes
through assignments that shall be entrusted to the trainee.

Article 145.3: The duration of the internship depends on the training programme of the trainee.
Under no circumstances may it exceed three months following training of the trainee in a
teaching establishment.

The duration of the internship is open, subject to it not exceeding one year, any renewal
included.

Any training that extends beyond its maximum legal period shall be deemed to be a contract for
an indeterminate period, with the exception of those contracts referred to in article 121.2.

The trainee shall be bound to comply with the company’s rules of procedure and professional
secrecy, in particular manufacturing and marketing secrets, and the operating and management
processes of which they have become aware during the completion of their training.

Any trainee that wishes to temporarily leave their training position for any reason whatsoever
must obtain the prior authorisation of their employer.

Article 145.4: At the end of the training, the employer must issue the trainee with a certificate of
training.

Article 145.5: Apart from being able to be terminated at any time by one of the parties, the
internship contract may be terminated, automatically, by law, without compensation for the
following reasons:

1) Failure to expressly renew the initial contract;

2) Closure of the company;

3) Lay-offs and redundancies;

4) Abandonment of post or non-compliance with the Rules of Procedure observed by

the employer.

Subject to express agreement, no compensation shall be due at the end or upon breach of the
internship contract.

Article 145.6: The eligibility of trainees in a company to social welfare benefits managed by the
Public employment service for injured workers shall be covered by a subsidy from the State.

A joint order from the ministers in charge of finance and industry shall determine the conditions
under which the subsidy shall be acquired and used.

Article 145.7: Training activities financed by the National Fund for Vocational Training are free
for unemployed persons, in particular those seeking their first job or promoters of micro, small
and medium sized companies.

Article 145.8: An order based on a joint proposal of the Labour and Vocational Training
Ministers shall determine:

- 21 -
 1) The conditions under which employers must host job seekers, in the capacity of
trainees;

2) Vocational training programmes for first job seekers and promoters of micro, small
and medium sized companies.

TITLE V: SUSPENSION OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

CHAPTER I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 151.1: An employment contract shall be suspended each time the worker is found not to
have performed their work or the employer refrains from providing work.

Article 151.2: The employment contract is suspended specifically:

1°- in the event that the establishment closes following the departure of the employer to carry out
military service or for a compulsory period of military training;

2°- during a worker’s period of military service and during compulsory periods of military training
it is obliged to carry out;

3°- during the absence of a worker in the event of a non work-related illness duly confirmed by a
Doctor, this absence being limited to six months, which may be extended until the worker is
replaced;

4°- during leave of absence due to a work-related accident or illness;

5°- during the absence of a female worker on maternity leave;

6 °- during a strike or lock-out, if these have been triggered in compliance with the procedure for
settling collective bargaining disputes;

7°- during leave of absence designated by the worker;

8°- during a lay-off period of the union representative, pending a definitive decision from the
Labour Inspector;

9°- during the temporary detention of the worker limited to a period of six months.

10°- during the term of office of a deputy to the National Assembly, upon the written request of
the interested party;

11°- during the absence of a worker authorised by the employer by virtue of the regulations, the
collective bargaining agreements or by individual agreement;

12°- during a lay-off period or redundancy;

13°- during a period of worker’s educational leave granted as prescribed in accordance with the
provisions currently in force;

14°- during a pilgrimage to holy sites;

- 22 -
15°- during paid leave;

16°- during the period that a worker exercises a legal political or union mandate that is
incompatible with the exercise of paid activity;

Only the suspended periods referred to in points 1°, 2°, 9° and 10° above shall not be
considered as a period of service for the determination of length of service of the worker in the
company.

Article 151.3: Suspension of the employment contract shall only affect the principal obligations
of the parties, namely, the employee’s obligation to perform work and the obligation of the
employer to pay for this work.

Secondary obligations, in particular those regarding housing, loyalty and discretion, shall
continue to have effect during the suspension period, unless otherwise provided by this Code.

Article 151.4: Suspension of an employment contract shall not result in suspension of a trade
union mandate.

Article 151.5: Except where otherwise provided, suspension periods shall be taken into account
for the calculation of length of service.

CHAPTER II: ILLNESSES AND ACCIDENTS

Article 152.1: The employment contract of an employee that has suffered a work-related
accident or illness shall be suspended for the whole period of the sick leave provoked by the
accident or illness. A commuting accident shall be treated as a work-related accident as regards
the application of these provisions. The employer is responsible for declaring work-related
accidents and illnesses to the Social Security authorities and informing the Labour Inspector
within forty-eight hours of the work-related accident or illness occurring, failing which they shall
bear the costs involved in treatment related to the work-related accident or illness.

The duration of the suspension periods shall be taken into account for determining all the legal
and contractual advantages linked to length of service in the company.

Article 152.2: During the suspension period, the employer may only terminate the contract for
an indeterminate period for serious professional misconduct or in the event of force majeure,
making it impossible to maintain the contract. It is up to the employer to supply proof of the
cause that may, exceptionally, justify termination of the employment contract.

Article 152.3: At the end of a suspension period, the employee shall return to their position or to
a similar position if the occupational health officer declares them fit to hold the position they
occupied before the work-related illness or accident.

The employer that does not reinstate the employee in their position or in an equivalent position
shall pay the wages and compensation that the employee would have received if they have
remained in their position.

If, after one year, the employer has not reinstated the employee in their position or in an
equivalent position, the Labour Court may order them to pay the employee compensation
equivalent to two years’ wages. This compensation shall be added to the wages and
compensation due for the preceding year.

Article 152.4: If, at the end of the period referred to in article 152.1 above, the employee is not
fit to resume the employment they occupied previously, the employer must offer the employee
another

- 23 -
position appropriate to their abilities as assessed by the occupational health officer, and as
comparable as possible to the position previously occupied.

If the company’s organisation is not able to provide a position adapted to the abilities of the
employee, the employer may proceed with the lay-off of the latter. They may also do so if the
employee refuses the replacement position offered. In these two situations, the lay-off procedure
on personal grounds must be followed.

If the lay-off is declared, the employee has the right to compensation in lieu of notice even if they
are not in a position to provide the work specified in the contract; they shall also receive
severance pay.

If the employer does not offer a new position presenting the characteristics mentioned in
paragraph 1 of this article, although the organisation of the company would permit it, the
employee has the right to compensation equal to a year’s wages, in addition to compensation in
lieu of notice and severance pay.

Article 152.5: Non work-related illnesses or temporary incapacity due to an accident which is
not a work-related accident or a commuting accident shall not normally lead to suspension of the
employment contract. However, the employer may lay-off a sick employee when the frequency
or period of absences of the latter, a period equal to or above six months, significantly disturbs
the functioning of the company. Suspension is then maintained until the effective replacement of
the employee. In the event of a lawsuit, the Labour Court shall assess the legitimacy of the lay-
off, taking into account the number of employees, the position occupied, the difficulties of
replacing the absent employee and the length of service of the latter.

CHAPTER III: MATERNITY

Article 153.1. Women employees have the right to suspend the employment contract for a
period that commences six weeks before the expected date of confinement and terminates eight
weeks after this date. In any event, it is forbidden to employ a recently confined mother (femmes
en couche) within six weeks of giving birth.

When the delivery takes place before the expected date, the suspension period of the
employment contract may be extended up to the remaining fourteen weeks of the suspension
period to which the employee has a right.

If a medical condition confirmed by a medical certificate resulting from the pregnancy or

childbirth makes it necessary, the suspension period of the contract shall be increased by the
duration of this medical condition, without exceeding a total of eight weeks before the expected
date of confinement and ten weeks after this date.

Article 153.2: In the event of multiple births, maternity leave shall be extended by two weeks.

Article 153.3: Women employees have the right during maternity leave to medical treatment in
accordance with the regulations currently in force. In addition, they shall benefit from half the
salary that they received at the time that work was suspended.

The National Social Security Fund shall pay employees the other half of their salary.

Article 153.4: Upon expiry of her maternity leave, the mother may, if she so wishes, take unpaid
leave for a period that may not exceed nine months.

- 24 -
Employees who do not request this leave have the right to daily rest periods for a total duration
of one hour for breast-feeding. This right is granted for a maximum period of nine months as
from the birth of the child. Rest periods may be taken in one, two or three breaks at times
determined by the employee and previously made known to the employer. Subsequent changes
to these rest periods may be made after agreement between the parties.

Employees who have taken advantage of unpaid leave also have the right, upon resuming work,
to rest periods for breastfeeding within a limited period of nine months following the birth of the
child.

Article 153.5: During maternity or unpaid leave, the employer may only terminate the
employee’s contract if serious professional misconduct is proven on the part of the employee
that is not linked to the state of pregnancy or where, due to reasons unconnected with the
pregnancy, childbirth or maternity, it is impossible to maintain said contract.

In the event of a lawsuit, the Labour Inspector or Labour Court referred to shall assess the
employee’s rights.

In the event of a lawsuit, the Labour Inspector or Labour Court referred to shall assess the
employee’s rights.

However, any worker or employer may request the Labour Inspector to resolve the matter
amicably. If the parties are totally or partially conciliated, the Labour Inspector shall establish a
report that puts a definite end to the lawsuit on all the points that were the subject of conciliation.
In the event of non-conciliation, the worker or employer may refer the matter to the competent
Labour Court.

Conciliation before the Labour Inspector is optional.

Article 153.6: A woman, during pregnancy or after the birth of the child may, until the end of the
ninth months following childbirth, freely terminate the employment contract without notice.

CHAPTER IV: MILITARY SERVICE

Article 154.1: Each time that an employee has to interrupt their professional activity to carry out
military service, the employment contract shall be suspended.

Article 154.2: As soon as the employee is aware of the date on which they shall have
completed their military service, they must inform the employer.

The employee who returns to take up their professional activity at the end of their military service
shall recover the post they occupied previously or an equivalent position.

The employee who does not return to take up their professional activity within thirty days
following the date they complete their military service shall be considered as having resigned.

When a period of military training has been the cause of the suspension, this period shall be
shortened to one week.

Article 154.3: The employment contract shall also be suspended when the employer has to
carry out military service, each time that this requires the company to be closed.

- 25 -
 CHAPTER V: LAY-OFFS AND REDUNDANCIES

Article 155.1: Lay-offs

Where a collective stoppage of work is necessary resulting from cyclical or accidental causes
such as damage to equipment, an interruption in the energy source, a disaster, bad weather
conditions, accidental shortage of materials, tools or the means of transport, the employer may
decide, after informing the union delegates, if they exist, to lay off all or part of the company’s
workforce, whether the employment contract is for a fixed or indeterminate period. If the legal
regime for a lay-off is not provided for by the collective bargaining agreement or by the
regulations, the Labour Inspector must be informed beforehand of the measures under
consideration. An agreement between the parties may specify the duration of the lay-off and, as
appropriate, compensation of the workers during this period. The period of the lay-off may not
exceed six months, including renewal.

Article 155.2: Redundancies

When the difficulties are only temporary and for the purposes of avoiding redundancies on
economical grounds affecting certain job categories, preventive measures may be taken for a
fixed period by the employer who finds itself obliged to temporarily suspend its activity.

In this event, individual work contracts shall be suspended for a continuous period or over
intervals that may not exceed three months, during one period of twelve months.

Article 155.3: The employer that considers making all or part of their personnel redundant must
inform the union delegates, if they exist. The latter must reply within the eight working days after
the employer’s proposal has been filed.

The employer must inform the Labour Inspector of its decision and the terms and conditions of
its implementation.

SINGLE SECTION: COMMON PROVISIONS FOR LAY-OFFS AND

REDUNDANCIES

Article 155.4: In the event that the worker refuses to accept being laid-off or being made
redundant, the termination of the contract that may follow shall be regarded as resulting from the
action of the employer, without, however being considered as unfair, except when the decision
arises from a manifest intention to harm the worker.

The termination of the employment contract caused by a lay-off or redundancy is legitimate and
confers a right to certain indemnities in favour of the worker.

The Labour Inspector must examine the grounds by bringing the parties together to assess the
terms and conditions of the lay-off or redundancy within eight working days from receiving the
letter.

Article 155.5: During a lay-off period or redundancy the employer shall not be permitted, in any
way whatsoever:

- to hire new workers in the departments concerned by the lay-off or redundancy;

- 26 -
- to have the employees remaining in the company work overtime in the departments concerned
by the lay-off or redundancy.

These lay-off or redundancy periods must be considered as working hours in order to determine
length of service.

Article 155.6: During these lay-off or redundancy periods, except in the event of force majeure,
compensation shall be paid to the worker that may not be less than 30% of the base salary.

The worker shall continue to benefit from all the social security services to which they have a
right by way of their employment contract.

The employer shall take the appropriate provisions in order that the rights and social security
services are maintained, as if the worker was in active service.

Article 155.7: The worker that has been laid-off or made redundant may, if it finds a new job or
for any other reason, leave the company with giving notice, by notifying the employer in writing.

Article 155.8: After the periods provided in articles 155.1 and 155.2 of this Code, the
redundancy procedure shall apply.

CHAPTER VI: LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Article 156.1: The worker may, upon request, be granted leave of absence.

Leave of absence is the situation whereby the worker, for personal reasons and after having
been authorised to do so, temporarily ceases working for the employer.

During this period, the worker shall not be paid a salary or the related benefits, nor any rights to
promotion, length of service, retirement and, generally speaking, the provisions of this Code.

Leave of absence is an exceptional measure, left to the sole discretion of the employer.

Article 156.2: Leave of absence may not, however, be refused once requested:

1°)- In the case of breastfeeding at the end of maternity leave;

2°)- In the case of widowhood for a woman limited to a period of six months.

3°)- For a worker whose spouse, who is also employed by the same employer, has been subject
to a transfer for service requirements leading to a change of residence;

4°)- In the event of the serious illness of the father, mother, spouse or the child, requiring
assistance from the worker.

Apart from the above-mentioned cases, unless agreed in writing by the employer, the leave of
absence shall not exceed one year. This period may be renewed once only on the decision of
the employer and if the worker has requested this renewal three months in advance.

- 27 -
 TITLE VI: AMENDMENT OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

Article 160.1: Failing legislative provisions or contractual clauses providing for changes relating
to the performance of the contract, the employer may only impose minor changes on the worker
in relation to the working conditions stated at the time of hiring, or applied immediately after this.

The employer may not impose substantial changes to the contract on the worker. It may only
propose these changes to the employee and, if the latter refuses and thereby makes it
impossible to maintain the existing contractual relations, the employer may proceed to dismissal
in compliance with the conditions provided in this Code.

Article 160.2: If the proposed changes to the contract presented by the worker are substantial
and refused by the employer, the worker may terminate the employment contract, but this
termination is then attributed to the worker.

For reasons linked to physical disability of the worker, resulting from a non work-related accident
or illness, the economic situation or organisation of the company, the employer may propose a
substantial change to the worker’s employment contract, entailing a reduction of certain benefits.

Article 160.3: If a change in the legal situation of the employer, in particular through inheritance,
sale, merger, conversion of funds or incorporation of a company, all the current employment
contracts as at the date of the change shall continue to exist between the new employer and the
company’s employees.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph only apply when the workers express their desire to
the competent labour inspector to put an end to the current contract, with payment of their rights,
before the change.

TITLE VII: TERMINATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER I: TERMINATION OF FIXED TERM CONTRACTS Article 171.1: The

Fixed Term Employment Contract shall end at the end of the term.

Article 171.2: At the end of a fixed term contract, the employer shall pay the employee a
termination benefit equal to five per cent of the total amount of the salary and benefits acquired
by the latter during the performance of the contract. The employer shall also deliver an
employment certificate to the employee under the conditions laid down in this Code.

Article 171.3: When a contract for an indeterminate period follows a fixed term contract, upon
expiry of the latter the employee’s length of service with the company shall be calculated,
included the period covered by the fixed term contract.

Article 171.4: A fixed term contract may be terminated before the end of its term by an
agreement between the parties, provided that the latter is in writing. This document may be
presented by means of an application to the Presiding Judge of the Labour Court in which
district it was established. The latter shall issue an enforcement order so that it is executed as a
judgment.

Failing agreement between the parties, the fixed term contract may only be terminated before
the end of its term in the event of serious professional misconduct or force majeure.

- 28 -
Early termination of the contract by the employer, other than under the assumptions mentioned
in the preceding paragraphs of this article, shall entitle the employee to receive damages of an
amount at least equal to the remuneration that they would have received up until the end of the
contract, without prejudice to the compensation provided in article 171.2 of this Code.

Early termination of the contract by the employee, other than under the same assumptions
referred to, shall entitle the employer to receive damages corresponding to the losses incurred.

In any event, the employee has the right to an employment certificate.

CHAPTER II: TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD

Article 172.1: Termination of a contract for an indeterminate period after expiry of the
probationary period stemming from the initiative of he employer shall count as a dismissal.

Article 172.2: Termination by common agreement of employment contracts are not lawful and
may only circumvent the rules on dismissal if they have been confirmed in writing and signed in
the presence of the Labour Inspector.

Article 172.3: Termination of a contract for an indeterminate period after expiry of the
probationary period stemming from the initiative of the employee is, in principle, a resignation.
However, it shall be considered as a dismissal and is subject to the substantive rules governing
the latter when the employee has taken the decision to terminate contractual relations at the
request of the employer or following a fault committed by the latter.

Article 172.4: The contract for an indeterminate period may also be terminated on the grounds
that an event takes place beyond the control of the parties making the performance of the
contract impossible, in a definitive or long-term manner. Subject to legal or regulatory provisions
to the contrary, termination of an employment contract arising under these conditions does not
give a right to compensation.

Termination of the company’s activities, except in the event of force majeur, shall not exempt the
employer from complying with the rules on dismissal.

Article 172.5: Loss of confidence may not, as such, be grounds for dismissal; only objective
factors justifying this loss of confidence may be the basis for dismissal.

SECTION I: JUSTIFICATION OF DISMISSAL

Article 172.6: An employee may only be dismissed if an objectively verifiable reason exists that
makes it impossible to maintain contractual relations.

Article 172.7: The grounds for dismissal may depend on the employee as a person, whether
this is due to their state of health leading to permanent disability, their incapacity to hold down
the job, their professional incompetence or their misconduct. The dismissal is then said to be
“dismissal on personal grounds”.

Abandonment of post confirmed by a bailiff may constitute grounds for justified dismissal.

Article 172.8: The grounds for dismissal may be linked to the organisation, restructuring, a
decline in business or the closure of the company. Each time that the post occupied by an
employee is abolished or transformed in a significant manner, the dismissal that follows because
of

- 29 -
this elimination or transformation is said to be a “redundancy for on economic grounds” and shall
obey certain specific rules.

Article 172.9: Lawsuits relating to grounds for redundancy may be initiated upon request by one
or the other party and brought before the Labour Court that has jurisdiction or the competent
Labour Inspector for conciliation.

It is up to the employer to bring proof of the existence and relevance of the grounds that it is
claiming in order to justify dismissal.

The employer may not bring grounds before the Labour Inspector or Labour Court Judge that
have not been notified in the dismissal letter.

Article 172.10: When proof of grounds justifying the dismissal have not been brought by the
employer, the court shall order the latter to pay the worker compensation for unjustified dismissal
equal to at least six months’ wages. The monthly wage taken as the basis for calculation is the
last gross monthly salary received by the employee for a full month’s work.

Compensation due in the event of unjustified dismissal shall be added to all the other
indemnities that may arise due to the dismissal.

SECTION II: PROCEDURE FOR DISMISSAL ON PERSONAL GROUNDS

Article 172.11: The employer that is considering dismissing a worker must invite them to an
interview beforehand by sending a registered letter or handing this letter directly to the latter; the
notification to attend an interview must reach the employee five days at least before the
interview.

The invitation to the interview emanating from the employer or its representative shall specify the
date, time, place of the interview, the grounds on which dismissal is being considered, and the
possibility for the worker to be accompanied, and potentially represented, by a person of their
choice who is a staff member or a member of the union to which they may be affiliated.

During the interview, the employer or its representative may be accompanied by senior
members of the company. It shall give the grounds upon which it is considering dismissal and
gather the worker’s explanations as well as the arguments developed by the person
accompanying them. Minutes recording the interview must be drawn up immediately and signed
by all parties.

In the event that one of the parties refuses to sign, they must mention their reserves on the
minutes and endorse it.

All the company workers participating at this meeting shall be paid as if they had not left their
normal work posts.

Any travel expenses that may have been incurred through their participation at the interview
shall be borne by the employer.

Article 172.12: The employer may not take a decision to dismiss the employer during the
interview. It must observe a period of reflection during the two working days that follow the
interview.

When the worker does not attend and is not represented at the interview, the employer is not
obliged to organise a new interview.

- 30 -
Article 172.13: The employer that decides to dismiss the employer must notify the worker of the
dismissal by letter handed personally with acknowledgment of receipt or by registered letter; this
letter may not be handed over or sent prior to the third day following that planned for the
interview; it must expressly indicate the ground(s) for dismissal.

Article 172.14: The employer that does not comply with the preceding rules shall be ordered to
pay the dismissed worker compensation equal to three months salary; the monthly salary of
reference is that indicated in article 172.9, paragraph 1 of this Code. This order shall be added to
that which was pronounced due to the unjustifiable nature of the dismissal.

Article 172.15: When the employer is considering dismissal for a fault and when the fault
committed requires immediate termination of the work, it may lay off the employee immediately
pending its definite decision. This lay-off may not, under any circumstances, lead to the
employee’s remuneration being suspended for more than ten working days.

In the event of a lawsuit, if the Labour Court considers that the gravity of the fault does not justify
the lay-off, it shall rule the annulment of same and the employer shall be liable to pay for the
days laid off.

SECTION III: PROCEDURE FOR REDUNDANCY ON ECONOMIC GROUNDS

Article 172.16: All plans regarding redundancies on economic grounds must be submitted for
the opinion of the union delegates, or the workers of the company or establishment concerned
where there are no union delegates.

The employer shall submit a file to the union delegates seven days before the first meeting
indicating the grounds for the projected redundancy(ies), the number and categories of the
workers who may be made redundant, the projected criteria to establish the order of
redundancies, the period during which the redundancies could be notified, the measures
adopted in order to limit the number of redundancies and to facilitate redeployment of the
redundant employees. At the same time, this file shall be sent to the competent Labour
Inspector.

Article 172.17: A second meeting with the union delegates shall take place preferably seven
days after the first meeting; during this meeting, the employer shall present the latest form of its
redundancy plan and the grounds on which it is changing or ruling out the union delegates’
proposals. The latter may give their opinion on the projected solutions and on the employer’s
arguments. Minutes of the meeting, duly initialled by the parties, shall record the employer’s
contribution, the delegates’ observations and the discussion that followed.

Article 172.18 : After this meeting, the employer must send its definitive redundancy plan to the
Labour Inspector, mentioning the name and position of the persons that it plans to make
redundant, the period planned for notifying the redundancies and the measures adopted to
facilitate redeployment of the workers made redundant

Article 172.19: When the redundancy plan concerns less than ten persons, the Labour
Inspector shall not have any power to delay the redundancies. After having informed the Labour
Inspector, the employer may proceed with the redundancies by sending a letter delivered by
registered mail or personally, with acknowledgment of receipt.

Article 172.20: When the redundancy plan concerns at least ten persons, the Labour Inspector
may request that a third meeting of the parties is held in its presence within ten days following
receipt of the plan. During this meeting, the Labour

- 31 -
Inspector may make any relevant proposals likely to avoid the redundancies, reduce their
number or facilitate redeployment of the persons threatened with redundancy.

The employer may not implement any of the planned redundancies within ten days following
receipt of the plan by the Labour Inspector. After this time, the employer may proceed with the
redundancies by sending a letter delivered by registered mail or personally, with
acknowledgment of receipt.

Article 172.21: When the negotiated terminations form part of a downsizing operation or
redeployment on economic grounds, they shall be subject to the same obligations as the
redundancies themselves regarding consultation by union delegates and informing the Labour
Inspector. They shall be recorded in the accounts for calculating the number of planned
redundancies.

When the plan calls for the early retirement of employees, the body responsible for Social
Security must be involved in order to determine the terms and conditions according to which the
interested parties shall be eligible for social security cover and the protection of their rights until
they meet the eligibility criteria for an old age pension.

Article 172.22: If, within three months following redundancy on economic grounds of ten
persons, the employer intends to proceed with a new redundancy, the calculation of the number
of redundancies planned shall be made in addition to those redundancies that have already
taken place. The procedure for making at least ten persons redundant must be followed if the
total number of planned redundancies already made is at least equal to ten.

SECTION IV: CONSEQUENCES OF DISMISSAL

Article 172.23: Termination of a employment contract for an indefinite term shall only become
effective upon expiry of a notice period or in lieu of notice.

The notice period depends on the professional category of the employee. This shall be three
months for managers and assimilated personnel, two months for supervisors and foremen and
one month for operational staff.

Article 172.24: The notice period shall start on the day the employee has received written notice
of dismissal.

Article 172.25: During the notice period, the employer and the employee shall remain bound by
the reciprocal obligations stipulated in the employment contract. The employer may not change
the employee’s allocations and remuneration; the employee must carry out their normal work
activities with due care and attention.

During the notice period, the employee shall have eight hours per week, to be taken during
working hours, to look for a new job; these hours may be taken in one continuous period or in
two periods during one week; they may not be cumulated with the following week’s hours.

Article 172.26: The employer may exempt the employee from carrying out all or part of the
notice period. This exemption shall not entail any reduction of salary, leave or other benefits that
the employee would have received if they had accomplished their work

Article 172.27: The employer and the employee may, but only after notification of the dismissal,
agree not to carry out the notice period and be discharged from their reciprocal obligations
during the notice period. This agreement must be in writing.

- 32 -
Article 172.28: The employer that does not comply with its obligation to give notice shall be
ordered to pay an amount compensating the employee for the loss resulting from loss of salary,
indemnities and other benefits that the worker would have acquired if they had worked during
the whole notice period.

The dismissed employee, who unilaterally, decides not to work out the notice period, must pay
the employer compensation equal to the salary that they would have received if they had
normally worked until expiry of the notice period.

However, the employee that has been dismissed without justification may not be charged for not
having worked during the notice period.

In addition, they may not be charged for having stopped working during the notice period
following the employer defaulting on its own obligations. In the latter case, the employer must
pay the salaries, leave and other benefits which would have been acquired by the employee if
they had worked until expiry of the notice period.

Article 172.29: No notice is required for an employee dismissed for serious professional
misconduct.

Article 172.30: The employee that has effectively worked for at least twelve months on behalf of
the company under the contract that has been terminated, has the right to severance pay, the
calculation methods of which shall be defined by an order of the Labour Minister.

No severance pay shall be due to the worker dismissed for serious professional misconduct.

Article 172.31: Severance pay shall be added to compensation in lieu of leave, notice and any
compensation that may be due in the event of dismissal that infringes the legal, regulatory or
contractual provisions.

Article 172.32: The employer must, upon expiry of the employment contract, issue the worker
with a certificate mentioning only the date that employment commenced and ended and the
nature of the employment or, if appropriate, the posts successively occupied, as well as the
periods these positions were held.

This certificate must not contain any unfavourable assessments regarding the worker.

Employment certificates issued to employees shall be exempt from stamp and registration
duties.

Article 172.33: When, at the time working relations are terminated, the employer has the worker
sign a receipt, according to which the latter acknowledges having received all their rights, this
receipt, called a “reçu pour solde de tout compte” (final settlement receipt), may be repudiated
by the worker during the quarter following its signature. The repudiation shall be in writing, based
on suitable grounds and sent to the former employer.

The prescriptive date to repudiate the receipt may not be held against the worker:

1. if the receipt does not carry a statement, in bold letters, of the prescriptive date;

2. if the words “pour solde de tout compte” are not handwritten in full and followed by
the employee’s signature and, if the employee cannot write, with the assistance of a
person of their choice.

The “pour solde de tout compte” receipt legally repudiated or in respect of which the prescription
may not be applied, shall only have the value of an ordinary receipt of the amounts shown on it.

- 33 -
 SECTION V: RETIREMENT

Article 172.34: All workers are eligible for retirement.

The employment contract for an indefinite term shall end when the worker reaches retirement
age as provided in the laws and regulations currently in force in the general membership
scheme. Moreover, in certain professions, the list of which shall be determined by an order of
the Labour Minister, working relationships may continue upon common agreement beyond the
legal age of retirement.

In any event, retirement at the initiative of one or the other of the parties shall not constitute
resignation or dismissal and shall be subject to the legal regime defined by the Social Security
Code.

Retired workers have a right to severance pay upon retirement, the amount of which shall be
fixed by an order of the Labour Minister.

Article 172.35: In the event of an extension, as provided in paragraph 2 of the preceding article,
the employment contract shall continue to bind the parties until the end of the period agreed by
them. When termination occurs, it shall be subject to the legal regime for retirement. However,
when the employee commits serious professional misconduct during this period, the employer
may apply the rules for dismissal.

Article 172.36: The employer must notify the employee, before the latter reaches retirement
age, of its intention to retire them or, on the contrary, to propose an extension of the employment
contract.

This notification must take place at least six months before the normal date of retirement when
the employee has over 10 years’ length of service in the company. This period shall be two
months when the employee has between two and ten years’ length of service in the company;
otherwise it shall be one month.

Article 172.37: In the five years prior to retirement age, any insured worker fulfilling the
conditions defined by the social regulations currently in force may, upon their request and for
personal reasons, benefit from early retirement proportional to their total insurance period. In
order to do this, the employee shall benefit from the compensation provided in article 172.34,
paragraph 4, of this Code, except in the case of more favourable provisions agreed between the
parties or on the part of the employer.

SECTION VI: RESIGNATION:

Article 172.38: The employee is free to resign subject to the provisions of article 172.3 of this
Code. They do not have to justify their resignation. The wish to resign must be express and
unequivocal.

The worker that is forced to resign because of the employer may refer the matter to the Labour
Inspector or competent courts.

Article 172.39: Termination of the employment contract shall only become effective upon expiry
of the notice period, the length of which is provided in article 172.23, paragraph 2, of this Code.

- 34 -
Article 172.40: The departing employee that does not comply with their obligation to give notice
shall owe the employer compensation equal to the salary that they would have received if they
had normally worked until the end of the notice period determined in the preceding article.

This compensation may not be a higher amount when, by refusing to work out the notice period,
the departing employee had the intention of causing damage to the employer and did, indeed,
cause damage other than which normally results simply from not working out the notice period.

Article 172.41: The employer that opposes the departing employee working out the notice
period must pay the latter an amount equivalent to their notice period.

Article 172.42: The employer and the employee may, by common agreement, decide not to
carry out the notice period and shall therefore be discharged from their reciprocal obligations.

Article 172.43: When, during the notice period, the employer or employee commits serious
professional misconduct, this shall lead to the immediate termination of the employment
contract.

SECTION VII - DECEASE

Article 172.44: When the decease of the employer leads to the end of the company’s activities,
the employees are eligible for compensation in lieu of notice, severance pay and pay in lieu of
leave under the conditions similar to those which exist for justified dismissal.

Article 172.45: In the event of death of the employee, their heirs shall be eligible to
compensation for services rendered equal to at least the severance pay provided in article
172.30 of this Code. All rights belonging to the employee at the date of death shall also be paid
to the heirs.

BOOK 2: WORKING CONDITIONS

TITLE I: RULES OF PROCEDURE AND DISCIPLINARY LAW

CHAPTER I: RULES OF PROCEDURE

Article 211.1: The drawing up of rules of procedure is mandatory in all companies and
establishments normally employing at least twenty-five employees.

Article 211.2: A company is defined as being any organisation, regardless of its legal form
(company, association, union or individual property), having an activity that produces, distributes
or provides services.

The establishment shall be a particular place where a group of persons work together on a
regular basis under the direction of the same authority.

The company may include several establishments.

Article 211.3: The rules of procedure is a written document by which the employer necessarily
determines the general and permanent rules relating to discipline, by determining the nature and
scale of sanctions that are likely to be imposed, as well as the procedural provisions
guaranteeing the rights of defence, health and safety applicable in the establishment or
company.

Article 211.4: Apart from lay-offs, transfers, demotions or dismissal on disciplinary grounds, the
rules of procedure or any otherwise-qualified unilateral deed issued by

- 35 -
the employer must not contain any provision concerning job mobility or the loss of employment.
Neither must it contain provisions relating to non-compete obligations. Any stipulation to the
contrary shall be deemed unwritten.

Article 211.5: Clauses of the rules of procedure that delete or limit employees’ rights, such as
those resulting from laws and regulations currently in force, or collective bargaining agreements
applicable in the establishments, are invalid.

When, due to legislative, regulatory or contractual developments, the provisions of the rules of
procedure no longer comply with the legal, regulatory or contractual standards, the head of the
company or establishment must revise the rules of procedure. In the event of shortcomings, the
Labour Inspector may serve formal notice in order to accomplish this revision.

In the case provided in the preceding paragraph, even in the absence of express amendment,
the clauses of the rules of procedure that conflict with the legal, regulatory or contractual
provisions shall become null and void from the very day that they no longer comply with the new
legal, regulatory or contractual standards.

Article 211.6: Rules of procedure shall be drawn up by the management of the company or
establishment. They shall be subject to the opinion of the union delegates who, within fifteen
days, must send their written observations to the head of the company or establishment. The
absence of a reply within this deadline, shall constitute agreement.

The projected rules of procedure, along with the potential presentation of the union delegates’
observations shall then be subject to examination by the Labour Inspector.

The Labour Inspector may request the addition of the mandatory obligations provided in article
211.3 and the withdrawal or amendment of clauses forbidden by articles 211.4 and 211.5
mentioned above.

Article 211.7: When the Labour Inspector does not make any observations during the thirty
working days following the day the rules of procedures were submitted to it, the employer must
file these rules of procedure with the Registry of the Labour Court or a nearby Court and display
them within the company’s premises. The rules of procedure shall apply one month after the day
they have been displayed within the company’s premises.

Article 211.8: When the Labour Inspector requests an amendment within thirty working days,
the employer may submit an appeal to the General Labour Inspector.

This appeal shall only be admissible if it is submitted within thirty working days following the
Labour Inspector’s decision.

The General Labour Inspector must make its decision known within thirty working days following
presentation of the appeal. The absence of a decision by the General Labour Inspector within
this deadline shall remove any legal force from the Labour Inspector’s decision; the employer
may, in this event, display the unmodified rules of procedure within the company’s premises.

If the appeal is inadmissible, or if the General Labour Inspector makes a decision within the thirty
working days, the employer must amend the rules of procedures in accordance with the
instructions of the administrative authorities, before proceeding with their display.

Article 211.9: After displaying the rules of procedure within the company, any disputes
concerning the legality of the latter shall be taken to the Labour Court or the Court hearing the
case which may order, by application of articles 211.4, 211.5 and 211.6 of this

- 36 -
Code, the withdrawal of or addition to the clauses and all the consequences of the invalidity of a
clause of the rules of procedure shall be established in the legal relations between the employer
and an employee.

Article 211.10: The display must be located in a suitable place that is easily accessible in
locations where work is carried out, as well as on the premises and at the entrance of the
premises where hiring takes place. The text of the regulation must be kept in a legible condition.

Article 211.11: Any unilateral act of the employer or its representatives establishing general and
permanent rules applicable within the company, establishment or a part of the establishment,
shall be subject to the same procedure for drawing up, examining and advertising as the rules of
procedure.

CHAPTER II: DISCIPLINARY LAW

Article 212.1: A disciplinary sanction may only be inflicted on an employee when the latter has
committed a wrongdoing whilst exercising their professional activity.

Acts or omissions, even if wrongful, committed outside the time and place of work, may not
justify a disciplinary sanction apart from the case in which an employee reveals confidential
information to a third party concerning the company or seeks, through blatant abuse, to damage
their employer.

Article 212.2: An employer may not pronounce a disciplinary sanction against an employee for
misconduct that it, or one of its representatives, has known about for over one month.

However, when, following professional misconduct, criminal proceedings have been brought
within one month, the employer may issue a disciplinary sanction against the employee. This
possibility shall only be available for thirty working days following the definite decision of a
criminal court.

Article 212.3: The employer may only inflict a sanction mentioned in the rules of procedure.
Financial sanctions are forbidden; a financial sanction is understood here to mean any measure
that leads to a reduction in the remuneration normally due for services rendered.

In establishments where rules of procedure are not mandatory and do not exist, the employer
may issue a warning, blame, a lay-off under or equivalent to six days, and dismissal with or
without notice, depending on the gravity of the misconduct.

Any disciplinary sanction must be subject to written notification stating the reasons in the form of
a letter sent by registered mail or delivered personally to the employee, with acknowledgment of
receipt.

When an employer is informed of the existence of actions provided in articles 6, 7 and 8 of this
Code and emanating from persons over which it has authority, it must take all appropriate
measures for the purposes of ending these actions and preventing their repetition.

The law shall determine the criminal sanctions incurred by perpetrators of actions referred to in
the articles indicated above.

Article 212.4: Disciplinary sanctions should be proportional to the gravity of the misconduct. The
Labour Judge is authorised to evaluate this proportionality. Its measure of discretion may not be
limited by provisions of the rules of procedure, collective bargaining agreement or employment
contract.

- 37 -
Article 212.5: In the event of a dispute, the Labour Court shall quash the disciplinary sanction
that has been illegally ordered, either because the employee’s alleged misconduct does not exist
or is not of a professional nature or is too old, or because the ordered disciplinary sanction is not
mentioned in the rules of procedure (or in law when the rules of procedure are not mandatory),
or because it is forbidden or disproportionate to the misconduct committed.

Article 212.6: When the sanction is cancelled because it is disproportionate to the seriousness
of the misconduct committed, the employer may order a new disciplinary sanction within fifteen
working days following the decision to cancel the sanction; the disciplinary sanction ordered
shall necessarily be less severe than that which gave rise to the cancellation.

Apart from this case, the declaration of annulment shall obstruct any new disciplinary sanction
as regards acts or omissions originating from the cancelled sanction.

TITLE II: WORKING HOURS AND LEAVE

CHAPTER I: WORKING HOURS

Article 221.1: In all private establishments, effective working hours for employees is normally
forty hours per week.

The employer and the employee may, however, conclude an employment contract for a period
of less than forty hours, this contract thus being a part-time employment contract.

The employer may also impose over forty hours per week on employees by application of the
rules of conversion, recuperation, modulation or overtime.

Article 221.2: Conversion rules shall be determined by order of the Labour Minister. They
determine the number of hours of attendance at the workstation that correspond to forty hours of
actual time worked.

Failing regulatory legislation, the number of hours of attendance at the workstation shall be
considered as actual hours worked.

Article 221.3: When a collective interruption of work affects an establishment or part of the
establishment for a reason other than a strike, lock-out, paid leave or paid non-working days,
lost hours may be recovered during the following twelve months. Recovered hours shall be paid
at the normal rate and not at the higher rate of overtime.

Recovery of hours lost do not permit the maximum daily and weekly working times to be
exceeded.

The Labour Inspector shall be kept informed of collective interruptions of work and the conditions
for recovery.

Article 221.4: The employer may conclude a modulation agreement with the representative
union delegate(s) in the company that provides for an unequal distribution of work time
depending on the weeks. This agreement may not have the effect of increasing, over a calendar
year, the average duration of one week’s work; it must comply with the rules of maximum daily
and weekly working times.

Hours worked during the course of one week in excess of forty hours within the framework of
modulation shall not be considered as overtime.

- 38 -
Article 221.5: The employer may unilaterally require employees to work overtime hours up to a
limit of one hundred hours per calendar year. After the one hundredth hour, the employer shall
be required to seek the authorisation of the Work Inspector for the performance of overtime work
hours in excess of this number.

Every work hour which is not an equivalent hour, a flexitime hour or an hour worked in lieu
performed during the course of a week after the fortieth hour, or during the course of a day after
the eighth hour, is deemed an overtime hour.

Article 221.6: Overtime hours shall attract a higher rate of pay. This increased pay shall be at
the rate of thirty per cent for the first four hours and sixty per cent for any hours in excess of that
figure.

More attractive overtime payment rates may be agreed to under an individual employment
contract or a collective work agreement.

Article 221.7: Notwithstanding the rules governing equivalent hours, flexitime hours or hours
worked in lieu, the duration of an actual working day may not exceed ten hours per day, or forty-
eight hours per week where overtime hours are being worked.

Article 221.8: Any work performed between the hours of 9.00 pm and 5.00 am shall be deemed
night work.

Article 221.9: The payment rate for hours worked under normal conditions or at the work station
as night work shall be increased.

The increase shall be at the rate of twenty per cent. If a night work hour is an overtime hour, the
overtime increased pay rate shall be applied to the sum already increased for night work.

Article 221.10: The rest period required for younger workers, that is, workers under eighteen
years of age, must consist of at least twelve consecutive hours.

Article 221.11: The work timetable shall be drawn up by the employer after consultation with the
union representatives. It must be displayed in the work places and a copy supplied to the Work
Inspector.

Article 221.12: Any amendments to timetables shall be applied to personnel when such
amendments comply with the totality of the rules governing the time periods set down in the
preceding article; they shall only come into effect eight hours after the receipt by the Work
Inspector of the new timetable.

Timetable amendments to be applied on a temporary basis for a period of less than three
months shall be applied under alternative conditions as laid down by order of the Minister of
Labour.

CHAPTER II: LEAVE

SECTION I: WEEKLY REST PERIODS:

Article 222.1: Weekly rest periods are mandatory. They shall consist of a minimum of twenty-
four consecutive hours per week. In theory, this shall take place on Sunday

Article 222.2: Certain members of staff shall be exempt from the mandatory nature of the
Sunday rest period:

1) hospitals, clinics, health centres and pharmacies;

- 39 -
 2) organisations responsible for the provision of lighting, water, fuel and gas;
3) hotels, bars, restaurants and entertainment facilities;
4) organisations responsible for transportation by water, air, land and rail;
5) those industries in which any interruption to work shall bring about the loss or
deterioration of the product under production or the plant involved therein.

Article 222.3: Exemptions to the Sunday rest period may be granted by the Minister of Labour,
such exemptions to be in compliance with the labour timetable submitted by the employer after
consultation with the union representatives.

Article 222.4: Apprentices and employees under eighteen years of age shall always retain the
right to the Sunday rest period, even when employed in a business or an establishment where
Sunday work is authorised.

Article 222.5: Employers are required to grant a rest period to any workers forced by necessity
to forego the Sunday rest period in compensation for any suspension or reduction in the weekly
rest period.

SECTION II: PUBLIC HOLIDAYS:

Article 222.6: Legally-required public holidays shall be laid down in statute. They shall be
deemed paid holidays on which no work shall be performed, even if they fall on a Sunday or the
day set aside as the weekly rest period. The fact that no work shall be performed on these public
holidays shall not be claimed as grounds for the reduction of monthly, fortnightly, weekly or daily
wage payments. Work hours lost due to the fact that no work is done on public holidays shall not
be claimed as grounds for work to be done in lieu.

Article 222.7: In the case of enterprises or organisations where, because of the nature of the
activities, work may not be interrupted, those personnel required to work on a public holiday
shall have the right to payment for the work done in addition to the payment rate laid down in the
preceding article. This payment shall be calculated on the basis of the hourly rate plus sixty per
cent for day work, and one hundred per cent for night work.

SECTION III: ANNUAL LEAVE

Article 222.8: Notwithstanding any favourable provisions arising from a collective agreement, a
paid worker shall have the right to leave paid at the employer’s expense at the rate of two-and-a-
half working days per month of actual service.

Article 222.9: The following shall be included as actual work periods in determining the length of
the leave period: periods of paid leave, periods of training leave, absences due to workplace
accidents and occupational medical conditions, and maternity leave.

Absences due to a non-occupational medical condition or an accident under common law shall
be included as periods of actual work under conditions laid down by collective agreements.

Article 222.10: Work days shall be taken to mean all the days of the week except Sundays and
public holidays. However, the first day of the leave period shall be that during which the
personnel member would have been at his/her work station if he/she were not on leave.

Article 222.11: Any other method of establishing the duration of the annual paid leave period,
plus any other system of counting paid leave days arising from usages or agreements shall only
be accepted if they

- 40 -
produce a result which is at least as favourable for the personnel member as the legally-required
method of establishing and counting these days.

Article 222.12: The right to take the annual leave period shall have been earned after a period
of actual service equal to one month.

A paid leave period not exceeding twelve working days must be in one continuous period.

Each year, workers are required to take the leave days they have earned in a year.

Under no circumstances shall any agreement be reached whereby compensation may be paid
instead of the taking of leave.

Article 222.13: The following may not be deducted from the annual leave period: days of
sickness and occupational accident, and rest and recuperation days for women in childbirth as
laid down in articles 153.1 and 153.2 of this Code.

Article 222.14: The period of paid leave shall be laid down in the collective agreements
applicable to the sector. By default, it shall be laid down by the employer in compliance with
usages and after consultation with the union representatives.

Article 222.15: Throughout the duration of the leave period, the employer shall pay the
personnel member all wages and compensation he/she would have received if he/she had
continued to perform his/her normal work service with the exception of the expatriation
allowance and compensation associated with the reimbursement of expenses connected with
the performance of work.

Article 222.16: Where a labour agreement shall have been broken or shall terminate before the
personnel member shall have enjoyed the totality of his/her annual leave, compensation in lieu
of leave shall be allocated to him/her. This compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the
provisions of articles 222.8, 222.9 and 222.15 of this Code.

Article 222.17: The specific conditions relating to travel times and transportation expenses shall
be covered by collective agreements and individual employment contracts.

The same shall apply to leave associated with family events or the outcome of exceptional
circumstances.

TITLE III: WORKERS’ HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTECTION

CHAPTER I: HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE:

SECTION I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 231.1: All the enterprises and organisations covered by article 211.2 of this Code are
subject to the provisions of this part.

Organisations or enterprises performing their activites simultaneously at the same work location
must collaborate in the application of the measures laid down in this part, without prejudice to
the responsibility of the manager of each plant or enterprise for the health and safety of the
workers he/she employs.

Article 231.2: Employers are required to take all necessary steps appropriate to the operating
conditions of the enterprise for the protection of the life and health of the personnel. In particular,
they must organise their plant and draw up the employment contract in such a way as to protect
their personnel from accident and sickness to the best degree possible.

- 41 -
All plants or enterprises with a regular complement of a minimum of twenty-five staff members
must set up a health and safety committee. It will be the duty of this committee to examine,
develop and implement protection and prevention measures in the area of health and safety in
the workplace.

Managers, board members, managers or authorities responsible for the execution of work
involving special hazards regarding personnel health and safety are required to declare the
exact nature of these hazards in a statement supplied to the Work Inspector and the works
doctor. They are responsible for the application of the protection measures laid down for this
purpose to staff members.

Article 231.3: Personnel are required to make use of health and safety devices in the correct
manner and to ensure that they are not removed, even if this is authorised by the employer.
They may only be modified with the employer’s authorisation and on the condition that such
modifications shall not render the devices ineffective.

Article 231.4: The Minister of Labour shall set down rulings establishing:

1. General health and protection measures applicable to all organisations covered, particularly
as regards lighting, aeration or ventilation, drinking water, sanitary installations, the
elimination of dust and fumes, precautions to be taken against fire, radiation, noise and
vibration, and regarding the temperature and cleanliness of premises;

2. In keeping with requirements as defined, specific provisions relating to either certain

occupations or certain work methods, or to the organisation and running of institutions
specialising in the organisation and improvement of workplace health and safety conditions
and the protection of employee health.

Article 231.5: Notwithstanding the provisions of articles 153.1 to 153.6 of this Code, Ministerial
rulings shall establish the nature of jobs not to be performed by women or pregnant women, or
the special protective conditions to be deployed if they are to be permitted to perform these jobs.

Work likely to threaten the reproductive capacity of women, or in the case of pregnant women,
their health or that of the foetus is either prohibited or subject to special protective conditions.

Article 231.6: Managers are required to organise practical training regarding security, health
and safety in the workplace for the benefit of new workers they take on, those who are changing
their workplace or job, and those who are resuming their work after a break of more than six
months. This training should be updated for the benefit of the whole of the personnel if the
legislation or regulations applicable should change.

Article 231.7: In the case of the application of ministerial rulings as mentioned in article 231.4 of
this item, Work Inspectors should give managers a notice period for them to comply with the said
provisions before they draft their reports.

The dated and signed notice should indicate breaches observed and set down a deadline within
which these breaches should have been eliminated. Under no circumstances may this deadline
be less than four days.

- 42 -
Article 231.8: Work Inspects are authorised, without the notice requirement, to immediately
draw up their reports when the situations they observe present a serious and imminent danger to
the physical safety of the workers.

In such cases, a Work Inspector may order measures to be immediately implemented to

eliminate the serious and imminent danger.

An employer may lodge an appeal against the Work Inspector’s decision before the labour court,
which shall be required to hand down a ruling within three days of the appeal lodgement.

A ruling from the Minister of Labour shall set down the terms and conditions for the application of
this article.

Article 231.9: Notwithstanding the application of legislative, regulatory or agreement-based

provisions, vendors or distribnutors of hazardous substances or preparations, and the heads of
organisations which make use thereof, are require to affix a label or declaration to any container,
bag or packaging containing these substances or preparations stating the name and source of
these substances or preparations and the hazards involved in their use. These statements must
be reproduced on invoices or delivery dockets.

The containers, bags or packaging containing the hazardous substances or preparations must
be stout and sealed. Rulings issued by the Ministry of labout, handed down upon consultation
with the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Legislation, define the nature of the
substances or preparations mentioned in the previous paragraph and establish the proportion
above which their presence in a product renders the affixation of the label or declaration
mentioned above mandatory.

Article 231.10: In the interests of hygiene, health and safety in the workplace, the manufacture,
sale, offering for sale, importation and suspension for any reason, as well as the use of
substances and preparations hazardous to workers, may be restricted, regulated or prohibited.

These regulatory restrictions or prohibitions may be applied even in cases where the use of the
substances or preparations is the responsibility of the head of the organisaiton or of independent
workers.

Upon the advice of the Works Doctor, the Work Inspector may require the manager to call upon
appropriate bodies to undertake the product analyses set down in paragraph one in order to
ascertain the composition thereof and their effects on the human organism.

Article 231.11: The establishments mentioned in article 211.2 of this Code must be maintained
in state of permanent cleanliness and display such hygiene and health-related conditions as are
necessary to the health of the personnel.

Article 231.12: All persons are prohibited from bringing or allowing alcohol or alcoholic drinks,
drugs or any other illicit substances to be brought, into the work place, and from consuming the
same or permitting their consumption.

Presenting oneself on the premises in a state of inebriation is also prohibited.

Employers must ensure that drinking water in sufficient quantities is provided for personnel.
They must also, upon the advice of the Works Doctor, make other non-alcoholic beverages
available for personnel.

- 43 -
Article 231.13: The establishments and premises mentioned in article 211.2 of this Code must
be arranged in such a manner as to guarantee the safety of the workers.

Machinery, equipment, conveyor plant, tools and mechanical or manual devices must be
installed and maintained in the best possible safety conditions.

Motors and the moving parts of machines must be separated from personnel by partitions or
protective guards.

The employer or the employer’s representative is responsible for permanently monitoring the
condition of the machinery in order to guarantee the protection of the staff.

The Work Inspect may put the manager on notice to have the compliance status of the
equipment listed above verified.

Article 231.14: When workers are required to work in wells, gas pipes, emission channels,
sewage pits, vats, or any other equipment likely to contain hazardous gases, the organisation
management shall be required, wherever this is technically possible, to ensure that these
locations are adequately ventilated and not to authorise the commencement of work until the
state of the atmosphere has been checked, and to supply, where necessary, equipment
protecting employees from present risks.

Employees must be attached by a belt or safety device; during the entire period of the work they
must be monitored by other staff members whose duty will be to perform any rescue actions as
may prove necessary; they must be provided with the means of alerting the parties responsible
for monitoring them under all circumstances.

It is the duty of the employer to provide the workers with personal protection equipment when
the collective technical prevention measures are insufficient.

All protection equipment must be provided by the employer free of charge. Article

231.15: Wells, inspection hatches and openings must be provided with closures.

Staircases must be sturdy and provided with strong hand-rails.

Scaffolding must be provided with strong guardrails ninety centimetres in height.

Article 231.16: The connected moving parts of machines and transmissions, connecting rods
and driving wheels, transmission shafts, gears, friction cones or cylinders, must be provided with
a protective device or separated off so that they are not within range of the workers.

The same applies to belts or cables crossing the floor of a workshop or operating on
transmission pulleys positioned at least two metres from the floor.

Equipment adapted for the machinery or supplied for the use of personnel should not be such as
to allow belting to he handled when in motion.

Article 231.17: The offering, the placing for sale, the sale, the importation, the hire and the
transfer under any circumstances whatever or the use of the following is prohibited:

- 44 -
 a) Equipment, machines or parts of machines which have not been built, provided,
protected or ordered under conditions which guarantee the health and safety of the
workers;

b) Machine guards and protective equipment, devices or products which are not such as to
protect the workers against hazards of all kinds to which they may be exposed.

Article 231.18: The purchaser or hirer to whom a hazardous machine or machine part is
delivered for the use of workers may, notwithstanding any clause to the contrary, insist on the
cancellation of the sale or hire within the period of one year counting from the delivery date.

The Tribunal handing down this ruling may additionally grant damages to the purchaser or hirer.

Article 231.19: The sender of any package or object weighing one thousand kilograms or more
must affix to the packaging a statement of the weight indicated in a clear and non-defaceable
fashion.

In the unusual case in which it is difficult to determine the exact weight, the weight as stated may
be expressed as a maximum depending on the volume and nature of the package.

The sender’s obligation shall fall to the duty of the agent to whom the sender has entrusted the
consignment of the package.

Article 231.20: Heads of organisations or establishments must maintain customary standards

and compliance with public decency, particularly when they employ apprentices or workers of
under eighteen years of age.

Article 231.21: Each room of such shops, stores and other associated premises in which goods
and various objects are handled or on offer to the public must be provided with a suitable
number of seats equal to the number of workers employed there.

SECTION II: SPECIAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO CONSTRUCTION

OPERATIONS

Article 231.22: Commissioning authorities undertaking the construction or preparation of

buildings intended for the performance of an industrial, commercial or agricultural activity are
required to comply with the rules laid down in Ministerial orders in the interest of the health and
safety of the workplace.

Article 231.23: When a building operation is greater in size than the amount laid down in the
regulations, the site associated with this operation must be provided, at a minimum of one point
on the perimeter, with access routes, a connection to drinking water and electricity distribution
network sources, and to the means of waste materials removal, under conditions such that the
locations intended for site employees are compliant with the appropriate provisions as regards
workplace health and safety.

An order issued by the Minister of Labour, drafted upon consultation with the Consultative
Labour Committee, shall set down the conditions for the implementation of the provisions of the
preceding paragraph and shall furthermore decide in what cases and according to what
conditions the ruling laid down in the said paragraph may as a matter of exception be waived.

- 45 -
Article 231.24: Businesses required to work on a site greater in size than that laid down in the
regulations must provide the commissioning authority with a hygiene, health and safety plan for
the workplace before any work takes place on the site.

The plan must also be submitted to the works doctors of the businesses involved for their
opinions. The final plan must be supplied to the Work Inspect before the beginning of the works.

Article 231.25: The health and safety plan shall set down the following in detail regarding all the
works the entrepreneur shall execute directly or which he shall subcontract:

1) The measures provided at project design stage as well as at all the various stages in
the execution thereof to guarantee the safety of the personnel, in the light of the
building techniques used and the organisation of the site.

2) The provisions laid down to provide first-aid for the sick and the victims of workplace
accidents.

3) The provisions adopted to protect work hygiene conditions and those of the locations
where personnel are to be found.

Article 231.26: A technical committee tasked with overseeing the prevention of occupational
hazards must be set up. Its work will be to hand down technical opinion and to communicate
proposals for the attention of the Consultative Labour and Company Law Committee on draft
legislation and regulations to be imposed in the area of hygiene, health and safety in the
workplace.

Article 231.27: Having taken advice from the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company
Law, the Minister of Labour shall define the membership, organisational and operating
conditions of the Technical Committee on Occupational Hazard Prevention.

CHAPTER II: EMPLOYMENT MEDICAL UNIT

Article 232.1: All companies defined according to the terms of article 2112.2 of this Code are
governed by the provisions of this chapter.

The employers concerned must organise employment medical services in the company for the
benefit of all workers.

The medical unit is a service established at the workplace or in close proximity thereto intended
to:

a)- guarantee the protection of all workers against any threat to their health which could arise
from their work or the conditions under which they perform it;

b)- help adapt workstations, techniques and work rates to suit human physiology;

c)- help establish and maintain the physical and mental wellbeing of the workers at the highest
possible level;

d)- support the health education of the workers such that it shall comply with the work hygiene
standards and instructions.

All employers must ensure that applicants who have been employed shall undergo a medical
examination before the termination of their probation period.

- 46 -
 Employers must ensure that staff members take a medical examination at least once a year
with a view to ensuring that their health is good and to preserve their suitability for the work
position they occupy.

These examinations shall be performed by the company workplace health services or the
national service of the employment medical unit

Article 232.2: The employment medical unit is staffed by medical and paramedical staff who are
covered by an approval agreement issued by the Minister of Health. Its mainly preventative duty
is to prevent any deterioration in the health of the workforce due to their work, for the most part
by monitoring the hygienic state of the working conditions, risk of contagion and the health status
of the workers.

Wherever possible, the Works Doctor will be a specialist.

Article 232.3: The standards governing personnel infrastructure and equipment, plus the terms
and conditions controlling the establishment and operations of the employment medical unit are
covered by a ruling issued by the Minister of Health on consultation with the Minister of Labour.

Expenses incurred due to the provision of the services supplied by the employment medical unit
shall be borne by the employers.

Article 232.4: The employment medical unit may belong to a single company or it may be
shared by several. Where the unit is shared by more than one company, the expenses shall be
divided on a pro rata basis according to the number of employees.

A ruling handed down by the Minister of Labour on consultation with the Minister of Health
defines the terms and conditions of the execution of this obligation.

Article 232.5: Companies covered by the provisions of this chapter are classified as follows:

 Category One: 500 workers and over;

 Category Two: from 200 to 499 workers;

 Category Three: from 20 to 199 workers;

 Category Four: less than 20 workers.

The following are the minimum requirements:

1- In Category One organisations, the permanent services of a works doctor, one nurse for
up to 500 workers and an additional nurse for employee numbers in excess of this
workforce, then one further nurse for every 500 workers. When the organisation
comprises less than 1,000 workers and is located within 25 kilometres of a medical
centre, it may be classified in Category Two by a decision of the Minister of Labour on
consultation with the Minister of Health;
2- In Category Two organisation, the regular attendance of a doctor (Works Doctor or
approved doctor) and the permanent services of a nurse;
3- In Category Three organisations, the regular attendance of a doctor (Works Doctor or
approved doctor) and the permanent services of a nurse ;
4- In Category Four organisation, the installation of a First Aid Kit and possibly the provision
of a workplace health service shared with other enterprises.

- 47 -
Article 232.6: The employer must take steps to provide first aid for sick personnel and victims of
workplace accidents.

Article 232.7: The Works Doctor is authorised to suggest individual measures to the employer,
such as training in health and safety, where workers have changed positions or the job has
changed, supported by considerations related in particular to the age, physical strength or state
of health of the workers for the adaptation of the workstation to the health status of the worker.

The manager shall be required to consider such suggestions, and in the case of a rejection,
must explain the reasons for opposing acting on such a proposal.

Should a problem or disagreement arise, the decision shall be taken by the Work Inspector on
consultation with the work health inspector.

Article 232.8: The officers of the company employment medical unit must submit quarterly
activity reports to the national department responsible for the Employment Medical Units, which
should in particular include statistics of sickness cases identified or treated.

National Employment Medical Unit Department, which is responsible, among other matters, for
the implementation of the workplace health policy, is also responsible for the technical
coordination and monitoring of the employment medical units. It has the power to apply
injunctions to employers and to the medical services and their staff in respect of compliance with
the provisions laid down in this chapter.

TITLE IV: WAGES AND BENEFITS

CHAPTER I: WAGE CALCULATION

Article 241.1: Notwithstanding the provisions of article 241.7 of this Code and collective
agreements, wages and their constituent parts shall be freely negotiated between the employer
and the worker.

Article 241.2: In the case of the same job, or a job of equal value, all employers must ensure
that remuneration is the same to all employees, regardless of their place of origin, their sex or
their age, under the conditions laid down in this part.

The term ‘remuneration’ is to be understood to mean the basic wage plus all other benefits and
additional payments, bonuses and compensation payments of all kinds, whether paid directly or
indirectly, in cash or kind, as paid by the employer to the worker in return for that employee’s
work.

The payment of wages in whole or in part in the form of alcoholic beverages or drugs is
prohibited.

When wages are paid partly in kind, the said payments must be for the personal use of the
worker and his family and must serve his best interests; the value attributed to these payments
must be fair and reasonable.

Except where there is a provision to the contrary in this Code, in collective agreements, in
individual employment contracts or in an agreement between the parties, no wage payment is
payable if the worker is absent from the workplace.

Article 241.3: The various items comprising the remuneration package must be established in
accordance with standards which are identical for men and for women.

- 48 -
 The categories and criteria used for classifying and as a basis for occupational promotion, as
with all other bases for calculating remuneration, particularly as regards methods of assessing
the value of individual jobs, must be the same for workers of both sexes.

Any provision to be found in particularly in a contract, a collective agreement, a wage

agreement, a ruling or a salary scale arising from a decision made by an employer or a group of
employers and which, contrary to article 241 paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Code, comprises, for
one or more workers of either sex, a remuneration payment which is lower than that for the other
sex for the same job or a job equal in value, shall be deemed null and void.

The highest remuneration rate as paid to the said workers shall de jure replace that set down in
the provisions deemed null and void.

Article 241.4: Transfer compensation shall be allocated to a worker if he/she is obliged for
occupations reasons to move from his/her normal work place on a temporary or occasional
basis. The compensation payment applicable shall be established by collective agreement, or in
default, by the individual contract.

Article 241.5: Overtime hours worked as part of the job shall give rise to additional remuneration
calculated according to the conditions laid down in articles 221.6 and 221.8 of this Code.

Article 241.6: Payment for journey work or piece work must be calculated in such a way that it
shall provide a worker of average capabilities, working at a normal rate, with a wage which is at
least equal to that of a worker paid by the hour, performing similar work.

Article 241.7: All employees have a right to a minimum guaranteed wage across all
occupational fields. The minimum hourly pay rate shall be set down in law upon consultation with
the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

The minimum guaranteed wage rate across all occupational fields, whether statutory or deriving
from a more favourable collective agreement, shall be displayed in the same locations as the in-
house regulations and in those locations where personnel receive their pay.

Article 241.8: As far as is humanly possible, an employer must guarantee decent

accommodation for a permanent employee and his/her family when the workplace is different
from the worker’s normal place of residence. This accommodation must satisfy the normal needs
of the worker, or, in default, accommodation compensation must be paid to him/her.

CHAPTER II: THE PAYMENT OF WAGES

Article 242.1: No employer may in any way restrict the right of the worker to make use of his
wages according to his/her own preference.

SECTION I: WAGE PAYMENT MODALITIES

Article 242.2: Notwithstanding legislative provisions requiring the payment of wages according
to alternative systems, wages must be paid in cash or legal tender in the absence of contrary
stipulations, under the threat of a declaration of nullity.

Article 242.3: Except in the case of force majeure, wages shall be paid at the workplace or at
the employer’s offices, when these are located in the vicinity of the workplace. It may not be paid
as tokens for beverages or other goods on sale in a store, except in the case of workers who are
normally employed there.

- 49 -
Article 242.4: Wages must be paid at regular intervals which may not exceed two weeks for
workers employed by the fortnight or less, and thirty days for workers paid by the month.

For all piecework or journey-work where the execution of the work may last in excess of two
weeks, the payment dates may be set by mutual agreement, but the worker must receive
instalments each fortnight and be paid in full within the fortnight following the delivery of the
work.

Commissions acquired over the course of a quarter must be paid within the three months
following the end of this quarter.

Payments may not be made on those days on which employees have the right to a rest day.

Workers who are absent on the day on which payment is made may draw their wages at the
normal working hours of the pay desk.

Should the contract be cancelled or broken, wages and compensation must be paid as of the
termination of the service.

Article 242.5: The wages of employees or of workers covered by a collective agreement

providing them with payment on a monthly basis must be paid at least once a month.

A monthly-basis pay agreement, in the terms of this article, shall be understood as a collective
agreement providing for the monthly payment of wages and which extends to all workers all or
part of the advantages granted beforehand to paid employees.

Article 242.6: Wages shall be deemed to have been paid by the issue of a document drawn up
or issued by the employer or his/her representative and signed by each interested party or by
two witnesses if the worker is illiterate. These supporting documents must contain all the details
of the wage, such as the gross and net sums of the wage, the deductions, calculation methods
and the period of time covered.

These documents shall be archived by the employer under the same conditions as accounting
documentation and must be presented at any request by the Work Inspect.

At the time of the payment of remuneration, the employer must provide the employees with a
supporting document, known as the payslip.

When wages are paid no further signing or acknowledgment formalities may be demanded other
than that indicating that the sum received precisely matches the net amount shown on the
payslip.

Article 242.7: Employers may pay wages in the form of a cheque or, if acceptable to the worker,
they may be paid in the form of a bank transfer. In the latter case, proof of payment of the wages
by the employer may be provided in the form of a bank statement stating that the wages have in
fact been paid.

Article 242.8: The acceptance without objection or reservation on the part of the worker of a
payslip shall not justify his/her waiver of the right to the payment of all or part of the wage, of
compensation and fringe benefits which are payable to the worker in accordance with legislative,
regulatory or contractual provisions.

Article 242.9: The information set down on the payslip must of necessity be reproduced in a
ledger kept for that purpose.

- 50 -
 SECTION II: PAY CLAIM RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES

Article 242.10: Sums payable to commissioning agents for all works having the nature of public
interest works may not be subject to attachment, nor default judgement to the prejudice of the
workers to whom the wages are owing.

Sums owing to the workers as wages shall be paid in preference to those payable to suppliers.

Article 242.11: Wage claims shall be executable on the debtor’s movable and real estate
property under the following conditions:

1° - in the case of workers paid at intervals not exceeding a fortnight, the wages for the
past six months;

2° - in the case of workers paid on a monthly basis, the wages for the past twelve
months.

Article 242.12: In the case of the allocation of paid leave, the abovementioned right shall cover
the two years following the date on which the right to such leave was acquired.

Article 242.13: Claims for wages, bonuses, commissions, sundry services, compensation of all
kinds and, where appropriate, damages, shall take precedence over all lien claims, including
those of the National Treasury.

Article 242.14: Notwithstanding the rights mentioned above:

1° - bricklayers, carpenters and other workers who have been employed to build, rebuild
or repair buildings, canals or other works of any kind may bring an action against the
party for whom the works have been carried out to the value of the amounts that party
owes the commissioning agent at the time when their actions was brought;

2° - workers who have been involved in harvesting, or the manufacture or repair of

agricultural equipment, or the conservation of the produce, have a lien which takes
precedence over all other all other special liens on movables, be they the fruits of the
harvest or the items they have helped to conserve.

Article 242. 15: A worker in possession of an item produced by him/her may exercise a right to
retain that item under the conditions laid down by the legislation in force.

Movable objects entrusted to a worker to be worked upon, fashioned, repaired or cleaned and
which have not been reclaimed within six months may be sold under the conditions and systems
laid down by the legislation in force.

Article 242.16: The rights and guarantees of the employee arising from the employment
contract or the apprenticeship contract shall be exercised in compliance with the provisions of
the OHADA Uniform Act of April 17 1997 dealing with the provision of bonds and the Uniform Act
of April 10 1998 dealing with collective procedures for the settlement of debt.

SECTION III: LIMITATION OF ACTION ON PAYMENT OF WAGES Article

242.17: Action on payment of wages shall be limited:

1) to twelve months for workers paid at intervals not exceeding a fortnight;

- 51 -
 2) to twenty-four months for workers paid on a monthly basis.

The above mentioned limitation starts from the date on which wages are payable. The last day
of the deadline period shall be the same day as the starting date of the limitation period.

Article 242.18: The limitation takes place even though they may have been a continuation of the
services or works.

It shall only be interrupted by an acknowledgement in writing by the debtor stating the amount of
the debt; a statement by the Work Inspector stating the date on which he was called to act in an
individual dispute together with the reason for the dispute or the non-expired court order.

CHAPTER III: WAGE DEDUCTIONS, SEQUESTRATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Article 243.1: Deductions shall be made from the wages by the employer on behalf of the tax
authorities or the Social Security fund in accordance with the conditions laid down in law.

Article 243.2: Since the wage is by nature a subsistence allocation, only a portion thereof,
amounting to thirty per cent, may be subject to sequestration or assignment. Likewise, the wage-
earner may only assign his wage credit to third parties up to the limit of the portion of the wage
which may be sequestrated or assigned.

Article 243.3: Provisions set down in a collective agreement or an individual contract authorising
deductions other than those laid down in this chapter are deemed de jure null and void.

CHAPTER IV: COMPANY STORES

Article 244.1: A company store is deemed to be any organisation whereby the employer is
directly or indirectly involved in the sale of goods to the company employees for their personal
and normal requirements.

Article 244.2: Employers are prohibited from:

1°)- attaching a company store to their business or enterprise intended for the direct or indirect
sale of foodstuffs or goods to employees and their families in return for payments in kind of any
nature;

2°)- to impose upon their employees the obligation to spend the whole or a part of their wages in
such stores as they designate.

This prohibition does not include the case in which the employment contract stipulates that an
employee in receipt of board and lodging shall also receive a set wage in cash, nor that in which
in the execution of an employment contract the employer shall transfer provisions to the
employees at cost price.

Article 244.3: Any business installed within an enterprise shall be subject to the
abovementioned provisions, with the exception of cooperative societies.

However, company stores may be permitted under the triple condition that:

- the workers are not obliged to supply themselves from it;

- the sale of goods there is preferable for cash and does not yield a profit;

- 52 -
 - the accounting of the company store or store is completely independent
and subject to the inspection of a monitoring committee whose members
are chosen by the workers.

The prices of goods on sale must be displayed and legible.

Article 244.4: The opening of a company store under the conditions laid down in the preceding
article shall be subject to authorisation by the Minister of Labour to be issued upon consultation
with the Work Inspect. It may be stipulated in any enterprise by the Minister of Labour upon a
proposal from the Work Inspect. The Work Inspect shall inspect the application of the provisions
laid down in the preceding article. Should they be breached, he may order the temporary closure
of the company store for a period of from one to two months.

In the case of further breaches following a temporary closure, the Minister of Labour may order
the permanent closure of the company store upon receipt of a report from the Work Inspect
General.

BOOK 3: REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL PARTNERS

PART I: EMPLOYER ORGANISATIONS CHAPTER I:

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EMPLOYER ORGANISATIONS

Article 311.1: All employers, regardless of their sector of activity, the legal status of the
company or the size of their payroll, are freely permitted to establish an employer organisation

The liberal professions in which freelance operatives employ no staff may freely establish
professional associations of their choice according to their sector of activities and the
geographical sectors they decide upon.

Article 311.2: An employer organisation may be established according to the activity sector, a
geographical region, the size of the businesses or any other grouping criterion.

Article 311.3: Employer organisations may be statutorily constituted, or established as a

federation, a multi-profession confederation or a national organisation.

They may be affiliated with other similar employer organisations which may be regional,
continental or international.

Article 311.4: The purpose of employer organisations is to study those professional problems
which may be common to all employers, or specific to certain activity sectors, certain regions or
certain types of enterprise. In particular, it is their responsibility to represent the interests of their
members within bodies set up by the public authorities and to establish collective agreements
with trade union organisations.

Article 311.5 The founders of the employer organisations are free to develop the organisations’
articles of association while establishing therein such bodies as they may choose. They choose
the individuals who, whatever their duties may be, are responsible for the administration and
management of the organisations.

The articles of association must state what is the connection which binds the group (activity
sectors, region, enterprise size). They are lodged with the Prefecture or, for the Conakry special
zone, with the municipal authorities where the organisation has been set up.

- 53 -
 Amendments made to the articles of association and changes taking place within the
membership of the board of directors or the management of the organisation must, within the
month following the said amendments or changes, form the subject of a notification in writing
delivered to the Prefecture or the the municipal authorities of the place where the articles of
association are lodged.

Article 311.6 The members entrusted with the management of employer organisations may be
Guinean citizens or foreigners, but must all be employers, exercising a professional activity and
normally resident in Guinea. They must be in full enjoyment of their civil rights and may not have
been subject to legal proceedings or a conviction leading to the loss of their civic rights.

Notwithstanding the enjoyment of these rights, foreigners who exercise a professional activity
and who have been usually resident in the territory of the Republic of Guinea for at least three
years may also hold directorships or managerial positions.

CHAPTER II: THE LEGAL POWERS OF EMPLOYER ORGANISATIONS

Article 312.1: Those employer organisations which have lodged their articles of association with
the Prefecture or with the municipal authorities in the case of the special Conakry, possess full
civil powers. They may freely acquire good and dispose of them. They may sign legal
documents of their choice, particularly national, regional or local collective agreements.

Article 312.2: Employer organisations may take legal action and seek the protection of the
courts to defend their rights and act to implement the collective agreements they have signed.

Article 312.3: National multi-profession organisations shall reach an agreement each year to
appoint their representatives to be sent to the International Labour Conference.

In the absence of an agreement, the most representative organisation shall make this choice.

Article 312.4: An employer organisation may only be acknowledged as representative if it its

articles of association have been lodged with the Prefecture or in the case of the special
Conakry zone with the municipal authorities for at least six months. It should furthermore include
in its membership enough employers to employ at least fifteen per cent of the employees
working in the geographical and occupational sector of the organisation.

The most representative employer organisation shall be that which includes employers
employing the largest number of employees in the geographical and occupational sector of the
organisation.

Should a dispute arise, the labour tribunal shall give a ruling on the level of representation of the
employer organisations.

Article 312.5: Employer organisation cannot be dissolved or suspended by administrative or

legal means. The authorities must abstain from any action likely to restrict this right or to hamper
the legal exercise thereof. All disputes between members shall be settled according to the
articles of association or the highest authority of the organisation concerned.

TITLE II: WORKERS’ TRADE UNION ORGANISATIONS

CHAPTER I: THE PRINCIPLE OF FREE TRADE UNION ASSOCIATION

Article 321.1: The State and the employers shall undertake to promote trade union freedom for
workers at all levels of the social dialogue in the private sector, formal and informal and

- 54 -
 in the public sector, by, among other things, recognising the right to be a member of a union or
not and to exercvise union responsibilities or not.

On the matter of making decisions regarding, in particular, hiring, promotion, transfer,

occupational training, promotion, remuneration, the granting of social advantages, disciplinary
measures and retrenchment, they are prohibited from taking union membership or otherwise, or
the exercise of a union activity, into consideration.

They may not deploy or use any form of pressure in favour of, or against, a trade union member
worker or any trade union organisation.

Any measures taken by the employer in breach of the provisions of the foregoing paragraphs
shall be deemed abusive and shall give rise to damages.

Article 321.2: Within the framework of the laws and regulations governing labour relations,
workers must respect the freedom of labour and the protection of the labour system, the
guarantor of development and employment, under the threat of the application of the provisions
of article 431.7 of this Code.

CHAPTER II: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TRADE UNION ORGANISATIONS

Article 322.1: Without the need to seek prior authorisation, workers may freely form a groups
and establish themselves as a trade union, within the geographical zone of their choice, for the
defence of and the guaranteed development of their individual and collective rights relating to
their lives as workers. They may join a union in an enterprise, in a district, in a Prefecture and in
a region, even if one or more unions already exist representing workers exercising the same
occupation or working in the same activity sector.

Article 322.2: Any worker, whether operating in the formal or informal sector, may take part in
the founding of a union, or may join a union. Workers who have ceased to operate in their trade
or to exercise their profession may, having done so for at least a year, continue to be members
of an occupational union.

Trade union freedom as enjoyed by individuals also includes the freedom not to be a member of
a union, or to withdraw from the union of which they were members at any time.

Article 322.3: Unions are freely admitted to re-form and to organise the grouping of the unions
in such a manner as they please. The establishment of a union group shall obey the same rules
as are laid down for the establishment of a union.

Article 322.4: Members entrusted with the management of a trade union or a trade union
grouping must be citizens of the Republic of Guinea or must have been regular residents in
Guinea for at least three years. They must be in full enjoyment of their civil rights and may not
have incurred any convictions involving the loss of their civil rights.

The three-year residence requirement shall not apply to nationals from states which had signed
an agreement stipulating reciprocity on union matters or whose national legislation authorises
access to union position to foreigners without the prior three-year residence requirement. In
these cases, the deadline shall be waived or reduced to the period set down in the agreement or
in national legislation.

Article 322.5: The founders of a trade union shall freely draft its articles of association by
providing it with the bodies of their choice. They shall declare in which geographical and
occupational sector the union is intended to represent the workers. These articles of association
shall be lodged at the major town of the district in which the union has been established.

- 55 -
 Amendments made to the articles of association and changes taking place in the membership
of the management or board of the union or the union grouping should, during the month
following this amendment or change, form the subject of a notification in writing lodged at the
major town of the district in which the articles of association are lodged.

CHAPTER III: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRADE UNION ORGANISATIONS

Article 323.1: Any correctly constituted trade union or grouping of trade unions shall possess
legal status.

It shall have the right to acquire, without the need to seek authorization, be it free of charge or at
cost, movable or real estate property and freely to dispose thereof.

The movable or real estate property essential to the operations of the unions or the union
groupings and to their members meetings are protected from seizure.

Article 323.2: Unions and union groupings have the right to subsidise cooperative production or
consumer companies. While in compliance with the laws and regulations in force, they may set
up special mutual support and retirement funds among their members; these funds are protected
from seizure.

Article 323.3: Any person who withdraws from a union shall retain the right to be a member of
mutual support and retirement societies to the assets of which he or she has made contributions
for ten years via subscriptions or the payment of funds.

Article 323.4: Trade unions and union groupings are free to enter into undertakings but they
must be representative to sign a collective employment agreement.

Article 323.5: In order to be deemed representative, a union or union grouping must have
lodged its articles of association at least six months previously, be independent of employers or
employer organisations, of political parties or faith organisations, and it must have an adequate
public in its own geographical and occupational sector.

Within the framework of the plant or the enterprise, a union shall have won at least twenty per
cent of the validly expressed votes in the election of the union delegates for its public to be
deemed sufficient with regard to adequate representational levels.

In a wider geographical or occupational framework, a union or union grouping shall be deemed

to have an adequate public when it is representative in several enterprises employing at least
twenty per cent of the employees working in the geographical and occupational sector in
question.

Article 323.6: Disputes regarding the representational level of the unions fall within the
jurisdiction of the labour tribunal. When the geographical sector in which the union
representational level is in question exceeds the area of territorial competency of the tribunal,
the dispute shall be brought before the Conakry labour court.

Disputes arising from the internal functioning of a trade union organisations do not fall within the
jurisdiction of labour tribunals.

Article 323.7: All unions or union groupings may act and defend themselves through the courts
to protect the rights of the union or the union grouping as well as the collective rights of the
employees they represent.

- 56 -
Article 323.8: Union groupings which are representative at the national multi-profession level,
shall appoint representatives to the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

Article 323.9: Representative unions or union groupings are authorised to sign collective
agreements with employer organisations in compliance with the rules laid down in articles 410.1
et seq. of this Code

Article 323.10 Representative unions or union grouping may issue a collective labour ruling by
themselves as long as the procedure set down in article 431.3 is observed.

Article 323.11: The rules for the internal functioning of the unions and union groupings have
been freely worked out by these organisations.

CHAPTER IV: DISSOLVING THE ORGANISATION:

Article 324.1: Where a union is to be dissolved voluntarily, under the articles of association or
by a court ruling, the union’s property shall be returned in compliance with the articles of
association, or, in default of provisions in the articles, according to the rules laid down by the
general meeting. Under no circumstances shall it be shared among the members.

TITLE III: UNION REPRESENTATION IN THE COMPANY

Article 330.1: In all organisations under private law, whatever their status or purpose, where at
least twenty-five employees are normally employed, the employees shall elect one or more
union delegates.
The holding of an election of union delegates is mandatory as soon as the number of twenty-five
employees has been reached and maintained for a continuous period of twelve months.

All the persons employed by the company are deemed to be employees, whether they hold a
staff or management position, whether they have been employed under an open-ended
employment contract or a fixed-term contract, and whether they have a full-time or part-time
contract.

CHAPTER I: APPOINTMENT OF UNION DELEGATES

Article 331.1: Union delegates are elected within the framework of the enterprise or within the
units comprising the enterprise.

The enterprise shall be understood in the terms of article 211.2 of this Code.

The existence of a separate establishment presupposes the fact that at least twenty-five
employees normally work in the same place under the same management under the original
conditions in comparison with other employees in the enterprise. An enterprise may only be
broken up into separate establishments when it comprises at least two establishments, each of
which employs a minimum of twenty-five personnel members.

Article 331.2: Elections may be held either within the framework of the enterprise, or within the
framework of the separate establishments. The number of delegates elected shall be a function
of the payroll numbers of the unit within which the election is being held; substitutes shall be
elected at the same time as office-holders and in equal numbers.

The number of persons elected is set as follows:

- 57 -
  25 workers : 1 office-holder and 1 substitute;

 from 26 to 100 workers : 2 office-holders and 2 substitutes;

 from 101 to 200 workers: 3 office-holders and 3 substitutes;

 from 201 to 350 workers: 4 office-holders and 4 substitutes;

 from 351 to 600 workers: 5 office-holders and 5 substitutes;

In excess of 600 workers, 1 office-holder and 1 substitute per additional tranche of 400 workers.

Article 331.3: All employees form a single electoral college within the enterprise or within the
establishment. All the employees in the enterprise with at least three month’s seniority may vote.

All the employees in the enterprise with at least one year’s seniority are eligible.

Article 331.4: Candidates for the election of union delegates may only be put forward by
national union organisations which have lodged their articles of association at least six months
previously with the Prefecture or the municipal authority where they were founded. These trade
union organisations are independent of the employers, employer organisations, political parties
or faith groups.

No condition of prior representational status may be demanded of these candidates.

The lists of candidates for elections may comprise more candidates the number of seats to be
filled.

Article 331.5: Elections shall take place during work hours. Vote counting is secret.

Article 331.6: Office-holders delegates and substitute delegates are elected separately by a
single-pass vote-count in which voters may not vote for split tickets nor may names be
scratched. Seats are awarded according to a proportional representation with the highest
average.

Article 331.7: Only the results of lists having won at least twenty per cent of the validly
expressed vote are taken into consideration when the votes are counted.

Article 331.8: When the number of seats returned to each list is being allocated, the successful
candidates on one list are determined as a function of the order of presentation on the list.

Article 331.9: Office-holder and substitute delegates are elected for a term of office of two
years. They may be re-elected. Their terms of office are terminated by death, termination of the
term of office, cancellation and termination of the employment contract, dismissal by the union
and cessation of the activity of the enterprise.

Article 331.10: When a union delegate temporarily or permanently ceases to perform his duties,
he may be replaced by only one substitute delegate put forward by the same union, priority
being established as a function of the order of presentation on the electoral list.

Article 331.11: Any dispute concerning the election of union delegates falls under the
jurisdiction of the Work Inspector, and should this fail to reach a settlement, under that of the
labour tribunal. The labour tribunal must hand down its ruling within the fortnight following the
lodgement of the application. The ruling handed down is subject to appeal.

- 58 -
 CHAPTER II: PROTECTION OF UNION DELEGATES

Article 332.1: The head of the enterprise or the manager of the business has the power to
immediately stand down, on a temporary basis, a union delegate who has committed a
serious error. This lay-off suspends the employment contract.

The head of the enterprise or the manager of the business must inform the Work Inspector of
this lay-off within a period of forty-eight hours counting from the moment when the lay-off takes
effect and shall in the same notice request that the Work Inspector issue powers of dismissal.
If the request is not issued within those forty-eight hours or if the request for power of dismissal
is rejected, the suspension shall be cancelled and the effect thereof de jure rendered null and
void.

Article 332.2: The dismissal of a union delegate, whether office-holding or substitute, may only
take place after authorisation by the Work Inspector. The dismissal of former union delegates
who have held office for at least twelve months shall also be subject to prior authorisation by the
Work Inspector during the six months following the cessation of their duties.

The same procedure shall apply when the employer plans to dismiss an employee who has
been put forward at the elections by a representative trade union. This protection shall stand for
six months counting from the day when the union informed the employer of the names of the
candidates.

Article 332.3: A Work Inspector who is in receipt of an application for authorisation as

mentioned in the preceding article must communicate his decision to the employer in writing
within the fifteen days following the lodgement of the application.

The absence of a decision by the Work Inspect within the set deadline means that the Work
Inspect’s decision has no legal force. In such a case the employer may make his own decision;
this does not, however, mean that an appeal may not be made to the Work Inspector General
within the eight days following the end of the deadline set or the employer’s decision regarding
the accused union delegate.

Article 332.4: The authorisation to dismiss, as with the express decision rejecting dismissal,
may form the subject of an appeal before the Work Inspector General. To be admissible, this
appeal must be lodged within the eight days following the notification of the Work Inspector’s
decision. The Work Inspector General must also hand down his ruling within the eight days
following the appeal lodgement.

Article 332.5: When the Work Inspector General cancels a decision authorising the dismissal of
a union delegate, the said union delegate must be returned to his job and his union duties with
the payment of wages and compensation which he/she would have earned between the
dismissal day and the return day.

Article 332.6: An employer who dismisses a union delegate without the authorisation of the
Work Inspector, or who refuses to return the delegate to work after the cancellation by the Work
Inspector General of the authorisation to dismiss issued by a Work Inspector, must, in addition to
leave and dismissal compensation, and compensation in lieu of notice as laid down in articles
172.28, 172.30 and 222.14 of this Code, pay the dismissed delegate a fixed compensation equal
to twenty-four months’ salary.

- 59 -
Article 332.7 No company head may perform acts of discrimination against union delegates at
the time of appointment or during employment, nor become involved in union activities.

A delegate who believes he/she is the victim of an act of discrimination may place the case
directly before the labour court.

CHAPTER III: REMIT AND OPERATING CONDITIONS Article

333.1: The duties of the unions are as follows:

1. to monitor the application of worker health and safety provisions and to suggest all valuable
measures possible in this area:

2. to submit to employers all individual or collective claims regarding working conditions,

remuneration and the job;

3. to submit claims regarding the application of legal and regulatory provisions to the Work
Inspector;

4. to negotiate collective agreements concerning the enterprise or the company with the head
of the business or with the manager of the company, notwithstanding the provisions of article
412.2 of this Code;

5. to give notice of strikes;

6. to perform any duty falling to the union as a result of this Code.

Article 333.2: Union delegates have the right:

1. to collect union subscriptions within the business outside of working hours;

2. to display union communications on such notice-boards as are provided for this purpose;
3. to freely distribute to the company workers, within the company premises, publications and
leaflets of a union-related nature at the times when workers are arriving for work or leaving.

Article 333.3: Each union delegate shall be allowed fifteen hours per month to perform their
various duties for which they will be paid as though they were working hours. During these
union-duty hours, union delegates shall be free to move about within the premises of the
enterprise or the plant , as long as they are not in breach of health and safety regulations.

They may also move about outside the enterprise premises within the context of their union
duties during this period.

The time they spend negotiating enterprise or plant collective agreements with the enterprise or
plant head shall not be deducted from their fifteen hours union-duty time; this shall be paid as for
normal work hours. The number of hours allowed in this article for the performance of union
duties may be increased by collective negotiation.

Article 333.4: The enterprise or plant head must make a suitable work space available for union
delegates.

- 60 -
 BOOK 4: COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONFLICTS

PART I: NEGOTIATING COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

Article 410.1: The purpose of a collective agreement is to define the employees’ working
conditions and wages and to regulate the relations between employers and workers. It may also
extend the powers allocated by law to union organisations and boost the guarantees protecting
workers against social risk.

Article 410.2: A collective agreement shall be signed between, of the first part, an employer,
and/or one or more representative employer organisations, and, of the second part, one or more
union organisations representing the employees.

Article 410.3: A collective agreement may be signed within the framework of one business, one
enterprise, or a sector-based activity. It may also be signed for a number of sector-based
activities. Depending on the case, it may be known as a plant agreement, an enterprise
agreement, a sector-based agreement or a multi-profession agreement.

Article 410.4: A collective sector-based agreement or a multi-profession agreement may cover

an application territory of a greater or smaller area. A collective agreement may be regional,
national or local in application (a city or a prefecture).

Article 410.5: A collective agreement may comprise provisions which are more favourable to
employees and union organisations than those laid down by the laws and regulations in force. It
may not override the public order provisions of those laws and regulations.

Articles 410.6: When the public enterprise or plant administrative or technical staff are not
covered by a specific legislative or regulatory provision, collective agreements may be signed in
compliance with the provisions of this part.

CHAPTER I: NEGOTIATING SECTOR-BASED OR MULTI-PROFESSION COLLECTIVE

AGREEMENTS

SECTION 1: GENERAL RULES

Article 411.1: The Minister of Labour may invite representative employer or union organisations
to meet to negotiate collective sector-based agreements.

In the absence of any action by the Minister of Labour, representative employer or union
organisations may always launch negotiations for the purpose of signing a collective agreement
under the aegis of the Work Inspectorate General.

Article 411.2: The employer and union organisations shall freely appoint their representatives
authorised to sign a collective agreement on their behalf. Such nomination may be the result of a
provision set down in the articles of association of the employer or union organisation or of a
special decision made by the employer organisation or the union organisation.

Article 411.3: Upon signing, the collective agreement must be drafted in writing and lodged with
the clerk of the labour tribunal of the place where it was signed.

A collective agreement shall of necessity state its area of professional and territorial application,
the place and date of signing, the names and capacities of the signatories, including the name of
the unions and professional organisations they represent.

- 61 -
A collective agreement must also state whether it is signed on an open-ended basis or for a
specific period of time. In the latter case is shall state the length of the life of the agreement,
which may not exceed three years.

SECTION II: SPECIAL RULES FOR COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS WHICH ARE

SUSCEPTIBLE OF EXTENSION.
LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED

Article 411.4: In order that a sector-based or multi-profession collective agreement may be

extended by ministerial order, it must have been negotiated by a committee chaired by the
Minister of Labour or his/her representative, consisting of an equal number of representatives
from representative employer organisations and from representative union organisations.

CHAPTER II: NEGOTIATING ENTERPRISE OR PLANT AGREEMENTS

Article 412.1: A collective enterprise or plant agreement shall be negotiated between the
employer and the representatives of the various organisations representing the employees in the
enterprise or the plant under the aegis of the appropriate Work Inspectorate. All the
representative union organisations in the enterprise or in the plant must be invited to take part in
negotiating the agreement.

A collective enterprise or plant agreement shall be deemed legally signed when it has been
signed by the employer and by the representative union organisation in the enterprise or the
plant.

Article 412.2: Each representative union organisation in the enterprise or the plant shall freely
appoint the persons required to represent it, the number of such representative not being
permitted to exceed that of the employer representatives.

Article 412.3: A collective enterprise or plant agreement may adapt the provisions of a collective
sector-based agreement or multi-profession agreement which is applicable in the enterprise
under its own specific conditions. The same rule shall apply to plant agreements. A collective
enterprise or plant agreement may include fresh provisions or clauses which are more
favourable to employees.

TITLE II: THE APPLICATION OF COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

CHAPTER I: APPLICATION CONDITIONS

Article 421.1: A collective agreement is binding upon all signatory employers and all employer
members of the signatory employer organisation as of the moment of signing. En employer’s
membership of a signatory employer organisation renders the collective agreement applicable in
the enterprise managed by that employer when it falls within the territorial and professional area
of application covered by the agreement.

An employer who leaves a signatory employer organisation after the signing of a collective
agreement shall remain bound by that agreement, although he/she shall not be bound by any
subsequent fresh provisions signed after his leaving the employer organisation.

- 62 -
Article 421.2: When more than one sector-based collective agreements are likely to apply within
the same enterprise because of the fact that more than one activity is taking place and because
the employer is a member of more than one signatory employer organisations, only the
collective agreement covering the main activity of the enterprise shall apply in the enterprise.

Article 421.3: When an employer is bound by a collective agreement, all the employees who
work on his behalf shall benefit from the provisions thereof.

Article 421.4: When a collective agreement has been signed for a fixed period, it shall continue,
in the absence of stipulations to the contrary, to produce its effects after the expiry of the period
just as if it had been an open-ended collective agreement

CHAPTER II: EXECUTION OF THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

Article 422.1: Union organisations and employer organisations, or employers on an individual

basis, when bound by a collective agreement, are prohibited from taking any action which may
compromise the fair execution thereof. They shall be the guarantors of this execution only to the
extent laid down in the agreement.

Article 422.2: Employer organisations or union organisations the members of which are bound
by a collective agreement may under take any action in law which shall arise as a result thereof
on behalf of their members, without having to justify the same by means of an authorisation from
the interested party, since the latter will have been advised and will not have declared any
opposition thereto. The interested party may always approach the authority engaged by the
employer organisation or the union organisation.

When an action arising from a collective agreement is launched by an individual, an employer

organisation or a union organisation, any grouping able to seek justice before the court, the
members of which are bound by the collective agreement, may approach the authority engages,
on the grounds of the collective interest which the settlement of the dispute may offer its
members.

Article 422.3: Employer or union organisations bound by a collective agreement may, on their
own behalf, launch any action aimed at securing the fulfilment of commitments made, and
damages where appropriate, against the other employer or union organisations, their own
members, or any other party bound by the convention.

Article 422.4: Persons bound by a collective agreement may launch any action aimed at
securing the fulfilment of commitments made, and damages where appropriate, against the
other persons, employer or union organisations bound by the agreement who may breach these
commitments to them.

Article 422.5: An employer bound by a collective agreement must provide each union delegate
with a copy thereof. A copy of the collective agreement must also be made available to the
personnel. A notice stating where this copy may be consulted shall be displayed in the same
locations as the in-house regulations.

CHAPTER III: REVISION AND NOTICE OF TERMINATION

Article 423.1: An open-ended collective agreement should state within what period of time and
according to what procedure it should be revised; the revision procedure implementation being
mandatory at least every five years.

The removal or amendment of a clause, or the insertion of a fresh clause, requires the
agreement of all the signatory parties to the

- 63 -
agreement. The deployment of the revision procedure does not imply the cancellation of the
agreement.

Article 423.2: An open-ended collective agreement may be terminated by the parties. In the
absence of an express stipulation to the contrary, such termination must be preceded by three
months’ notice.

Notice of termination shall be communicated by the instigator thereof to the other signatories to
the agreement. Notice thereof shall be lodged with the clerk of the labour tribunal where the
collective agreement is archived.

Article 423.3: When notice of termination is backed by the totality of the employer signatories or
the totality of the employee signatories, the collective agreement shall continue to produce its
effects until the coming into effect of the agreement which shall replace it, or, in default, for the
period of one year counting from the expiry of the notice deadline.

Under the circumstances of the abovementioned type of termination notice, fresh negotiations
must be opened at the request of one of the interested parties within three months of
cancellation date.

If the collective agreement has not been replaced by a new agreement within the year which
follows the expiry of the notice period, work relations shall be governed by the legal and
regulatory provisions, and by the clauses inserted into individual employment contracts, disputes
being put before the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

Article 423.4: When notice of termination is the result of the action of an employee signatory
party, no consequences shall follow as far as the employees are concerned. The sole effect of
the notice of termination is to cancel the rights and obligations of the union organisation
instigating the cancellation.

Article 423.5: When the notice of termination is instigated by only a section of the employer
signatories, this shall not stand as an obstacle to the continuation in force of the agreement
among the other signatory parties. However, negotiations must be opened between the
employer organisation which gave notice of termination and the union organisations which are
signatories thereto under the conditions laid down in article 412.2 of this Code.

Where a fresh agreement shall not have replaced the agreement under notice of termination, the
collective agreement shall cease to apply in the enterprises managed by an employer member
of an employer organisation giving notice of termination within the year following the expiry of
three-month notice period. However, the parties are required to negotiate in good faith in order
to reach a negotiated solution. If this is not the case, the problem shall be put before the
Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law in the application of the provisions of
article 515.2 of this Code.

CHAPTER IV: EXTENDING COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

Article 424.1: At the request of a representative employer or union organisation or at the

initiative of the Minister of Labour, the provisions of a sector-based or multi-profession collective
agreement meeting the special conditions laid down in article 411.4 of this Code may be
rendered mandatory on all employees and employers covered by the field of application of the
said agreement, under an order by the Minister of Labour on the reasoned advice of the
Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

Article 424.2: The Minister of Labour shall exclude for extension any agreement clauses which
are in contradiction with the legislation and regulations in force. He may also, on the reasoned
advice of the Consultative Committee on Labour and

- 64 -
Company Law, remove from the agreement, without altering the thrust thereof, those clauses
which do not apply to the situation in the activity sector in the area of application in question.

Article 424.3: When, in the absence of opposition thereto by a representative employer or union
organisation, the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law has handed down an
opinion favourable to extension, the Minister of Labour can extend this agreement, even though
it may not have been signed by the totality of the representative employer and union
organisations.

Article 424.4: When a representative employer and union organisation has issued, within the
framework of the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law, an opinion
unfavourable to the extension of a collective agreement, the Minister of Labour may not extend
this agreement which would not have been signed by the totality of the representative employer
and union organisations or which would not include all the mandatory clauses set down in article
411.4 of this Code.

However, an unfavourable opinion handed down by a representative union or employer

organisation shall not prevent the Minister of Labour from extending a collective agreement
which would have been signed by the totality of the representative employer and union
organisations and which would include all the mandatory clauses set down in article 411.4 of this
Code

Article 424.5: The extension order shall form the subject of a statement published in the official
gazette. The effects of the extension of a collective agreement shall come into effect as of the
second day following publication.

Article 424.6 The extension of the clauses of a collective agreement stands for the period of
time laid down for the agreement in question.

The existence of an extension order shall not prevent the signatory parties to the collective
agreement from revising it or giving notice of termination thereto.

The extension order for an agreement shall become null and void as of the day on which it
ceases to produce its effects; when the extended collective agreement has been the subject of
revision, the extension order continues to produce its effects as regards the agreement clauses
which had not been modified after the publication of the extension order. A fresh extension order
may be issued by the Minister of Labour in keeping with the rules laid down in article 424.2 et
seq. of this Code concerning fresh provisions inserted into the collective agreement following the
revision thereof.

TITLE III: COLLECTIVE CONFLICTS

CHAPTER I: STRIKING

Article 431.1: All employees have the right to strike.

Article 431.2: Striking implies the partial or total stoppage of the work on a collective basis on a
decision by the employees to settle claims of an occupational or financial nature which have not
been met. However, this provision does not prohibit the exercise of certain forms of strike which
do not of necessity imply a pure and simple cessation of work, but the slow-down thereof, on the
condition that this is deployed in a non-aggressive manner.

Article 431.3: A strike must be preceded by notice to allow for negotiations between the parties.
The notice of a strike may only be lodged with the management of the enterprise, the plant or
the employer organisations in the sector by a union organisation which is

- 65 -
 representative. In enterprises lacking any union delegate, the notice shall be lodged by the
employees in conflict collectively. Strike notice shall be of ten working days.

Strike notice must be issued in writing to the relevant authority of the work administration;
otherwise it shall be null and void. This notification in writing must include the reasons and the
claims made by the union organisation or the grouping lodging the strike notice.

Article 431.4: As soon as the appropriate authority is in receipt of the notice, it must take the
initiative in opening negotiations with the representative union organisations, or in default with
the employees collective, under the aegis of the Work Inspector of the zone in which the conflict
has arisen, or the Work Inspector General when the conflict has spilt over the framework of a
Work Inspectorate.

The parties in conflict are required to respond to all summonses and attend all discussion and
reconciliation meetings organised by the relevant authority

On the final day of notice, the Work Inspector, or the Work Inspect General, shall declare
negotiations to be frozen.

Article 431.5: If within the ten working days following the giving of notice the parties have failed
to reach an agreement, the employees have the right to cease work completely, as long as
essential safety measures have been taken and a skeleton service is in operation.

A worker commissioned to perform a skeleton service duty in compliance with this article who
fails to present himself at his workstation shall be deemed guilty of a serious offence.

Article 431.6: While the strike continues, the parties are obliged to pursue negotiations under
the authority of an ad hoc representative appointed by the Minister of Labour.

This representative may undertake all appropriate investigations with a view to settling the
collective conflict.

Under penalty of sanctions ordered by the Minister of Labour, the parties are required to attend
all meeting to which they are summoned.

Article 431.7: Even during the strike, all persons and all workers are prohibited from hindering,
by force or threat, the free exercise of the occupational activity of the employees or employers
whether in the same enterprise or not, under penalty of criminal sanction.

Article 431.8: A strike suspends the employment contract; an employee shall get his/her job
back at the end of the strike and may not be sanctioned for his/her involvement in the strike The
employer is released from his duty to pay the worker’s remuneration for the period of the strike.

Article 431.9: A strike does not suspend the term of office of the union delegates in the
enterprise.

Article 431.10: Any employee who takes part in a strike action whose goal is not to settle claims
of an occupational or financial nature which was not organised by a representative union
organisation or by the employees’ collective in enterprises lacking a union representative or who
acts before the expiry of the notice period may be subjected to disciplinary sanctions by the
employer.

- 66 -
 CHAPTER II: LOCK-OUT

Article 432.1: A lock-out refers to a temporary closing of all or part of an enterprise or a plant
decided upon voluntarily by the employer on the occasion of a strike by the employees in his/her
enterprise.

Article 432.2: The lock-out is prohibited. As an exception it may be permissible when it is

justified by a security imperative or when the strike is deemed irregular. In any case, the opinion
of the Work Inspector is required.

Article 432.3: In those exceptional cases when a lock-out is permissible, its duration concludes
as soon as the causes thereof have disappeared.

Article 432.4: A permissible lock-out results in the suspension of the employment contract and
releases the employer from his duty to pay the salary and compensation which the worker may
have earned if he had worked normally.

When a lock-out is deemed irregular, the employer must pay each employee all the wages and
compensation he/she would have earned if he/she had been able to continue to provide his/her
services as usual.

CHAPTER III: ARBITRATION

Article 433.1: Notwithstanding the provisions relating to reconciliation, the arbitration procedure
may be deployed at any moment, either at the request of the parties to the conflict, or at that of
the Minister of Labour, if the strike or lock-out or takes place in a period of acute national crisis
and may threaten public order or the general interest. The same shall apply when the conflict
affects an essential service and interruption to which may endanger, throughout the whole of
part of the population, people’s life, liberty, safety or health and which implies that a minimum
service should be guaranteed in order to avoid the risk.

In any case, the arbitration procedure thus implemented is mandatory for both parties and
suspends the reconciliation procedures previously undertaken.

Article 433.2: Arbitration shall be undertaken by the locally competent labour court. Should
there be more than one location involved in an appropriate conflict, the Minister of Justice shall
designate the appropriate court. The Minister of Labour shall appoint his representative with the
agreement of the parties in the conflict and enjoying their trust on the occasion of each
arbitration procedure. He/she will take part in all hearings in a consultative capacity.

Article 433.3: The arbitration procedure is free of charge. Costs incurred in the procedure,
particularly travel, consultation, income loss or processing costs, shall be borne by the national
budget. Persons and individuals who may be called upon during the course of the arbitration
procedure are bound by the code of professional secrecy.

Article 433.4: The tribunal responsible for arbitration shall deploy the widest possible powers to
investigate the situation affecting the workers involved in the conflict. It may ask any question of
the companies and the unions and require the parties to produce all

- 67 -
documentation or information of an economic, accounting, financial, statistical or administrative
nature which may of use to it in the performance of its mission. It may make use of the services
of experts and all qualified persons who may be able to enlighten it.

Article 433.5: The arbitration tribunal may only rule on those matters set down in the strike
notice notification or the non-reconciliation report, or those which, arising from events
subsequent to the drafting of the said report, are a direct consequence of the current dispute.

It shall rule on the disputes with relation to the interpretation and execution of the laws,
regulations, collective agreements and plant agreements in force.

It shall rule in all fairness on the other disputes, particularly when they concern remuneration or
working conditions, plus those disputes relating to negotiation and the revision of the clauses in
collective agreements.

Article 433.6: The tribunal entrusted with arbitration must give its ruling within a period of twelve
working days; this deadline may be extended by eight working days at the joint request of the
parties to the conflict.

The arbitration ruling must be supported by reasoning. It shall be communicated without delay to
the parties by the Work Inspector

CHAPTER IV: EXECUTION OF RECONCILIATION AGREEMENTS AND ARBITRATION

RULINGS

Article 434.1: The execution of the reconciliation agreement is mandatory, and in the absence
of a contrary provision, shall come into effect on the day of signing.

The reconciliation agreement shall form the subject of measures to be displayed and publicised
under the same conditions as the collective agreement and its effects shall be identical for both
parties.

Article 434.2: Upon the expiry of three working days counting from the notification date and as
long as neither party has stated its opposition, the arbitration ruling shall be binding as of the day
that notification is made.

The now binding arbitration ruling becomes subject to the same publicity and display measures
as the rulings handed down by the labour tribunal and the collective agreement; its effects shall
be the same on both parties.

The now binding arbitration ruling shall immediately terminate the strike and lock-out

Article 434.3: Any objection formulated by one of the parties within three working days of the
notification, after which it shall be null and voice, shall be placed before the highest court
available. This appeal shall be lodged according to the methods and conditions laid down by the
Code of Civil Procedure.

Article 434.4: An objection formulated within the legally-binding deadline mentioned in the
previous article shall suspend the execution of the arbitration ruling.

However, where an objection is lodged by one of the parties, the arbitration ruling may be
rendered binding by the Council of Ministers to which the conflict was referred by the Minister of
Labour in the following cases:

1°- Arbitration requested by both parties in the conflict if;

- 68 -
 2°- The conflict is likely to compromise the normal operation of the national economy;

3°- The strike is taking place with services where an interruption may threaten human
life, health and safety;

4°- It is a period of acute national crisis.

BOOK 5: LABOUR ADMINISTRATION AND JURISDICTION

BOOK I: LABOUR ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 511.1: Labour administration implies the totality of the various central and connected
services of the State, particularly the National Departments, the General Departments, National
Organisations, Work Inspectorate, which assist with everything concerned with work,
employment, social security and occupational training. This means that it is a system within
which all parties involved act in partnership to prepare, apply and assess the national
employment policy. It is responsible for identifying, analysing and proposing solutions to current
problems affecting work, employment, health and safety in the workplace, occupational training
and education, social security and union law.

CHAPTER II: LABOUR ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

Article 512.1: The labour administration services are responsible for the implementation of the
nation policy governing employment, work, the labour force, social security and trade union law.

Their main duties are:

1. to frame draft laws and regulations in the areas of work, the workforce, social security
and union law;

2. to monitor the execution of these laws and regulations both as regards private,
public/private or public employers and as regards social security institutions and
organisations;
3. to elucidate their advice and recommendations for the benefit of employers and workers;

4. to document, advise, coordinate and monitor the services and organisations involved in
the application of social legislation;

5. to undertake, in the framework of the abovementioned duties, all enquiries and surveys
dealing with a variety of social problems: work, health, the labour force, social security
and the economic context in which they fit.

Article 512.2: Whatever their overarching ministerial department may be, the creation, powers,
organisation and operations of the administrative labour services are fixed by a ruling issued at
the proposal of the Ministers of the sectors concerned. In the case of the organisations
responsible for social security, their powers, organisation and operations are fixed by law.

CHAPTER III: THE WORK INSPECTORATE

- 69 -
 SECTION l: ORGANISATION AND DUTIES

Article 513.1: The Work Inspectorate is a specialist body of officers consisting of Work
Inspectors, doctor-inspectors, labour monitors and assistant labour monitors. The service falls
within the authority of the Work Inspector General assisted by an Assistant Inspector General,
appointed by law at the proposal of the Minister of Labour.

Article 513.2: The Work Inspectorate services are organised by statute at the
Proposal of the Minister of Labour

Article 513.3: The recruitment of Work Inspectors is organised in two ways:

direct recruitment of university graduates and recruitment by the promotion of works’ monitors
and assistant works monitors.

Article 513.4: The inspectors are supported in their duties by work monitors and
assistant work monitors.

Article 513.5: The Work Inspectorate services must be permanently supplied with
the human, financial and equipment resources they need to perform their duties. The Minister of
Labour shall reimburse the inspectors regarding all travel expenses and additional expenses
they incur in the performance of their duties.

Article 513.6: The Work Inspectorate advises, reconciles and monitors the application of the
legislation, regulations and collective agreements concerning remuneration, working conditions,
health, hygiene and safety, collective negotiations and labour law in the workplace.

It may be called to intercede in individual and collective disagreements into order to perform
conciliation duties.

Article 513.7 Work Inspects have a duty to inform, and they supply information to the boards,
employers and workers; they undertake studies and enquiries on social and economic problems
at the request of the Minister of Labour.

The Work Inspectorate must be informed of accidents in the workplace and occupationally-
related diseases in those cases and in the way laid down in law. The Work Inspector undertakes
enquiries into the causes, circumstances and responsibilities involved

SECTION ll: POWERS AND OBLIGATIONS

Article 513.8: In order to perform their monitoring duties, Work Inspectors have the power to:

a) - Freely and unannounced enter any establishments subject to the authority of the
Inspectorate at an time of the day or night. At the beginning of their inspection they must inform
the head of the enterprise or of the plant, or their delegates, and these individuals may
accompany them over the course of the inspection.

They may, however, not inform them if they believe that this may prejudice the effectiveness of
the inspection;

b) - seek, if this is necessary, the opinions and advice of doctors and technicians, particularly
as regards health and safety recommendations. The doctors and technicians are bound by the
code of professional secrecy under the same conditions and the same sanctions as the Work
Inspectors;

- 70 -
c) – have themselves accompanied in their inspection by union delegates and
representatives
of the health, hygiene and safety committee of the enterprise under inspection;
d) - require employers and persons employed or present in the
plants to prove their identity.

Article 513.9: Over the course of these inspections of enterprises or plant, the work
inspectors may;

a) Requisition the production of all documents or registers the maintenancer of which is

required by law and by labour regulations;

b) Question the enterprise personnel, employer and union delegates regarding the
application of the provisions they are required to monitor, alone or in the presence of
witnesses;

c) Collect and remove samples of the materials and substances used or handled for the
purposes of analysis, in the presence of the enterprise or manager, or their
representatives.

Article 513.10: The Work Inspectors may call for the implementation of measures intended to
remedy defects identified in a plant, or arrangements or work methods which they consider a
threat to the health and safety of the workers.

In order to ensure that these measures are implemented, the inspectors may order that the legal
and regulatory changes affecting worker health and safety be deployed in a plant in a set
deadline.

Articles 513.11: Work Inspects have the power to identify breaches of workplace legislation and
regulation. To this end, they may draft reports giving evidence of such in the absence of
evidence to the contrary.

If they see fit, the Work Inspectors may provide advice or offer warnings before drafting their
report.

Article 513.12: Work Inspects and monitors are bound by the code of professional secrecy.
They swear not to divulge, even when they have left the service, the manufacture or trade
secrets and operating procedures they have come to know in the exercise of their profession.

This being the case, they are also bound by confidentiality codes on the matter of the source of
complaints informing them of a fault at a plant or a breach of legal provisions, as well as a
possible connection between a complaint and an inspection.

Article 513.13: Work Inspectors and monitors are prohibited from having a direct interest of any
kind whatsoever in the enterprises placed under their inspection

CHAPTER IV: THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

Article 514.1: Public employment services are entrusted with the implementation of the
government’s national employment promotion policy in respect of the labour force. They are
responsible for:

1. collecting employment offers and requests and distributing them in the application of the
provisions of articles 110.2 paragraph 2 and 110.8 of this Code;

- 71 -
 2. collating permanent documentation on employment offers and requests and, in general,
all the matters relating to the use and management of the employment information
system, and updating and regularly distributing employment, labour force, unemployment
and profession-related statistics;

3. boosting employment possibilities;

4. facilitating the inclusion of young persons in search of their first job in the production
circuit;

5. facilitating the return to the work force of workers laid off for economic reasons;

6. Examining enterprises’ employment plans and monitoring the commitments made by

enterprises approved in the framework of the investment Code;

7. Implementing government policy.

Article 514.2: The public employment services have been set up by a law which sets down their
powers and their operational and organisational methods and systems.

Article 514.3 Operations concerned with registration and recruitment are free of charge. The
offering or giving of any kind of reward to any person forming part of the service is prohibited, as
is their acceptance of such; penalties are applicable for breach of this regulation.

CHAPTER V: CONSULTATIVE ORGANISATIONS

SECTION I: THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON LABOUR AND COMPANY LAW

Article 515.1: A Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law has been set up within
the Ministry of Labour. Its permanent duties are as follows:

1. to study the problems concerning work, employment, social security, health, hygiene and
safety in the workplace, occupational training, the improvement of working conditions and
basic freedoms;

2. to boost the social dialogue mechanisms relating to collective agreements, reconciliation

and consultation via the establishment of a permanent bi- or tripartite framework so that
negotiations shall take place, as a priority at enterprise level, at the level of sector-based
activity and at the national level with the full participation of the State in its double
capacity as employer and guarantor of the general interest;

3. to expand and establish social dialogue at all levels on a permanent basis by

strengthening the institutional framework in which it is developing in order to ensure that
it is fully effective;

4. to assess and take into account changes and significant factors which have appeared in
the socio-economic environment with a view to establishing the essential balance
between increasing the competitiveness of enterprises and the interests of the workers
via a constructive social dialogue;

5. to set up training schemes, particularly in the areas of collective bargaining, the

economy, company law and international labour standards designed for the benefit of
employer organisation representatives, and workers’ trade union representatives;

6. to strive to ensure that the participants in the social dialogue within enterprises, within the
socio-professional sectors and at the national level are in possession of the same
information as regards the economic and social data they need to perform a

- 72 -
 perfect analysis of the specific situation of enterprises and the State, as well as the social
situation of workers and their families;

7. to promote the social protection of all the workers in all economic sectors and the
defence of social protection institutions;

8. to set up a permanent tripartite consultation mechanism intended to promote the

implementation of international labour standards and the detailed observance of ratified
agreements, and to prepare regular reports on the application of ILO agreements and
recommendations on the ground;

9. to monitor the correct application of agreements signed between employers and workers
and to examine, at least initially in a non-adversarial fashion, the collective disputes
which exist at the national level between employers and employees,

It must be consulted for the drafting of all legislative texts concerning the areas of work,
employment, continuous training, social security, hygiene, health and safety in the workplace. To
this end it will hand down opinions and frame proposals and resolutions on the legislation and
regulations to be prepared on these subjects.

The Committee must express its opinion on the texts which are submitted to it within thirty days
of submission thereof, except in the case of force majeure. This deadline may be reduced to ten
working days in the case of an emergency.

Article 515.2: At the request of the Minister of Labour, the Consultative Committee on Labour
and Company Law shall examine such difficulties as arise in negotiations and the application of
collective agreements, particularly as regards their economic effects.

It may request all useful documentation and information needed for the accomplishment of its
duties from the relevant authorities, those authorities being obliged to comply.

Article 515.3: The Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law is chaired by the
Minister of Labour or his/her representative. In the matter of the appointment of members
thereof, the principle of gender equality must be taken into account.

The members shall be persons appointed by the decision of the Minister of Labour on the
proposal of the competent authorities in the departments concerned and the representative
employer and worker organisations, to wit:

a)- eight employer representatives and eight worker representatives from the private and
public/private sectors;

b)- two representatives of the Ministry of Labour and the Public Service;

c)- one representative from the Ministry of Finance;

d)- one judge from the Ministry of Justice;

e)- two representatives from the Ministry of Employment;

f)- one senior staffer from the unit responsible for Social Security;

g)- one representative from the Ministry of Health.

- 73 -
The Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law consists of office-holder members
and substitute members in equal numbers. The office-holder members and substitute members
are all appointed by the decision of the Minister of Labour.

The administration of the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law is in the hands
of an office consisting of:

- the Minister of labour or his/her representative: President;

- an employers’ representative: 1st Vice-President;
- a workers’ representative: 2nd Vice-President;
- a secretariat provided by the National Office responsible for Labour and Social
Law.

Depending on the items on the agenda, the Committee may call on the consultative assistance
of other persons including any technicians or experts in their fields.

Article 515.4: A ruling from the Minister of Labour shall define the conditions of the organisation
and operation of the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

The Ministry of Labour must provide the budgetary resources needed to cover the Committee’s
normal operations.

A joint decision by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labour will set the compensation
for Committee sessions.

Article 515.5 : A record of the opinions handed down by the Consultative Committee on Labour
and Company Law shall be kept. This record will be kept by the Committee Secretariat and will
be available for inspection by the public.

Article 515.6: Employers must allow the workers in their enterprises and the members of the
Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law sufficient time to participate in its
meetings

SECTION II: SOCIAL DIALOGUE

Article 515.7: Social Dialogue is the process of interchange, communication and information
whereby the parties involved in the world of work strive for mutual understanding for the better
management of their interests.

The national framework for social dialogue is the National Council on Social

Dialogue. It is tripartite and permanent

It is provided with two sub-structures:

- the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law responsible for social dialogue
in the private and public/private sectors, and

- the Senior Public Service Council, responsible for social dialogue in the public sector.

The National Council on Social Dialogue is provided with an independent management

structure; its resources derive from State subsidies, gifts and legacies.

- 74 -
Article 515.8: The main interests of the National Council on Social dialogue are:

1- to stimulate social dialogue;

2- to promote a culture of labour conflict prevention;

3- to take part in the resolution of major conflicts in the world of work;

4- to take part in company legislation analysis;

5- to take part in the analysis of the management tools in use in the world of work;
specifically policy as regards, employment, work, health and safety in the workplace,
occupational training, social security and decent work;

6- To adopt positions on large-scale economic movements with significant social effects.

Article 515.9: The organisation and operation systems of the National Council on Social
Dialogue are statutory.

A joint decision by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labour will set the compensation
for Council sessions.

TITLE II: THE LABOUR TRIBUNAL

Article 520.1: Individual labour disputes are put before the labour tribunal with a view to
settlement.

Article 520.2: Labour tribunals are established by law at the proposal of the Minister of Justice.
Administratively, they are covered by the Ministry of Justice.

CHAPTER I: POWERS:

Article 521.1: Labour tribunals have jurisdiction over disputes which arise between employers
and employees as a result of the signing, execution, suspension, amendment, breach or
termination of an employment contract.

They also have jurisdiction over conflicts concerned with disciplinary law and in-house
regulations.

Labour tribunals have jurisdiction over individual disputes arising between employees on work-
related matters.

They also have jurisdiction over disputes of a legal nature concerning the representational level
of union and employer organisations, the election of union delegates, and collective labour
disputes in the sectors subject to the provisions of this Code.

Article 521.2: The tribunal which is competent to settle a dispute as far as the district is
concerned shall be in that zone in which the plant is located, where the contract is executed,
where the elections are being fought or the conflict is taking place.

However, when the dispute concerns the termination of labour relations, an employee may lodge
his complaint either before the labour tribunal of the district where the contract is being
executed, or before the tribunal of his home location.

- 75 -
When the dispute concerns the validity, interpretation, application, termination or revision of a
collective agreement, the compentent tribunal shall be that of the district in which the agreement
was signed.

Article 521.3: When work is not is performed in any specific plant, or is undertaken at home,
individual disputes concerning employment contracts are put before the employee’s local
tribunal.

Article 521.4: Any clause which cancels the provision of articles 521.2 and 521.3 shall be null
and void.

CHAPTER II: MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANISATION

Article 522.1: The members of a labour tribunal shall include:

- A president, a magistrate;

- A vice-president, also a magistrate;

- One or more judges;

- a chief clerk and clerks of the court;

The formation of the tribunal shall include:

- a president, a magistrate;
- Two employer assessors; - two

employee assessors,

- A clerk of the court.

The labour tribunal shall also include a pre-hearing review body consisting of a President
assisted by a clerk of the court.

The assessors are selected from a list drawn up annually by the Minister of Justice at the
proposal of the Minister of Labour.

The term of office of the office-holder or substitute assessors is three years; it is renewable.

For each case, the president of the tribunal appoints two employer assessors and two worker
assessors from the category involved.

In the case of unforeseen difficulty, the office-holder assessors are replaced by the substitute
assessors.

The clerk’s office consists of a chief clerk plus assistant clerks. The

duties of the pre-hearing review body are:

- To settle all measures which do not provoke any serious disagreement or which justify
the existence of a dispute;
- To grant a retainer in cases where the obligation is not seriously contestable.

- 76 -
Article 522.2: The assessors may be challenged by the parties to the case when they have a
personal interest in the dispute. When they are blood or marriage relatives to the sixth degree,
when they are employers or employees of one of the parties in the case, when they have given
an opinion in writing on the dispute, when within the year preceding the objection a criminal or
civil case took place between then and one of the parties, his/her partner, antecedents or
descendants.

The challenge must be settled before any discussion tales place. The president will immediately
give a ruling.

If the claim is rejected, discussion proceeds without further ado; if it is upheld, the case is
postponed until the next hearing at which the challenged assessor will be replaced by a
substitute assessor.

Article 522.3 Office-holder assessors and substitute assessors appointed by the Minister for
Labour are chosen from lists submitted by the representative union organisations and employer
organisations; the lists as submitted must include a number of names taken from those of lists of
positions to be filled.

Article 522.4: The assessors must provide justification for the possession of their civil and
political rights. No employer or employee may be appointed as an assessor if they have a police
record showing a conviction for a criminal offence or penalty imposed for any offence other than
one due to carelessness.

Article 522.5: Office-holder and substitute assessors shall take the following oath before the
district labour tribunal: “I swear to perform my duties with zeal and integrity and not to disclose
the details of my decisions, even when I have ceased to perform these duties”.

Article 522.6: Employee assessors have the right to be absent from their company in order to
take part in a tribunal hearing; employers may take no action against an employee on the
grounds of his/her performing his/her duties as an assessor at the labour tribunal. The dismissal
of office-holder or substitute employee assessors shall be subject to the special procedure laid
down in articles 332.2 of this Code.

Article 522.7: The exercise of the duties of the assessor gives the assessor the right to a
monthly fixed fee plus travel expenses, the sum of which shall be set jointly by the Minister of
Justice and the Minister of Finance. This fee shall be borne by the National Development
Budget.

Article 522.8: Any office-holder or substitute assessor who is seriously derelict in his duties shall
be called before the labour tribunal of the region to explain the faults of which he/she is accused.

The initiative for this action falls to the president of the labour tribunal and the Public Prosecutor
of the Republic.

The tribunal may order a censure, a suspension of the guilty party for a period which may not
exceed six months, or a dismissal, the decision to be justified.

CHAPTER III: PROCEDURE

Article 523.1: Workers and employers have the right to approach the labour tribunal directly in
the case of a dispute.

- 77 -
However, all workers and employers may request that the labour inspector settle the dispute out
of court. If the parties are partially or totally reconciled, the labour inspector shall draft a report
which shall finally settle the dispute on all points forming the subject of the reconciliation. Should
reconciliation prove impossible, the worker or the employer may approach the appropriate labour
tribunal.

Reconciliation before the Work Inspector is optional.

Article 523.2: The reconciliation report shall be submitted by the most concerned party to the
President of the labour tribunal in the district where the events took place. The President shall
apply a procedure the outcome of which is enforceable.

Execution shall be undertaken as a ruling handed down by the labour tribunal.

Article 523.3: All workers, regardless of age, sex or civil status, are authorised to make claims
upon and to defend themselves before the labour tribunal or before any other tribunal
summoned to rule on appeals lodged against a decision handed down by the labour tribunal.

Article 523.4: Action in dispute of the grounds for dismissal of an employee is limited to 24
months counting from the notification of the breach of the employment contract.

Article 523.5: An action shall be moved before the labour tribunal via a spoken declaration or
one in writing lodged with the clerk of the court. This declaration shall be recorded on a register
kept for that purpose; an extract of this registration is supplied to the appellant party.

Article 523.6: Within three days of the receipt of the application, Sundays and public holidays
not included, the President shall summon the parties to appear within a time limit not greater
than ten days.

The summons shall contain the family names, given names and occupations of the applicant, an
indication of the purpose of the application, the time and date of appearance.

The summons shall be made in person or at the applicant’s home by means of a bailiff. It is also
valid when undertaken by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. In an emergency it
may be undertaken by any other telecommunications-method. When the home address is not
known, the summons is made at the clerk of the court’s office.

Article 523.7: The parties are required to present themselves before the labour tribunal at the
time and date set. They may have themselves represented either by a worker or by an employer
belonging to the same activity sector, or by an attorney if correctly registered with the bar, or by
a representative of the union organisations or employer organisations of which they are
members. In addition, employers may be represented by another member of the management or
by an employee at the enterprise or the plant.

Except with regard to the attorneys, a proxy must be established in writing.

Article 523.8: If the applicant fails to appear on the day set for the hearing and offers no force
majeur justification thereto, the case shall be struck from the register; it may only be re-launched
once and it must comply with the guidelines laid down for the original application under threat of
dismissal.

If the defendant fails to appear on the day set for the hearing and offers no force majeure
justification thereto or if he/she has not submitted his/her argument in the form of a report,
he/she is deemed in default and the tribunal rules on the merits of the application.

- 78 -
Article 523.9: The hearing is public. The president directs discussion, interrogates and
questions the parties, and orders the appearance of witnesses summoned by the parties or
him/herself. He/she proceeds to hear every person he/she deems to have a deposition to make
which is important to the settlement of the dispute, and may act or order actions in respect of all
observations and advice.

The power to control the hearing chamber and the discussions lies in the hands of the president,
before whom the parties are required to explain themselves in a restrained fashion, and who
must act with the respect due to justice. Should this not be the case, the judge remind the
parties to behave in accordance with the respect due to justice by a warning; should the
disrespect be repeated the parties may be fined, the amount of which shall be set by the Minister
of Labour on the advice of the Consultative Committee on Labour and Company Law.

Article 523.10: No referral may be declared without the agreement of the parties; however, the
tribunal always has the right, via a supported decision, to prescribe the information measures it
deemed necessary.

Article 523.11: Once discussion is complete, the tribunal decides in secret. If it does not give an
immediate ruling, it refers the case to the next hearing. A ruling must be supported.

Article 523.12: The minutes of the ruling shall be transcribed by the clerk of the court into the
decisions register. It shall be signed by the president and the chief clerk.

Article 523.13: The ruling may order immediate execution, notwithstanding opposition or
appeal, and if provided with an exemption of surety requirements.

A copy of the ruling signed by the president and the clerk of the court shall be supplied to the
parties. It shall include information as to the ruling, the date and time thereof being added by the
chief clerk in the margin thereof.

Article 523.14: An appeal against a ruling by the labour tribunal shall be put before the court of
appeal in same district as that of the labour tribunal.

The appeal must be lodged within thirty days of the handing down of the ruling in order to be
admissible; it shall be lodged according to the methods provided by the Code of Civil Procedure.

Article 523.15: Where a ruling is given by default, the chief clerk of the labour tribunal shall
communicate the ruling to the party in breach free of charge.

If the party in breach raises no disagreement with the ruling within eight days following the
hearing, the ruling shall be binding.

An objection lodged within the legal deadline and according to the rules laid down in the Code of
Civil Procedure cancels the ruling given because of the default.

The president of the tribunal shall summon the parties again, and the tribunal shall hand down a
fresh ruling which shall under no circumstances be susceptible to appeal.

Article 523.16: The labour court may rule on all such counter-claims or compensation demands
as fall, by their nature, within its jurisdiction.

Article 523.17: Rulings handed down by the labour court and the decisions of the Court of
Appeal are subject to appeal before the court of cassation.

The appeal to the court of cassation shall be lodged and decided according to the standards and
conditions laid down in the organic law establishing the membership, organisation, powers and
operations of the Supreme Court.

- 79 -
Article 523.18: In the field of work, procedures before the labour tribunal, the Court of Appeal
and the Supreme Court, are free of charge. The same shall apply to the recording of legal
rulings at the level of the taxation department. In addition, for the execution of decisions handed
down for their benefit, workers may be provided with legal aid.

CHAPTER IV: PENALTIES

Article 523.19: All persons guilty of acts of discrimination covered in article 4 of this Code shall
be punished by the payment of a fine equal in amount to twice the employee’s quarterly wage,
without the need for the payment of damages and interest if evidence is produced by the
employee.

Article 523.20: Breach of the obligation upon an employer to declare personnel laid down in
article 110.3 shall be punished by a fine of from 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 GNF.

Article 523.21: Breach of the prohibition on demands for remuneration and compensation by
private employment services covered in article 110.5 of this Code shall attract a fine the sum of
which shall be three times the amount received or demanded.

Article 523.22: Starting or being involved in a temporary work scheme without the authorisation
of the Minister of Employment, as covered by article 133.2, exposes the perpetrator thereof to a
fine of from 5,000 to 5,000,000 GNF.

Article 523.23: Any jobbing work activity exercised in breach of articles 134.1, 134.3 and 134.4
of this Code shall be punishable by a fin of from 500,000 to 5,000,000 GNF.

Article 523.24: Any employer in breach of the rules governing lay-off shall be required to pay
the retrenched worker compensation to the value of three months’ wages; the reference monthly
wage shall be that shown in article 172.10 if this Code. This compensation shall be added to that
which must be paid with regard to the unfair nature of the dismissal.

Article 523.25: Any employer who, in breach of the provisions of this Code, fails to draw up in-
house regulations or fails to obey the rules relating to the drafting thereof, shall pay a fine of
500,000 to 2,000, 000 GNF.

Article 523.26: Persons responsible for breaches of the provisions of articles 221.3, 221.5,
221.7, 221.10, 221.11, 221.12, 222.4, 222.5, 222.6 and 222.12 of this Code shall pay a find of
from 100,000 to 500,000 GNF.

Article 523.27: Any breach of provisions relating to the health of workers (Part IIId book 2) of
this code shall pay a fine of from 100,000 to 500,000 GNF.

Article 523.28: Persons responsible for breaches of the provisions of articles 241.2 (paragrpahs
2 and 3), 241.7 (paragraph 2), 242.2, 242.3, 242.4 and 242.6 (paragraph 3) shall pay a fine of
from 100,000 to 500,000 GNF

Article 523.29: Any worker in the formal or informal sector withdrawing from a union shall be
released of his obligation to pay union subscriptions as of the day of his membership
cancellation.

Any clause directly or indirectly limiting the freedom of workers in the formal or informal sectors
to join the union of their choice, not to join a union or to withdraw therefrom is null and void, and
exposes the signatories of the document containing the same to a fine of from 100,000 to
500,000 GNF.

- 80 -
Article 523.30: Any employer responsible for the breach of article 332.7 shall be prosecuted and
fined the sum of from 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 GNF.

Article 523.31: A fine to the sum of from 1,000,000 to 15,000,000 GNF shall be levied on

1. Those responsible for breaches of the provisions of articles 324.1, 331.5, 332.2, 332.5,
333.3, 333.4 of this Code.

2. Employers and persons acting on their authority hindering the exercise of the duties of the
union delegates as defined in article 333.1 of this Code.

Article 523.32: All persons hindering the exercise of the duties of a Work Inspector or Monitor
shall be guilty of an offence subject to a fine of from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 GNF.

Article 523.33: Any failure to comply with the obligations laid down in articles 513.12 et seq.
shall expose the perpetrators thereof to dismissal. Disclosure of confidential matters is deemed
a breach subject to the sanctions laid down in article 375 of the Code.

The perpetrator of such a breach must also pay the employer who is the victim of such
disclosure all such damages and interest as shall be necessary to remedy this fault.

TITLE III: DISPOSITIONS FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 530.1: The Labour Code instituted under Order No 003/PRG/SGG/88 of February 28
1988 is repealed.

However, the regulatory texts used for the application and the execution of this order shall
remain in force in respect of all the provisions thereof which are not contrary to this Code.

Article 530.2: The provisions of this Code are de jure applicable to individual current
employment contracts. They cannot stand as grounds for breaking a contract.

Any clause in a current labour contract which shall not comply with the provisions of this Code or
a decree or decision made for the application thereof shall be amended within a period of sixty
days from the publication thereof. The relevant court or tribunal may order that such
amendments as are deemed necessary shall be undertaken under threat of penalty.

530.3: As long as no new collective agreement have been established in the framework of this
Labour Code, prior agreements shall remain in force in respect of those of their provisions which
are not contrary thereto. These agreements are likely to become the subject of extension
agreements under the conditions laid down in the various sections of the collective labour
agreements and conventions.

Article 530.4: The applicable decrees and decisions covered by this Code must be uttered
within ninety days of the promulgation of this law.

Article 530.5: This law, which shall take effect on the date of its promulgation, shall be recorded,
published in the Official Gazette, and executed as a law of the State.

- 81 -
 Conakry, January 10 2013

- 82 -