Questions / Answers on the Labour Code

The statutory minimum wage is fixed by decree (art. 356), on an hourly basis for non-agricultural and daily activities for agricultural work, including benefits in kind or in cash, including gratuities. However, the benefits in kind are not taken into account for the agricultural sector (transport, housing, food, etc.).

Article 360 of the Code proclaims the nullity of any agreement tending to fix the remuneration below the legal minimum wage rate (art. 356), which authorizes the worker to sue the employer to claim the additional salary when that it does not reach this threshold (Decree No. 2-04-421 of 4 June 2004 on the raising of the legal minimum wage in industry, commerce, the liberal professions and agriculture, Order of the Minister of the Employment and Vocational Training No. 1392-04 of 5 August 2004 relating to the fixing of the date of application of the increase of the minimum wage in certain sectors facing particular difficulties).

Absolutely not, because these durations of work represent only legal durations that must not be exceeded! As for the salary, it is paid in return for the duration of the agreed work and consequently, the employee who works, for example, four hours a day, receives the wages agreed, without it being able to be lower than the quadruple of the hourly minimum wage, the same goes for the week, the month and the year.

The salary is due when the present worker is ready to perform the service; the loss of time which is not attributable to him is then considered as an actual working time (art 347).

However, the collective suspension of work in case of force majeure or “accidental causes” does not give rise to remuneration and authorizes the recovery of time lost in return for regular pay (art 348).

On farms, workers who suspend their activity due to adverse weather conditions are entitled to:

• half-day salary if he has remained inactive at the disposal of the employer throughout the day.
• two-thirds of the salary journaling if he worked half a day.

Any employee who completes two continuous or discontinuous years in the service of the same employer is entitled to a seniority bonus provided that his salary is not fixed from the outset on the basis of seniority.

The rates of this bonus were established by the legislator on the basis of the remuneration as follows:

• 5% at the end of the first two years of service.
• 10% after five years of seniority.
• 15% after 12 years.
• 20% from the twentieth year.

The code added a rate of 25% from the 25th year (art 350 and 351)

The law provides for many conditions relating to the components of the salary, the periodicity of its payment and the display of the time and manner of its payment and the obligations to establish this payment by a pay slip to be submitted to each employee (Article 370), to keep a payroll (Article 371) and to issue a receipt for the balance of any account at the end of the employment contract (Article 73 and Orders of the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training No. 347-05 and No. 346-05 of 9 February 2005 fixing the model of the pay register and the particulars to be entered on the pay sheet respectively).

The employer is prohibited from annexing or selling products to his establishments without having obtained an authorization for that purpose. He can not, either, make any compensation between the wages due and the possible debts of the employee towards him, consecutive to any supplies that he would have made to him except:

• Tools and materials needed for the job.
• Materials and supplies in his custody.
• Cash advances he would have received for their acquisition.

Nor can the employer be reimbursed for the loans granted to the employee, except by means of deductions not exceeding one-tenth of the wages due (art 386).

With regard to the employee’s third-party creditors, deductions from wages made in connection with the garnishment procedure are, in turn, subject to specified installments (art. 387) which also apply to assignments of receivables. , with the exception of spousal support (art. 390).

In addition to the above-mentioned rules, the legislature surrounded all the components of the salary and severance pay of a senior lien with respect to other claims on the employer (art 382)

It has also awarded employees a special privilege on public procurement contracts acquired by the employer (art. 383) and has authorized them to take direct action against the contracting authority to the extent of which he is liable with regard to their employer when he is a building contractor (Article 384 and Decree No 2-04-470 of 29 December 2004 on the fixing of the conditions for the creation of works councils in building sites, agricultural holdings, industrial undertakings , mines or quarries distant from a refueling center)

The action based on the employment contract is prescribed after two years.

It must also be remembered that the receipt for the balance of any account may be denounced within sixty days (Article 75).

The first is the limitation period for challenging the dismissal decision (Art. 65) and the second is the limitation of actions based on the rights arising from the contract of employment, which include the right to payment of wages.

The code confirms the company’s role in occupational safety and health and prescribes preventive measures, medical monitoring and liability for accidents at work and occupational diseases.

The employer is required to submit a declaration to the labour inspector every time he starts a business, starts an establishment, or opens a new site to accommodate employees; as well as the hiring of other workers, the change of activity, the transfer of its facilities, the recruitment of disabled workers or the use of home-based workers or sub-enterprises.

It is also required to develop rules of procedure that prescribe the rules of health and safety.

The code has reserved an entire title for the question which presents the general rules relating to the hygiene of workplaces, the health and safety devices to be put in place, the prevention arrangements, as well as the individual and essential collectives, the maintenance of equipment and the fight against risks (art 281 to 301). Provisions for the transport of heavy parcels are also provided for (Articles 302 and 303- Decree No. 2-04468 of 29 December 2004 laying down the particulars of packages weighing at least 1,000 kilograms)