Employment
Code du travail of 1961, substantially revised in 2017
The Code du travail dates from 1961 and was significantly amended by a law published in 2017, which revised working time, overtime, leave and termination provisions and strengthened protection against discrimination. The Direction du Travail within the Ministère des Affaires Sociales et du Travail conciliates disputes, and the Tribunal du Travail adjudicates. Minimum wages are set by sector, with the garment industry, which supplies the HOPE and HELP trade preferences, subject to its own rate.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National; Direction du Travail then the Tribunal du Travail
- Deadline — Notice of termination: graduated according to length of service
- Deadline — Claim before the Tribunal du Travail: brought within the period fixed by the Code, following conciliation
- Deadline — Annual leave: accrued at a rate set by the Code, taken after twelve months' service
Governing law
- Code du travail de 1961
- Loi du 6 juillet 2017 portant révision du Code du travail
- Loi sur l'ONAOffice National d'Assurance-vieillesse
- Arrêtés fixing sectoral minimum wages
In practice
The 2017 revision is the version that must be cited, because the unamended 1961 text is still widely reproduced online and differs on working time and dismissal compensation. Compliance in the garment sector is monitored externally through the Better Work programme as a condition of United States trade preferences, which in practice gives that sector a stronger enforcement mechanism than the domestic system alone provides.