Employment
A 1966 labour code with strong dismissal protection and sectoral agreements
The Labour Code of 1966 governs employment, supplemented by around 50 sectoral collective agreements that set actual pay scales. Dismissal for economic reasons requires administrative involvement.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Conseils de prud'hommes and social chambers of the courts of first instance. CNSS administers social security; the labour inspectorate conciliates.
- Deadline — Notice of one month for most categories
- Deadline — Economic dismissals require prior notice to the labour inspectorate and a commission stage
- Deadline — Claims must be brought within one year of termination
Governing law
- Labour Code, Law 1966-27
- Law 1996-62 amending dismissal and fixed-term contracts
- Law 1960-30 on social security, administered by CNSS
- Sectoral collective agreementsconventions collectives sectorielles
In practice
The sectoral collective agreements are not optional background: they set minimum pay by grade and seniority across most of the formal economy, and an employment contract that complies with the Labour Code but breaches the applicable convention is non-compliant. Economic dismissal must pass through the Commission de Contrôle des Licenciements, and proceeding without that step makes the dismissal abusive, with damages of one to two months per year of service. Fixed-term contracting is limited to four years, after which the relationship becomes indefinite. The informal economy is very large, and CNSS registration is the main compliance frontier; the 2019 reforms tightened penalties for non-declaration.