Employment in Burkina Faso

Employment in Burkina Faso covers starting, performing, changing and ending dependent paid work. The labour market is largely informal and fragmented: INSD reported 80% vulnerable employment in 2025, 62.3% of workers without a formal written contract, 43.4% working more than 48 hours per week, 35.3% earning below the SMIG in their main job and 97.3% without medical coverage. Women face higher underemployment, while 16.7% of people aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training. Multiple jobs and occasional or seasonal work are also common. The main formal job-search channels are ANPE placement, ONEF job offers, direct applications to companies, official MSJE e-services and public recruitment through MFPTPS eConcours. An ANPE jobseeker card is available to people aged at least 16 who do not hold salaried employment. The current public-service information indicates that registration is free, immediate and valid for five years, with annual confirmation costing 50 FCFA. Applicants generally provide a CNIB, curriculum vitae, diplomas or employment certificates and two photographs. Older ANPE documents list different charges, so the current service portal or ANPE counter should be checked before payment. ONEF vacancy publication can take about 3 to 14 working days and may involve a variable charge; citizens and legal residents generally need identification and supporting documents. An internship or apprenticeship can provide experience and support entry into work, but it does not automatically create an employment contract. THIMO and voluntary or national programmes offer other temporary or insertion opportunities, with timing and conditions depending on the programme. A public recruitment competition follows its own announcement and submission procedure. Formal private employment normally combines work directed by an employer, agreed pay, a contract and social registration. The contract should record the job, start date, wage, duration, workplace, working hours, benefits and CNSS status. Oral arrangements remain common, but they make unpaid wages, termination, working time and social protection harder to prove. The 2026 Labour Code, Law No. 013-2026/ALP of 6 May 2026, promulgated by Decree No. 2026-0613/PF, replaced the 2008 framework as the current reference. It regulates temporary-work placement, including a maximum duration of one year, equal pay for temporary or interim workers doing the same job with the same qualification, limits on fixed-term contracts and a maximum fixed-term duration of two years for nationals and non-nationals. It also addresses telework and moral or sexual harassment. Some detailed implementation questions should be checked against the current official texts. The SMIG is currently 45,000 FCFA per month. The formal CNSS contribution is 21.5% of the assessment base up to 800,000 FCFA per month: the employer contributes 16% and the worker 5.5%, while the employer remains responsible for payment. The employer generally registers the worker within one month of hiring; the worker may need a national identity document and birth certificate or a court judgment. CNSS payments are monthly for employers with at least 20 workers and quarterly for smaller employers. CNSS covers family benefits, occupational risks and pensions, while CARFO serves the public or statutory retirement pathway. The established labour framework uses 40 hours per week as the baseline and provides additional pay for overtime. Paid leave is commonly stated as 2.5 calendar days per month under the legacy framework, but the exact article and implementation under the 2026 Code should be verified. Workers owe the agreed work, care, compliance with lawful instructions, discipline and health-and-safety duties. Employers owe the agreed work and workplace, wages and benefits, social contributions, dignity, health and safety, protection against violence and harassment, and required employment notices. At the end of employment, an attestation or certificat de travail and the employer's CNSS exit declaration help document the transition. Private salaried retirement generally runs through CNSS, whereas public or statutory employment may follow CARFO; unemployment benefits and registration belong to a separate unemployment subject.