Labor law in Guinea

Guinea's labor law protects the right to work, equal opportunity and equal treatment. It prohibits forced labor and discrimination based on sex, age, origin, race, religion, color, political or religious opinion, social origin, union membership, disability or HIV status. It also protects dignity and prohibits violence, moral harassment and sexual harassment. The law uses terms such as travailleur salarié for an employed worker and employeur for an employer. A CDI, or contrat à durée indéterminée, has no fixed end date. A CDD, or contrat à durée déterminée, has a fixed or legally defined end. Employment may generally be proved by any means, and an indefinite contract is the default when another form is not proved. A probation clause must be written in the contract or appointment letter within two months after work begins. Probation may last up to three months for a manager and one month for other workers. A CDD normally requires a written contract or letter before work starts, except for daily work. A fixed term may last up to two years including renewals, with no more than two CDDs in a one-year interval. An uncertain term may be used for seasonal work, replacement, a construction project or an unusual increase in work. Continuing work after the term without a regular renewal can convert the relationship into a CDI. At the end of a CDD, the worker receives a work certificate and an indemnity of 5% of wages and allowances. Early termination is limited to written agreement, serious misconduct or force majeure. The usual working time is 40 hours per week. Hours above 40 per week or eight per day count as overtime, subject to a normal limit of 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week including overtime. An employer may impose up to 100 hours per day of civil-time overtime only within the statutory framework; work beyond that limit requires authorization from the Inspecteur du Travail. Overtime is paid with a 30% increase for the first four hours and 60% after that. Night work runs from 21:00 to 05:00 and carries a 20% increase. Employers must display the schedule and send it to the Inspection Générale du Travail, or IGT, the national labor inspection system. Weekly rest must normally include at least 24 consecutive hours, usually on Sunday. Work on public holidays is governed by decree; it is paid with a 60% increase during the day and 100% at night. Annual leave accrues at 2.5 working days for each month of effective service and becomes available after one month. Certified illness, occupational accidents and maternity leave are not deducted from annual leave. Maternity leave lasts six weeks before birth and eight weeks after birth, or 14 weeks in total, with two additional weeks for multiple births. The employer pays 50% of maternity compensation and the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale, or CNPS, pays the other 50%. After maternity leave, unpaid leave may last up to nine months, or the worker may receive one hour of breastfeeding time per day for up to nine months. Dismissal is protected during maternity leave and related unpaid leave except for unrelated serious misconduct or an external impossibility. A pregnant or recently delivered worker may end the contract without notice up to the ninth month after birth. Employers must take suitable prevention measures. An establishment with at least 25 workers must have a health and safety committee. The employer provides personal protective equipment, or PPE, free of charge when collective protection is insufficient, arranges a medical examination before probation ends and provides annual medical surveillance. Occupational accidents and diseases must be reported to the IGT. A child is under 18 for these protections; employment before 16 is prohibited except for apprenticeship, and night work by people under 18 is prohibited. Night work by women is prohibited in listed sectors unless an exception or IGT authorization applies. Companies with at least 25 workers must maintain internal rules, submit them for IGT control, deposit them with the registry and display them. Pay is freely agreed within the limits of the law and applicable collective agreements. Equal pay applies to work of equal value without discrimination based on gender, origin or age. The current statutory minimum wage identified in the research is SMIG 550,000 GNF per month under Decree D/2022/270/PRG/CNRD/SGG; the applicable Journal officiel should be checked when relying on the amount. Wages must be paid at least every 15 working days for fortnightly arrangements or every 30 days for monthly arrangements. Piece-rate workers receive advances every 15 days and final payment within 15 days after delivery. Employers must provide a payslip and pay outstanding wages immediately when employment ends. Wage claims are limited to 12 months for fortnightly pay and 24 months for monthly pay. Wage attachment or assignment is limited to 30%, and wage claims have priority, including the last six months for fortnightly pay and the last 12 months for monthly pay. Workers may join or create a union without prior authorization, including workers in the informal sector, and employers may not discriminate against or interfere with unions. Union representativeness requires filed statutes for at least six months, independence and at least 20% of votes at enterprise level or 20% of the workforce in the wider sector. A délégué syndical, or union delegate, receives 15 paid delegation hours per month. Dismissal of a union delegate or assessor requires prior IGT authorization; unauthorized dismissal followed by refusal to reinstate can lead to a payment equal to 24 months of salary. Written collective agreements are deposited with the registry and may be extended by the Minister after consultation with the Commission Consultative du Travail et des Lois Sociales. The Conseil National du Dialogue Social provides permanent tripartite dialogue. Workers have a right to strike. The preavisis sent to the IGT or the Inspecteur du Travail, who conducts negotiations. If no agreement is reached after 10 working days, work may stop subject to safety and minimum-service requirements. A lawful strike suspends the contract, normally without wages, and lawful participation cannot be sanctioned. A lockout is prohibited except for safety reasons or an irregular strike after an IGT opinion. Collective disputes may also use conciliation and arbitration. The IGT advises, controls compliance, conciliates, investigates and may enter workplaces without prior notice or request records. An employee may bring a claim directly before the jurisdiction charged with labor matters, with optional IGT conciliation. For an employer-initiated CDI dismissal after probation, the employer needs an objectively verifiable personal or economic reason that makes continuation impossible. Personal dismissal requires a summons and hearing, two working days for reflection and a written, reasoned notice no earlier than the third day after the hearing. A procedural breach can result in three months of salary as compensation. Economic dismissal of fewer than 10 workers requires informing the IGT with a reasoned letter; for 10 or more workers, employee representatives must be consulted, with the file provided at least seven days before the meeting and possible IGT participation at a third meeting within 10 days. Notice periods are three months for managers, two months for supervisory staff and one month for execution-level workers. The worker receives eight paid hours per week to seek work during the notice period. Serious misconduct can remove notice and severance rights. Severance is available after at least 12 months of effective service and follows the applicable ministerial calculation. The worker should receive a work certificate and compensation for accrued leave. A dismissal challenge has a 24-month limitation period. A worker or employer may file orally or in writing with the registry of the competent labor court. Territorial jurisdiction generally follows the establishment or place of work; a termination claim may also be filed where the worker lives. The summons should issue within three days and the hearing should be scheduled within 10 days. Representation may be provided by a lawyer, a worker or employer from the same sector, or a union or employer organization. Labor proceedings before the labor courts, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are free, legal aid may be available to a worker, and immediate enforcement may be possible. An appeal must generally be filed within 30 days, while opposition to a default judgment has an eight-day period. Recruitment may occur directly, through the public employment service or through a private agency. An employer must declare personnel to the public employment service within 15 working days. A private agency may not charge a job seeker. A foreign worker from outside ECOWAS requires prior authorization, a written contract, a public-employment-service visa and a work permit; the visa may be tacitly granted if no opinion is issued within 30 days. Temporary work is allowed, normally for a mission of no more than six months except for replacement. Tâcheronnat and subcontracting are regulated. No city or regional variation has been evidenced for the rules summarized here, so the national framework applies unless a competent authority or current official publication provides a different rule.