Labor law in Ivory Coast

The Code du travail is Ivory Coast's main body of rules for dependent employment. It covers employees, employers, apprentices and links to vocational qualification. A CDI is an open-ended employment contract, while a CDD is a fixed-term contract. A CDD must be written in French, state its precise term, carry the required signatures, give the employee a copy and appear in the employer's register. Its maximum duration is generally two years, and a CDD for a permanent position may not cover more than one third of the total workforce. Employers also report each new hire monthly. A trial period ranges from eight days for hourly or daily workers to one month for monthly-paid workers, two months for maîtrise and technicians, three months for engineers, senior technicians and managers, and six months for senior managers. Each period may be renewed once. A foreign employee generally needs a prior visa from the Minister of Labour; the decision period is up to eight days and silence counts as refusal, subject to CEDEAO and UEMOA exceptions and equal-treatment rules. Normal working time is limited to 40 hours per week in non-agricultural businesses and 48 hours per week in agriculture, with an agricultural annual ceiling of 2,400 hours. Equivalence rules can produce limits of 44 or 52 hours, while domestic workers and security staff can have a 56-hour weekly limit. Overtime is generally limited to 15 hours per week and 120 hours per year, and a daily extension is generally limited to three hours. Employees receive at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, usually on Sunday. Night work has special rules, and employees under 18 and pregnant employees receive additional protection. The national SMIG is XOF 75,000 per month from 1 January 2023. Sectoral or collective-agreement minimums may be higher; some 2023 sectoral increases ranged from 9% to 18%. Wages must be paid in the legal currency, and payment in alcohol or drugs is prohibited. CNPS, the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale, uses total remuneration as the contribution base, excluding genuine expense reimbursements. Employers register employees from the first working day. Contributions include 5% for family benefits and 0.75% for maternity, paid by the employer; occupational accident and disease contributions range from 2% to 5% for the employer; and old-age insurance is 14%, divided into 7.7% for the employer and 6.3% for the employee. Payment is monthly for employers with at least 20 employees and otherwise quarterly, within 15 days after the end of the relevant period. Forced labor is prohibited. Discrimination based on sex, age, national origin, race, religion, political opinion, social origin, union membership, HIV/AIDS or disability is prohibited. Moral and sexual harassment are defined forms of prohibited conduct, and they may be proved by any means. An employee may not be sanctioned or dismissed for refusing harassment or reporting it. Employment below age 16 is prohibited, while apprenticeship below age 14 is allowed only under a regulated exception. Hazardous child labor is restricted by Arrêté 2017-017. Pregnancy protection includes 14 weeks of maternity leave: six weeks before birth and eight weeks after birth. Multiple births add two weeks, and illness related to pregnancy or childbirth can add three weeks. An employee is entitled to one hour of breastfeeding time per working day until the child reaches 15 months. CNPS daily maternity benefits generally replace the relevant full wage when the access conditions are met, including a minimum contribution or employment period of three months. A work accident or occupational disease should be reported to CNPS and, where appropriate, to the police, gendarmerie and Inspection du Travail et des Lois Sociales. Employers must provide an occupational health service and manage workplace risks through assessment, inspection, prevention and training. A Comité de Santé et Sécurité au Travail, or CSSST, is required in workplaces with more than 50 employees. In workplaces with 50 or fewer employees, délégués du personnel perform the relevant health-and-safety representation function. Délégués du personnel begin at 11 employees. The current scale provides one titular and one substitute delegate for 11 to 25 employees, two of each for 26 to 50, and three of each for 51 to 100, with further thresholds above that level. A délégué syndical generally begins at 100 employees. Representatives receive protection against disadvantage and dismissal, with the required employer authorisation or Inspection procedure. Collective agreements, including the 1977 Convention Collective Interprofessionnelle, can improve on statutory conditions. Collective representation also involves the Conseil national du Dialogue social, works councils and the newer rules reflected in Décret 2026-205. The Inspection du Travail et des Lois Sociales is a central public body for labour supervision, conciliation and health-and-safety control. The Tribunal du Travail handles employment contracts, apprenticeships, individual and collective disputes, and occupational accidents and diseases. An individual employment dispute must generally first go through mandatory conciliation at the Inspection before it reaches the Tribunal du Travail. The procedure is free, and employees can receive help with enforcement. Collective disputes require administrative notification and conciliation. Private-sector strikes are governed by Décret 2018-483, which requires a prior procedure and minimum service in areas such as hospitals, energy, water, banks, telecommunications and waste services; Décret 2026-200 updates collective-conciliation rules. Ending a CDI generally requires a legitimate reason and notice. During the notice period, the employee receives two paid days per week to look for work. Faute lourde can remove the right to notice and the related payment. After at least one year of service, a dismissal indemnity is normally due in addition to notice pay unless faute lourde applies. Under Décret 2017-210, the indemnity is 30% of average gross pay for each year up to year five, 35% for years six to ten and 40% from year eleven. Décret 2026-198 sets notice periods from eight days to four months according to payment method, employee category and seniority. Where permanent partial incapacity exceeds 40% and the employee has more than six months of seniority, the normal notice period is doubled. Collective economic termination follows Décret 2024-144. The employer's file must reach employee representatives, the Conseil national du Dialogue social and the Inspection at least 15 working days in advance. Affected employees receive a two-year priority for re-employment. Chômage technique, meaning a temporary suspension of work for economic or operational reasons, is generally limited to two months in each 12-month period. An agreement can extend it by up to four additional months, with at least one third of gross pay during the extension. The Inspection can calculate termination-related rights for a fee of XOF 5,000. The usual documents include the last 12 payslips, the certificate of employment and the date of the employee's last return from leave; the stated target is 72 hours. CNPS's e-CNPS service supports employee declarations, contributions, benefits and complaints. Actual costs and waiting times vary by procedure and local office. Ivory Coast has no evidenced general unemployment-insurance pathway comparable to a nationwide unemployment benefit. Informal employment represented about 90.9% of adult employment in 2022, so many workers operate without a formal contract, CNPS coverage or the full statutory protection available to formal employees. Current implementing decrees should be checked against the Journal officiel when a specific contract, dismissal, benefit or dispute is being handled.