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Somaliland Labour/Employment Law
PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES The main Law covering private sector employment is the recently amended Private Sector Employees’ Law which covers all non-public employees, other than casual “daily” workers. The law titled, in Somali, Wax ka Bedelka iyo Kaabista Xeerka Shaqaalha Rayidka (Xeer Lam 31/2004 - Private Sector Employees Law – Law No. 31/2004 (As amended 2008) was approved by the House of Representatives approved this Law on 18 August 2008. A copy of the law (in Somali - pdf file) is attached here.
The law reduces the previous Law passed by the House in 2004 from 79 articles to 57, but covers broadly the same grounds. The Law follows the model of the previous Somalian employment laws, such as Labour Code No. 65 of 18 October 1972. It does, however, introduce new provisions, such as the positive quota for recruitment of employees from the excluded communities. The main chapters of the law are: Chapter 1: General provisions Chapter 2: Hours of work Chapter 3: Holidays and rest periods Chapter 4: Employees’ pay and emoluments Chapter 5: Employment Contracts Chapter 6: Employees’ recruitment procedures Chapter 7: The duties of employees and employers Chapter 8: Dismissal and resignation of employees Chapter 9: The employment of young persons Chapter 10: Employees’ grievances Chapter 11: Health and safety in the work place Chapter 12: The structure of employees’ associations Until an English language translation is available, the following subject matter table pointing to the relevant articles might be of some help:
Public Holidays Article 12 of the Law sets out the paid public holidays totalling 11, but another day has been added under Ministerial Regulations. See : list of holidays here.
The Civil Code Article 605 of the Civil Code (1973) defines contracts for labour as one involving agreement for labour or work in consideration for remuneration. The Code also covers the general principles that underlie contractual obligations, but Article 605 of the Code states that a special law shall govern employment contracts. That law in respect of private employees is the above law. The Civil Code also covers liability for “tort” acts committed by employees. Art. 171 of the code states that: “1. An employer is liable for the damage caused by an employee who commits unlawful act in the course of, or in relation to, his employment. 2. The relationship between employer and employee exists even when the employer has not been free to choose his employee, provided he has actual powers of supervision and control over his servant.” This employer’s liability for unlawful tort acts was challenged in various cases relating to injury or death brought about by vehicle accidents where the employers of the drivers challenged this Article as being contrary to Islamic principles. The Somaliland Supreme Court rejected such arguments and on 1 February 2005, the Chairman of the Supreme Court issued a Direction in which he re-confirmed the applicability of Article Article 171 of the Civil Code in respect of the liability of employers for the road traffic accidents caused by their employees. The Direction also confirmed that the monetary value of a camel, for the purposes of compensation, was equivalent to 200,000 Shillings .
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STANDARDS
The ILO’s Governing Body has identified eight conventions as “fundamental”:
These principles are also covered in the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) (see section 3). In 1995, the ILO launched a campaign to achieve universal ratification of these eight conventions. There are currently over 1,200 ratifications of these conventions, representing 86% of the possible number of ratifications.
The ILO’s Governing Body has also designated another four conventions as “priority” instruments, thereby encouraging member states to ratify them because of their importance to the functioning of the international labour standards system. These are:
CONVENTIONS RATIFIED BY THE SOMALI REPUBLIC BEFORE MAY 1991:
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