Source: http://www.somalilandlaw.com/labour_employment_law.html
Timestamp: 2013-05-18 23:40:06
Document Index: 487312201

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 51', 'Art. 36', 'Art. 33', 'Art. 39', 'Art. 24', 'Art. 41', 'Art. 2', 'Art. 52', 'Art. 31', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 40', 'Art. 47', 'Art. 171']

Copyright © 2006 -2012 Somalilandlaw.com. All rights reserved Somaliland Labour/Employment Law
[For laws relating to public employees, please see the bottom half of this page - updated 25 Feb 2012.]
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) . This version of the Laws also includes the Presidential Decree No. 0431/032010 dated 02 March 2010 which brought the (amended) Law into force.
[A smaller pdf copy of the law (in Somali - 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 the 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 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:
Disciplinary acts, suspension
Art. 51 - 51
Art. 36 - 37
Duties of employees & employers, appraisals
Art. 33 - 35
Employees’ grievances and cases; Labour Directorate, Regional Courts. Art. 39
Employment contracts, types of contracts, apprenticeships, registration of employment contracts Art. 24 - 30
Fundamental employment rights - equality and non-discrimination on grounds of gender, colour, religion, clan origin, political opinion, HIV/AIDS.
Art. 41 - 45
Holidays, rest periods, sickness leave, maternity leave, family responsibility leave
Labour Directorate & Inspections
Art. 2 – 6, 48
Art. 52 - 55
Minors – non-employment
Recruitment; foreign employees
Art. 31 - 32
Regulations under this Law
Salary and emoluments; Eid payment, funeral expenses.
Scope of the Law Art. 1
Tax – rates Art. 40, 46; Schedule Transfer of undertakings
Art. 47, 49
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.
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 .
The ILO’s Governing Body has identified eight conventions as “fundamental”:
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)
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:
Source: ILOLEX – (5. 4. 2009) Convention
18:11:1960 ratified C17 Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925
18:11:1960 ratified C19 Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925
18:11:1960 ratified C22 Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926
18:11:1960 ratified C23 Repatriation of Seamen Convention, 1926
18:11:1960 ratified C29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930
18:11:1960 ratified C45 Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935
18:11:1960 ratified C50 Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention, 1936
18:11:1960 denounced on 15:09:1981 C64 Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939
18:11:1960 denounced on 11:09:1978 C65 Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1939
18:11:1960 ratified C94 Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949
18:11:1960 ratified C95 Protection of Wages Convention, 1949
18:11:1960 ratified C105 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
08:12:1961 ratified C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
08:12:1961 ratified Ratified: 12
Conditional ratification: 0
Declared applicable: 0
Denounced: 2
1. Civil Servants - The main law governing the conditions of employment of civil servant is the 1996 Somaliland Civil Service Law No. 7/96. A copy of the Law in English and Somali is attached here).
This Law which was issued under the 1993 Somaliland National Charter which did allow for the use of any post 1969 Somali Republic legislation states in its preamble that it was based on the 1962 Civil Service Law. (That 1962 law was subsequently amended many time and the last last pre 1991 Civil Service Law was Law No. 5 of 2/2/1980 which purported to cover all public employees (including public industrial workers and is no longer applicable to Somaliland). The 1996 Somaliland Civil Service Law covers permanent civil servants and does not apply to local government employees and to members of the armed forces or the police and corrections corps (see Article 2). 2. Local Government Employees: Article 59(4) of the Regions and Districts Law (Law No. 22/2002, as amended) states that local government (and water Agencies) employees shall have a separate law which shall prepared by the Ministry of Interior and approved by the “Councils”. There is a bill currently being considered by a House Committee. The last pre 1991 Regulations which specifically addressed separately local government employees were the Local Government Regulations 1973 - Decree No. 4 of 15 July 1973, which were slightly amended by Decree No. 116 of 5 September 1974
Separate employment laws govern:
The Police and the Corrections Services.
The Judiciary and the Prosecution Service [Home] [Introduction to Somaliland Law] [Somaliland Legal - Views] [Articles & Commentaries] [Somaliland Constitution] [Constitutional Developments] [Somaliland Boundaries] [Recognition of Somaliland] [Somaliland & International Law] [Administrative Law] [Banking & Finance Laws] [Business Law Overview] [Somaliland Citizenship Law] [Civil Law] [Civil Procedure Law] [Commercial Law] [Communications Laws] [Somaliland Customary Law] [Somaliland Company Law] [Criminal Law] [Criminal Procedure Law] [Environmental Laws] [Electoral Laws] [Foreign Investment Law] [Family & Personal Law] [Somaliland Government] [Health Law] [Somaliland Human Rights Law] [Insurance Law] [Somaliland Intellectual Property Law] [Somaliland Judicial System] [Labour/ Employment Law] [Land & Planning Law] [Hargeisa Law Faculty] [Somaliland Legal Profession] [Somaliland Lawyers] [Somaliland Livestock Laws] [Local Government Law] [Maritime Law] [Military Law] [Somaliland Mining Laws] [Somaliland NGOs Law] [Press & Media Law] [Prison Law] [Police Law] [Somaliland Public Finance Law] [Somaliland Public Safety Laws] [Somaliland Parliament] [Somaliland Security Committees] [Sharia A Source of Law] [Roads & Traffic Law] [Miscellaneous Laws] [Somali Republic 60-89 Laws] [Comparative Somali Laws] [Somaliland Protectorate Laws]