The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is responsible for the regulation of the country’s labour market, but in reality most employment in Sierra Leone is informal and unregulated. Employment law is out-dated and in urgent need of reform.
General employment law concepts such as salary, holidays, redundancy and disputes are governed by the Regulations of Wages and Industrial Relations Act 1971 and the Employers and Employed Act 1960. However, these statutes do not reflect modern employment rights standards and as a result are often not applied. The laws on hiring and firing are particularly unclear. The GoSL’s 2015 Budget included an allocation of Le 5.3 billion (US$1.2 million) for the enforcement of labour regulations and a review of obsolete laws with a view to reforming the legislative regime, though this was not repeated in the 2016 Budget, with the focus turning to more practical measures as detailed below. A likely timescale for further legislative change is unclear at present.
A national minimum wage of Le 500,000 (US$70) per month was introduced in 2015, and was unchanged in 2016. The GoSL has implemented significant public sector pay increases, including a 15 per cent. rise in July 2015, and an increased allocation for public sector wages in the 2016 Budget. A number of additional employee protections exist under domestic legislation, although their enforcement is questionable.
Sierra Leone’s NASSIT administers the country’s national pension scheme. This is a defined benefit scheme and is compulsory for all public and private sector employees (but is voluntary for the self-employed). A valid NASSIT Social Security Clearance Certificate shows that all contributions due from the employer have been made. This certificate is required before any employer can import, export or clear goods at a port, obtain a permit for the construction of any building, tender or be considered for any contract with a public institution, register any document conferring title to land, leave the country (if they are a non-citizen), and obtain a work permit for foreign employees.
In addition, the law requires foreign investors to apply for a self-employment permit and foreign employees for a work permit. The process of obtaining these permits is governed by multiple statutes and involves several GoSL To avoid any issues, work permit applications should be submitted six months in advance, and the permits are granted by the Minister for Labour, taking into account various statutory criteria which allow a margin of discretion. Once permits are issued they last for three years and must then be renewed annually.
The LCA has imposed new restrictions on expatriate employment in the mining, petroleum, service industries agriculture and agri-business, transportation, maritime, aviation, hotel and tourism, public works and construction, fisheries and marine resources, manufacturing, health and energy sectors. Expatriates may fill up to 50 per cent. of management and intermediate level positions during the first five years of a company’s establishment in Sierra Leone, after which this level drops to 40 per cent.
Statistics Sierra Leone conducted the first LFS in over 30 years in 2014 to collect information on Sierra Leone’s labour market. The LFS largely focused on primary occupation in three main sectors: wage employment, agricultural self-employment, and non-agricultural household enterprises, with the aim of providing statistics to assist the GoSL in policy-making and development planning. Preliminary results of the LFS indicate that 65 per cent. of the working-age population are in employment. Participation in the labour market is higher in rural areas, at around 69 per cent. compared to 54 per cent. in urban areas. The final LFS report was published in September 2015.
In February 2016, the GoSL enacted the National Youth Service Act 2016, thereby establishing the National Youth Service Scheme, a graduate training project aimed at combating youth unemployment and equipping young graduates to serve the country more effectively. In addition, the GoSL allocated Le 8.6 billion in the 2016 Budget towards the development of job centres and district Ministry of Labour and Social Security offices, and a further Le 113.7 billion has been allocated to subsidise university tuition fees in order to raise educational standards. The Sierra Leone Skills Development Fund has been allocated additional funds of Le 3 billion to promote professional internship opportunities and further specialised skills development.
The NLP envisages that the GoSL will enact constitutional amendments to prohibit discrimination in the workplace and business on the basis of gender or marital status, and to provide women with the right to full and equal protection under the law. Any discriminatory practices are expected to be outlawed. Businesses should take care to ensure that their policies are compliant with non-discrimination rights or amend them as necessary.
