Benin - Minimum Wages - 2011

09 November 2011.

Act n°98-004 implementing the Labour Code of 27 January 1998.

Benin Social Security Report - Cleiss

Social Security Report Benin, SSA

Order n. 026/MFPTRA/DC/SGM/DT/SRT, from 14 April 2008, establishing the conditions of employment for domestic workers in the Republic of Benin.

A worker is, regardless of sex or nationality, anyone whose work is under the direction and authority of a natural or legal, public or private person and who also pays the employee¿s salary. For the determination of the worker status, the legal status of employer or worker does not need to be determined. The persons named in permanent employment of a part of a government are excluded from the scope of this Code.

For the purposes of the present Code, "salary" means, regardless the way it is calculated, the basic or minimum treatment and all other advantages paid directly or indirectly in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker in virtue of the employment of the latter and establishment by agreement, or by regulations or conventions.

No wage can be inferior to the interprofessional minimum wage (SMIG), which shall be established by a decree enacted after decision of council of ministers, upon a report of the Minister charged of Labour, following the recommendation of the National Labour Council.

A seniority bonus shall be paid to every worker having stayed at least 3 years with a same employer. This bonus shall be paid as follows:
- 3 years: 5% of the basic salary;
- 6 years: 10% of the basic salary;
- 15 years and more: 20% of the salary.

The remuneration for piece-rate and task shall be calculated in a way that it provides this worker, a salary at least equal to that of a worker, working by time, performing a similar job.
The minimum salary rates, the conditions under which deductions from wages can be made, as well as the conditions of remuneration of piece-rate or task workers, shall be displayed on the employer’s bureau and on the staff payment places.

"The legal monthly minimum wage is 31,625 CFA Francs."

The employer has to guarantee accomodation of every worker who has to travel in order to perform the work forseen in the employment contract in a place other than where the worker usually lives. This accomodation shall be sufficient and decent, correspond to the familiy’s situation and respond to the conditions established by an order of the Minister of Labour, after consultation with the National Labour Council.
If the employer does not dispose of accomodation to provide the worker, s/he shall pay the worker an indemnity of which minimum amount and modalities of attribution shall be established by the order mentioned above.
The employer shall provide a daily ration of food once the worker cannot, by his own means, provide it to himself and his family regularly. This service shall be discounted, unless there are more favorable provisions on collective agreements or employment contracts. The maximum amount of its reimboursement value is determined by an order of the Minister of Labour, after consultation with the National Labour Council.
The benefits forseen in the present article are not payable, once the salary itself is not due, unless in the cases forseen by a regulation in force or if a prior agreement has been concluded on this subject by the concerned parties.

"The legal monthly minimum wage is 31,625 CFA Francs."

The minimum wage can be revised every 3 years, or whenever needed.

Every employer who violates arts. 210, 211, and 222 of the present Code shall be punished with a penalty of 14,000 to 70,000 Francs, to be applied as many times as the number of infractions.