ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
ILO-en-strap
Go to the home page
Contact us
> TRAVAIL home > TRAVAIL legal databases


Page 1 of 1 (1 countries)   

Cameroon - Working time - 2011


LAST UPDATE

01 December 2011.

SOURCES


Name of Act

Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours, Decree No. 95-677 of 18 December 1995

Name of Act

Act Regulating Public Holidays in the United Kingdom of Cameroon, Act No. 73-05 of 7 December 1973

Name of Act

Labour Code, Law No. 92/007 of 14 August 1992
click on this symbol to show or hide remarks

LEGAL DEFINITIONS


Employee/worker

Worker shall mean any person, irrespective of sex or nationality, who has undertaken to place his services in return for remuneration, under the direction and control of another person, whether an individual or a public or private corporation, but it does not include staff in the public service, the judicial service , the national security, the prison administration and auxiliary staff.
Labour Code §1(2)

Night work(er)

Every work performed between 22h and 06h shall be considered as night work.
Labour Code §81

Young worker

A child is a person below the age of 14 years.
A young person is a person below the age of 18 years.
Labour Code §86(1)

NORMAL HOURS LIMITS


Daily hours limit


General limit

No statutory daily hours limit.
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: No statutory daily hours limit.

Exceptions

The daily hours can be extended for preparatory works or for technical reasons, for example in the following professions: engineers, electricians, drivers and distributors.
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §4

Weekly hours limit


General limit

In every non-agricultural establishment, public or private, the duration of work cannot exceed 40 hours per week.
Labour Code §80(1)
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: 40 hours.
  • 2007: 40 hours
  • 1995: 40 hours.

Exceptions

In certain occupations, a higher number of hours are established as equivalent to 40 hours, e.g. for guards, surveillance staff and fire-fighting staff 56 hours, for medical staff (45 hours); in retail (45 hours).
Under no circumstances may a duration of 60 hours be exceeded.
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §3

Special categories


» Domestic work

The equivalences forseen in article 2 are established as follows:

3) 54 hours equivalent to 40 hours of effective work per week:
b) domestic workers and house maids.
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §3(3)b)

OVERTIME WORK


Criteria for overtime


General

Overtime may occur on a temporary basis for work necessary due to exceptional or seasonal overload of work; the impossibility of finishing work within a fixed delay, and when recruitment of extra staff is not possible.

The employer can only require the staff to perform overtime work, if s/he is unable to recruit supplementary workers in virtue of:
- the qualification and nature of the work to be performed;
- organisation of the work posts in her/his establishment.

In case of urgent work or force majeure in non-working days, the employer can require the performance of overtime work, conditioned to the regularization by the labour inspector from the first working day after the referred period.

Up to 20 hours of overtime per week (Regular weekly working hours is 40 hours and weekly working hours can not go beyond 60 hours per week).
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §9, 10(3)(4)

Limits on overtime hours


General limits

Up to 20 hours of overtime per week (Regular weekly working hours is 40 hours and weekly working hours can not go beyond 60 hours per week).
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §10(4)
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: No explicit overtime limit. Up to 20 hours of overtime per week (Regular weekly working hours is 40 hours and weekly working hours can not go beyond 60 hours per week).
  • 2007: 20 hours per week
  • 1995: n.a.

Restrictions/exceptions

No overtime shall be authorized on public holidays.
Act Regulating Public Holidays in the United Kingdom of Cameroon §8(2)

Compensation for overtime work


Overtime rate(s)

The overtime work performed according to the present decree entitle the worker to compensation as follows:

a) overtime during the day:
- 8 first hours: 20% of the hourly salary;
- following 8 hours: 30% of the hourly salary;
- for the third installment of hours, up to 20 hours per week: 40% of the hourly salary;
- for overtime work performed on sundays: 40% of the hourly salary.

b) overtime during the night:
- 50% of the hourly salary.

c) overtime performed according to the circumstance forseen in art. 10(3):
- 50% of the hourly salary.
Decree on Deviations of Legal Working Hours §12
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: 20% increase (first 8 hours) 30% increase (subsequent 8 hours) 40% increase (subsequent 4 hours)
  • 2007: 20% increase (first 8 hours) 30% increase (subsequent 8 hours) 40% increase (subsequent 4 hours)
  • 1995: n.a.

REST PERIODS


Rest breaks


General provisions

No statutory provisions on rest breaks.
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: No statutory provisions on rest breaks.
  • 1995: No legal provision.

Daily rest periods


Duration

No statutory provisions on daily rest periods.
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: No statutory provisions on daily rest periods.
  • 1995: No legal provision.

Special categories


» Young workers

The daily rest period of women and young workers shall be of at least 12 consecutive hours.
Labour Code §82(1)

» Women

The daily rest period of women and young workers shall be of at least 12 consecutive hours.
Labour Code §82(1)

Weekly rest periods


Duration


» General

The weekly rest period is compulsory. It shall be of at least 24 consecutive hours per week. It shall take place, in principle, on Sundays and cannot be replaced by a compensatory indemnity.
Labour Code §88(1)
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 1995: 24 consecutive hours.

Day specified


» General

The weekly rest period is compulsory. It shall be of at least 24 consecutive hours per week. It shall take place, in principle, on Sundays and cannot be replaced by a compensatory indemnity.
Labour Code §88(1)

Work on weekly rest day


» Compensation (for working on a rest day)

The weekly rest period is compulsory. It shall be of at least 24 consecutive hours per week. It shall take place, in principle, on Sundays and cannot be replaced by a compensatory indemnity.
Labour Code §88(1)

ANNUAL LEAVE AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS


ANNUAL LEAVE


Qualifying period

The right to annual leave is acquired after one year of effective service.
Labour Code §92(1)

Duration


» General

Unless there are more favourable in collective agreements or employment contracts, the worker acquires the right to annual leave at the rate of one and a half days per month of effective service, paid by the employer.
Labour Code §89(1)
Historical data (year indicates year of data collection)
  • 2009: 1.5 days for every month of service.
  • 2007: 1.5 days per month of service, except for more favourable conditions granted in collective or individual labour agreements. Annual leave is increased to 2 days per month after 5 years of service.
  • 1995: 1,5 working days per month of work.

» Exceptions

Employees and employers can agree on more favourable duration of paid leave in a collective or an individual agreements.
Annual leave is increased, taking into account seniority in the company, at the rate of 2 working days per integral period, continuous or not, of 5 years of service. In the case of mothers, this increase cummulates with that forseen in the preceeding paragraph.
Compensation instead of leave is only possible when the contract is terminated before the worker has exercised his right to leave. In all other cases payment of compensation in lieu of leave is prohibited.
Labour Code §89(1), 90(3), 92(4)(5)

Payment


» Amount

The employer must pay to the worker, at the latest the day before the start of the leave, an allowance of which modalities of calculation are established by decree after consultation with the National Consultative Comission of Labour.
Labour Code §93

» Date of payment

The employer must pay to the worker, at the latest the day before the start of the leave, an allowance of which modalities of calculation are established by decree after consultation with the National Consultative Comission of Labour.
Labour Code §93

Schedule and splitting

The leave of over 12 working days can be divided upon agreement of the employee and the employer. In this case, one of the fractions shall be of at least 12 consecutive days.
Labour Code §90(4)

Special categories


» Young workers

For workers under 18 years of age, 2.5 days per month of service.
Labour Code § 90

» Pregnant workers/recent birth

For mothers, the leave shall be increased by either 2 working days for each child under six years of age or by one day if the mothers accrued leave does not exceed six days.
Labour Code § 90

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS


Number and dates

10 days

1 January (New Year`s Day)
11 February (Youth Day)
1 May (Labour Day)
20 May (National Day)
When a civil holiday falls on a Sunday the following day shall be deemed to be a public holiday.

Religious Holidays:
Ascension
Good Friday
Assumption (15 August)
Christmas Day (25 December)
End of Ramadan
Id-el-Kebir
If a religious holiday falls on a Sunday or public holiday the President may by Order declare the following day a public holiday.
Act Regulating Public Holidays in the United Kingdom of Cameroon §2, 3

Work on Public Holidays


» Criteria

Subject to the provisions of Sections 6 and 8, abstention from work shall be compulsory for all workers on all civil holidays.
It shall not be compulsory on religious holidays for workers over eighteen years of age.

Domestic servants, and those establishments or services whose activities cannot be interrupted and enterprises that function 24 hours a days, appearing on a list up for this purpose by the Government, shall be exempted from the rules on abstention from work laid down in 5 above.
Act Regulating Public Holidays in the United Kingdom of Cameroon §5, 6

» Compensation

A worker who performs his/her activities on a civil or religious holiday by virtue of the provisions of Sections 5(2) and 6 of this Law, shall, in addition to the salary for work actually done, receive an indemnity equal to the amount of the said salary.
Act Regulating Public Holidays in the United Kingdom of Cameroon §8(1)

EMERGENCY FAMILY LEAVE

To the limit of 10 days per year, exceptional paid leave may be granted to the workers by virtue of family events or matters of his/her own household.
Labour Code §89(4)

NIGHT WORK


Criteria for night work

Every work performed between 22h and 06h shall be considered as night work.
Labour Code §81

Special categories


Young workers

Women and young workers shall have at least 12 hours of consecutive daily rest period.
Night work for women and children is forbidden in industries.
Labour Code §82(1)(2)

Women

Women and young workers shall have at least 12 hours of consecutive daily rest period.

Night work for women and children is forbidden in industries.

This prohibition does not apply to:
a) Women occupying management positions;
b) Women occupying in services not implicated in manual work.
Labour Code §82(1)(2)(3)

Results generated on: 23rd April 2024 at 09:40:29.
Page 1 of 1 (1 countries)   

 
^ top
Summaries and full texts in the TRAVAIL Legal Database are provided for information purposes only and are not intended to replace consultation of the authentic legal texts. We update the database regularly but are unable to guarantee that the laws it contains are always complete, accurate and the most recent version. Please contact us if you have updated information.