Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Comoros (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes the Government’s reply to its previous comments and would appreciate receiving additional information on the following points.

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention for a number of years to the absence of regulations issued under sections 98 and 99 of the Labour Code in order to give effect to the requirements of the Convention concerning the payment of wages in kind. In its last report, the Government refers to the possible future adoption of a Uniform Labour Act by the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), which would supersede national labour codes in force, and therefore considers any legislative action at the domestic level to be redundant in the meantime. The Committee is obliged to observe that, notwithstanding the prospective adoption of a Uniform Labour Act within the framework of the OHADA, the Government remains bound by the provisions of this Article of the Convention and has still to implement it in good faith both in law and practice. The Committee once again requests the Government to make every effort to adopt the regulations fixing the conditions under which, and the limits within which, food and lodging must be provided to workers in partial substitution of cash wages.

Articles 8, 10 and 11(3). The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the draft regulations (fixing the portions of wages subject to progressive deduction and the fraction of wages which may not be attached and which has relative priority as a privileged debt in case of bankruptcy of the employer) have been prepared and will be submitted to the next meeting of the Higher Council for Labour and Employment (CSTE). The Committee recalls that it has been commenting on the need to take legislative action in order to give effect to sections 113 and 108 of the Labour Code for the last 18 years. It therefore asks the Government to take all appropriate steps to ensure application of these Articles of the Convention and requests the Government to supply detailed information on any progress made in this direction.

Article 9. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that there have been in practice no employers desirous of receiving security from a worker in the form of cash or legal paper and therefore the provisions of section 93 of the Labour Code have become obsolete. The Government further states that, in any event, the current Labour Code will cease to apply as soon as the Uniform Labour Act of OHADA is adopted. The Committee is of the view that any arrangement whereby employers are authorized to receive securities on the part of workers in the form of a cash deposit may represent a certain risk of abuse and would thus call for sufficient safeguards. The Committee therefore once more requests the Government to adopt, upon prior consultation with the CSTE, the regulations provided for under section 94 of the Labour Code so as to protect workers’ wages to the fullest extent possible.

Article 14(b). The Committee notes that the regulations under section 105 of the Labour Code establishing the composition of workers’ individual pay slips are under preparation and are expected to be submitted to the next meeting of the CSTE for adoption. While recalling that the Government has been announcing its intention to adopt those regulations since 1991, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary action without further delay and to keep it informed of any concrete progress made in this regard.