Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1962)

Articles 1 and 3(2) of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery. Consultation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. Further to its previous comments regarding the draft ministerial order fixing the guaranteed minimum interoccupational wage at 1,000 Rwandan Francs (RWF) (approximately US$1.55) per day, the Committee notes the Government’s indications that no specific amount has yet been fixed since the draft ministerial order was not approved, and consultations with representative employers’ and workers’ organizations continue. The Government also indicates that the Ministry of Public Service and Labour is still in the process of conducting a scientific study on the establishment of the minimum guaranteed wage (SMG) and that, once determined, the new minimum wage rate would be periodically revised but not aligned to the annual inflation rate. The Government further indicates that the ministerial order setting the new minimum wage rate will also contain provisions on sanctions to ensure compliance with the legislation on minimum wage. The Committee is therefore bound to conclude that minimum wages remain unchanged at the rates fixed for each professional category by Ministerial Decree No. 221/09 of 3 May 1976. The Committee also observes that, regrettably, section 76 of the Labour Code of 2009, which provides for the determination of minimum guaranteed wages (SMG) through a ministerial order after collective consultations with the concerned organs, and section 3(6) of the Order No. 125/03 of 25 October 2010, which empowers the National Labour Council to formulate recommendations on the minimum guaranteed wages, are still not implemented in practice. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take all necessary steps in order to accelerate the process of determining – in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations – new minimum wage rates aimed at ensuring suitable standard of living for the workers concerned. It also requests the Government to transmit a copy of the ministerial order fixing the minimum guaranteed wages per professional category once it has been adopted, as well as a copy of the scientific study on minimum wage fixing as soon as it is completed.