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

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Morocco (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the replies provided by the Government in September 2013 to the 2011 direct request. The Committee notes that the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training sent proposals to the Ministry of Justice aiming to facilitate access for labour inspectors to court decisions relating to termination of employment. The Government states that examples of court decisions illustrating the application of Article 7 of the Convention will be sent in due course. The Committee invites the Government to provide summaries in its next report of court decisions illustrating the application of Article 4 (justification for termination), Article 7 (procedure prior to termination) and Article 11 (serious misconduct) of the Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will also be in a position to communicate available statistics on the activities of the courts with regard to the number of appeals against termination of employment, their outcome, the nature of the remedy granted and the average time taken to issue a decision (Article 8).

Article 2 of the Convention. Exclusions. The Committee notes the provisions relating to termination of employment contained in Decree No. 2-63-164 of 14 November 1963 establishing the general rules applicable to the staff of various public sector enterprises. The Government also sent the staff regulations for production, transport and electricity distribution enterprises in Morocco, updated on 1 July 1962, which include provisions on the termination of employment. With regard to its previous comments on the regulations applicable to personnel in the merchant navy, the Committee notes that the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), came into force for Morocco on 10 September 2013. Moreover, the Government indicates that the adoption of the Bill concerning domestic work and that of the Bill concerning conditions of work in exclusively traditional sectors is scheduled for 2013–14 in the Government’s legislation plan. The Bill concerning domestic work takes into consideration the principles set forth in the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). The Committee observes that the regulations governing the work of public sector employees afford protection to the workers concerned which is at least equivalent to that provided by the Convention. The Committee recalls that it is admissible for a Member to give effect to the Convention by means of various legal instruments without these necessarily being considered as exclusions within the meaning of Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee invites the Government to indicate in its next report whether the legislative instruments which govern the status of domestic workers and traditional sector workers have been adopted and to provide information on the protection afforded by the Convention for these categories of workers.

Articles 13 and 14. Termination on economic, technological, structural or similar grounds. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government concerning the closure of enterprises (approximately 57 enterprises) and laid-off workers (2,113 workers laid off in 2012), and on downsizing in various sectors of activity. The Government states that the procedure has been respected in practice in the case of closures registered as being on economic, technological or structural grounds by the inspection services and that, if the procedure had proved not to have been observed, this would have given rise to a collective dispute and the termination of employment would have been regarded as wrongful and unjustified. The Committee invites the Government to continue to include information in its next report on the termination of employment on economic or similar grounds.