Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Ethiopia (Ratification: 1991)

Article 2(2) and (3) of the Convention. Workers engaged under a contract of employment for a specified period of time or a specified task. The Government once again indicates that articles 9 and 10 of Labour Proclamation No. 377/2003 provide adequate safeguards against recourse to contracts of employment for a specified period of time. According to article 9, all employment contracts that are not listed in article 10(1) are deemed to be for an indefinite period. The Government adds that, to implement this legislation in practice, it conducts continued awareness-raising training for employers and conducts labour inspections. The Committee nevertheless notes that the Government does not indicate whether or not the legislation limits the number of times that a contract of employment for a specified duration may be renewed. The Committee notes that, in the absence of such limitations, a worker could receive a series of successive fixed-term contracts for an unlimited period of time, with the aim of avoiding the protections contemplated under the Convention. The Committee draws the attention of the Government to Paragraph 3 of the Termination of Employment Recommendation, 1982 (No. 166), which provides examples of adequate safeguards against abusive recourse to contracts of employment for a specified period of time. Therefore, the Committee reiterates its request that the Government provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to limit recourse to successive fixed-term contracts in order to give full effect to Article 2(3) of the Convention.

Article 2(4). Excluded categories of workers. The Committee previously noted that section 3(2) of the Labour Proclamation, as amended by Proclamation No. 1156/2019, excludes certain categories of workers from the application of the Convention, whether because they are covered by specialized legislation, or because their status is intended to be adequately addressed through regulations, as contemplated in section 3(3) of the Labour Proclamation. Noting that the Government has once again not provided information on this point, the Committee therefore refers to its previous comments and once again requests the Government to provide information on the specialized legislation or regulations providing protection at least equivalent to that afforded under the Convention to the excluded categories of workers.

Article 7. Procedure prior to termination of employment. The Committee notes that the Government has provided no information in response to the Committee’s comments on this point. The Committee therefore reiterates its request that the Government provide information on any developments in relation to the civil service reform relevant to the principles of the Convention. It trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into full conformity with the Convention and requests the Government to provide copies of any relevant legislative texts as soon as they become available.

Article 12. Severance allowance. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to a number of judicial cases referring to the payment of a severance allowance. It nevertheless notes that no information is provided with respect to the content and outcome of the cases themselves. The Committee therefore reiterates its request that the Government provide examples of judicial decisions which refer to the payment of a severance allowance or other information on the manner in which Article 12 is applied in practice.

Articles 13 and 14. Terminations of employment for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons. The Government indicates that “reduction”, pursuant to articles 28(3) and 29 of the Labour Proclamation, is a procedure by which an employer may terminate a large number of employees at the same time for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons. The Committee notes with interest that the Government has adopted amendments to the Directive to determine the reduction of workers, 2010, which now require employers to notify the ministry or competent authority prior to carrying out terminations for reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature. The Committee requests the Government to provide an English version of the amendment to the Directive to determine the reduction of workers. The Government is also requested to provide examples of the application of the amendment in practice.

Application of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government has provided no information on the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee therefore reiterates its request that the Government provide information in its next report on the practical application of the Convention, including, for example, available statistics on the activities of the bodies of appeal (such as the number of appeals against unjustified termination, the outcome of such appeals, the nature of the remedy awarded and the average time taken for an appeal to be decided) and on the number of terminations for economic or similar reasons in the country. It also once again requests the Government to provide copies of relevant judicial decisions involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention, including relevant decisions concerning valid reasons for dismissal and terminations of contract in which the worker was not afforded the opportunity of defence, as well as cases involving section 138(1) of the Labour Proclamation, which refer to the burden of proof.