Labor law in Djibouti

The Code du Travail covers employees working under the direction of a private or para-public employer. It does not govern permanent public administration staff, military personnel, gendarmes, police officers or civil-protection personnel, who follow separate regimes. No regional or city-specific labor-law difference is evidenced for Djibouti. Employment contracts may be indefinite-term contracts, called CDI, or fixed-term contracts, called CDD. A CDI must be written under the 2018 amendment. A CDD may last a maximum total of 12 months and may be renewed once. It must be written when it lasts more than one month, concerns a foreign worker, includes apprenticeship or probation, or requires work outside the employee’s usual place of residence. A CDD without the required form or lawful basis becomes a CDI. A fixed term may be used for replacement, a defined task or seasonal work, with a minimum duration where the end date is not fixed. Probation is limited by worker category. It may last up to 15 days for hourly workers, one month for monthly-paid employees and workers, and three months for supervisors, managers and equivalent staff. It may be renewed once in writing. For a CDD, probation may last one working day per planned week, subject to a maximum of one month for lower grades and three months for managers. Probation work is paid at the rate for the relevant category. A foreign worker needs a written CDD, a work authorisation and a visa from the Minister responsible for Labour before obtaining the work-residence visa. The employer files the application. The authorisation lasts one year and may be renewed; if the authority gives no response within 60 days, it is deemed granted. The authorisation becomes void when the worker leaves the employer. ANEFIP permit fees apply under a separate tariff regime. An apprenticeship contract must be written in an official language, made in four copies and submitted for Ministry approval. It normally lasts from six to 24 months and leads to a certificate at the end. The parties negotiate the salary, but it cannot be below 25% of the wage for a comparable occupation. If the Ministry gives no response within 30 days, approval is deemed granted. The legal working time is 48 hours per week, excluding agriculture. Overtime, equivalent schedules, recovery time and working-time modulation may alter the distribution of hours. Effective work is generally limited to 60 hours per week and 12 hours per day. Overtime rates follow the applicable collective agreement or administrative order. Night work runs from 22:00 to 05:00. Workers under 18 may not perform night work and receive at least 12 hours of daily rest. Weekly rest lasts at least 24 hours and is generally taken on Friday. Employers display work schedules and send them to the Inspection du Travail. Paid annual leave accrues at 2.5 working days per month of effective service. Working days exclude the weekly rest day and public holidays. Family leave may reach 11 days per year: three days for the employee’s marriage, one day for a child’s marriage, three days after the death of a spouse, child or parent, one day after the death of a sibling or parent-in-law, and three days for birth or parental leave. If an employer prevents annual leave because of service needs, the right does not lapse; the employee should give written notice and retain proof of receipt. Maternity leave lasts 26 weeks, normally divided into seven weeks before birth and 19 weeks after birth. With medical approval, it may begin no later than two weeks before the expected birth, and the full leave must be completed before returning to work. Stillbirth or death during childbirth gives six weeks of leave. The pregnancy declaration and medical certificate go to CNSS/Organisme de Protection Sociale from the sixth month. The employee receives full salary; CNSS and the employer cover the period through the fourteenth week, while CNSS covers the final 12 weeks subject to a ceiling of 400,000 FDJ per month. Early return requires the employer to inform CNSS. Dismissal protection applies, including a 15-day period to provide proof when the employer did not know about the pregnancy. After returning, breastfeeding rest may reach one hour per day for 15 months. The SMIG is Djibouti’s statutory minimum wage and is 35,000 FDJ for individual contracts from 1 January 2018. Salary includes cash and permitted employment benefits in kind. Alcohol, alcoholic drinks, khat and drugs cannot be used as in-kind pay. Hourly wages may be paid at intervals of no more than 15 days; monthly wages may be paid once per month and no later than eight days after the end of the month. Final salary and termination payments fall due when employment ends, subject to court immobilisation in a dispute. Employers may not impose fines on employees. Lawful statutory or collective deductions and CNSS contributions are permitted, and wage claims prescribe after one year. Employers arrange a medical examination within eight days after hiring and an annual systematic examination through CNSS/Organisme de Protection Sociale. They provide first aid and evacuation arrangements and report a work accident or occupational disease to the Inspection du Travail and the social-protection body within 48 hours. The worker or heirs may also report it within two years. Occupational safety and health measures apply to the workplace. Industrial, building and public-works enterprises that habitually employ at least 50 workers establish a safety committee. It meets at least three times per year and provides an annual credit of eight paid hours. Moral and sexual harassment is regulated. Employers must prevent it, stop it and apply sanctions. When presented facts make harassment appear plausible, the respondent must address the allegation rather than leaving the worker to prove every element alone. The offence may lead to a fine of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 FDJ and one month of imprisonment, doubled for repeat offending. Disability-based employment discrimination is prohibited. Workers may form, join and leave unions freely. Union statutes and the leadership list are deposited in three copies with the Inspection du Travail. Délégués du personnel, meaning elected employee representatives, are required from 11 workers. The number increases with workforce size: one titular and one substitute for 11 to 20 workers; two and two for 21 to 50; three and three for 51 to 100; five and five for 101 to 250; seven and seven for 251 to 500; and nine and nine for 501 to 1,000. Each additional 500 workers adds one titular and one substitute. Collective agreements may regulate job categories, wages, overtime, leave, seniority, dismissal payments, safety and harassment. For an individual dispute, the worker may first ask the Inspection du Travail for an amicable settlement. The parties are summoned within 15 days, and the conciliation record is prepared within a maximum of three months. If conciliation fails, the record is sent to the competent Tribunal du Travail within 15 days. The competent venue is generally the workplace; for a termination dispute, the worker may choose between the workplace and the worker’s residence. The tribunal may attempt conciliation again. An appeal is available when the claim exceeds 200,000 FDJ. Opposition to a default decision is available within 10 days, and urgent relief may be appealed within 15 days. A collective dispute is notified immediately to the Inspection du Travail when it concerns one local area, or to the Direction du Travail when it concerns several areas. Conciliation comes first. If it fails, the Conseil d’arbitrage is seized within eight days. A conciliation agreement deposited with the Tribunal du Travail is enforceable, and an arbitral award becomes enforceable unless an opposition is filed and it is deposited with the court registry. A CDD ends when its term expires. Early termination is limited to serious fault, force majeure, a notified economic or technical difficulty, a judicial decision or a written mutual agreement. An unjustified early break can lead to damages. An employee may resign from a CDI by observing the applicable notice period. An employer may dismiss only for a real and serious cause and carries the burden of proving it. A personal dismissal is issued in writing within 48 hours, states the reason and the employer’s and employee’s social-protection information, and is notified simultaneously to the Inspection du Travail. Economic dismissal requires prior notice to the Inspection du Travail and information to employee representatives where they exist. The employer waits eight days before proceeding, or 21 days when more than ten employees are affected, and then gives each employee written notice. An economically dismissed worker has priority for rehiring for one year. Notice is 15 days for hourly workers, one month for employees, workers and labourers, and three months for supervisors, managers and equivalent staff. Ending employment without notice generally requires equivalent notice pay; serious fault removes the notice requirement. The employer must provide a work certificate. For unjustified dismissal, damages are capped at two months of salary in an enterprise with fewer than 11 workers, four months in an enterprise with 11 to 49 workers and six months in an enterprise with more than 49 workers. A formal defect where the dismissal cause is valid may result in up to one month of salary. A collective agreement may provide an additional dismissal payment. Certified illness may suspend the contract for up to nine months, with half-pay bands depending on seniority. Technical unemployment, called chômage technique, may last up to three months and be renewed once; afterwards the employer must resume work or dismiss the employee and inform the Inspection du Travail. A transfer of the employer’s legal status does not end the employment contract. Employment contracts and their clauses are exempt from stamp and registration duty. Foreign-worker permits carry separate fees. In practice, enforceability depends on the worker’s and employer’s coverage, written proof, CNSS/OPS declarations and access to the Inspection du Travail or court procedure.