Employer in Eritrea

Eritrea's employer landscape is uneven. Government-owned enterprises are the largest employers, and large parts of the economy remain state- or PFDJ-controlled. Small private businesses are often family-owned storefronts, while mining is the main large foreign or joint-venture sector. National Service personnel may be used or assigned in civilian, public-sector and foreign-enterprise work. Informal work remains significant, and domestic work is largely unregulated, so formal legal protection and enforcement may not reach every work arrangement. Labour Proclamation No. 118/2001 covers industrial undertakings including agriculture, fisheries, mining, manufacturing, utilities, construction, trade, hospitality, transport, finance, business services and social or personal services. It also covers state-owned or state-run profit undertakings and government-agency projects. Military, police and security services, Eritrean Civil Services, judges, prosecutors and senior managerial positions are excluded from the Proclamation's coverage. A covered employment relationship may use a written or oral contract. The contract can be indefinite, definite, for defined work, or intermittent and periodic. It should identify the duration, employment date, work type, workplace, remuneration, payment method, rights and duties, work rules, and applicable legal or collective-agreement advantages. Terms that provide less protection than the law are void. An employer may transfer a worker to another job or location when wages and status do not decrease; a transfer to a hardship area requires transport costs and additional remuneration. Apprenticeship requires a written contract that states the training, duration and pocket-money status, and an apprentice may not work alone on hazardous tasks. An employer provides the work, tools and raw materials, respects worker dignity, applies legislation and work rules, provides training, and keeps registers for contracts, leave, health leave and injuries. The employer pays legally required medical examinations, provides occupational safety and health measures, supplies personal protective equipment with instructions for its use, and gives a worker a free employment certificate at the end of employment or on request. A new-hire engagement report goes to the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare within 30 working days. Regular working time is limited to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, with shifts also limited to 8 hours. Overtime exceeding 2 hours requires the employee's consent. Work on a public holiday is paid at 2.5 times the regular hourly wage. Paid annual leave starts at 14 working days in the first year and increases by 1 day for each additional year of service, up to 35 days. Paid maternity leave lasts 60 consecutive days. Pregnancy protection prohibits work from 22:00 to 06:00 and overtime, and a medically certified transfer must preserve the same wage. Employees aged 14 to 17 may work no more than 7 hours per day and may not work from 18:00 to 06:00; employment under age 14 is prohibited. The employer must provide equal opportunity and equal remuneration for women. Termination may not legitimately be based on association activity, a grievance, race, colour, nationality, sex, religion, pregnancy, family status, political orientation, National Service or lawful public service, certified illness or injury, or refusal to perform dangerous work. Employment injury and occupational disease can trigger compensation. Permanent total disablement is compensated at six times annual wages; death is compensated at five times annual wages, with a minimum of 15,000 Nakfa. Labour Inspectors may enter during working hours, inspect and copy records, take samples, conduct tests, photograph conditions and measure hazards. An imminent danger can lead to an immediate corrective order. An employer can appeal a safety order to the Labour Relations Board within 5 working days, but the appeal does not suspend the order. Breaches of working-time, rest or leave rules can carry a fine of up to 500 Nakfa; certain records violations up to 1,000 Nakfa; and serious safety, association, order or false-information violations up to 1,200 Nakfa. Employers and employees have a formal right to form associations, but every association requires registration with the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare. After a complete filing, the certificate is due within 1 month; no response within that period is treated as registration. Employers or their associations may bargain with employee associations or representatives about wages, safety, promotion, transfers, reductions, discipline, work rules, grievances, hours and productivity. A collective agreement requires Ministry registration, normally lasts 1 to 3 years, and binds the covered parties after registration. Current official reporting identifies the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers, or NCEW, as the sole legal labour union, while independent employer-association practice appears limited and opaque. Workplace disputes normally begin with conciliation between representatives of the parties. The Ministry Conciliation Branch can intervene, and arbitration may follow. An appeal is generally available within 15 days: an individual dispute goes to the Labour Division or a Zonal Court, while a collective dispute goes to the Labour Relations Board. The First Instance Labour Court handles adjudication, and the Labour Relations Board can demand documents, summon witnesses and inspect workplaces. Essential-service disputes receive special treatment; listed services include water and sanitation, electricity, fire brigades, hospitals, clinics, medicines and pharmacies, and telecommunications. Unfair practices include changing work conditions during bargaining or a dispute, coercion, association discrimination, inducements against membership, interference, bad-faith bargaining, discrimination, delayed execution and unlawful lockouts. Transfer, amalgamation, ownership division and other organisational changes may not by themselves modify an employment contract. The employer or new owner preserves employee rights, although status, seniority, wages and privileges may later be renegotiated. Contract rights and duties can be suspended during National Service, a national call or force majeure lasting more than 7 consecutive days. Severance is payable regardless of the reason for termination: 2 weeks of wages per year for less than 1 year of service, 2 weeks per year for the first 5 years, 3 weeks per year for more than 5 to 10 years, and 4 weeks per year after 10 years. Government-owned enterprises may face business closures or ordered changes without a transparent public process, while private investment, labour access, foreign exchange and capital remain tightly controlled. No reliable universal private-sector minimum wage or complete public dataset on employers, wages or inspections has been identified.