Labor law in Lesotho

The Labour Act 2024 (Act 3 of 2024) replaced the Labour Code Order 1992. The Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Labour Commissioner, labour inspectors, the National Advisory Committee on Labour (NACOLA), the Wages and Conditions of Employment Advisory Board (WAB), the Industrial Relations Council (IRC), the Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution (DDPR), the Registrar, the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court each have defined functions under the national system. The National Employment Service and bargaining councils also support recruitment, wage-setting or collective labour relations. No separate regional or city-level labour regime is established in the available national framework. The Act prohibits forced labour and the worst forms of child labour for anyone under 18. Private employment generally starts only above age 15, while light work for children aged 13 to 15 requires that schooling is not harmed and that the Education authorities approve it. Discrimination is prohibited on grounds including race, colour, gender, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, HIV/AIDS, religion, political affiliation or opinion, national extraction, social origin, age and other grounds that impair equality. Employees have a right to equal remuneration for work of equal value. The protection extends to part-time, migrant, home and domestic workers, subject to the specific rules that apply to each group. An employment contract may be oral or written and may be express or implied. It can be indefinite, fixed-term or linked to a specific task or journey. Part-time work has statutory thresholds of at least 5 hours a day, 40 hours a week and 160 hours a month under the reviewed framework. Probation normally cannot exceed four months. An extension requires written approval from the Labour Commissioner; management or professional employees may have probation of up to one year where the Act allows it. A valid work permit is required for a foreign worker, and the application normally goes through the National Employment Service with a labour-market check that gives priority to citizens. A private employment agency must hold a licence. When a business changes hands, contracts, accrued rights and continuity generally transfer to the new employer, and the overall terms must not become less favourable. The contract should make the job, pay, working time and other agreed conditions clear because statutory minimums can apply even when the written terms are incomplete or less favourable. Normal working time is limited to 45 hours a week. A five-day arrangement may use up to 9 hours a day, while a six-day arrangement may use 8 hours on five days and 5 hours on one day. A break of at least one hour must follow no more than five hours of work. Where working time is averaged, daily rest must be at least 12 consecutive hours and weekly rest at least 24 continuous hours. An employer changing working hours must consult the worker or representative and normally give at least three days’ notice. Continuous work may reach 12 hours a day in the circumstances permitted by the Act. Overtime must be paid at no less than 1.25 times the normal rate. The ordinary monthly model is 195 hours, while total monthly work including overtime must not exceed 260 hours. Work on a weekly rest day or public holiday attracts at least twice the normal rate. Watchmen may work up to 60 hours a week, must receive 48 hours of weekly rest and may work no more than 10 overtime hours a week at the overtime rate. Mining rules allow up to 12 hours a day, require at least two breaks of 35 minutes and limit continuous work to 14 days. The Minister sets statutory minimum wages through a Gazette after a WAB recommendation, and the WAB reviews them annually. Employers must display the wage notice. If a contract provides less than the applicable minimum, the statutory floor and related conditions are treated as inserted into the contract. Wages must be paid in legal tender. Payment in kind is allowed only when lawful, fair and reasonable and may not consist of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Pay intervals must be weekly when employment lasts less than one month and may not exceed one month for longer employment. Piecework is normally paid daily unless the worker has agreed in writing to accumulation. On a non-dismissal termination, final wages are due on the last employment day; after dismissal, they are due on the dismissal day together with accrued wages. Deductions require legal authority or the worker’s authorisation. The 2026 wage notice was published on 29 May 2026, applies retroactively from 1 April 2026 and supersedes the 2025 notice. The reviewed monthly minimums include 2,834 for clothing, textile and leather workers with less than 12 months, 3,046 for machine operators and 2,833 for trainees; after 12 months, the listed trained-operator and general rates are 3,163 and 3,138. Construction rates are 5,307 for operators or certified workers and 3,371 for other workers before 12 months, rising to 5,919 and 3,712. Wholesale, supermarket, furniture and bakery businesses with more than 40 workers list 3,227 and then 3,423. Retail, mini-supermarket, small bakery, cafe and filling-station rates are 2,918 and then 3,083. Hotel, motel and lodge rates are 3,196 and then 3,391; restaurant, caterer and guesthouse rates are 2,904 and then 3,118. Security guards receive 2,720 and then 3,197, while watchmen receive 2,461 and then 2,668. Funeral and cleaning workers receive 3,227 and then 3,423. Driver rates range from 3,205 for codes B, EB and C1 to 6,447 for code EC before 12 months, with higher post-12-month rates of 3,510 and 7,918. Certified transport workers receive 4,889 and then 5,175. Small-business rates are 1,640 and then 1,858, domestic-worker rates are 911 and then 1,005, and general unskilled or manual-worker rates are 2,343 and then 2,558. The official Gazette should be checked when relying on a particular sector or job classification. Annual leave accrues at one paid working day for each continuous month, with at least 12 days per year. Carry-over may reach 18 days. An agreement may allow cash instead of leave for up to six days. During the first six months of employment, sick leave is unpaid. After six months, a worker may receive up to 12 paid days during the next six months. After 12 months, the entitlement in a 12-month period is 12 paid days plus 24 half-paid days. A medical certificate is required under the applicable sick-leave rules. Maternity absence normally covers seven weeks before and seven weeks after the expected confinement. The post-birth period may extend to eight weeks when illness requires it, and stillbirth allows three weeks. Maternity absence is generally unpaid unless the employer, contract or collective agreement provides payment. Paternity leave and adoption bonding leave are each 14 days. Bereavement leave is five days for an immediate family death. Leave for responsibility during a child’s hospitalisation follows medical advice. After returning, a nursing worker may take up to one paid hour per day for six months. Dismissal during maternity leave is automatically unfair. The Act prohibits violence and harassment at work, including sexual and gender-based harassment, intimidation, threats, coercion, exploitation, bullying, stalking and arbitrary deprivation. Employers must take preventive measures and provide remedies. Labour inspectors may inspect workplaces and issue compliance directions, including through unannounced visits. The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1977 remains relevant to compensation for workplace injury, occupational disease and death, while the Labour Court has jurisdiction over those workplace claims under the Labour Act. Workers and employers may form associations and bargain collectively without prior government authorisation. Registration is required within three months. A trade-union application requires signatures from at least 10 members, an employers’ organisation requires three members and a bargaining council requires two. The Registrar should decide an application within 30 days. A representative trade union is one supported by more than half of the workforce. Employers must bargain in good faith and provide workplace access and facilities; lawful union-dues deductions may be made. Bargaining councils negotiate and enforce collective agreements, prevent or resolve disputes and appoint DDPR-accredited arbitrators. The Minister may extend a representative collective agreement to non-parties. Association rights also cover the informal economy, although access to wages and inspections may be fragmented in practice. A protected strike or lockout generally requires an interest dispute to be referred to the DDPR, failure to resolve it, expiry of the statutory periods, notice to the other party and the DDPR, and at least seven days after notice. A secret ballot is required for strikes and lockouts. Essential services face additional restrictions. A collective agreement, sectoral wage notice or individual contract may create an ordinary dispute of right rather than an interest dispute. For an indefinite contract, written notice is generally one month after at least one year of service, two weeks after more than six months but less than one year, and one week after less than six months. Payment in lieu of notice is allowed, and serious misconduct may remove the notice requirement. Retirement is at least 60 years. A fixed-term contract normally ends on its stated date, while a task or journey contract ends when the task or journey is completed, subject to renewal expectations or clauses that change the result. Severance is generally two weeks’ wages for each completed year of service, but it is not payable for a fair misconduct dismissal and a more favourable separation scheme takes priority. Valid dismissal grounds include capacity, conduct and operational requirements. The worker should have an opportunity to defend the case unless that would be unreasonable. A dismissal is automatically unfair when connected with union activity or office, a good-faith complaint or proceeding, discrimination, a protected strike or refusal to perform dangerous work. The employer must give the written reason at dismissal or within two weeks. Remedies may include reinstatement, re-employment or fair compensation. Probationary, casual and part-time workers are generally excluded from ordinary unfair-dismissal claims, but protection for prohibited grounds remains. An interest dispute begins with a written DDPR referral, with conciliation targeted within 30 days. A settlement must be written and signed. The Labour Court has exclusive jurisdiction over interpretation of the Act and labour law, industrial action, operational-requirement dismissals, arbitration reviews and workplace injury, illness or death claims. Arbitration generally handles collective-agreement, contract, wage-notice, ordinary unfair-dismissal and underpayment or non-payment disputes. DDPR referral is generally required before proceedings. An arbitrator may order reinstatement, re-employment, compensation, damages or costs. The award is final and binding and can be enforced as a Labour Court order. A review application to the Labour Court must normally be made within 30 days after service of the award. The Labour Court applies law and equity with substantial justice and is intended to operate informally, at low cost and without unnecessary delay. It may grant urgent interim relief. The Labour Appeal Court hears final appeals or reviews from the Labour Court. If an employer does not pay a judgment, the court may allow instalments for up to six months or order attachment. A worker may seek security when there is a risk that the employer will abscond. No general worker filing fee was evidenced in the reviewed material; fees for specialised contract attestation or work permits require a current tariff check.