Sierra Leone
Employment Act, 2023
Act 15 of 2023
- Published in Sierra Leone Gazette 29 on 11 May 2023
- Assented to on 2 May 2023
- Commenced on 11 May 2023
- [This is the version of this document from 11 May 2023.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—“apprentice” means a person above the age of 14 years under training at a workplace with an employer or craftsman to acquire knowledge and skill, art or trade within the period specified for the training;“award” means a judgment or decision by the High Court;“business” means a trade, undertaking, operation or establishment, whether corporate, public or private;“casual worker” means a worker contracted to work for a limited period of up to 6 months and such work shall not include those normally performed by regular workers in the workplace;“Code of Practice on Discipline” means the Code of Practice on Discipline set out in the Schedule;“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labour and Employment appointed by the Public Service Commission for the purpose of the administration and implementation of this Act;“contract of employment or service” means a contract or agreement containing the conditions and terms of employment or service, whether written or oral, whether expressed or implied, individually or collectively, for a definite or indefinite period, whereby a worker agrees in return for wages or other remuneration to work for an employer, employing organisation, institution or business establishment, including a contract of apprenticeship, in the public or private sector;“court” means the High Court;“day’s rest” means a period of rest comprising at least 24 consecutive hours;“disability” means a physical, sensory, mental or other impairment which has a substantial long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities;“discrimination” includes a distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of colour, disability, political opinion, national extraction, marriage, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sexuality, sex, membership of a trade union, organisation or social origin, that has the effect of nullifying or impairing equalify of opportunity or treatment in employment and occupation;“earnings” include wages and allowances paid to a worker by an employer and the value of food, fuel, accommodation, overtime payment or other special remuneration or benefit in kind;“employer” means a person or group of persons including a government, a public or local authority, firm, corporation or company, partnership, business, or any other entity whatsoever for whom one or more workers work, have worked or normally work under a contract of employment and includes the heirs, successors arid assignees of the employer;“employers’ organisation” means an organisation of employers that has among its principal objects the regulation of collective relations between employers and workers;“environment” means a working environment or premises in which work is done by a worker;“equal remuneration” means rates of remuneration established without discrimination;“federation” includes the Sierra Leone Employers’ Federation;“forced or compulsory labour” means work or service which is performed by a person—(a)under the menace of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself voluntarily; or(b)coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation; or by debt bondage, retention of identity papers or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities;“health” in relation to work means not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but it also includes the physical and mental elements affecting health which are directly related to safety and hygiene at work;“industrial action” means a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees by a concerted withdrawal of labour or restriction upon the availability or quantity of labour on the part of workers, strike, slowdown or working to rule in order to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increase bargaining power with the employer and to force the employer to improve them by reducing productivity in a workplace, usually organised by trade unions or other organised labour;“internship” means a programme or period of work experience offered by a firm, corporation, company, organisation or government to help students and graduates gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field of work or trade or to satisfy a requirement for a qualification;“intern” means a student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification;“Joint Consultative Committee” means an advisory committee appointed by the Minister to advise generally on labour matters under the law governing regulation of wages and industrial relations;“Joint National Negotiating Board” means the Joint National Negotiating Board for workers established by the law governing regulation of wages and industrial relations;“labour official” means an officer appointed by the Public Service Commission in whom the Commissioner may delegate his functions and powers generally or in part for the effective and efficient performance of his functions under this Act;“Minister” means the Minister responsible for labour and “ministry” shall be construed accordingly;“national minimum wage” means the national minimum wage established by the Minister in accordance with section 3 of the Minimum Wage Act, 1997;“night work” means work which is performed between 8:00 o’clock in the evening and 6:00 o’clock in the morning;“outworker” means a worker to whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired, or adapted for sale in his home or on other premises, not in the control or management of the person who gave out the articles or materials;“pay statement” means a statement issued by an employer under section 56;“person” means a person or group of persons, company, firm, corporation or any other kind of body including their agents;“probationary contract” means a contract of employment for not more than 6 months period;“Public Service Commission” means a body established under subsection (1) of section 151 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act No. 6 of 1991);“qualified medical practitioner or personnel” means a Government Medical Officer or a medical practitioner registered in accordance with the Medical and Dental Surgeons Act, 1966 (Act No. 3 of 1966);“redundancy” means an involuntary loss of employment by a worker due to circumstances where an employer have to let go of one or more workers due to circumstances unrelated to job performance or behavior;“remuneration” includes the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary and any additional emoluments whatsoever payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by an employer to a worker, arising out of the worker’s employment;“severance pay” means the benefit or entitlement given to a worker by his employer at the end of his contract of employment or service;“strike” means the cessation of work or refusal to work organised by a body of workers as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer;“summary dismissal” means the discharge of a worker from an employment due to breach of dismissible offence as prescribed in section 91;“supervisor” means a worker having authority, in a workplace, to recommend the hire, transfer, suspension, layoff, recall, promotion, discharge, reward or discipline of other workers or to recommend such action;“termination of employment” means the severance of employment relationship;“trade dispute” means a disagreement or difference between employers and workers connected with the employment, the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour of workers and includes a dispute connected with any of the following—(a)terms and conditions of employment including remuneration for employment;(b)the engagement of a worker;(c)the times at which or the conditions under which work is, or is not performed;(d)the demotion, suspension or imposition of other penalty or discipline of a worker;(e)the termination of an agreement by which work is to be performed;(f)the grievance or complaint of a worker in respect of his employment;(g)the machinery for negotiating the disputes or for the settlement of a work-related dispute;“trade union” means an organisation of workers that has among its principal objects the regulation of collective relations between workers and employers;“violence and harassment” means a range of unacceptable behaviours, practices or threats, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment directed against a person in the workplace;“volunteer” includes a person of working age who engages in an unpaid, noncompulsory work to produce goods or provide service for a community or organisation;“wage” means remuneration or earnings, however designated or calculated, capable of being expressed in terms of money and fixed by mutual agreement or by law, which is payable by virtue of a written or unwritten contract of employment by an employer to a worker for work done or to be done or for services rendered or to be rendered;“week” means a period of 5 working days;“workplace” means a place where workers need to be or to go by reason of their work and which is under the direct or indirect control of an employer;“worker” means a person who has entered into or works under a contract of employment or other contract with an employer, including a contract of, or for service, a contract concerning learning or a contract personally to execute any work or labour and an outworker.2. Application
3. Non application
This Act shall not apply to the armed forces, police force, fire force, correctional service of Sierra Leone excluding their civilian workers.Part II – Administration and jurisdiction
4. Commissioner
There shall be a Commissioner of Labour and Employment appointed by the Public Service Commission who shall be responsible for all matters relating to labour and for the administration, implementation and enforcement of this Act.5. Powers of Commissioner
6. Obligations of Commissioner
The Commissioner or a person authorised by him shall—7. Obstruction of Commissioner
A person who—8. Annual report
9. Directorates, departments, etc.
10. Labour officials
The Commissioner shall, in the performance of his functions under this Act, be assisted by officials appointed by the Public Service Commission.11. Other staff
In addition to the directors and labour officials, the office of the Commissioner shall have such other staff as may be necessary for the efficient and effective performance of the functions of the Commissioner.Part III – Freedom of association
12. Right to form or join trade union
13. Right to form or join employers’ organisation
14. Remedies for infringement of freedom of association
15. Violence and harassment at work prohibited
16. Forced labour prohibited
17. Non-discrimination in employment or occupation
18. Equal remuneration
19. Fair terms and conditions of employment clause in contracts
Part IV – Basic employment obligations
20. Notification of business activities
21. Registration of workplace
Where the Commissioner is satisfied that—22. Notification of job vacancies
23. Employment and training
24. Employment returns and statistics
25. Employer to establish separate terminal benefits account
26. Labour travelling clearance
27. Registration with professional body or institution
An expatriate or foreign professional who is required by law to register with a professional body or institution in Sierra Leone, including the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association, the Sierra Leone Bar Association, the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and the Sierra Leone Institute of Engineers, shall not work or operate in Sierra Leone unless—28. Professional approval for labour related research
29. Publication of annual report
The Commissioner shall publish an annual report on his inspection services which shall contain information relating to—Part V – Employment centres and basic recruitment processes
30. Employment centres
There shall be, within the Ministry or in such places as the Minister may, after consultation with the Commissioner determine, employment centres which shall be responsible to—31. Recruitment by employer
32. Reward not to be demanded or accepted
A person shall not demand or accept directly or indirectly from a person seeking employment, or from a person acting on his behalf, money, gift, or other consideration whatever for providing him with employment other than such fee as may be prescribed.Part VI – Contract of employment and other terms and conditions
33. Vetting and attestation of contract of employment
34. Cancellation of contract of employment or service
The Commissioner shall, by notice served on an employer, cancel a contract of employment, excluding a Collective Bargaining Agreement, that has been entered into by a worker with an employer, on grounds that, the contract is in contravention of this Act, or any other Act that the nature of the employment is dangerous or immoral or is likely to be injurious to the safety and health of the worker or for any other cause as may be prescribed.35. Fixed term contract of employment or service
36. Continuing contract
A contract of employment valid and in force at the commencement of this Act shall—37. Oral and written contract of employment
A contract of employment, other than a contract which is required by this Act or any other Act to be made in writing, may be made orally and this Act, save as otherwise expressly provided, shall apply to oral and written contracts of employment.38. Agreement for less than national minimum wage void
A provision in a contract of employment for the payment of wages at less than the rate fixed by the Joint National Negotiating Board shall be null and void.39. Agreement to exclude operation of Act void
A provision in an agreement, whether or not it is a contract of employment, shall be void in so far as it purports to—40. Agreement for payment of wages in contravention of Act void
41. Variation of terms
42. Transfer of contract
43. Casual or temporary work
44. Remuneration of casual and temporary worker
45. Employer to keep record of wages and other particulars of employment
46. Insolvency of employer
47. Employer to provide work
48. Entitlement to wages
49. Death of worker
Upon the death of a worker during the term of a contract of employment, his heirs or dependents shall be entitled to wages and other remuneration due to the worker.50. Workers to be paid minimum wage
51. Payment of wages to another
Except when it is expressly provided by the law, a person shall not receive the wages due to a worker on behalf of such worker without the written permission of the worker to whom such wages are due.52. Prohibition of deductions
53. Permitted deductions
The following shall be deducted from the remuneration due a worker—54. Employer to repay wages wrongfully deducted
55. Deduction from wages for paying dues to trade union
56. Employer to provide itemised pay statement
57. Loan by employer to worker
A loan or advance of wages by an employer to a worker shall be made without interest and shall only be enforceable by the employer if made in accordance with an agreement in writing in a form and in a language which the worker or his representative may reasonably be expected to understand and which is signed by the worker.58. Work stores
59. Written particulars of employment
60. Weekly rest
61. Length of working day
62. Length of working week
63. Shifts
Where a worker is employed in shifts, it shall be permissible to employ him in excess of 10 hours in any one day or 48 hours in any one week, if the average number of hours over a period of 3 weeks or less exceeds neither 10 hours per day or 48 hours per week and in either case, the worker shall agree in writing to such hours.64. Rest breaks
In a workplace where the normal working hours are 8 hours per day, or more, a minimum of 30 minutes break shall be granted each day to a worker, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, no remuneration shall be required in respect of the break period.65. Overtime work
66. Payment for night work
Subject to section 74, a worker shall be entitled to be paid in respect of night work at a rate which represents not less than the normal hourly rate for day work plus a supplement of not less than 30% of the day’s rate of pay.67. Certificate of service
68. Common employment not a defence
69. Probationary contract not a defence
70. Continuous service
Part VII – Leave entitlements and maternity protection
71. Annual leave
72. Maternity
73. Request for pregnancy test prohibited
74. Night work
75. Protection of assignment of pregnant worker
76. Underground work
A worker above 18 years may, except where prohibited under this Act or any other law, be employed in or allowed to be for the purpose of employment below ground.77. Paternity leave
78. Sick leave
Part VIII – Risk allowances and severance of employment
79. Risk allowance
80. Severance pay or end of service benefit
81. Employer may offer better conditions of service
Without prejudice to any provision in this Act, an employer may, in consultation with a worker and his representative, where he has the ability to do so, offer better terms and conditions than are provided for in this Act or a collective agreement or terms and conditions of employment or service.82. Redundancy
83. Disciplinary penalties
84. Notice of termination
85. Payment in lieu of notice of termination
86. Collective termination
87. Fair termination of employment
88. Unfair termination of employment
89. Justification for termination
90. Remedies for unfair termination
91. Summary dismissal
Part IX – Unfair dismissal
92. Unfair dismissal
93. Remedies for unfair dismissal
94. Determination of claims for unfair dismissal
Part X – Protection of child labour
95. Child labour
96. Minimum age for light work
Part XI – Internship, volunteering apprenticeship and employment of persons with disability
97. Working conditions for interns
98. Working conditions for volunteers
99. Minimum age for apprenticeship
The minimum age at which a child may commence an apprenticeship with a craftsman is 14 years or after completion of basic education.100. Responsibilities of craftsman to apprentice
The responsibilities of a craftsman towards an apprentice under his care shall be to—101. Apprenticeship agreement
102. Duties of apprentice
An apprentice shall diligently and faithfully obey and serve the craftsman to whom he is apprenticed and shall agree—103. Release of apprentice
104. Employment of persons with disability
105. Special incentives for employment of persons with disability
Special incentives shall be provided to—106. Persons with disability in public service
Persons with disability in the public service shall be appointed on the same terms as persons without disability, irrespective of whether they are allowed to work for fewer hours and shall be classified in accordance with their previous period of qualifying service for the purposes of promotion and other public service awards.107. Employment not to cease upon disablement
A person, who suffers disability after the employment, shall not be terminated if his residual capacity for work is such that he can be found employable in the same or some other corresponding job in the same workplace, but if no such corresponding job can be found, the employment may be terminated by notice.108. Length of termination notice for persons with disability
The length of notice of termination required to be given in the case of a person with disability shall not be less than 2 months.109. Transfer of persons with disability
110. Training for persons with disability
Where it is necessary to train or retrain a person with disability to overcome any aspect of his disability in order to cope with the person’s employment, the employer may provide or arrange at the employer’s expense the training or retraining of that person.Part XII – Miscellaneous
111. Medical examination for fitness for work
112. Regulations
113. Criminal liability
114. Act not specifically designated as offence
115. Penalties
116. Repeals
History of this document
11 May 2023 this version
Commenced
02 May 2023
Assented to
Subsidiary legislation
Title | Numbered title |
---|---|
Employment Regulations, 2023 | Statutory Instrument 10 of 2023 |