Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

The Committee recalls that for many years it has referred to section 206 of Decree No. 67-126/MFP/T of 1967 which exempts all agricultural, industrial and commercial undertakings from the obligation to pay at regular intervals not exceeding 15 days the wages of workers employed on a daily or weekly basis, and which is therefore incompatible with Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention. In its latest report, the Government repeats the declarations it made previously, namely that section 158 of the 1996 Labour Code, which stipulates that employers may not limit in any manner the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages as they choose, renders the prescriptions of section 206 of the aforementioned decree null and void and that, moreover, this section has long had no practical application. Once again, the Committee must stress that the Government’s reference to section 158 of the Labour Code is strictly irrelevant to the principle of payment of wages at regular intervals since this section relates to the worker’s freedom to dispose of his/her wages once received. It therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to abrogate section 206 of the 1967 Decree as soon as possible and thus guarantee application of Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee also notes that the draft Regulations implementing the Labour Code have still not been finalized. It therefore requests the Government to keep it informed of any progress made in this respect and to furnish a copy of the new regulations once adopted.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that in its complaint against the Government of Niger submitted in June 2003 and examined by the Committee on Freedom of Association in March 2004 (Case No. 2288), the Democratic Federation of Workers of Niger (CDTN) alleged an accumulation of wage arrears and failure by the Government to comply with the payments schedule. While recalling the conclusions of the Committee which stressed the importance of consultation with trade union organizations when rationalization or restructuring programmes are envisaged in public enterprises or institutions, the Committee requests the Government to supply in its next report detailed information on the nature and extent of the problem of delayed payment of wages, the number of workers concerned and the sectors chiefly affected, as well as measures taken to put an end to such practices. In this connection, the Committee refers to paragraph 374 of its 2003 General Survey on the protection of wages in which it stated that bringing the accumulation of wage arrears to an end requires sustained efforts, an open and continuous dialogue with the social partners and a wide range of measures, not only at the legislative level but also in practice. The Committee also considers that in view of the complexity of the issues related to the deferred payment of wages, viable solutions may be found only in cooperation with the social partners since social dialogue is the only way of sharing the burden of economic reforms and especially painful structural changes while preserving social peace.

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report specific explanations in response to the matters raised in the Committee’s  last direct request.