Every foreigner who wants to relocate or invest in
Mauritius has the duty to understand the laws and rules in force in the
country. Even if many can afford the
support of professionals in the fields, some basic knowledge still remains
important. We are launching a series of short articles on our blog to help our
readers understand the laws (and the spirit of law) which are related to the
setting-up & operation of business in Mauritius. This series will include,
amongst others: company law, accounting rules, tax rules and employment.
We start our series with the last topic: employment.
The authority
The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations &
Employment is the supreme authority which regulates labour laws in Mauritius. The
ministry operates several departments, each one specializing in a particular
aspect of employment: operational health & safety, labour law, employment
of foreign nationals, licensing of recruitment agencies, etc.
The head-office is found in Port Louis (where else?) –
but several sub-offices are operational in various regions of the island. These sub-offices offer a number of services
to employers & employees and were created to avoid overloading the head-office.
The Laws
The Employment Rights Act is the main law that governs
employment in Mauritius. The Law itself is not heavily loaded with legal and technical jargon. It is
written in a rather accessible language and allows the nonprofessionals to at
least understand the fundamentals.
It is to be
noted that the Employment Rights Act is not the only reference that needs
attention. Employers need to consult Remuneration Orders issued by the Ministry
of Labour, Industrial Relations & Employment. Remuneration Orders set out
the additional rules of employment in industries operating with specific needs.
For example: hotels, tourist’s entreprises, shops, call centres, etc. These
businesses operate specific working hours and therefore turn to Remuneration
Orders of their particular industry to determine, for example, how overtime is
calculated or paid, shift systems & mandatory rest periods, after-hour transport
obligations, meals & other allowances – and other specific issues.
Employment, an overview of the main points
·
Intervals between two salary payments shall not exceed
1 month. No agreement is valid if it
mentions an interval exceeding 1 month. Employers and employees may enter into
agreement for pay intervals of less than 1 month
·
Working hours: 8 hours of effective work
per day – except for those working on a part-time basis and for watchmen. For the latter, 12 hours of effective work
per day is recommended by Law.
·
Overtime should be on mutual agreement (employer &
employee). On expected future overtime, the employer has the duty to give a 24
hour notice to his employee (wherever possible) and the latter may refuse to
attend such overtime work, with a 24 hour notice.
·
A worker performing on a public holiday earns twice
his hourly rate for each hour worked on that day.
·
For each 4 hours of work, an employee has a right to 1
meal break of 1 hour AND to 1 tea-break of 20 minutes Or 2 tea-breaks of 10
minutes each.
·
No discrimination: employees of the same category,
working on the same hours should be paid on an equal basis.
·
The right to payslips cannot be discussed – it is mandatory!
·
No deductions are allowed on salary, save and except
those mentioned in the Law. In case of refund of advance salaries, the employee
needs to give his consent in writing and the refunds shall not exceed one-fifth
of the monthly salary.
·
Maximum deduction (in any case) shall be less than 50%
of the salary payment
·
Employers cannot apply financial sanctions (fines) to
employees for negligence or damage to equipment. Employers cannot apply any interests or
financial charges on advances made to employees.
·
The cost of transport shall be borne by the employer
and refunded to the employee if the permanent place of residence of the latter
is more than 3kms from the place of work. If called to work after normal
working hours (where public transport is not available), the employee has the
right to a free transport means from his employer, irrespective of the 3kms
distance
·
The right to leaves (annual, sick, maternity and
paternity) is opened to the employee after 12 months of consecutive employment
·
Annual leave: 20 days + 2 additional days.
·
Sick leave: 15 days.
·
Maternity leave: 12 weeks (with an option of 6 weeks
prior to confinement). Breast-feeding female workers have the right to two
breaks of 30 minutes each or to one break of 1 hour per day, over a period of 5
months following confinement or over such periods as may be medical advised.
·
Paternity leave : 5 consecutive days.
·
Any employer, employing more than 10 persons should
cater for medical facilities on-site.
·
The employer has the duty to provide transport
facilities to any employees suffering from accident on his place of work.
National pensions funds & training levy
The maximum
salary on which pensions funds & solidarity fund contributions are
calculated : Rs12,640
-
The employee pays 3% (National Pensions Fund) + 1%
(National Solidarity Fund)
-
The employer pays 6% (National Pensions Fund) + 2.5
(National Solidarity Fund)
-
Training levy is paid by employer at the rate of 1.5%
on the actual salary (not the maximum of Rs12,640). This training levy gives
right to a refund of costs of training spent on training schemes approved by
the government.
We have, in
this article, highlighted the main points of labour law and regulations of
Mauritius. Readers will understand that
it is impossible for us to cover all the laws in this short article. We therefore make ourselves available to
answer your queries by email (nadeem@gibsonandhills.com)
