LABOR LAW IN HAITI
The State Department's economic
policy report on Haiti
contains the following discussion of Haitian labor laws:
8. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association:
The constitution and the labor code guarantee the right of association and provide
workers, including those in the public sector, the right to form and join unions
without prior government authorization. The law protects union activities, while
prohibiting closed "union shops." The law also requires unions, which must have a minimum of
ten members, to register with the Ministry of Social Affairs within 60 days of their
formation.
Six principal labor federations represent about five percent of the total labor force,
including about two to three percent of labor in the industrial sector. Each maintains
some fraternal relations with various international labor organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively:
The labor code protects trade union organizing activities and stipulates fines for
those who interfere with this right. Unions are theoretically free to pursue their
goals, although government efforts to enforce the law are non-existent. Unions complain
that employers do not allow unions access to workers, and individuals who attempt to
join unions risk being fired. Organized labor activity is concentrated in the Port-au-Prince
area, in state enterprises, the civil service, and the assembly sector. The high unemployment rate and anti-union sentiment among some factory workers has limited
the success of union organizing efforts. Collective bargaining is nearly nonexistent,
especially in the private sector. Employers can generally set wages unilaterally,
in compliance with minimum wage (currently approximately $2 per day) and overtime standards.
Haiti has no export processing zones, and the labor code does not distinguish between
industries producing for the local market and those producing for export. Employees
in the export-oriented assembly sector enjoy wages and benefits above the legal minimums, largely through piece-work . Wages appear to be somewhat higher in the more capital-intensive
industries producing for the local market.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor:
The labor code prohibits forced or compulsory labor. However, some children continue
to be subjected to unremunerated labor as domestic servants. Rural families are often
too large for the adult members to support, and children are sometimes sent to work
for urban families in exchange for room, board and schooling. Reports of abuse are
common, but the Ministry of Social Affairs rarely exercises its authority to remove
children from abusive situations.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children:
The minimum employment age in all sectors is 15 years. Fierce adult competition for
jobs ensures that child labor is not a factor in the industrial sector. As in other
developing countries, rural families in Haiti often rely on their children's contribution of labor in subsistence agriculture. Children under 15 commonly work at informal
sector jobs to supplement family income. The International Labor Organization has
criticized the Ministry of Social Affairs' enforcement of child labor laws as inadequate
and is in the process of creating a project to address this situation using funding
from the U.S. Department of Labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work:
Annually, a minimum wage worker earns about $670, an income considerably above the
per capita gross domestic product, but sufficient only to permit the family to live
in very poor conditions. The majority of Haitians work in subsistence agriculture,
a sector where minimum wage legislation does not apply.
The labor code governs individual employment contracts. It sets the standard workday
at 8 hours, and the workweek at 48 hours, with 24 hours of rest on Sunday.
The code also establishes minimum health and safety regulations. The industrial and
assembly sectors largely observe these guidelines. The Ministry of Social Affairs
does not, however, effectively enforce work hours or health and safety regulations.
With more than 50 percent and possibly 75 percent of the active population unemployed
or underemployed, workers are often not able to exercise the right to remove themselves
from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued employment.
f. Rights in Sectors with U.S. Investment:
U.S. direct investment in goods-producing sectors in Haiti is limited, consisting
of ownership of two garment factories and a very few joint ventures. In general,
conditions differ little from other sectors of the economy. Wages paid in these industries
tend to be above the legal minimum, and in the case of industries producing for the
local market, often a multiple of the legal minimum. Employers in these sectors frequently
offer more benefits than the average Haitian worker receives, including free medical care and basic medications at cost.
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