Abstract

Despite the enactment and rhetoric implementation of labour laws, workers in Limbe like in other parts of Cameroon are not immune from exploitation and discrimination. Cases of intimidation and harassments are observed in many institutions, while the health and safety of employees are often not guaranteed.

Using the ENEO as case study, this study assesses the level of employees’ awareness of international and national labour law of Cameroon. As a descriptive case study, both the qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted in assessing employees’ level of awareness of labour law.

A sample of 33 participants were purposive and conveniently included in the study, meanwhile data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and observation. Data from questionnaires was analysed with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and presented using, frequencies, percentages, tables and charts. Interview and observations were analysed using content analyses, with the aim to bring out meanings and to confirm data from questionnaires. Findings revealed a high level of awareness of the existence of the Cameroon Labour Code and organisational policies, but a low level of awareness of the existence of the International Labour Standard.

However, employees reported poor knowledge of specific laws that protect the rights as workers. The study also identifies challenges with reclassification and appointments and the lack of working equipment and materials as the main challenges encountered by employees. With regards to measures and where to seek redress, findings revealed that membership with trade unions and discussion with other colleagues were very vital.

The study also revealed that employees’ low level of awareness of labour law cannot solely be attributed to the employers as the employees claim, but also to employees’ negligence or their failure to take off time to read the institutional policies published on noticed boards or provided in the handbook. As a result, this study recommended that while employers should make access to laws possible, employees should also endeavour to take it as their duty to educate themselves on issues that concern their well-being. The study ended with recommendations for further studies.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background To The Study

Labour or employment law is a body of rules that regulate the legal relationships of employers and employees, and the relationship between the state as the public authority and the employer, where by the individual employee is the object of protection (ILO, 2003). Labour law was instituted in the 19th century with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and related movement of ideologies. This period was characterised by mass production, competition and increased profits. The process of industrialisation also brought about the exploitation of labour, especially women and child labour, and miserable living conditions for the working class including, unhealthy working conditions and excessively long hours of work with very meager wages (Humphries, 2012). The human cost of industrialisation led to a movement towards the enactment of labour laws, in order to create a balance between production and employees’ welfare, and ensure that people work in dignity and are not unduly exploited in the course of work (Adewumi and Adenugba, 2010).

Since its establishment in 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been the major international and intergovernmental body driving the need to ensure that workers, individually and collectively, enjoy certain minimum rights. The ILO is aimed at promoting workers’ rights, dignified human working conditions and social security in general, while preventing States from gaining advantages in international competition and maintaining a low level of workers’ rights (ILO, 2003). According to Scherrer and Greven (2001), “workers’ rights or labour rights refer to the core rights of freedom association, collective bargaining, and prohibition of forced labour, child labour and discrimination in employment”. Such rights are conferred on workers and their organisations, taking into consideration their special role and the need to protect workers from extreme abuse and exploitation in the hands of profit-conscious employers.

For almost ten decades of its existence, the ILO has developed a system of International Labour Standards which include Conventions (legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by member states) and Recommendations (non-binding guidelines). These instruments provide authoritative guidance on law and policy regarding workers, and address labour issues, such as limits on working time, occupational health and safety standards, employment policy, and basic working conditions for specific categories of workers, just to name but these. Some of these Conventions include: Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). The need to protect workers’ rights was also reinforced by Articles 23 and 24 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

Article 23 states that “everybody has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented if necessary by other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of rights” (CDHR, 1996). On the other hand, Article 24 states that “everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including, reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”.

Labour law in Africa can be traced back to the colonial period, where African workers provided cheap labour for the mines and agricultural estates, and for the small industry of secondary products and services (Mhone, 2004). Labour law, which was often racially discriminatory, was used by the colonial rulers to organise and control the indigenous labour force (Fenwick and Kalula, 2005). The strict control over the indigenous wage labour force limited the development of trade unions (Klerck, Murray and Sycholt, 1997). Emerging pressures for decolonisation compelled the colonial rulers to implement changes to the discriminatory labour laws. (Fenwick and Kalula, 2005).

With many African countries ratifying the ILO’s Conventions, labour law in Africa now provide for a floor of legislated minimum rights, covering wages, hours of work, leave and workplace health and safety, and protect the rights of workers to freedom of association and facilitate collective organisation and action by both workers and employers. More recent reforms have also sought to address issues of child labour and discrimination and provide for a system of labour dispute resolution, usually by conciliation or mediation, and then commonly by arbitration. Many countries have also entrenched basic workers’ rights within their constitutions.

Cameroon is one of the countries that has ratified ILO’s Recommendations and Conventions, and work in Cameroon is organised by the Labour Code or the Code of Social Welfare. The country’s colonial history made its labour law to be based on the French Overseas Labour Code of 1952 for the dominant former French East Cameroon made up of eight regions. The minority two English speaking region’s labour law in the country was built on a foundation of the English common law received from Nigeria. After the code of 1952, instituted by colonial authorities, law-makers successively promulgated other codes in 1967, 1974 and 1992.

Article 30 subparagraphs 2 of the 1974 code review of these codes indicate that, conditions for dismissal were constraining, especially in terms of notice, allowances, and administrative procedures, among others. The crisis witnessed by Cameroon since the 1980s and the requirements of the various adjustment programs, caused firms not to respect the 1974 code (Tjouen, 1996).

Beyond the fact that this code was considered to be rigid, it was often considered by employers as a source of inefficiency. An improvement of the labour market, regarding more flexibility, was desired by local employers as well as international financial institutions, particularly IMF and the World Bank (Pougoué, 1991). In order to solve the lapses of the code, more elaborations were done in the third code of Law No. 92-007 of 14 August, 1992.

The 1992 Labour Code was an extension of the wind of liberalism which blew across Africa and Cameroon in particular in the 1990s, and was aimed at improving the flexibility of the labour market and to enhance the competitiveness of firms. This ambition was materialised by modifications related to trade unions, with negotiations concerning employment relationships. Guided by the International Labour Standard, the Code establishes the principle of equal and universal access to the labour market and all social benefits. It specifies the important need of every worker to be backed by an employment contract and provides everyone with the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions, and equal pay for equal work without discrimination of any kind. Section 80 of the Code states that work within the day time in all non- agricultural institutions must not exceed 8 hours a day and 40 for the week and that every employer must provide a break time of an hour within every considerable day of work.

The Cameroon Labour Code also offers special dispensations to working women, such as paid maternity leave rights, protection from being dismissed due to pregnancy and childrearing. It also recognises the right of workers and employers to freely set up or be part of associations that would study, defend, promote and protect of their interests, or for the social, economic, cultural and moral advancement of its members. Trade unions like the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Cameroon (CSAC) are expected to draw up constitutions and rules and address issues of discrimination.

The workforce in Cameroon has steadily increased from 3.8 to 6.5 million between 1993 and 2003 (Kamga, 2011). Private employment in the country grew at an average annual rate of over 5% between 1993 and 2003, representing approximately 95.8% of total employment, with only 6.7% of workers in the formal sector (ibid).

The relationship between the employee and employer is one of the primary elements within organisational settings and in the human resources practice. It has both the potential of delivering fulfillment, meaning and prosperity, as well as perpetuating poverty, suffering and unhappiness (Ferreira, 2005). Based on the international and national standards, employers or the human resources department are expected to established policies or legal frameworks that regulate employees and employers relations. In additions, structures are supposed to be put in place to ensure that employees in every work environment are aware of these legal frameworks.

According to Ferreira (2005), a comprehensive labour legislation and employees’ awareness of labour laws has a direct influence on the performance of the labour force and parties to the labour relationship. In other words, employees’ awareness enable them to be able defend their rights, and enhance their performance.

However, the poor working conditions experienced by workers in Cameroon and the constant labour strikes in the country and in many work institutions make one to question the implementation of labour regulations and or employees’ awareness of the regulations that protect their rights.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Employees of Energy of Cameroon S. A. (ENEO), like employees in other organisations in the country, encounter challenges that make one to question the existence of labour regulations in the organisation. The relationship between an employee and employer is one of the primary elements in the life of an employee within an organisational setting. It is a symbiotic relationship that both parties cannot do without, and it takes up much of a person’s adult life. This relationship has the potential of delivering fulfillment, meaning and prosperity or also perpetuating poverty, suffering and unhappiness. Also, labour welfare is an important aspect of the national programmes, which are related with providing workers with basic amenities of life and establishing proper working conditions.

Although the current labour law in Cameroon clarify and codify employers’ obligations to their employees, the real problem lies in its implementation. Despite the enactment and rhetoric implementation of labour laws and the presence of the trade unions, workers in Limbe like in other parts of Cameroon are not immune from exploitation and discrimination. They continue to face discrimination on grounds ranging from gender, social origin, age, disability and disease such as HIV/AIDS.

A number of labour disputes in areas of salary, promotions, development opportunities, leave and transfer payments continue to disrupt organisational relationships. Cases of intimidation, harassments, abuse of working hours and days are often observed in many institutions, and the health and safety of employees is often not guaranteed. Workers on retirement often go for a long period without pension, and equally complain meager pension due to their poor knowledge on how pension was deducted and calculated. In addition, workers continue to boycott work and take to street demonstrations, in order to pressurise employers and government to pay their dues and other claims. These strains the worker-employer relationship, which in turn affects productivity. It is in this light of disruptive behaviours that this study intends to assess the level of employees’ awareness of labour law in Cameroon, with focus on ENEO Cameroon, Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon.

1.3 Objectives Of The Study

1.3.1 Main objective

The primary objective of this research is to assess employees’ awareness of international and national labour laws that protect their rights as workers in ENEO Cameroon, Limbe.

1.3.2 Specific objectives

1. Assess employees’ awareness and knowledge of their rights and entitlements in the international labour standard, Cameroon Labour Code and organisational policies.
2. Examine the challenges encountered by employees in relation to their rights and entitlement.
3. Identify the avenues for seeking information, advice, and redress about their rights and entitlements.

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