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Seafarers' Annual Leave with Pay Convention, 1976 (No. 146) - Cameroon (RATIFICATION: 1978)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments concerning the application of Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee also notes that national collective agreements for maritime personnel are in the process of being negotiated and therefore requests the Government to provide a copy of these texts once they have been adopted. It would be grateful if the Government would provide further information in its next report on the following points.

Article 5. Calculation of length of service. The method of calculating the length of service provided for in the Community Code on Merchant Shipping, counts leave as part of the actual service. However, the Code contains no provisions on absences from work to attend an approved maritime vocational training course or for reasons beyond the control of the seafarers concerned, such as illness, injury or maternity, which, under the Convention, shall be counted as part of the period of service. In contrast, for the purpose of determining leave entitlement, section 89 of the Labour Code regards periods of unavailability due to an industrial accident or occupational disease, absences for medically certified illness, maternity leave and temporary lay-offs as periods of actual service. Furthermore, section 91 of the Labour Code provides that periods of training shall be treated as periods of actual work. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether the provisions of the Labour Code concerning the calculation of the period of service apply to seafarers. If not, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific provisions which provide for the method of calculating the length of service.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Remuneration of leave. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to provide a copy of Order No. 148 of 26 November 1962 establishing the general employment conditions of seafarers. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the Order or any new text or collective agreement which give effect to the provisions of the Convention on the remuneration of leave.

Article 10. Leave. The Government refers to section 352 of the Community Code on Merchant Shipping with regard to the determination of the time at which leave shall be taken. However, this provision concerns weekly rest and contains no reference to the time and place of annual leave. The Committee once again requests the Government to specify the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that: (i) the determination by the master of the time at which the leave is to be taken is made after consultation and, in so far as possible, in agreement with the seafarer concerned; (ii) leave is taken at the place of engagement or recruitment; and (iii) transportation costs to one of these places, if seafarers are required to take their annual leave from another place, are borne by the employer, without deducting the travel time involved from the annual leave with pay due to the seafarer.

Article 6. Calculation of annual leave with pay. The Committee once again asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this regard, and to provide a copy of the collective agreement and the relevant legislation once adopted.

Article 11. Relinquishment of the right to leave. The Government emphasizes that the relinquishment of leave is not mentioned in the Community Code on Merchant Shipping. However, section 92(5) of the Labour Code specifically prohibits the granting of compensation in place of leave. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether these provisions apply to seafarers, in accordance with the Convention, and, if so, to indicate the extent to which these provisions are applied in practice and brought to the attention of the persons concerned.

Article 12. Recall of seafarers on leave. The Government indicates that the Community Code on Merchant Shipping contains no provisions envisaging the recall of seafarers on leave. In its previous report, the Government had indicated that the conditions governing the recall of seafarers while they are on leave may be specified in the articles of agreement, by means of a memorandum or by decision of the shipowner or the placement agency. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it ensures that, in each of these cases, seafarers on annual leave are recalled only in cases of extreme emergency and with reasonable notice.