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Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Gabon (RATIFICATION: 1988)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report received in August 2011, and also the recent decisions issued by the labour tribunals attached to the report. It notes with interest that Ordinance No. 018/PR/2010 of 25 February 2010 has given a new wording to section 23 of the Labour Code to introduce safeguards against the recourse to fixed-term contracts in order to avoid the protection afforded by the Convention. It is thereby established that fixed-term contracts may only be renewed once, for a maximum period of two years (Article 2(3) of the Convention). Moreover, section 51 of the Labour Code has been amended by introducing an obligation for the employer to draw up a record of the interview that takes place prior to the termination procedure (Article 7).

Application in practice. In reply to the 2009 direct request, the Government indicates that in 2010 there were 73 terminations on economic grounds and 981 terminations on individual grounds in Libreville, where most activities in the tertiary sector are concentrated. The Committee notes Decision No. 40/2010 of 3 December 2010 issued by the court of first instance in Libreville, which, referring to section 53(2) of the Labour Code, indicates that in the event of any dispute the burden of proving the genuine and serious nature of the grounds for termination rests on the employer and thus gives effect to Article 9(2)(a) of the Convention. It also notes that Decision No. 63/09-10 of 24 December 2010 issued by the court of first instance in Libreville, by referring to the relevant provisions of the Labour Code – termination of the employment contract is subject to notice being given by the party that initiates termination – gives effect to Article 11 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information in its next report on the application of the Convention in practice, including available statistics on the activities of appeal bodies and examples of court decisions concerning workers whose employment was terminated on economic grounds.