Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Senegal (Ratification: 1960)

Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. 1. For a number of years, the Committee has drawn the Government's attention to the fact that the provisions in its legislation imposing compulsory service for periods of between ten and 15 years are not in conformity with the Convention. The provisions in question are the following: Act No. 61-33 of 15 June 1961 respecting the general conditions of service of the public service; Decree No. 77-429, as updated on 31 December 1987, concerning the organization of the National School for the Training of Administrators and Public Officials; and Decree No. 84-501 of 2 May 1984 concerning the organization and operating rules of the Military Health School. The Committee requested the Government to take steps to ensure the freedom of public officials to terminate their employment.

2. In its last report received in 1997, the Government indicates that, while the provisions of Act No. 61-33 remain unchanged, the economic and social conditions in the country have changed, although public officials expressing the wish to terminate their employment have been able to do so, without paying any compensation, and this applies even to persons trained in schools of administration. The Government points out that it was in this context that it adopted a new Act in 1990 with the aim of introducing greater flexibility into the rules relating to the resignation of public officials.

3. The Committee notes the adoption of the Act in question (Act No. 90-02 of 2 January 1990) which introduces provisions for encouraging the voluntary departure of public officials and amends certain provisions of Act No. 61-33. Nevertheless, the Committee notes that under the terms of section 2 of the Act, its provisions are not applicable to magistrates, military personnel, teachers or health service personnel, whose conditions of service are fixed by special legislation. (Teachers and public health service personnel may exceptionally invoke the provisions of this Act provided that a suitable replacement is found.) Furthermore, under the terms of section 3 of Act No. 90-02, a resignation request may be refused for reasons based on the interests of the service; and, under section 1 of the 1990 Act, incentives for voluntary departure for state officials are available, under the terms of the present Act, to officials and other state employees who put in a request to terminate their employment by a specified date.

4. The Committee notes that the conditions applied to the freedom of state officials to terminate their employment go beyond those examined in paragraphs 67-73 of the 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, and that the new incentives for voluntary departure are only available to a limited number of state officials. The Committee once again recalls that persons employed in the service of the State should have the right to leave the service on their own initiative within reasonable time-limits, either at specified intervals or subject to a period of notice. Persons who have undergone training at the expense of the State should also be free to leave the service on their own initiative within reasonable time-limits proportional to the length of the studies financed by the State, or in return for reimbursement of the expense incurred by the State.

5. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures in order to limit the conditions applied to the resignation of public officials and to ensure the freedom of all persons employed in the service of the State to terminate their employment. It would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures taken to repeal or amend Act No. 61-33 of 15 June 1961 to bring it into conformity with the stated practice, and to provide information on the application in practice of Act No. 90-02, especially information on the number of public officials who have benefited from the voluntary departure programme and the number whose requests has been refused (including the reasons for the refusal).