Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Guinea - Bissau (Ratification: 1977)

Legislative developments. The Committee notes the inclusion, in the Government’s report, of a copy of the new Labour Code, adopted by the Peoples’ National Assembly in July 2021. The Committee also notes that sections 153 and 154 of the copy of the new Labour Code provide, among other matters, that the minimum wage shall be payable to all workers, including rural workers, without distinction based on sex or any other grounds, in an amount fixed annually by the Government, after consultation with the social partners. The Government indicates that after its promulgation, the new Labour Code will revoke the General Labour Act No. 2/86. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the promulgated and published version of the new Labour Code.

Article 3 of the Convention. Operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. In its previous comments, noting that the latest decree fixing the minimum wage had been adopted in 1988 (Decree No. 17/88 of 4 April 1988), the Committee requested the Government to adopt the necessary measures without delay to fix the minimum wage in application of sections 110 and 114 of the General Labour Act No. 2/86, and to provide information on any examination of the matter and on consultations held with the social partners. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Decree No. 17/88 has been subject to successive amendments. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that in 2012 and 2017 the minimum wage in the public service was readjusted by government ordinance. The Committee observes, with regard to the categories included in the application of Decree No. 17/88, which exclude the public service, that the Government makes no reference to ordinances recently fixing new minimum wage rates. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that no examination on the fixing of the national minimum wage rate has been undertaken to date, but that the Prime Minister’s Ordinance of 9 June 2021 established a multidisciplinary commission, including trade union representatives, to conduct an analysis of the current level of inflation and to propose a national minimum wage. The Committee strongly hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures, based on proposals from the abovementioned commission, to fix an updated minimum wage as soon as possible, after consultation with the representative organizations of employers and workers, in application of the legislation in force. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in this regard.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2022.]