LAW N° 51/2001 OF 30/12/2001 ESTABLISHING THE LABOUR CODE

This article states that the law establishes the Labour Code of the Republic of Rwanda.

This article defines who counts as an employee under the law and excludes certain public service workers.

This article defines who counts as an employer and when a company exists.

Forced labour is absolutely forbidden, and the article defines what counts as forced labour plus several exceptions.

An employment contract is formed by mutual consent: the employee works under the employer’s authority and the employer pays the agreed salary. Life employment contracts are not acceptable.

Employment and other labour contracts partly or fully carried out in Rwanda are subject to this law.

Certain employment contracts must be put in writing, and all available evidence may be used to prove a contract exists.

This article says a labour contract is between an employer and an employee, and it may be for a fixed term, an indefinite term, or a specific piece of work.

A fixed-term employment contract may not exceed two years; if the parties keep performing after it ends, it becomes open-ended.

An alien employee may contract legally only after prior authorisation from the labour department, and the employer must apply for that authorisation.

A child under 16 must not be hired for labour. A child aged 14 may be hired only with special authorisation from a person with parental authority and only in line with Articles 64, 65, 66, and 67.

Discrimination, exclusion, or preference based on protected grounds is prohibited when it harms equality of opportunity in employment or profession or unequal treatment before tribunals.

The employee must devote their professional activity to the company, except for any contractual derogation, and may do other non-prejudicial activities outside working time.

Probation employment exists when employer and employee agree in advance to assess the employee and the job conditions before making a definitive contract.

Probation employment or its renewal must be put in writing and may last no more than six months.

If a contract is suspended, the parties do not have to work or pay salary and allowances. If there is an industrial accident, the employee is entitled to an allowance equal to monthly salary for up to 6 months, unless social security starts paying earlier.

This article lists situations in which an employment contract is suspended, and limits technical redundancy to 3 months within any 12-month period.

Probation employment contracts may be ended without notice, unless conventional provisions say otherwise.

If a contract covered by article 7 ends before its term, the employer must notify the Government Labour Inspector within 15 days.

A fixed-term employment contract may be ended by either party for justifiable reasons, but the party ending it must give prior notice.

An employer may dismiss an employee on a fixed-indefinite contract only for legitimate grounds, after the employee has had a chance to defend against the allegations.

If an employer ends a non-fixed-term employment contract during the employee’s annual leave, the notice allowance is doubled.

If the employer ends the contract, the notice letter must state the dismissal grounds.

During the notice period, employer and employee must follow the reciprocal obligations in the employment contract; notice is not required if both parties agree.

If a fixed-term contract is ended without notice or without respecting the notice period, the responsible party must pay the other party an allowance tied to the employee’s salary and benefits for the missed notice period.

Unfair termination of a contract may lead to damages for the dismissed employee, capped at six months’ salary including allowances and other advantages; if the employee has served for more than ten years, damages may be doubled.

If an employee with at least one year in the company is dismissed or has a contract terminated, the employer must provide a notice allowance, and the employee is entitled to an accompanying allowance.

A new employer may be jointly liable for damages to the previous employer if it is proved the employer took part in the layoff, knowingly hired a worker already bound by a contract, or kept employing the worker after learning of that contract.

If an employer plans to dismiss more than one employee for economic reasons, they must inform and consult the staff delegates first, then send the meeting minutes and supporting documents to the labour Minister within 15 days after consultation.

When an employment contract ends, the employer must immediately give the employee a certificate stating only the period and type of work performed in the establishment.

An apprenticeship contract requires the establishment head to employ and train a young employee for a fixed period, and the apprentice to work for the employer and follow instructions and assigned duties.

Apprenticeship contracts must be written, in a language the apprentice understands, and stamped with a visa from the labour ministry; they are exempt from stamp and registration duties.

An apprenticeship contract stamp may be refused or withdrawn if the legal conditions are not met.

If an apprenticeship profession requires special physical or psychological abilities, those abilities must be clearly specified and tested appropriately.

An apprenticeship contract must be prepared with the profession’s customs in mind and include specified personal, contract, pay, and training details.

An employer may not receive apprentices unless the employer is at least 21 years old.

A master who is not living in a family or community must not provide accommodation for a young apprentice in the master’s home or workshop.

People sentenced for certain crimes, customs offences, or at least six months’ imprisonment may not receive an apprentice unless the labour ministry authorises it.

An employer may have an apprentice only if the employer can provide suitable training, or arrange for a suitably qualified employee to provide it. The establishment must also meet the necessary conditions for progressive and complete apprentice training.

The apprenticeship master must use the apprentice only within the apprentice’s strength and for work related to the apprentice’s professional duties, and must promptly inform the apprentice’s parents or representatives if there is disease, absence, or another fact needing their intervention.

The apprenticeship master must care for the apprentice, provide the best possible food and accommodation, and give time and freedom for instruction when the apprentice cannot read, write, and count.

The master must train the apprentice and, at the end of the apprenticeship, issue a certificate confirming the contract was carried out.

An apprentice must be obedient and respectful to the master and must help with work within the limits of his or her abilities.

An apprentice is entitled to half the minimum wage after 6 months of apprenticeship and the full minimum wage after 12 months.

An apprenticeship contract generally cannot be ended before its agreed term expires, except for justifiable reasons or if both parties agree. During the first six months, either party may end it during the probation period.

An apprenticeship contract may be terminated or cancelled lawfully in the listed cases.

Either party to an apprenticeship contract may cancel it if one of the listed grounds occurs.

A breach of an apprenticeship contract covered by this article can lead to damages capped at six times the integrated minimum wage.

Hiring someone already bound to an apprenticeship contract can trigger a compensation allowance, and a new apprenticeship contract is void if the earlier contract was not fully performed or legally cancelled.

The master must open an apprenticeship file for each apprentice, keep it updated, show it to the Government labour Inspector on request, and give the original to the apprentice when the contract ends.

The Government Labour Inspector controls apprenticeship contract implementation and may choose a technician to help with that task.

An apprentice whose apprenticeship has ended must take an exam before a jury, and the Minister responsible for Labour appoints the jury members and approves the certificates.

The employer must provide the agreed work, ensure proper contract implementation, supervise the employee safely and respectfully, pay agreed wages on time, and avoid harmful conduct.

Employees must personally do their work as agreed, follow orders, avoid harmful conduct, follow workplace rules, and return tools and leftover raw materials in good order.

Companies must not let legal working time exceed 40 hours per week; extra hours count as overtime.

The Labour Minister may issue decrees setting weekly overtime limits, equivalencies, and authorised exceptions for each activity branch and professional category if needed.

Each company fixes its daily work and rest timetable, and overtime hours under Article 55 must be entered in a register whose model is set by the Labour Minister’s decree.

Employees are entitled to a weekly rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours.

Every employer is requested to post collective rest days and hours at the workplace, and in some cases also the names of employees assigned to a rest regime and the details of that regime.

Work is treated as night work from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

Night work for children under 16 is forbidden.

The Labour Minister may issue a decree setting the conditions and job categories where pregnant women or women with breastfeeding babies cannot work at night.

A child under 16 must have at least 12 consecutive hours of rest between two working periods.

The Labour Minister may set by decree which tasks and which companies are not allowed to employ a child.

Children under 16 may not contract for employment, including apprenticeship, and may not be employed for night or hazardous work, unless a labour minister exception applies.

The Labour Inspector may ask for a child to be examined by a registered doctor to check whether the work is too strenuous or harmful to health.

The labour minister may set working conditions for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and identify tasks they are not allowed to do.

A salaried woman may suspend work for delivery for 12 consecutive weeks, with 2 weeks before the expected delivery date and 6 weeks after delivery, and the employer must not give termination notice during the delivery leave.

Every salaried woman may take two half-hour rest periods per day for breastfeeding during the 15 months after her child is born.

An employer may not terminate a woman’s contract before six months have expired if her absence from work is linked to pregnancy or delivery and a doctor certifies that she cannot resume work.

Workers are entitled to paid leave, normally at the employer’s expense, with leave calculated by service and adjusted for specific exceptions.

An employee who has completed one year of effective service is entitled to annual leave.

Paid annual leave may be broken down only if both parties agree to meet.

An employer must not stop an employee from going to the place of their choice to spend leave there.

An employer must not delay or bring forward a leave period by more than three months. The leave period may be postponed if the employee and employer agree.

The employer must pay the employee an leave allocation before leave starts.

Official holidays are set by presidential decree, and employees receive their full salary for official holidays.

Absences caused by a legal obligation or by a leave authorised by the Minister responsible for Labour must be paid.

The labour minister may issue a decree setting the events that qualify for incidental special leave.

If incidental leave starts at the same time as another legal leave, the incidental leave suspends the other leave until the incidental leave period ends.

An authorized employee taking a professional training or upgrading course is entitled to full salary and allowances during the course.

Salary is defined as payment for work done. If the parties have not agreed otherwise, salary is not paid for absence from work, except where this law or its implementation decrees and orders provide otherwise.

The Minister responsible for Labour may determine the interprofessional minimum wage by decree, after consulting employee and employer associations.

Employees regulated by this law must be paid equally regardless of origin, sex, or age, for equal working conditions, professional qualification, and cost effectiveness.

An employee who is temporarily and occasionally required to travel outside the usual workplace is entitled to transport, per diem, and accommodation fees.

Employers must display salary minimum rates and payment conditions for task or piece work at their offices and where employees are paid.

When pay includes commissions, allowances, or similar benefits, the monthly average of those items is used to calculate paid leave pay, notice allowance, and damages.

Salary is paid daily for one-hour or one-day workers, weekly or fortnightly if both parties agree, and monthly for one-month workers.

Salary must be paid directly to the worker unless the worker accepts another procedure.

Salary is generally paid at the workplace, unless another procedure is agreed; it must not be paid in a store or leisure place except for workers who normally work there, or on the worker’s rest day.

This article sets payment timing for piece-work, commissions, and profit share.

The employer must not restrict a worker’s freedom to use their salary as they wish.

Salary must be paid only in legal-tender currency.

Paying all or part of a salary in kind is forbidden.

When a work contract ends, salary and related allowances must be paid as soon as the work ends.

The employer must document salary payment, keep the documents at the company headquarters, and show them immediately to a Labour Inspector on request.

If an employee disputes salary payment and the employer cannot produce the required signed document or duplicate payslip, the employer must pay the employee.

An employer must pay employee salary before paying other debts owed to other persons.

If a company is bankrupt or being liquidated, workers’ unpaid wages get priority over other debts, and must be paid when funds are available.

An employer must pay an employee the full salary the employee is entitled to, according to the referenced rules.

For applying this Law, salary is calculated using the basic salary and wages plus related accessories, and possibly allowances for notice of dismissal or leave.

A salary payment suit prescription expires after five years and starts running from the date the salary is due.

An employer may not seize salary or impose fines. If suspension is used, it must meet listed conditions and the worker keeps pay for time already worked.

Salary deductions are generally not allowed unless they fall within stated exceptions or are made through a written attachment or voluntary transfer before the specified authority.

The Minister responsible for Labour sets, by decree, the part of an employee’s salary that can be transferred; advance refunds agreed with the employer are reimbursed only within that limit.

When computing deductions, include basic salary and salary accessories, except allowances made non-attachable by regulations in force.

A worker can claim salary amounts deducted unlawfully, plus interest at the legal rate set by the Central Bank.

A staff discount store is an organisation where an employer sells goods or services directly or indirectly to workers in the enterprise for their own needs.

Before opening, a staff discount store must be declared to the area labour inspectorate and must meet approval conditions.

The Labour Inspector must check staff discount stores, and may order closure for up to one month in cases of obvious abuse. The Labour Minister may also order temporary or definite closure after the inspector’s report and after hearing staff delegates and the employer.

This article defines a labour collective convention as a written agreement on employment and working conditions between employers (or employers’ organisations) and employees’ representative trade unions, or employee representatives where no such unions exist.

The agreement is negotiated in a joint commission requested by a concerned employers’ or employees’ organisation, with equal employer and employee representation and ministry labour representatives attending in a consultative role.

A collective convention may set employee-favourable terms, but it cannot override public-order rules. Employment contracts cannot use terms that are contrary to or less favourable than the collective convention, and any such terms are automatically replaced.

Representatives may contract for their organisation only if they follow the organisation’s rules, a special decision, or written authority from two thirds of members; a collective agreement is valid only after ratification by an extraordinary meeting.

Collective conventions must be for a fixed period of no more than five years and should include renewal/review rules, advance notice details, and a procedure for handling implementation disputes.

Collective conventions should be written in Rwanda’s official languages, and they are then filed, registered, and published under conditions set by the Labour Minister by Decree.

People who signed the collective convention or joined its member organisations, including later joiners, are subject to that convention’s duties and obligations.

The labour Minister may extend all or part of a collective convention to all employers and employees in the convention’s professional and territorial area.

The Minister with labour responsibilities determines whether a professional organisation is representative for five years, considering independence, membership/contributions, and election votes.

A collective agreement may be extended only if it meets specified representativeness and content conditions.

A compulsory collective convention must apply to covered employees and employers, and may also extend to certain public departments, firms, and institutions within its implementation field. The labour minister may end that extension, or part of it, by order.

The labour minister may set working conditions for a specified profession when there is no collective convention, or while one is being established.

Employers may conclude institution agreements with representative worker unions or, if none, worker delegates.

The Labour Minister may set by decree the conditions for collective agreements involving one or more specific institutions.

Bound professional organisations or individuals must not do anything that could harm the fair implementation of the collective convention or agreement, and they may sue for damages in their own name.

Certain trade unions and professional organisations may bring claims under a collective convention or agreement for their members without proving member authorisation, if the members are informed and do not object.

Employers bound by a collective convention or collective agreement must take appropriate steps to inform employees about the relevant texts used in the firm.

Firms with more than ten employees must have internal rules and regulations, and those rules must be written in Kinyarwanda and one other official language.

The firm manager may establish internal regulations after consulting the employees’ delegates.

The firm manager must submit draft internal rules and regulations to the competent Labour Inspector, who must act within one month.

Employee internal rules start to apply after Labour Inspector approval, or after one month without comments from the Labour Inspector.

The employer must train workers on health and safety and post the safety and health instructions in the workplace.

Employers must provide suitable protective equipment, monitor its correct use, and organize safety measures; workers must follow health and safety instructions and use protective equipment correctly.

It forbids importing, selling, leasing, giving away, displaying, or using unsafe appliances and machine parts, and requires a prior statement and plans to be sent to the relevant ministries before starting certain construction-related works.

The Minister responsible for Labour sets the general and specific health and safety conditions for workplaces by decree.

The Minister responsible for Labour may determine which institutions must set up health and labour safety committees.

Employers must report work accidents and professional diseases to the social security organ and Labour Inspection within 48 hours, and report risky work processes before starting work.

Companies or institutions may offer health or medical services to workers, and employers must send wounded or ill workers to the nearest medical centre when they cannot be treated with the employer’s available services.

This article defines who counts as a handicapped person for this chapter and says a medical commission certifies handicapped worker status.

Employers must try to redeploy workers injured in industrial accidents to suitable posts, and must inform the Labour Inspector about redeployment or dismissal.

This article defines “professional training” as training activities taught in any centre or school.

Employees and employers may freely set up a professional organisation without prior authorisation, and they may join one of their choice.

Trade unions and employers’ professional organisations may form federations or confederations, join them as affiliated members, and affiliate to international trade union or employers’ organisations.

Trade unions and employers’ professional organisations must set their own rules, elect their representatives, manage their activities, and prepare a plan of action.

People managing a trade union or employers’ professional organisation must meet personal qualification and residence requirements.

Members of a trade union or employers’ organisation may withdraw from their professional organisation at any time; some former employees or professionals may stay in the workers’ organisation if they have worked in that job or profession for at least one year.

Trade-union and employers’ professional organisations cannot be dissolved or suspended by administrative decision, except with members’ consent or a judicial decision.

Trade unions and employers’ professional organisations have legal status and may go to court and represent their members to acquire movable or immovable property without authorisation.

Professional organisations and trade unions may use resources for member welfare and may enter agreements with other entities or individuals.

A trade union may organise special mutual aid for its members, including for normal time and old age, if it follows the laws in force.

Every worker in every enterprise is entitled to be a member of a trade union.

Employees elect basic trade-union committee members under the conditions set by their trade-union statutes, and the concerned trade-union organisation examines related claims.

Trade-union committee members must represent the union before the employer, help members with their claims, and take part in union activities at the firm.

Trade-union committee members are entitled to free time for representation work and to annual paid leave for industrial education.

Trade-union communications may be displayed on reserved notice boards, but a copy must be sent to the firm manager before display.

Managers must provide suitable premises for trade-union committee members in larger institutions or firms, and trade-union section members may hold a monthly meeting inside the institution by agreement with the manager.

The names of trade-union committee members must be sent to the institution’s manager, displayed on the trade-union notice boards, and a copy of that communication must be sent to the area Labour Inspector.

Trade-union committee members are entitled to the same protection as workers’ delegates.

Employers must not discriminate against workers because of trade-union membership or activity, must not deduct union dues without formal consent, and must not pressure people for or against a trade union.

The Labour Directorate is the public administration body responsible for designing, carrying out, and implementing national labour policy.

The Labour Inspector must monitor labour-code, collective-convention, and social-security compliance, record observed labour-law infringements, and inform the competent legal authorities directly.

Copies of the minutes must be sent, deposited, and filed, and the Labour Inspector must be informed of the conclusions.

The Labour Inspector may enter workplaces, inspect documents, question people, take samples of tools for analysis, and seek help from competent bodies to bring in employers or employees who refuse a summons.

A labour inspector may ask qualified technicians and experts to help inspect workplace conditions, and those technicians must keep professional confidentiality.

The Labour Inspector must tell the employer or a representative before a visit, unless advance notice would harm inspection effectiveness. The inspector may also ask to be accompanied by one staff delegate of their choice.

Technicians supervising technical control in mines, quarries, and other controlled works must ensure the facilities under their control protect workers’ safety.

The Minister responsible for Labour must establish by decree the list of institutions referred to in Article 166.

A physician in charge of labour inspection is appointed by the labour minister after consulting the health minister, and the role monitors employer health obligations and reports to the local labour inspector.

If workplace conditions are dangerous to workers’ health and safety and are not covered by the Decree in Article 135, the employer must remedy them when warned by the Labour Inspector or a Physician.

If immediate action is needed to bring appliances and premises into compliance, the Labour Inspector may issue binding notices, including immediate closure and required modifications. The effect of those notices can be suspended only by the Minister responsible for labour.

A warning notice must be written and must record the infringements or dangers noticed, along with the delay for fixing them.

The Labour Inspector must not have a direct or indirect material interest in institutions under his control.

The Labour Directorate’s Head of department may at any time exercise the powers and mandates given to the Labour Inspector under this law and its implementation decrees.

Workers’ delegates are chosen from the institution’s workers and must pass employee claims to the employer, report relevant complaints to the Labour Inspector, monitor health and safety measures, advise on dismissals linked to staff reductions, and share suggestions to improve the institution.

An employer planning to dismiss a staff delegate must submit the dismissal to the Labour Inspector, who must give an opinion within 15 days. In a serious-offence case, the employer may suspend the person while waiting.

People who plan to open a new institution must declare it to the Labour Inspector; the same declaration procedure also applies when closing, selling, or transforming the institution.

Every employer must fill in and forward employee-status documents, following the procedure set by the Labour Minister’s decree.

Employers must keep their register up to date at the workplace, show it immediately to the Labour Inspector, and keep it for five years from the last entry.

Employers must file a written declaration about a worker with the local Labour Inspector within 30 days of hiring, and again when the worker leaves an institution, with the leaving date stated.

This article defines individual and collective labour disputes.

Disputes and claims about labour contracts covered by this law are prescribed after five years, counted from the date the dispute arose.

Before taking individual or collective labour disputes to court, the concerned person must ask employees’ representatives to try to settle them out of court, and if that fails, the case is forwarded to the Labour Inspector.

Before a collective labour dispute goes to court, the concerned persons must send it to the employees’ and employers’ Representatives’ Council for settlement.

The jurisdiction has power to be informed about companies’ economic situation and the social situation of employees involved in the conflict.

The jurisdiction may decide disputes about interpreting laws, regulations, collective conventions, or agreements, and may also decide certain other labor-related disputes in fairness.

A judgment in collective conflicts is provisionally immediately enforceable, even if appeal options exist.

Conciliation notices and notices of decisions on collective disputes or trials are submitted to the court clerk’s office and the Labour Inspector’s office.

An agreement, arbitration award, or court adjudication interpreting a clause of a collective convention on salary or working conditions has the same effects as a collective convention on labour.

A strike or lock-out is unlawful if it happens before the required procedures are finished or if it breaches a mutual agreement or binding award. It is lawful only after four days’ notice and when the listed conditions are met.

Illegal strikes by employees and illegal lock-outs by employers may lead to sanctions, including loss of pay, compensation, court action, loss of tender benefits, or withdrawal of registered company status.

Employees’ right to strike is subject to special procedures in sensitive security situations, and the Labour Minister may set the application rules by decree.

A person who breaches Articles 13, 129, 130, or 131 is fined 2,000 to 10,000 Francs, with a higher fine of 15,000 to 20,000 Francs if the act is repeated.

A person who breaches the listed articles is fined 5,000 to 15,000 Francs, or 15,000 to 50,000 Francs if the act is repeated.

If the author referred to in Article 193 breaches any of the listed articles, they can be fined 10,000 to 50,000 Francs. A relapse can also lead to imprisonment of fifteen days to six months.

A person who opposes or tries to oppose a Labour Inspector’s duties or powers can be fined and may also be jailed.

If a person is fined under this Law, the fine must be paid for each infringement, but the total cannot exceed five times the maximum fine rate.

This article makes the law binding for ongoing working contracts and requires any non-conforming clause to be changed within six months after the law comes into force.

This article abrogates earlier laws and regulations that conflict with this law.

This law takes effect when it is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda.