Contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon are governed by the Labour law and employment regulation in Cameroon of 1992 and other Ministerial Decrees and Circulars. This employment law in Cameroon applies to pre-labour contracts and full labour contracts in Cameroon. The scope of contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon must be illustrated in the terms and conditions agreed and signed by both the Employer and Employee with or without the presence of their attorney. According to the Labour law in Cameroon and other supporting Ministerial Decrees and Circulars, contracts of employment with dispute resolution mechanisms in Cameroon are best practices for a contract of employment in Cameroon. A contract of employment is an agreement by which an employer and an employee agree to the terms by which they will be bound in a working relationship. This engagement also stipulates the respective employment dispute resolution mechanisms to be instituted in accordance with the labour disputes and employment regulation in force.
SCOPE OF CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND DISPUTES IN CAMEROON
We shall examine the scope of the contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon in accordance with the employment law in Cameroon below;
- EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS IN CAMEROON
- TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT IN CAMEROON
- DISPUTES REGARDING EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
- CAMEROON DISPUTE RESOLUTION.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS IN CAMEROON
Contracts of employment and disputes in Cameroon are as per section 25 of the 1992 Labour Law in Cameroon divided into;
- Contract of Specified duration, and
- Contract of Unspecified duration.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS IN CAMEROON
The code on Contracts of employment and disputes in Cameroon has further introduced two pre-employment contracts. They include;
- Probation as per section 28 of the Labour law in Cameroon of 1992, and
- Apprenticeship as per section 45 of the employment law in Cameroon on Labour Contracts and Disputes.
Upon completion of these two pre-employment contract agreements, and upon satisfaction of the parties, the terms under the format of a contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon will be agreed by both the Employer and Employee to be binding on them in the form of an Employment Contract/Agreement.
This formal contract can be an Employment Contract of Specified duration (for a fixed term) or an Employment Contract of Unspecified duration (without a fixed termination).
SPECIAL CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND DISPUTES
However, the Code of Labour Contracts of employment and Disputes in Cameroon has also provided for three types of special contracts as follows;
- A Temporary Job Contract,
- An Occasional Job Contract, and
- A Seasonal Job Contract.
The employment conditions of workers engaged in the above three categories of Employment Agreements are laid down by decree issued after consultation with the National Labour Advisory Board.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT AND DISPUTES IN CAMEROON
Like every contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon format, all the valid elements of a contract to wit: offer and acceptance, consideration and intention to create legal relations must be exhibited. A contract of employment has both Express and Implied terms.
- Express Terms: one of the manifestations of the freedom of parties is to induce in their contract of employment any terms they deem necessary to bind them during the period of the employment. Such terms are usually reflected on aspects like wages, working hours etc.
- Implied Terms: these are terms which can be inferred to reflect the intentions of the parties even if they are not expressly written. There are two classic tests for an implied term;
Implied terms also originate from collective agreements.
DISPUTES REGARDING EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
Disputes under the scope of the contract of employment and disputes in Cameroon are caused by wrongful dismissal. However, the nature of certain employment contracts and the kind of activity involved also vary the scope of employment disputes.
This explains why group C industries have a plethora of employment disputes centred on industrial accidents and occupational diseases.
CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND DISPUTE IN CAMEROON RESOLUTION MECHANISM
The rights of individuals determine the scope of settlement of labour disputes. These rights may be provided by a statute, by established practice or by collective bargaining. The Labor Code provides a scope on disputes.
DISPUTES
Disputes cover two aspects;
Individual disputes and Collective disputes.
SCOPE OF INDIVIDUAL DISPUTE
They are as follows;
The Internal Grievance procedure and the conciliation procedure.
- Internal grievance procedure is provided by the employer.
- The Conciliation procedure is provided by section 139 of the Labour Code.
COLLECTIVE DISPUTES UNDER THE CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND DISPUTES CODE
According to section 157 of the code governing labor contracts and disputes in Cameroon, a collective dispute shall be characterized by:
- The intervention of a group of wage-earning workers whether or not the said workers are in trade unions, and
- The collective nature of the interest at stake.
There are two ways to resolve collective disputes. They are as follows;
- The Conciliation method, and
- An Arbitration Board.
Article by Barr. Agbor AGHEBEWO Gideon ASOH Ngema
International Power law Alliance