Employment of women and children do give rise to certain difficulties. As a result of their status, women cannot be employed in just any kind of work as a result of the fact of that they usually have the obligation to raise families.
Under the Cameroon labour code, the minister in charge of labour and social insurance as well as the minister in charge of public health may jointly make an order as to what work women and pregnant women may be employed to do.
Under the code, a pregnant woman could terminate her contract of employment without notice and would not be liable in damages under section 39 of the Cameroon labour code.
A pregnant woman is entitled to 14 consecutive weeks of maternity leave and this period may be extended to 6 weeks provided illness is medically certified. During this period of temporal suspension, the woman is entitled to her full salary paid by the National Social Insurance Fund.
Child Protection
Employers are strictly prohibited to employ a child of less than 14 years, even into apprenticeship.