RUYIGI February 2nd (ABP) – Employers and business leaders, especially those working in the informal sector, are called upon to respect the labor code as well as the social protection code, in order to avoid sanctions provided for offenders. This call was made on Wednesday February 1, 2023 after a retreat to popularize those two codes for employers.
Among the recommendations made by those employers, there is, among other things, the bringing together of the branches of the ONPR and the INSS in the eastern provinces of the country.
During that retreat, the provincial labor inspector, Innocent Bikorimana, clarified that the hotel sectors, oil stations, and pharmacies are mainly concerned with non-compliance with the labor code and the social safety code.
He further clarified that in accordance with Article 150 of the said code, if someone dismissed from their job manage to prove that they have been in their substantive position for at least three months and more, they will be considered to have an indefinite contract and will benefit from all the benefits permitted by law.
The provincial representative of the Burundi union confederation (COSYBU) in Ruyigi, Mr. Antoine Nduwayezu, indicated that the main irregularities noticed on the field, in the various unions, come mainly from the informal sector and are articulated in a lack of contract at work, and lack of affiliation to the social security bodies and that at the slightest fault or bad mood of the employer, the worker is driven out without any complaint, because, he/she has no professional connection to his employer and has no legal document to prove it, and that which has no proof does not exist.
The governor of Ruyigi, Mrs. Emerencienne Tabu, warned that no one is supposed to ignore the law. She winked at all the managers of companies and services working in the informal sector that they must now be interested in the law in general, know the labor code and the social security code in particular, and that they must actively guarantee all the rights of their respective workers in order to avoid unnecessary quarrels and conflicts in that province. She warned everyone that cases of irregularities will now have to be subject to sanctions provided for by law and in an exemplary manner in order to discourage the bad habit of hindering the development of the youngest workers. The participants in that retreat, who took the floor, asked the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and the National Office for Pensions and Occupational Risks for Civil Servants, (ONPR), Magistrates and Agents of the Judicial Order, to open their branches in the provinces of Ruyigi and Cankuzo to facilitate the task of those who meet that duty of social security towards their employees.