Labour and employment law

The Cameroon labour & employment legal framework is heavy. It is based on the Cameroon Labour Code and over a dozen executive orders (regulations) touching on different specific aspects of labour and employment relations such as the duration of probationary hiring period, employment regimes, rules relating to the labour inspection (which is the administrative authority in charge of conciliating disputes between employers and employees before litigation), rules relating to staff representatives, the prior notice period before termination of employment relations, rules on computation of damages for wrongful dismissal, rules for computation of damages for unpaid leave, rules on legal work hours, rules on temporary hiring companies, rules regulating the employment of expatriates, rules relating to paid leave, rules on compensation for displaced workers, rules on conditions for employing temporal, occasional and seasonal workers, rules for employing foreign workers for labour intensive work, minimum wage rules, occupational safety & health rules, rules relating to professional and vocational training of staff, etc. On top of this framework has to be added various collective conventions applicable to different industrial and service sectors. Cameroon is also a member of the ILO, as such ILO conventions and regulations apply in Cameroon. The Labour Code applies alongside rules of civil procedure and judicial organisation.
Dayspring Law Firm provides a variety of services to both employees and employers, including but not limited to assisting in the drafting of labour (employment) contracts, contracts with independent contractors, drafting internal policies, advising companies on labour regulations to ensure employment compliance, advise on outsourcing, facilitating the recruitment of local employees and expatriates, applicable rules on secondment/assignment, advising on immigration laws, facilitating visa (temporary visa, long-stay & short-stay), letters of invitation (LOI), work permits, visa exemptions, citizenship, business travel, & residence permits and renewal of work permits, and advising foreign companies on the special labour requirements for foreign investor businesses.

We also help companies understand union issues & regulations, and navigate their environmental, health, security, and safety legal obligations. We equally represent clients in litigation and mediation and arbitration of labour & employment lawsuits (disputes) relating to wrongful dismissal, discrimination, harassment, workers compensation, collective disputes, misclassification, maternity leave issues, economic hardship, lay-off, overtime & minimum wage, worker registration & social security issues, etc.
We also help corporate clients legally structure & document international assignments, structure employment contracts within the context of groups of companies (mother company and subsidiaries, even in multiple jurisdictions), we help clients negotiate and document dispute settlements, advise clients on complex individual dismissals, we advise on personal income tax and other work & services related taxes.
We understand the challenges that companies can go through during business transformations. Our lawyers have extensive experience assisting companies to manage employees-related legal issues arising as a result of corporate restructuring, takeovers, and all types of corporate transformations, as well as liquidations.

Dayspring Law Firm is a community law firm and as such, we advocate for compliance of stakeholders with the international legal framework on the abolition of slavery and its contemporary forms (serfdom, forced labour, debt bondage, exploitation of migrant workers, trafficking of women and children, forced prostitution, child prostitution, sexual slavery, sex tourism, forced marriages, sale of wives, child labour and servitude, etc.). We advise companies and organisations on contemporary forms of slavery and compliance, we assist civil society organisations on advocacy on these important issues and participate pro bono on working groups, commissions, and community initiatives to fight against contemporary forms of slavery and uphold standards of decent work.

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