Global HR Compliance in Burkina Faso

Acumen International has professional expertise in global workforce employment in Burkina Faso, and our goal is to support daily operations related to personnel, offering integrated solutions for efficient activity of the enterprise and simultaneous saving of time and costs.

The war for global talent has never been tougher. Attracting and keeping sought-after international employees requires knowledge. Whether your company is already engaging or planning to engage global workforce in Burkina Faso, you need to trust that your operations are executed without flaw and without any unnecessary risks.

Businesses of all sizes face a devastating lack of information and support on global employment, taxation, and immigration in Burkina Faso. There’s a common and significant gap between what’s required to be 100% compliant and what most organizations actually have at their disposal.

Acumen International can fill the gap in fragmented Global HR Compliance knowledge

We are experts in global workforce employment in Burkina Faso, and our goal is to become your single provider. Instead of working with numerous local staffing agencies and legal advisors, Acumen International can solve your global business challenges and save you time, costs, and resources.

We act as an information service for corporate clients, agencies, and independent contractors and freelancers. Our Global HR Compliance service in Burkina Faso will help you:

1. Navigate legislation and local nuances of Burkina Faso. You need to know what is acceptable and what can expose you to employment litigation as well as employee / independent contractor misclassification risk in Burkina Faso.
2. Avoid areas of possible risk. Certain areas and activities can create unnecessary risk, such as employer-employee relations. We can help you with worker classification, payroll and tax calculations, and social cost contributions.
3. Handle currency exchanges and local invoicing in Burkina Faso. We save you time and effort, freeing you from having to understand complicated regulations and tax calculations written in the local language and subject to frequent changes.
4. Create employment contracts and handle compliant engagements. Our objective is to assist you with international HR compliance issues and offer you the best payment and taxation options in Burkina Faso.
5. Manage expatriate immigration and visa support nuances in Burkina Faso. Acumen International provides information about the best scenarios of expat immigration and employment.
6. Handle global recruitment issues. We can help you select the person and then employ him with our help. We advise you on local employment laws and implied compliance risks to determine the most cost-effective, compliant, and risk-free solution for you.
7. Withdraw from the region in the least risky and most cost-effective way. If you choose to do so, we can help you withdraw from the region as simply as possible.

Our team of English-speaking professionals frees you from working through language nuances. Acumen International works 24/7 and can assist you whenever you need, regardless of time zones. Our goal is to create tailored labor solutions for you that are managed legally and in full compliance with the local employment laws.

With our knowledge and deep understanding of local nuances, you easily satisfy your need for skilled professionals in your global industry. With our qualified local partners, you can trust that your global workforce satisfies all local tax, social security, and immigration requirements in Burkina Faso.

Hiring and Firing Workforce in Burkina Faso Guide

# Employment contracts

According to the Labour Code of Burkina Faso exists following types of employment contracts. The employment contract is any written or verbal agreement by which a person called worker undertakes to put his professional activity, for remuneration, under the direction and authority of another natural or legal person, public or private called employer.

There is a trial commitment where the employer and the worker, with a view to concluding a definitive employment contract, verbal or written, decide in advance to assess, in particular for the former, the quality of the worker’s services and its performance and for the second, the conditions of work, life, remuneration, health and safety as well as the social climate of the company.

The trial contract must be registered in writing, failing which it is deemed to be an employment contract of indefinite duration. The trial contract may be included in the body of a definitive contract.

The fixed-term employment contract is the contract whose term is specified in advance by the will of both parties.

Are assimilated to a fixed-term employment contract:

1. the employment contract concluded for the execution of a specific work, the realization of an enterprise the duration of which can’t be accurately assessed beforehand;
2. the employment contract whose term is subject to the occurrence of a future event and certain whose date is not exactly known.

The seasonal employment contract is the fixed-term employment contract by which the worker commits his services for the duration of an agricultural, commercial, industrial or artisanal campaign whose term is beyond the control of the parties.

# Minimum (Statutory) Employment Rules and Regulations in Burkina Faso

# Hours of work:
The legal working hours of employees or workers of either sex, of any age, working on time, on the job or in the room, is forty hours a week in all public or private establishments.

On agricultural holdings, the hours of work are fixed at 2400 hours per year, the weekly duration being fixed by regulation by the minister in charge of the work after opinion of the advisory labor commission.

# Probation period:
The duration of the probation period is fixed at:

1. eight days for workers whose wages are fixed by the hour or by the day;
2. one month for non-management employees, supervisors, technicians and the like;
3. three months for executives, supervisors, technicians and the like. The trial commitment may be renewed once and for the same duration.

The worker receives at least the minimum wage for the occupational category corresponding to the job held during the probationary period.

# Annual leave:
The worker is entitled to paid leave at the expense of the employer, at the rate of two and a half calendar days per month of actual service, except in the case of more favorable provisions of the collective agreements or the individual contract.

Workers under the age of eighteen are entitled to a leave of absence of thirty calendar days if they so request, regardless of the length of their service. The duration of the abovementioned leave should be increased by two working days after twenty years of continuous or non-continuous service in the same undertaking, four days after twenty-five years and six days after thirty years.

Exceptional leave granted to the worker for family events directly affecting his home shall not be deducted from the period of leave with pay within the annual limit of ten working days.

# Parental leave:
A pregnant woman is entitled to a maternity leave of fourteen weeks, not earlier than eight weeks and no later than four weeks before the expected date of issue, whether or not the child is alive.

The woman can’t benefit from a maternity leave of more than ten weeks from the actual date of delivery, except in case of delivery before the presumed date.

Maternity leave may be extended by three weeks in case of duly ascertained illness resulting from pregnancy or confinement.

During the fourteen weeks, the woman is entitled, at the expense of the social security institution, to the costs of childbirth and medical care in a public or state-approved health facility. She also receives the salary subject to contribution to the social security scheme she received at the time of the suspension of the contract, the portion of the non-contributory salary being borne by the employer. It retains the right to benefits in kind.

The employer can’t pronounce the dismissal of the woman on maternity leave. Also the employer can’t, even with consent of the employee, use it within six weeks after delivery.

# Overtime:
Hours worked beyond the weekly statutory period are considered as overtime and give rise to a salary increase.

The implementing rules and the overtime rates worked during the day or the night, during working days, Sundays and public holidays are fixed by the collective agreements and, failing that, by regulation by the minister in charge of the work, after opinion of the Labor Advisory Board.

However, derogations may be granted by regulation by the Minister in charge of labor, after the opinion of the labor advisory commission.

Regulatory acts of the Minister in charge of labor, taken after the opinion of the labor advisory commission, determine, by branch of activity and professional category, if applicable, the modalities of application of the legal working hours and derogations .

They also fix the maximum duration of overtime that can be carried out in case of urgent or exceptional work and seasonal work.

# State minimum salary:
The Burkina Faso minimum wage is 34,664 CFA francs a month in the formal sector; the minimum wage does not apply to subsistence agriculture or other informal occupations. Burkina Faso’s minimum wage was last changed in April 01, 2012.

# Employee dismissal:
Labour contract between the employer and the employee can be denounced due to a variety of reasons. The employee is nevertheless entitled to be timely notified before dismissal.

Normally labour contract is terminated by one of the following means:

• by agreement between the parties;
• by expiration of its period;
• by decision of one of the parties.

In the case of dismissal, the employee is be notified in advance.

Statutory minimum notice period are established according to the category of workers:

• 1 month for workers paid on a monthly basis who are not executives, supervisors or technicians;
• 8 days for workers paid on a hourly or daily basis;
• 3 months for executives, supervisors, engineers, technicians and similar workers.