This information is derived from the State Department's Office of Investment Affairs’ Investment Climate Statement. Any questions on the ICS can be directed to EB-ICS-DL@state.gov
Last Published: 7/24/2017

The DRC is a difficult labor market, with chronically high unemployment, particularly among youth, that also features a labor force frequently lacking in marketable skills. Jobs requiring technical or vocational training are frequently filled by expatriates.

There is no official or formal policy to mandate the make-up of senior management or boards of directors. However, the labor law stipulates that for businesses with over 100 employees, 10 percent of all employees should be local.  Further, if the managing director is a foreigner, his deputy or secretary general is generally expected to be a Congolese citizen. These provisions can be waived depending on the sector of activity and available expertise.  There are no onerous conditionality, visa, residence or work permit requirements inhibiting mobility of foreign investors and their employees, though during 2016 there were some reports of American companies having difficulties securing DRC entry visas. 

While the agricultural sector is expanding, it continues to face challenges related to poor infrastructure; its contribution to employment is largely informal.  The DRC faces a deficit in skilled labor across all sectors.  There are few formal vocational training programs, though Article 8 of the labor law stipulates that all employers should provide training to their employees.  To address the high unemployment rate, the GDRC enacted a preferential policy, giving Congolese preference in hiring over expatriates.  Laws prevent firms from firing workers under most conditions without compensation.  These restrictions, however, have deterred hiring and encouraged the use of temporary contracts in lieu of permanent hiring.  In 2016, a new labor law was enacted that authorizes foreigners, under certain condition, to be appointed to the management of a trade union, and allows women to work the night shift.  Despite these changes, the DRC labor code still requires substantial revision, including facilitating foreign employment and providing more protection for employees, foreign and domestic.

Congolese law imposes certain restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining in the public sector.  The law bans collective bargaining in certain sectors, including by civil servants and public employees, and the law does not provide adequate protection against anti-union discrimination.  While the right to strike is recognized, there are provisions which undermine this right, including requiring unions to obtain permission and adhere to lengthy compulsory arbitration and appeal procedures prior to initiating a strike.  In 2016, employees of the GDRC authority on business standards, the Congolese Office of Control (OCC), went on strike in response to four months of unpaid salaries.  The three-week long strike, which ended in November 2016, impacted the import-export sector by delaying the customs clearance process for goods entering the country.  Despite GDRC ratification of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) eight core conventions, some Congolese laws continue to be inconsistent with the ILO Convention on Forced Labor.  There are significant gaps both in law and practice regarding compliance with ILO conventions.

The law prohibits discrimination in employment and occupation based on race, gender, language, or social status.  The law does not specifically protect against discrimination based on religion, age, political opinion, national origin, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV-positive status.  Additionally, no law specifically prohibits discrimination in employment of career public service members.  The government does not effectively enforce relevant employment laws.

The government sets regional minimum wages for all workers in private enterprise, with the highest pay scales applied to the cities of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.  The law defines different standard workweeks, ranging from 45 to 72 hours, for various jobs and prescribes rest periods and premium pay for overtime.  The law establishes no monitoring or enforcement mechanism, and employers in both the formal and informal sectors often do not respect these provisions.  The law does not prohibit compulsory overtime.

The labor code specifies health and safety standards.  The Ministry of Labor employs 200 labor inspectors, which is not sufficient to enforce consistent compliance with labor regulations.  The government does not effectively enforce such standards in the informal sector, and enforcement is uneven in the formal sector.

The DRC Penal Code does not establish appropriate criminal penalties regarding the imposition of forced labor.  In practice, forced labor persists and remains a serious concern.  According to a 2105 UNICEF study, nearly a third of Congolese employed in the informal mining sector (40,000 of 150,000) were children.  According to the DRC’s Ministry of Labor, children continue to be engaged in the mining of gold, cassiterite (tin ore), and wolframite (tungsten ore).  Children are also increasingly recruited by political parties for violent electioneering activities.  In order to combat this problem, President Kabila signed and promulgated a law on July 15, 2016 fixing the legal working age at 18.  Penalties for violations for the worst forms of child labor, which are one to three years of imprisonment and fines as high as 200,000 Congolese francs ($170) have proven to be insufficient to deter violations.  While DRC’s criminal courts continued to hear child labor complaints, neither the courts, nor other government agencies, effectively enforced these laws.

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