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In Cameroon, the working environment - supervised by an employment law and amended in 1992- encourages the flexibility and the negotiation in the conclusion and the break of employment's contracts.

The Cameroonian companies evolve in a context where the employment regulations are rather flexible. If the work atmosphere is supervised by the law- in particular the employment law (the law no 92-007 of August 14th, 1992)- the conditions of hiring and dismissal are rather flexible, the same goes for the wage scale. Indeed, the government has introduced clauses of free negotiation of salary, subject to specific classifications scales. For the workers, this clause of free negotiation of salaries remains advantageous, because of the particular dynamism of the labor-union world, which counts more than 200 trade associations and a half-dozen of associations of labor unions.

With all the allowances given, a financial executive can expect to earn 700 000 true CFA and a supervisor will make approximately half of it.

This legislative process is dedicated to the work legislation as well as the labor-union freedom and defines the conditions of work and dismissal. There are two types of working contracts: fixed-term contract and permanent employment contract. This latter is for Cameroonian citizens; foreign employees can exceptionally benefit from permanent contract if he/she has a Cameroonian spouse. In any case, the expatriate will need a visa from the Minister of Employment to work in Cameroon.

Collective agreements and wages

More and more jobs have conditions of payment fixed at the conclusion of the negotiations of collective agreements. For the time being, big Cameroonian companies implement relatively homogeneous wage scales which are, often inspired by the collective agreements for the sectors which have some. With all the allowances given, a financial executive can expect to earn 700 000 true CFA and a supervisor will make approximately half of it.
For the workers, this clause of free negotiation of salaries remains advantageous, because of the particular dynamism of the labor-union world, which counts more than 200 trade associations and a half-dozen of associations of labor unions.

In most of the big industrial companies or state companies, this range of salary is respected, but it concerns only a quite small proportion of the workers. It is necessary to say that this flattering image of big industrial and administrative cities (Douala and Yaounde) remains very remote from the realities of the shanty towns which encircle big cities, or even working conditions in the hinterland. According to government' studies, under employment- caused by precariousness- make employees more and more vulnerable, to the point that the minimum wage, recently reevaluated to 28 000 FCfa is not even respected when it is necessary to pay the domestic employees, the gardener or the drivers. And even, a few small companies respect and apply the current wage scales in their sectors.

Social security contributions
As the social security contributions are concerned, they are mainly financed with the employee's and employers' contributions paid to the national contingency funds which supervise the various branches of benefits to the employees, to their families and to the retired people. These benefits are threefold: the family benefits (family allowances, coverage of the maternity leave, the medical expenses related to the pregnancy), the old age pensions, of incapacity and death (pension or old-age pension, pension or survivor's allowance, funeral fees) and finally the occupational accident and professional diseases benefits (covering the medical costs of the injured workers as well as expenses of prosthesis). To finance these benefits the employer has to pay a welfare costs amounting to 16,2 % of his salary, whereas the employee participates for 2,8 %.

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