(Business in Cameroon) - In Cameroon, job agencies are accused of exploiting workers. Often these structures pay them three times less than the stipulated amount in the contract with the final employer of the worker, the private daily, La Nouvelle Expression said last Friday, August 23, 2013. The most pronounced cases are those of security guards paid 30,000 CFA francs at the end of the month, while the customer pays 150,000 or more to the job agency, the daily confirmed.

But government is not folding arms. 16 job agencies in four cities were ruled out by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training (MINEFOP) from placing workers in companies in a statement on August 21, 2013.

Zechariah Perevet banned among others, Amdale Sarl, Antirouille, Cabinet de placement temporaire, Camerounaise d’intérim and gestion commerciale, Interim services, Job assistance.

Among the 16 companies sanctioned, 12 are based in Douala, two in Yaoundé (Interim Services and Job Assistance), one in Limbe and one in Edea.

Four agencies were sanctioned for “obstructing control by the competent authorities of MINEFOP.”

According to MINEFOP these penalties are because these structures violated the applicable regulations in Cameroon.

Among other complaints, the Minister for Employment notes “the absence of a contract for the provision of workers as stipulated in the Labour Code, the refusal to disclose statistics on the number of  workers placed and abuses in the use of amenities for the purposes of service delivery.”

“The Minister of Employment and Training calls on heads of companies using temporary labor to cease any working relationship with the structures involved,” advised Zechariah Perevet.

“These offenses are not only violations of regulations that cannot be tolerated, but they also help to weaken the government’s efforts in the fight for the promotion of decent work,” he said in the statement.