CABO VERDE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nelson Raposo Bernardo, Joana Andrade Correia, Manuel Esteves de Albuquerque and Júlio Martins Júnior, Raposo Bernardo & Associados
so that the employee does not work more than five consecutive hours. Overtime hours are also regulated by the Labour Code. Such hours are considered to be work outside the normal period of work to which the employee is bound, and can only be done in the following circum - stances: • in the case of an increase in work that does not justify the recruitment of other employees; • in the case of force majeure; or • if there are serious reasons that make it necessary in order to prevent serious harm. 4.4 Termination of Employment Contracts The employment contract is extinguished by: • mutual agreement of the parties; • expiry; • collective dismissal; • individual dismissal for just cause; or • termination by the employee. Mutual Agreement of the Parties It is always lawful for the employer and the employee to terminate the employment contract by mutual agree - ment, which must be executed in writing. The parties are free to enter into an agreement with or without compensation and to fix the date of termination – ie, to establish that the termination will be immediate or in the future. However, if the parties intend to give immediate effect to the termination agreement, the employer shall agree compensation with the employ - ee, taking into consideration the type and duration of the employment contract, remuneration and the pos - sibility of finding a new job. The compensation to be agreed between the parties may be paid in cash or in goods, in a single instalment or in several instalments. The employee can always claim cancellation of the agreement or any of its clauses, by judicial proceed - ings, if they consider that there has been an error, malicious act or coercion in its conclusion. Expiry The employment contract expires as follows:
• once the period has expired; • if there is a supervening, absolute and definitive impossibility of the employee performing the work for which they were hired; • by the occurrence of any extinctive facts, not dependent on the will of the parties; or • upon the retirement of the employee. The expiry of the contract due to the expiry of the initial or renewal period gives the employee the right to compensation of the following amounts: • 21 days of basic remuneration if the contract lasts one year; • 15 days of basic remuneration for each full year of the contract, in addition to the first year; and • 1.75 days of basic remuneration for each month of the contract term up to one year. In undetermined-duration and fixed-term contracts with a duration of more than five years, the employee is entitled to compensation in the amount of ten days of basic remuneration for each full year after the first five years and one day of compensation for each month of duration of the contract up to one year. Collective Dismissal The employer may terminate the employment con - tracts of two or more employees on the grounds of reduced business or permanent closure of the com - pany, establishment or part of the company structure for economic, conjectural or technological reasons. The employer intending to make a collective dismissal shall communicate its intention in writing to the unions representing the employees. If the employees are non- unionised, the company shall notify the employees directly. The communication shall include the follow - ing information: • the grounds for collective dismissal; • the expected date for the termination of the con - tracts; • the criterion for the selection of employees; and • the number and professional category of the employees covered by the collective dismissal.
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