CHAPTER 212.
EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYED.
An Ordinance to Regulate Relations between Employers and
Employed and to Safeguard the Health of the latter.
[1ST JANUARY, 1935.]
PART I.-PRELIMINARY.
1. Short title.
This Ordinance may be cited as the Employers and
Employed Ordinance, and shall apply to the Colony and
Protectorate.
Interpreta- 2. (1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise
tion. reqmres-
" assisted emigrant " means any native of Sierra Leone
who intends to labour for hire in some place outside Sierra
Leone and has received assistance in the way of payment of
passage money, subsistence, or otherwise to enable him to
carry out his intention;
" Commissioner " means the Commissioner of Labour 9 of 1956.
appointed under section 3 of this Ordinance;
"contract of service " means anv contract, whether in
writing or oral, to employ or to ser~e as a servant for any
period of time or to execute any work, and includes an
indenture or contract of apprenticeship;
" Court " means any court other than a native court or a
combined court in the Protectorate;
" deck passenger" means a native not being a saloon
passenger whose name does not appear on the ship's articles;
" Director of Medical Services " means and includes the
Assistant Director of Medical Services, the Senior Health
Officer and any Medical Officer or Medical Officer (Health)
appointed by the Director of Medical Services to perform
such duties and exercise such powers as may be assigned to
the Director of Medical Services under this Ordinance;
" domestic servant " means and includes any house,
stable, garage or garden servant employed in or in connection
with the domestic services of any public or private dwelling
house, club, hotel, restaurant or railway restaurant car, and
includes a motor-car driver and rickshaw servant;
" employed " means any servant, not under the age of
twelve years, who has entered into a contract of service with
an employer;
" employer " means any person who has entered into a
contract to employ any servant, and includes the agent,
foreman, manager or factor of such person, and includes the
Government and any officer of the Government who bas
entered into a contract of service on behalf of the Government;
" Government contract of service " means a contract of
service in which the employer is the Government or a public
officer acting on behalf of the Governor;
" industrial undertaking " means and includes-
(a) mines;
(b) industries in which articles are manufactured, altered,
cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale,
broken up, or demolished, or in which materials are
transformed; including shipbuilding, and the generation,
Cap. 212] EmployeTs and Employed
transformation, and transmission of electricity or motive
power of any kind;
(c) construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair,
alteration, or demolition of any building, railway, tramway,
harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel,
bridge, viaduct, sewer drain, leat, well, telegraphic or
telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work,
waterwork, or other work of construction as well as the
preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work
or structure;
(d) transport of passengers or goods by road or rail,
including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves,
and warehouses, but excluding transport by hand;
"labour agent" means any person who shall himself, or
through agents or messengers in his own name or otherwise,
procure or attempt to procure, seek for, or engage, conduct
or take charge of labourers to be employed in work or labour
of any kind on any mines or works within Sierra Leone;
" labourer " means an unskiUed workman but does not
include a domestic servant, watchman, caretaker or messenger, or a native engaged for service in any capacity on an
ocean-going ship;
" labour health areas " mean such areas in the Colony or
Protectorate as may be declared by the Governor by public
notice to be labour health areas;
"Labour Officer" means a Labour Officer appointed under
section 3 of this Ordinance;
" Medical Officer " means and includes any Medical Officer
or Medical Officer (Health) appointed by the Director of
Medical Services to perform such duties and exercise such
powers as rnay be assigned to a Medical Officer under this
Ordinance;
"mine" means and includes all excavations for the
purpose of searching for or winning minerals as well as all
working of mineral deposits or alluvial diggings, whether
abandoned or actually being worked on the surface from the
surface downwards and underground, together with all
buildings, erections, and appliances belonging or appertaining
thereto above and below ground, for the purpose of prospecting for or winning minerals or precious stones by excavating
or dredging;
" Minister " means the Minister for Labour;
...~
" native " means a native of West Africa, not being of
European or Asiatic race or origin;
" night work " means work in an industrial undertaking at
any time within a period of eleven consecutive hours, including the hours of ten o'clock in the evening and five o'clock
in the morning;
" parties " includes an employer and employed;
"servant" means and includes any artificer, journeyman,
handicraftsman or other skilled workman, and any canoeman,
hammockman, carrier, watchman, caretaker, messenger,
labourer, domestic servant or apprentice;
" vessel " means and includes all ships and boats of any
nature engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or
privately owned, but excludes ships of war;
" works " means and includes chemical works, metallurgical works, reduction works, ore dressing works, petroleum
works, salt works, brick making works, tile making works,
pottery works, lime works, dye works, and any place where
machinery is erected or used, and all dams, reservoirs, and
other appliances for conserving water, or for producing or
transmitting energy, or for transporting water or material for
the same.
(2) Whenever in this Ordinance a penalty is prescribed for
an offence, the same shall indicate that such offence shall be
punishable, on conviction, by a penalty not exceeding the
penalty prescribed.
3. The Governor may appoint a suitable person to be the
Commissioner of Labour, and such number of other persons, as
may be necessary, to be known as Labour Officers, for the
purposes of this Ordinance.
pART H.--FORMATION AND INTERPRETATION OF
CoNTRACTS OF SERVICE.
4. A contract of service which, or a sufficient memorandum
of which, is not in writing and signed by the parties thereto
shall not be binding or valid for a longer period than six months
from the making thereof
5. No written contract of service shall be enforced as against
any party thereto who, at the time of making such contract,
was unable to read and understand the language in which it is
written, unless it bears an attestation under the hand of a
Appointment
of Commis·
sioner and
officers.
Contracts not
in writing to
be in force for
six months
only.
Attestation
of written
2202 Cap. 212] Ernployers and Ernployed
~---~------ -------------·---~~--- ----
Particulars to
be specified in
contract..
Attested
contracts to
be executed
and attested
in triplicate.
Limit of
duration of
ll of 1956.
Determination of
contract
where
duration not
expressed.
Magistrate to the effect that such contract was read over and
explained to such party in the presence of such Magistrate and
was entered into by him voluntarily and with full understanding of its meaning and effect.
6. A Magistrate shall not attest any contract of service unless
it specifies as accurately as may be-
(1) the nature of the service;
(2) the place or limits within which such service is to be
performed;
(3) the remuneration to be paid; and
(4) the time at which it is payable.
7. Every contract of service required to be attested shall be
executed and attested in triplicate: one copy shall be delivered
to the employer, one to the employed, and the third shall be
deposited with the J\iagistrate by whom it was attested or with
such other officer as the Governor may direct.
8. A written contract of service, other than an apprenticeship
contract, shall not be binding or valid for a longer period than
twelve months from the date thereof.
9. Every contract of service wherein no agreement 1s
expressed respecting its duration, not being a contract to
perform some specific work without reference to time, shall be
determinable by either party--
(a) when the servant is engaged at a monthly wage, at the
expiration of one month's notice which may be given at any
time;
(b) when the servant is engaged at a weekly wage, at the
expiration of one week's notice which may be given at any
time; and
(c) when the servant is engaged at a daily wage, whether
paid daily or not, at the close of any day without notice:
Provided that nothing in this section shaH derogate from an
employer's common law right to dismiss an employed for--
(i) wilful disobedience of a lawful order;
.(ii) gross moral misconduct, whether pecuniary or other-
Wise;
{iii) negligence in business, or conduct calculated seriously
to injure the employer's business;
.d
(iv) incompetence, or permanent disability from illness:
Provided also that an employed shall not be entitled to
determine a contract of service without notice to his employer
whilst the employed is engaged in any journey or voyage.
10. If the period expressed in any contract of service for the
duration thereof shall expire, or if the employed shall give
notice to determine a contract of service, whilst the employed
is engaged in any journey or voyage, the employer may, for the
purpose of terminating such journey or voyage, prolong the
period of service for a period not exceeding one month next
succeeding the date at which such contract would have come to
a termination:
Provided that in every such case the employed shall be
entitled to recover for the period of such extra service wages
at the rate of one fourth more than the rate of wages stipulated
by the contract.
11. The wages of an employed under a contract of service
shall be payable in money, provided that, by special agreement,
part payment may be made by means of a food ration, which
shall not include any intoxicating liquor.
12. When services are rendered without any express contract
for wages, but with board or lodging, the use of land for tillage
or other benefits to the employed, a contract to pay in money
for such services shall not be implied
13. (l) Any employer who-
(a) having agreed to pay wages in money shall, without
the consent of the employed, pay wages in kind; or
(b) having agreed to supply the employed with medicine,
medical attendance, rations, lodgings or other benefits, shall
without reasonable excuse fail to supply the same as agreed;
or
(c) shall, without just or reasonable cause, withhold wages
as they fall due,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction-
(i) for a first offence to a fine of ten pounds;
(ii) for a second offence to a fine of twenty-five pounds;
and
S.L.-VoL. IV-18
Contract
expiring on a
journey may
be prolonged.
Mode of
payment of
wages.
No implied
contract to
pay wages in
money in
certain cases.
Offences by
employers in
relation to
wages.
Penaity for
decoying
employed
person.
Improper
taking of
presents, etc.
Rewards not
to be
demanded or
accepted.
Contracts for
service
outside the
Queen's
dominions.
Contracts for
service
outside
Sierra Leone.
(iii) for any subsequent offence to a fine of twenty-five
pounds, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour,
for three months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) Any employer who shall pay or agree to pay to the
employed wages or any part thereof in intoxicating liquor shall
be liable to double the penalties prescribed in sub-section (l ).
(3) The Court may, in addition to any penalty imposed
under this section, make such order for the payment of wages,
costs and expenses as it may think proper.
14. Any person who shall knowingly induce any employed
to break his contract of service with his employer, or knowing
that any servant is under contract to serve any other person
shall employ such servant, shall be liable on summary conviction
to a fine of ten pounds.
15. Any employed person or domestic servant who, in abuse
of his authority, demands or accepts any money, entertainment
or other valuable consideration from a person in common
employment with himself shall be liable on summary conviction
to imprisonment for six months or to a fine of twenty pounds
or to both such imprisonment and fine.
16. No person shall demand or accept directly or indirectly
from any person seeking employment, or from any person on
his behalf, any money, gift or other consideration whatever
for providing him with employment other than any fee which
may be authorised by law.
PART IlL-REGULATION AND CONTROL OF THE
RECRUITMENT OF NATIVE LABOUR FOR FOREIGN SERVICE.
17. No native shall be engaged for service as a labourer
outside Her Majesty's dominions or territories over which Her
Majesty has power and jurisdiction, except for service to be
performed wholly on board an ocean-going vessel, and except
for service in a country or territory which has been declared
by the Governor, with the approval of the Secretary of State,
to be one to which emigration of native labourers is lawful.
18. No native of Sierra Leone shall leave Sierra Leone under
contract to serve as a labourer on land outside the limits of
Sierra Leone, or as an assisted emigrant, unless-
(a) if he owes allegiance to a chief or Tribal Authority
by native law or custom, he shall have first obtained the
consent of such chief or Tribal Authority, signified before a
Magistrate, and a certificate in writing from such Magistrate
to that effect;
(b) if he does not owe such allegiance, he shall have first
obtained a certificate from a Magistrate.
{2) A Magistrate shall not grant such certificate as aforesaid
unless he shall be reasonably satisfied with regard to the
applicant--
(a) that he is physically fit to perform the work for which
he desires to engage himself as aforesaid;
(b) that he is not abandoning wives, children or other
relatives dependent upon him for maintenance, and that
due provision has been made for the maintenance of all
people (if any) dependent upon him during his absence;
(c) that he is above the age of fourteen years.
19. (1) The Governor may appoint a recruiting officer, and, Appointment
. . of recruiting
until the appomtment of such officer becomes necessary, may officer or
license fit and proper persons as agents for the recruitment in licensed
S. J f · 1 b b l , .d persons to
ierra _jeone o natives as a ourers to e emp oyen outs1 e engage
the limits of Sierra Leone, and any person to whom a permit ?~ives as
has been granted under section 19 shall obtain the services of a ourers.
the labourers mentioned in such permit through the recruiting
officer or an agent licensed under this section, and shall produce
to such officer or agent at the time of application the permit
granted to him as aforesaid.
(2) Notification of any licence granted under this section
shall be published in the Gazette.
(31 The Governor may at any time by notification in the
Gazette cancel any such licence, without assigning any reason
for such cancellation.
20. (1) If any person be desirous of obtaining for himself or
for any other person, or for the Government of any British
Colony or Protectorate or of any foreign country, the services
of any native in Sierra Leone as a labourer outside the limits
of Sierra Leone he shall apply in writing to the Minister
stating the number of such labourers required, the place
where the labour is to be performed and the nature of the
said labour, the wages offered, and the duration of the proposed
S.L.-VoL. IV-i8*
Applic11tion
for permit to
engage
labourers.
Names of
permit
holders to be
supplied to
other West
African
Territories.
Security to
be given in
certain cases.
contract; and the Minister may thereupon deliver to him a
permit to engage through the recruiting officer or an agent
licensed under section 19 the number of such labourers required,
or any less number, within the limits therein specified. The
particulars of every permit granted under this Ordinance shall
be published in the Gazette.
(2) No such permit shall remain in force for a longer period
than three months from the date of issue.
(3) No such permit shall be granted to any person who has
not first obtained a letter of recommendation from the
Government of the country in which such labourers are to
work, that he is a fit and proper person to engage such
labourers.
21. The name of every person, to whom a permit has been
granted under section 20 and the number of labourers that he
has been empowered to engage, shall be forwarded to the
Minister of Labour of each of the Gambia, Ghana, and
the Federation of Nigeria for publication in the Government
Gazette as soon as possible after the date of the granting of
such permit. Such name as well as the place in which such
labourers are to be employed shall be posted up in a conspicuous
place in every District Court House and in every Native Court
House in the area from which the labourers are to be engaged,
and a notification of the fact that a permit has been granted
and the name of the person to whom such permit bas been
granted and the name of the place in which such labourers
are to be employed, shall be supplied by the Magistrate to all
the chiefs concerned.
22. (l) Except in the case of labourers engaged for the
service of the Government of any British Colony or Protectorate,
the Minister, before granting a permit as aforesaid, shall
require from the employer or his agent--
(a) security for the payment of the wages of the labourers
about to be engaged;
(b) security for the payment of any expenses which may
be incurred by the Government under section 30;
(c) security for the payment within 14 days of the
expiration of the contract of the labourers about to be
engaged of their return passage to the place whence they
first embarked for the purpose of fulfilling their contracts
and for their proper accommodation and maintenance on
the way.
(2) Such security may be given either by deposit or bond
with two sureties; and when the Minister has obtained such
security, he shall state that fact on the permit.
23. Any person to whom a permit has been granted under
section 19 shall, while it remains in force and subject to the
provisions of this Ordinance, be entitled to engage, through
the recruiting officer or an agent, any number of labourers not
exceeding the number specified thereon.
24. (1) Every contract under this Part for the service of a
labourer outside the limits of Sierra Leone shall be in duplicate
and shall be entered into in the presence of a Magistrate and
such Magistrate shall, upon production of the permit of the
person engaging the services of the labourer, if he be satisfied
that the provisions of section 18 have been complied with,
and that such contract is fully understood and is voluntarily
entered into by the intending labourer, endorse on such contract
the words following, that is to say-
" I hereby certify that the above contract was read over
and explained in my presence to all the parties thereto who
are illiterates, and was entered into by them voluntarily
and with full understanding of its meaning and effect."
(2) The Magistrate shall make entry on the permit of the
number of labourers engaged under it, and, when the full
number specified in such permit has been engaged or when the
time specified thereon has expired, shall retain such permit
and transmit it forthwith to the Minister.
{3) A copy of any contract entered into under this section
shall be forwarded to the Government which has issued the
letter of recommendation required under section 20.
25. (1) The Magistrate before whom any contracts for service
outside the limits of Sierra Leone have been entered into shall
forthwith furnish the Commissioner of Police with a list of the
labourers so engaged, which list shall be provided for the
purpose by the employer or his agent who has entered into the
contract as aforesaid, and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner
of Police, or an officer deputed by him for that purpose, to
superintend the embarkation or departure of the labourers
engaged, each one of whom shall, immediately before embarkation or departure, report himself to such superintending officer
who shall thereupon check the names of the labourers about
to embark or depart with the list so furnished, and immediately
Engagement
of labourers
under permit.
Contract to
be signed
before
Magistrate.
List of
persons
engaged to
be furnished
by Magistrate
to Police.
Duration of
contract,
Payment of
wages in
Sierra Leone.
Register.
Capitation
fee.
Misconduct of
employer.
thereafter shall report to the Magistrate that he has so checked
the said list, and any other matter or thing connected with such
embarkation or departure upon which it may appear to him
that a report is necessary.
(2) Every labourer so engaged who leaves Sierra Leone by
sea shall embark at Freetown:
Provided that the Governor may, by written permit to be
produced to such superintending officer as aforesaid, allow the
embarkation of the labourers specified in such permit at any
other port in the Colony or Protectorate.
26. No contract under this Part shall be for a longer period
than twelve months.
27. Every such contract shall contain a clause stipulating
that not less than one-half of the wages to be paid thereunder
to any labourer shall be paid by the employer or his agent
immediately after the return of the labourer to the place whence
he first embarked or departed for the purpose of fulfilling his
contract. Such payment shall be made before a Magistrate.
28. Every Magistrate shall keep a register of the name and
place of abode of every labourer entering into a contract before
him under the provisions of this Part, of the date and duration
of the contract and the place where the same is to be performed,
and of the name of the employer, and his agent, if any, and the
nature of the service, and such register or a certified copy of
any extract therefrom shall be receivable in any Court as
evidence of the facts therein noted.
29. Upon the completion of any agreement under the
provisions of this Part, there shall be paid to the Magistrate
for the Government by the employer or his agent a capitation
fee of two shillings and sixpence, or such other sum as may
be fixed by an Order of the Governor in Council, in respect of
each labourer whose name shall be placed thereon.
30. When it shall be proved to the satisfaction of a Magistrate
that any employer has been guilty of serious neglect or illtreatment of any labourer under contract under this Part,
the Magistrate shall report the case to the Governor, and the
Governor may, by notice published in the Gazette, cancel any
contract into which such employer or his agent may have entered
under this Part, and such contract shall be deemed to have
been cancelled at, and from, the date of the publication of such
notice. Everv labourer whose contract shall have been cancelled
as provided ~hove, shall be maintained and conveyed to his
home district at the expense of the Government, and all sums
reasonably expended upon the said maintenance and conveyance,
together with all wages due to the said labourers from the
employer, shall be recoverable from the employer in a summary
manner as a penalty, at the suit of any public officer:
Provided that cancellation of a contract under this section
shall not be held to preclude any other proceedings for breach
of such contract while in force, or in respect of any ill-usage
of any labourer while serving thereunder.
31. (1) Any person who shall, by any fraud, falsehood,
intimidation, coercion or misrepresentation, induce any native
to enter into a contract under this Part shall be guilty of an
offence, and on conviction thereof before the Supreme Court
shall be liable to a fine of one hundred pounds or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for two years, or to both
such fine and imprisonment; or on summary conviction to a fL11.e
of :fifty pounds, or to imprisonment, with or without hard
labour, for six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) Every such contract shall be held void, save to the
extent that the employer shall be liable to pay any wages due
thereunder, and to provide for the return of any labourer
engaged thereunder to his home.
32. (l) Whenever it shall appear to him to be necessary for
the welfare of Sierra Leone or of any district or place therein
so to do, it shall be lawful for the Governor, by proclamation,
to prohibit the engagement of labourers for service outside the
limits of Sierra Leone, either generally or within such district
or place as may be specit<ied in such proclamation.
(2) During the continuance of such prohibition, no permit
to engage labourers in such districts or places shall be furnished
by the Minister, and any permit which shall have been
previously given, and be then in force, shall be deemed to be
cancelled or suspended with respect to any district or place
to which it may apply that may be included in such prohibition.
33. Any person who-
(a) not being the recruiting officer or licensed under section
19 shall engage or attempt to engage natives (whether
Penalty for
fraudulently
obtaining
Governor
may forbid
recruitment
by proclamation.
Effect of
proclamation.
Unlawful
recruiting,
etc.
Masters of
ships to
furnish
names, etc.,
of deck
passengers.
natives of Sierra Leone or not) to be employed as labourers
outside the limits of Sierra Leone; or
(b) being the recruiting officer or licensed under section 19
shall engage labourers for service outside the limits of Sierra
Leone for any person who does not hold a permit granted
under section 20; or
(c) shall induce or attempt to induce, or shall assist or
offer to assist, any native to leave Sierra Leone in order that
such native may be employed as a labourer outside the
limits of Sierra Leone otherwise than under a contract of
service entered into under this Part; or
(d) shall engage, or offer or agree to employ, or to find
employment for, any native as a labourer outside the limits
of Sierra Leone except under a contract entered into under
this Part,
shall be guilty of an offence, and on conviction before the
Supreme Court shall be liable to a fine of one hundred pounds
or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for two years,
or to both such fine and imprisonment; or on summary
conviction to a fine of fifty pounds, or to imprisonment, with
or without hard labour, for six months or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
34. ( l) As soon as possible after the arrival at each port in
Sierra Leone of a ship carrying passengers, the master of
such ship shall furnish to the Commissioner or senior officer of
Police or Customs at such port a statement containing the
names of all deck passengers on board as well as the names
of the ports of embarkation and destination of each of such
deck passengers.
(2) Before leaving any port the master of such ship shall
furnish to the Customs officer on board a statement containing
the names of all deck passengers who have embarked at such
port, and the port of destination of each such passenger.
(3) No certificate of clearance shall be given in respect of
such ship until such statements have been so furnished.
(4) Any master failing to comply with the terms of this
section shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary
conviction, to a fine of twenty-five pounds or in default of
payment to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for
three months.
...I
Employers and Employed [Cap. 212 2211
35. (1) The master of a ship shall, if and when required by Muster of
deck
the District Commissioner or the Commissioner or other senior
officer of Police- passengers
and native
members of
(i) muster all his deck passengers and native members of crew.
his crew.
(ii) produce the statements provided for in section 34.
Any master who shall fail to comply with the requirements
of this section shall be liable to the penalties prescribed in
section 34.
(2) If on such muster there is found on board-
(a) any native who has embarked at any port in Sierra
Leone as a deck passenger, and is leaving Sierra Leone under
a contract to serve as a labourer outside the limits of Sierra
Leone but has not entered into a contract in accordance
with the provisions of this Part, or who, being a native of
Sierra Leone, is leaving Sierra Leone as an assisted emigrant
but is not the holder of a certificate under section 18; or
(b) any deck passenger who has embarked at any port in
Ghana, Nigeria or the Gambia without a certificate (if any)
required by the law of such territory,
the master shall be liable to the penalties prescribed in
section 34, except he can prove that he was not a party to the
offence and had reasonable cause to believe that such deck
passenger had entered into a contract in accordance with the
provisions of this Part or was the holder of the required
certificate, as the case may be. No certificate of clearance in
respect of such ship shall be given until the deck passenger has
been disembarked, and such certificate of clearance may be
withheld until any prosecution against the master has been
terminated.
36. Any expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of Recovery off
th G . . h d k h expenseso
e overnment m returnmg any sue ec passenger to t e returning
territory at which he embarked, as in section 35 mentioned, ncat
1ive to
b d h . f bl" ffi f h o ony, etc.,
may e recovere at t e smt o any pu 1c o cer rom t e of
owner or master of the ship except he can prove that he was embarkation.
not a party to the offence and had reasonable cause to believe
that such deck passenger had entered into a contract in
accordance with the provisions of this Part or was the holder
of the required certificate, as the case may be.
Discharge
from ship of
natives of
8ierra Leone
in foreign
ports.
::laving of
common law,
etc.
Cap. 212] Employets and Employed
37. The owners, agents, managers or master of a ship, any
member of the crew of which is a native of Sierra Leone shall,
before the ship leaves Sierra Leone with such native on board
give such security as shall seem sufficient to the Minister for
the payment of the cost of bringing back to Sierra Leone
any such native who shall be discharged in any foreign port
otherwise than in the presence of a British Consular Officer.
Such security may be for such cost in the case of any particular
native of Sierra Leone, or in the case of two or more or all of
the members of the crew of a particular ship who are natives of
Sierra Leone or the case of all members of the crews of any ship
who are natives of Sierra Leone which shall leave Sierra Leone
during any specified period.
38. Nothing in this Part contained shall affect or interfere
with the rights or liberties of any party to any contract made
under this Part, whether at common law or under any Ordinance
or Statute in force for the time being:
Provided that no person shall be twice prosecuted for the
same offence.
9 of 1956. pART IV .-RESTRICTION ON THE ENGAGEMENT OF
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS.
39. Application.
The provisions of this Part shall apply to the Police
District of Freetown and the Headquarters Judicial District
Cap. 7. as severally defined by the Courts Ordinance, or as defined
by Order of the Governor made for the purposes of this Part:
Interpreta.
tion.
Provided that the Governor in Council may, from time to
time, by Order, modify, restrict or extend the application to
such areas, districts or places as may be specified in such
Orders.
40. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires-
" industrial worker" means any artificer, journeyman,
handicraftsman, canoeman, hammockman, carrier, messenger,
clerk, shop assistant, storekeeper, labourer, agricultural
labourer, domestic servant or apprentice gainfully employed
or normally seeking a livelihood by gainful employment
declared to be such by the Commissioner by notice published
in the Gazette.
41. (1) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Minister,
may, from time to time, issue directions exempting from the
provisions of this Part any person to whom this Part applies.
(2) Any such directions·-
(a) may apply to any specified class or description of
employer or to any particular employer or to any particular
person or class of persons within the meaning of the term
industrial worker and may apply either generally or in any
particular area and for such purposes in such circumstances
and for such periods as may be specified in the directions;
(b) may be cancelled or modified at any time but without
prejudice to the giving of further directions.
42. The Commissioner, with the approval of the Minister,
may make rules-
(a) authorising the establishment of offices to be known as
employment exchanges in such places as may be convenient
at which workers may attend to make application for
employ_ment and to which employers may notify their
vacanCies;
(b) prescribing the particulars to be furnished by applicants
for employment and by employers notifying vacancies;
(c) prescribing conditions under which applicants for
employment and employers notifying vacancies respectively
may be dealt with at employment exchanges;
(d) generally for giving effect to the objects of this Part.
43. (1) An employer, employing ten or more employees,
carrying on an undertaking in any area, district or place
specified in or in accordance with the provisions of section 39
shall not seek to engage or engage any industrial worker for
work in that undertaking except by notifying to an employment
exchange particulars of the vacancy to be filled and by engaging
for that vacancy an industrial worker submitted to him by an
employment exchange.
(2) The Commissioner may at any time release from the
restriction on engagement imposed by this section any vacancy
or vacancies notified to an employment exchange, having
regard to the nature of the work for which the vacancy or
vacancies exist and the qualifications and suitability for the
work of the available applicants therefor registered at the
employment exchange, or if he be satisfied that there is no
Exemption.
Power of
Commissioner of
Labour to
make rules.
Engagement
of workers.
Penalties.
Powers of
Labour
Officers.
such applicant or an insufficient number of such applicants
available therefor.
(3) Where any vacancy as aforesaid has been notified to an
employment exchange and no applicants for such vacancy
have been submitted by the employment exchange for that
vacancy at the expiry of seven days from the date of the receipt
of the notification at the employment exchange, the restriction
on engagement imposed by this section shall cease to apply:
Provided that--
(a) an employer shall not be under an obligation to engage
any particular person submitted by the employment exchange
for a notified vacancy if he does not regard such person as
suitable; and
(b) subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) the restriction on engagement shall continue for so long as, in the
opinion of the Commissioner, a prima facie suitable applicant
is registered at the employment exchange and at least one
submission has been made in accordance with the provisions
of this sub-section.
44. Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the
provisions of section 43 shall be guilty of an offence and shall
be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of fifty pounds or
to imprisonment for three months or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
45. ( l) With a view to ascertaining whether or not any
employer, to whom any of the provisions of this Part apply, is
conforming with such provisions, any Labour Officer duly
authorised in that behalf shall have power-
(a) to require the production of any records of wages
which are kept and to inspect the same and copy any
material part thereof; or
(b) where no such records are kept, at all reasonable
times to enter upon any land or premises of such employer
and make such enquiries as may seem to him necessary.
(2} Any employer, to whom the provisions of this section
apply, who-
(a). ?ontravenes or fails to comply with any of these
prOVISIOnS; or
(b) hinders or molests any such Labour Officer in the
exercise of his powers under the provisions of sub-section (1);
or
j
(c) makes or causes to be made or knowingly allows to be
made any record of wages which is false in any material
particular; or
(d) furnishes any information to such Labour Officer
knowing the same to be false,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine of fifty pounds or to imprisonment for three
months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
46. (1) Proceedings for an offence under the provisions of Provisions as
this Part shall not be instituted except by or with the consent to offences.
of the Commissioner or by any person authorised in that behalf
by special or general directions of the Commissioner.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any law specifying the
period within which summary proceedings may be commenced,
proceedings for an offence under the provisions of this Part
may be commenced at any time within the period of three
months from the date on which evidence, sufficient in the
opinion of the Commissioner to justify a prosecution for the
offence, comes to his knowledge or within a period of twelve
months from the date on which the offence was committed
whichever period last expires, and for the purposes of this
sub-section a certificate purporting to be signed by or on
behalf of the Commissioner as to the date on which such evidence
as aforesaid came to his knowledge shall be conclusive evidence
thereof.
{3) Where an offence under the provisions of this Ordinance
has been committed by a body corporate, every person who
at the time of the commission of the offence was a director
or officer of the body corporate or was purporting to act in any
such capacity, shall be deemed guilty of that offence unless he
proves that the contravention was committed without his
consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence
to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have
exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that
capacity and to all the circumstances.
PART V.-EMPLOYMENT OF WoMEN, ADOLESCENTS
AND CHILDREN.
47. {1) No girl or woman of any age, shall be employed in or Employme~t
ll d b J' h f l t . . b l of women m
a owe to e 10r t e purpose o emp oymen m any mme e ow mines.
ground.
Prohibition of
night work by
women and
boys under
eighteen.
Industries
affected by
seasons or
exceptional
circumstances.
Exemption
from liability
in certain
special circumstances.
Prohibition
of employment of
children
under
twelve,
except in
certain
circumstances.
(2) For the purpose of this section the term" mine" includes
any undertaking whether public or private for the extraction of
any substance from under the surface of the earth.
48. No girl or woman of any age or boy who appears to be
under eighteen years of age shall be employed during the night
in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any
branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only
members of the same family are employed.
49. In such industrial undertakings as are influenced by the
seasons of the year, and in all industrial undertakings in the
case of exceptional circumstances demanding it, the Governor
may by notice declare that the prohibition of night work shall
extend to a period of ten hours only instead of eleven hours on
sixty days of the year.
50. (1) Section 48 shall not apply to a case where it is shown,
to the satisfaction of the Court trying the same, that the night
work complained of is by women only and was due to a cause
beyond control bringing about an interruption of work which
could not reasonably be foreseen and which is not of a recurring
character, or where the night work complained of is by women
only and has to do with raw materials in course of treatment
which are subject to rapid deterioration and when such night
work is necessary to preserve the said materials from certain loss.
(2) Section 48 shall also not apply to a case where it is
shown, to the satisfaction of the Court trying the same, that
the night work complained of is by boys who appear to be
between the ages of sixteen and eighteen only and was due to
an emergency which could not have beencontrolledorreasonably
foreseen, which is not of a recurring character, and which
interfered with the normal working of the industrial undertaking.
(3) Section 48 shall also not apply to women holding
responsible positions of management who are not ordinarily
engaged in manual work.
51. Children who appear to be under the age of twelve years
shall not be employed in any capacity whatsoever:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply
to any child employed on light work of an agricultural,
horticultural or domestic character by a member of the family
of such child and which has been approved by the competent
Government authority:
Provided further that no such child shall be employed before
six o'clock in the morning or after eight o'clock in the evening
on any day or for more than two hours on any day and provided
also that such child shall not be required to lift, carry or move
anything so heavy as to be likely to cause injury to him.
For the purposes of this section the expression " competent
Government authority " means the " Director of Medical
Services."
52. Children who appear to be under fifteen years of age
shall not be employed or work in any public or private industrial
undertaking, or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking
in which only members of the same family are employed:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to
work done by such children in any Government school or school
approved and supervised by the Director of Education.
53. Children who appear to be under fifteen years of age
shall not be employed or work on vessels, other than vessels
upon which only members of the same family are employed:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to
work done by such children on any school-ship or training
vessel approved by the Governor and supervised by the
Harbour Master of Freetown harbour.
Prohibition
of industrial
employment
of children
under
fifteen.
Prohibition
of employment of
children
under
fifteen
at sea.
32 of l94i.
54. (1) Male persons under the age of sixteen years shall not Employment
be employed underground in mines. ~~~~Ies
sixteen
(2) The employment underground in mines of male persons in mines.
who have attained the age of sixteen years but not that of 32 of 1947.
eighteen years shall be conditional on the production of a
medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed by a
duly qualified and registered medical practitioner.
55. (1) Young persons under the age of eighteen years shall
not be employed or work on vessels as trimmers or stokers.
(2) When a trimmer or stoker is required in a port where
young persons of less than eighteen years of age only are
available, such young persons may be employed and in that
case it shall be necessary to engage two young persons in place
of the trimmer or stoker required. Such young persons shall
be at least sixteen years of age:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply
to-
Employment
of young
persons as
trimmers or
stokers.
Medical
examination
of young
person before
going to sea.
Apprentice.
ship of
children bv
parents or·
guardians.
Orphan
children
without
relatives.
When
persons may
apprentice
themselves.
(a) the employment of young persons on vessels mainly
propelled by other means than steam;
(b) young persons of not less than sixteen years of age
who, if found physically fit after medical examination, may
be employed as trimmers or stokers on vessels exclusively
engaged in coastal trade.
56. (I) The employment of any young person under eighteen
years of age on any vessel shall be conditional on the production
of a medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed
by a duly qualified and registered medical practitioner.
(2) In urgent cases a young person below the age of eighteen
years may be allowed to embark without having undergone
medical examination, always provided that such an examination
shall be undergone, at the expense of the employer, at the first
port at which the vessel calls, and that failing satisfactory
medical attestation the young person shall be returned as a
passenger to the port or place where he was engaged or to his
home, whichever is the nearer, at the expense of the employer.
pART VL-APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACTS.
57. The father, or in case of a fatherless child the guardian
of a child above the age of twelve years and under the age of
fourteen years, may, with the consent of such child, testified
by his execution of the deed of apprenticeship, apprentice such
child to a trade or employment in which art or skill is required,
or as a domestic servant, for any term not exceeding five years.
58. Whenever any child under the age of fourteen years is
an orphan without known relatives, a Judge of the Supreme
Court, or a Magistrate of the district where such child resides
or is found, may authorise the apprenticing of such child as
aforesaid, and may appoint some fit person who shall execute
the deed of apprenticeship and act generally as guardian of
such child.
59. Any person of the age of fourteen years and upwards,
not being under any deed of apprenticeship, may apprentice
himself for any term, not exceeding five years, to any trade or
employment in which art or skill is required:
Provided that when the employer is the Government the
contract may be for any term not exceeding ten years.
Employe~·s and Employed [Cap. 212 2219
60. The age of any child may, where no register of his birth Age ho;v d
is available, be inquired into and determined by any one or determme ·
more fit persons whom a Judge of the Supreme Court or a
Magistrate may appoint for the purpose; and his or their report
shall, if unanimous, be conclusive for the purpose. If such
report be not unanimous the determination of the child's age
shall rest with the Judge or Magistrate, as the case may be.
61. Every contract of apprenticeship may, with the consent Assignment
f h · d b' h · · f · ofindentures.
o t e parties thereto an su 3ect tot e provisiOns o sectwn 62,
be assigned.
62. Every contract of apprenticeship and every assignment Indentures or
thereof shall be by deed, and no such deed shall be valid unless f~~!{tf:~I:ss
attested by and made with the approval of a Judge of the by deed
Supreme Court, or of the Magistrate of the district where the approved.
person to be apprenticed shall be living, and unless such
approval be certified in writing under the hand of the Judge
or Magistrate on the deed of apprenticeship or assignment.
63. Whoever removes or attempts to remove any apprentice Apprentices
f S. L d · h' · h' · h h not to berom Ierra eone urmg IS apprentices 1p Wit out t e taken out of
authority in writing (the proof whereof shall lie on him) of the Sierra Leone.
Magistrate of the district where such apprentice resides shall
be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to
a fine of fifty pounds, or to imprisonment, with or without
hard labour, for six months.
64. Whoever induces or attempts to induce any apprentice
to quit the service of his employer shaH be guilty of an offence
and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of twenty-five
pounds, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for
three months.
65. It shall be the duty of an apprentice--
(a) to serve his employer faithfully;
(b) to keep his secrets;
(c) to obey his lawful commands;
(d) not to do any damage;
(e) to report all damage done by others;
{j) not to absent himself from work without lawful and
sufficient cause.
S.L.-VoL. IV-l!J
Penalty for
decoying
apprentices.
Duties of
apprentice.
Ill-treatment
of apprentice
an offence.
Apprentices
reta.ined after
expiration of
indenture
entitled to
\vages.
Uont.ract of
service to
eease on
death.
Cap. 212] Ernploye?·s and Employed
66. Any employer who wilfully ill-treats any apprentice
bound to him under this Part, shall be guilty of an offence
and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of twenty-five
pounds or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for
three months.
67. If any employer to whom an apprentice has been bound
under this Part shall retain such apprentice in his service after
the stipulated period of service has expired, without any
agreement between the parties for the payment of wages, the
apprentice shall be entitled to recover from the employer so
retaining him wages at the ordinary current rate payable for
service similar to that performed by such apprentice.
PART VU.-DEATH, INSOLVENCY AND CHANGE OF
RESIDENCE OJ<' EMPLOYER.
68. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the contract,
every contract of service shall terminate on the death of the
employer:
Provided that the servant shall be entitled to all the benefits
of the contract up to such termination, including the fulfilment
of any stipulation to return the servant to the place of engagement, as if the contract had been terminated in the ordinary
course of events.
Insolvency of 69. ( l) In the event of an employer becoming bankrupt or
employer. insolvent, all wages due from him to a servant, whether payable
for time or for piece work, not exceeding twenty-five pounds,
shall be paid in priority to all other debts.
(2) All debts due for such wages as aforesaid shall rank
equally between themselves and shall be paid in full, unless
the property of the employer is insufficient to meet them, in
which case they shall abate in equal proportions between
themselves.
(3) Subject to the retention of such sums as may be necessary
for the costs and expenses of administration or otherwise, the
debts last aforesaid shall be discharged forthwith so far as the
property of the employer is sufficient to meet them.
(4) For the purposes of this section a clerk shall be deemed
to be a servant.
Employers and Employed [Cap. 212 2221
70. (1) The death, insolvency or removal for the distance of Dischar~e of
:five miles and over of the empioyer shall operate to cancel and :£r;~::ae~n
discharge an indenture of apprenticeship. ~eath,
msolvency or
removal of
(2) In any such event if any sum of money by way of the employer.
premium shall have been paid to the employer by or on behalf
of an apprentice, the apprentice shall have a claim against the
employer or his estate for such part of such premium as shall
be in proportion to the unexpired term of apprenticeship.
71. An indenture of apprenticeship may be cancelled and Dischart~e of
di h d . b ~ h 1 f h . appren ICe-
SC arge at any t1me y t e mutua1 consent o t e parties ship deed by
thereto, or by a Judge of the Supreme Court or a Magistrate mutua~
on the application of the employer, apprentice, or the father consen •
or guardian of the apprentice, if good cause be shown. Upon
any such cancellation the provisions of section 70 (2) shall apply
to any sum of money which may have been paid to the employer
by way of premium.
72. In the event of a servant or apprentice dying during the Death of
. . servant or
term of service, the full remuneratiOn due to the servant or apprentice.
apprentice up to the date of his death shall be payable to his
estate.
73. No servant shall be bound without his consent to perform Reioval of
his service at any place more than five miles from the place emp oyer.
where he shall have first agreed to serve.
74. No servant shall be bound without his consent to
accompany his employer out of Sierra Leone and no servant
under fourteen years of age shall be bound to accompany his
employer out of Sierra Leone unless his father or guardian
shall also consent thereto.
75. Where in cases within section 73 or 74 the servant or
apprentice is not bound to continue to perform his service,
or to accompany his employer, and is unwilling to do so, the
contract shall be deemed to have terminated from the date
of such removal or departure, and the servant or apprentice
shall be entitled to claim the wages or other remuneration
specified in the contract up to the date of such removal or
departure.
S.L.-VoL. IV-Hl*
Servant not
bound to
accompany
employer
outside
Sierra Leone.
Date of
termination
of cont.ract in
case of
removal.
Complaint in
case of
dispute
between
employer and
employed.
Discretionm~y
powl'lrs of
Court.
Cruel
ill-treatment
of servant
an offence.
PART VIII.-BREACH oF CoNTRACT AND DISPUTES
BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYED.
76. Whenever an employer or employed shall neglect or
refuse to fuLfil any contract of service, or whenever any question
difference, or dispute shall arise as to the rights or liabilities
of either party, or as to any alleged misconduct, failure in duty,
or ill-treatment of either party, or as to any alleged injury to
the person or property of either party, under any contract
of service, the party feeling himself aggrieved may lay a
complaint before a Magistrate who may thereupon issue a civil
summons to the party complained against, provided that the
sum claimed (if any) for wages, damages or compensation does
not exceed twenty pounds on balance of account.
77. Upon any such complaint as aforesaid the Magistrate
may, sitting as a Civil Court of summary jurisdiction and in
addition to any jurisdiction he might have exercised if this
Ordinance had not been enacted, exercise all and any of the
following powers; that is to say-
(a) he may adjust, and set off one against the other, all
such claims on the part either of the employer or of the
employed arising out of or incidental to the relation between
them, as he may find to be subsisting, whether such claims
are liquidated or unliquidated, and are for wages, damages, or
otherwise; and he may direct the payment of such sum as
he finds due by one party to the other and may award costs;
(b) he may direct fulfilment of the contract, and in cases
where the Court might award damages for any breach of
contract, he may, in place either of the whole of the damages
or some part thereof, in the case of a contract of service other
than a Government contract of service, direct the party
committing such breach, or, in the case of a Government
contract of service, direct the employed committing such
breach, to give security to the satisfaction of the Court, by
deposit or otherwise, for the due performance of so much of
his contract as remains unperformed;
(c) he may rescind the contract upon such terms as to
apportionment of wages or other sums due thereunder, and
to the payment of wages or dam.ages or other sums due, as
he thinks just.
78. Any employer who wilfully and cruelly ill-treats any
servant shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary
conviction, to a fine of twenty-five pounds or to imprisonment,
with or without hard labour, for three months.
--------,~--------
pART IX.-PROVISIONS AS TO AGENTS.
79. No person shall execute for or on behalf of any other
person any agreement, contract or bond under the provisions
of this Ordinance unless such person shall produce to the
Minister, Judge or Magistrate a power of attorney or authority
in writing empowering him to execute such agreement, contract
or bond in that behalf.
80. Where any such authority in writing shall not be under
seal, any contract under seal executed by such person shall,
nevertheless, be valid for the purposes of this Ordinance, any
law to the contrary notwithstanding.
81. The donee of a power of attorney or other authority in
writing as aforesaid, may, if he thinks fit, execute any instrument
or do anything in his own name and signature, as also under
his own seal when sealing is required by the donor of such
power or other authority in writing; and every instrument
and thing so executed and done shall be as effectual in law to
all intents as if it had been executed and done in the name
and with the signature and under the seal of the donor of such
power or authority in writing.
Agent to
pioduce
power of
attorney or
authority in
writing.
Authority in
writing not
under seal
to be valid.
Execution
under power
of attorney
or authority
in writing.
82. Any person making any payment or doing any act in Payment
good faith under the provisions hereof in pursuance of a power ~}cpo~:onee
of attorney or other authority in writil1.g as aforesaid shall not or authority
without
be liable in respect of such payment or act by reason only that, notice of
before the payment or act, the donor of the power, or other death, etli?··
h . . . . h d d' d h d b 1 t' f to be va d.aut onty m wntmg a 1e , or a ecome a una w, o
unsound mind, bankrupt, or insolvent, or had revoked the
power of authority in writing, if the death, lunacy, unsoundness
of mind, bankruptcy, insolvency, or revocation, was not at
the time of the payment or act known to the person making
or doing the same.
PART X.-ADVANCES BY EMPLOYERS.
83. No claims by an employer against a labourer, for or on
account of advances made or goods supplied by the employer
during the period of the contract of service between the
employer and the labourer, shall be enforceable in any court
after the expiration of such contract.
Claims by an
employer for
advances
made or
goods
supplied not
enforceable
after
termination
PART XL-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. of contract.
84. (I) Nothing in this Ordinance shall prevent any employer :e~~~~:\~:a<fe
or employed from enforcing his respective rights and remedies out of Sierra
for any breach or non-performance of any lawful contract of Leone.
Form of
execution.
Attestation
where
several
contracts
are included
in one
document.
General
provision as
to penalties
where rw
specific
penalty
prescribed.
service made out of Sierra Leone; and the respective rights
of such parties under any such contract as well against each
other as against third parties invading such rights, may be
enforced in the same manner as that in which other contracts
or rights may be enforced:
Provided that, whenever any contract of service made out
of Sierra Leone shall have been executed in conformity with
the provisions of this Ordinance, it shall be enforced in the same
manner as a contract of service made under such provisions;
but no written contract of service made out of Sierra Leone, the
tenor and execution of which are not in conformity with such
provisions, shall be enforced against any party thereto who at
the time of the making of the contract was from want of
education unable to read and understand writing.
(2) Any contract of service made out of Sierra Leone shall
be deemed to have been executed in conformity with the
provisions of this Ordinance if it purports to be signed with
the names or marks of the contracting parties and, as concerns
any illiterate parties, with an attestation to the like effect as
that prescribed by section 24 (I); and, if the contract was
made in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Her Majesty's
Dominions or in a British Protectorate, or in any territory in
respect of which a mandate is being exercised by the Government
of any part of Her Majesty's Dominions, the attestation may
be by any Justice of the Peace or any officer authorised by law
to take affidavits; while, if it was made in any foreign country,
the attestation may be by any Judge or Magistrate, being
authenticated by the official seal of the Court to which he is
attached, or by any British diplomatic or consular officer.
85. Where the attestation of a Magistrate is required in
respect of a number of contracts of service between one
employer and a number of employed, all being employed for
the same period of time for the same work at the same place
and all such contracts are included in one document, such
attestation may be given in respect of all such contracts at the
foot of such document.
86. Any contravention of or failure to comply with any
provision of this Ordinance or of any Order or Proclamation
to be made or issued thereunder shall be deemed to be an
offence; and, in any case where a person is charged with any
such offence in respect of which no specific penalty shall have
been prescribed, such person shall, on summary conviction, be
liable to a fine of fifty pounds or to imprisonment, with or
---------
without hard labour, for six months, or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
87. Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or alter the rights
or liabilities of any party to any contract made under and in
accordance with, or governed by, any Act of the Imperial
Parliament which shall for the time being be in force in Sierra
Leone; nor shall the provisions hereof apply to any such
Savings as to
certain
conk acts
made under
Imuerial
Acts.
88. (l) The Governor in Council may make rules for all of Powker to
f h c 11 · • ma e rules.
any o t e purposes 101 owmg-
(i) declaring either generally or in relation to any specified
kind of contract of service that this Ordinance shall not apply
to contracts of service made under or governed by native
law or custom;
(ii) regulating the recruiting of servants for service within
or without Sierra Leone, and providing for the licensing of
labour agents;
(iii) prescribing the conditions under which carriers may
be employed, and the limitation of weights of loads to be
carried by them;
(iv) prescribing the form of deeds of apprenticeship and
the terms and conditions upon which contracts of apprenticeship may be lawfully entered into, and the duties and
obligations of apprentices and their masters;
(v) the registration, identification, and inspection of
servants, the securing of correct returns, the keeping of
proper registers and the proper inspection of such registers;
(vi) the return of servants at the expiration of the
contracts of service to the place at which they were engaged;
(vii) the examination of servants by medical officers, and
such measures as may be necessary to prevent the introduction or spread of infectious and contagious diseases, the
compulsory employment of qualified medical practitioners by
employers, and the compulsory erection of hospitals by
employers, and in default thereof the recovery from the
employers of the cost of medical attendance provided by the
Government and of the erection and maintenance of hospitals
erected by the Government;
(viii) the provision of the housing, rations and food of
servants for whom the employer is obliged to provide housing
accommodation or food under their contracts of service, the
2226 Cap. 212] Employers and Employed
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inspection of such housing, rations and food, and the
observance of all sanitary precautions;
(ix) the planning and layout of towns, villages and camps
in Labour Health Areas, and the construction of streets,
lanes, buildings; markets, open spaces, drains, latrines,
incinerators, wells and tanks in such areas;
(x) the provision of the housing, rations and food of
servants in Labour Health Areas whether or no the employer
is obliged to provide housing accommodation or food under
their contracts of service, the inspection of such housing,
rations and food and the observance of all sanitary precautions;
(xi) the provision of adequate arrangements for the care
of sick and injured servants and the inspection of such
arrangements;
(xii) the manner of payment of wages earned by servants;
(xiii) providing for proper application of any wages due
to a deceased servant;
(xiv) the care and treatment of servants and their families
when housed by the employer;
(xv) the engagement, licensing, registration and supervision of domestic servants;
(xvi) imposing upon persons who have accepted the
services of a servant without paying wages therefor, the
obligation to provide for the maintenance of such servant
during sickness or in old age;
{xvii) the appointment of a Labour Inspector and such
other officers as may be necessary for carrying out the
provisions of this Ordinance;
(xviii) prescribing the forms to be used for any matter or
thing to be done under this Ordinance or under any rules
made thereunder;
(xix) prescribing the fees to be paid for any matter or
thing to be done under this Ordinance or under any rules
made thereunder; and
(xx) generally carrying into effect the purposes and
provisions of this Ordinance;
and may apply such rules either generally or to Labour Health
Areas or to such other areas as he may think fit.
(2) Except in so far as they may be varied, revoked or
replaced by other rules made by the Governor in Council under
this section the rules in the Schedule shall be in force in Sierra
Ernployers and Ernployed [Cap. 212
Leone, and shall be deemed to have been made under this
Ordinance.
(3) The Governor in Council may impose a penalty not
exceeding one hundred pounds or imprisonment, with or without
hard labour, for a period not exceeding six months, for the
breach of any rule made under this section. Every such breach
shall be prosecuted summarily before a Magistrate.
(4) No rules made by the Governor in Council under this
section shall come into force before the same shall have been
approved by the House of Representatives.
(5) The House of Representatives may amend any rules
made by the Governor in Council under this section or may
substitute other rules therefor. Rules so amended or substituted shall be deemed to have been made by the Governor
in Council and to have been approved by the House of
Representatives.
*The rules of the Schedule are printed in the Volume containing the subsidiary
legislation of this Chapter.
*
Check the current official version before relying on this text. MiLAWYER shares legal information, not legal advice.