Forced Labour
Prohibition on Forced and Compulsory Labour
The Constitution of Namibia states that no person is to be required to perform forced labour. All types of forced labour is prohibited unless it is required as a consequence of a sentence or order by a court, where the person is rightfully detained and is reasonably necessary in the interests of hygiene, during a public emergency, or required as a part of reasonable and normal communal or civic obligations.
Under the Labour Act, 2007, a person must not directly or indirectly cause, permit or require any individual to perform forced labour. Forced labour includes any work performed under a threat of penalty, punishment or harm upon either that individual or another individual upon non-performance of the work; any work which is performed by the employee’s child who is under the age of 18 and is performed in an arrangement between the employer or employee; any work performed by an individual because that individual is for any reason subject to the control, supervision or jurisdiction of a traditional leader. It is an offense for any person to require an individual to perform forced labour. A person convicted is liable to a fine not exceeding N$ 20,000 or to imprisonment for up to 4 years or both.
Trafficking in persons is a criminal offence in Namibia. The 2018 Act defines trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. On conviction, the perpetrator is liable for the punishment of not exceeding 30 years or fine should not be more than N$ 1 million or liable to both punishment and fine.
Child labour and exploitation of children is prohibited. Procurement or use of children for slavery, force or compulsory labour, commercial sexual exploitation, armed conflict, child pornography and begging is prohibited. Similarly, engaging a child in work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of a child, is inappropriate for a person of that child’s age, or places the child’s well-being at risk, is prohibited. Contravention of the above provisions is a liable offence and on conviction can lead to a maximum fine of N$50,000 or to imprisonment for a maximum period of 10 years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Sources: §9 of the Constitution of Namibia and §4 of the Labour Act, 2007; §3 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018; §234 Child Care and Protection Act 3 of 2015
Freedom to Change Jobs and Right to Quit
The Constitution of Namibia provides all persons have a right to withhold their labour without exposing themselves to criminal penalties. Furthermore, every person has the right to practice any profession, or carry on any occupation, trade or business.
An employee can terminate the contract after serving reasonable notice. Both the employee and employee have the same notice requirements. If the employment contract is to be terminated on notice, the period of notice is not to be less than one day if the employee has been employed for four weeks or less. If the employee has been employed for more than four weeks but not more than one year, the period of notice should not be less than one week. Where the employee has been employed for than one year, then the notice period should be at least one month.
Sources: §21 of the Constitution of Namibia and §30 of the Labour Act, 2007
Inhumane Working Conditions
An employee cannot work more than 45 hours per week. There are exceptions to this limitation upon serving members of the public, security officers, an employee working in emergency health-care services or an employee of a class designated by the Minister of Labour. Furthermore, an employee is not allowed to work more than 10 hours of overtime per week, and in any case, not more than 3 hours of overtime per day.
Sources: §16 & 17 of the Labour Act, 2007
Regulations on Forced Labour
- Constitution of Namibia
- Labour Act, 2007
