• Burkina Faso adopts draft labor code to limit contract renewals
  
• Reform mandates equal pay for temp and permanent workers in same roles
  
• Over 90% of jobs remain informal, with high underemployment and instability

Burkina Faso has adopted a draft labor code designed to strengthen worker protections, according to a statement released after Thursday’s cabinet meeting.

The proposed code introduces several measures, with fixed-term contracts at the center of the reform. It caps contract renewals at two for the same employee and requires equal pay for temporary and permanent workers doing the same job, a measure meant to curb precarious employment practices tied to repeated renewals.

The government says the reform supports its goal of creating a legal framework that promotes job creation, human capital development and business competitiveness while improving working conditions. The current labor code, adopted in 2008, does not impose limits on fixed-term contract renewals, which has allowed practices that leave workers vulnerable.

The need for reform is clear from the structure of Burkina Faso’s labor market. More than nine out of ten jobs were in the informal sector in 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSD), leaving many temporary workers exposed to instability. Underemployment remains high at 23.16 percent and is even more prevalent in the informal sector, where many workers are not fully utilized and face irregular incomes. Although the official employment rate rose from 47 percent in 2023 to 69.1 percent in 2024, most work remains informal and insecure.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou