The President of the Republic of Ghana has reaffirmed his commitment to passing the new Labour Act to replace the existing Labour Act, which was enacted over two decades ago. The Labour Bill seeks to modernise and improve employment standards across Ghana. We anticipate that the Labour Bill will be passed before the President’s tenure ends in December 2024. These are some of the expected changes:

• Termination of employment: In Ghana, employment contracts can be terminated by mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. However, under the Labour Bill, this mutual agreement must occur either before the start of employment or at the point when termination is being considered.

• Parental leave: Female employees will be entitled to a minimum maternity leave of 14 weeks, an increase from the current 12 weeks. There is also an introduction of paternity leave, allowing male employees to take a one-time annual paternity leave of at least five days, within three months following the birth, including through surrogacy or adoption, of a child.

• Overtime leave: Employers will be prohibited from assigning overtime to pregnant employees or mothers of children under one year old unless the employee consents. In the current law, the age of the child is limited to eight months.