Work conditions in Cuba

The Active Population in Figures

Working Conditions

Legal Weekly Duration

8 hours per day and 44 hours per week

Retirement Age

60 years for men and 55 years for women who have 25 years of service.
55 years for men and 50 years for women if the last 12 years or 75% involved working in a physically taxing environment

Working Contracts

Employment contracts are permanent, temporary or task specific.

The 1995 law on foreign investments requires that investors use the State employment agency to hire workers.

Cost of Labour

Minimum Wage

CUP 225 per month (source: ILO, 2011).

Average Wage

Average monthly gross earnings in Cuba is CUP 440 (USD 19).

Social Contributions

Social Security Contributions Paid By Employers: Employer's contribution: 14%
Social Security Contributions Paid By Employees: Employee's contribution: 0%

Social Partners

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners

The only legal union in Cuba is the Main Cuban Workers' Union (CTC) which is heavily dependent on the government.  The workers are obliged to observer their colleagues and to report all "dissident" activity.  The independent union activists are regularly subjected to detentions, harassment and threatened with trial.  Despite everything, the existing organisations do not have the capacity to defend the workers in an efficient way. As they are not recognized, they cannot undertake collective negotiations or call for strikes.

Labour Unions

The Main Cuban Workers' Union (in Spanish)

Unionisation Rate

96% of Cuban employees are affiliated to the Main Cuban Workers' Union (according to the CTC' own figures)

Labour Regulation Bodies

Ministry of Labor and Social Security
Cuba and Mexico International Labor Organization (Spanish only)