The instances of suspension at the instance of the employer are quite few. This is because the worker is not attached intuiti personae to the employer personally but to the establishment so that should the employer himself be undisposed or even die, the business will still go on except of course in strictly personal small business that lives or dies with the owner. The instances of such suspension are as follows;
- Military Service: Where the employer is a physical person and where the functioning of the establishment depends on his physical presence, be required to undertake military service, the contract of employment shall be suspended in accordance with section 32(a) of the labour code of Cameroon 1992. The contract will be suspended if the departure of the employer entails the closure of the establishment.
- Force Majeure: The labour code provides for force majeure solely as a reason to terminate a contract of employment without notice. However, it may happen the force majeure in question is not fatal and can be remedied overtime. In such a case, the contract of employment will be suspended pending the repair of the problem.
- Economic Suspension: This suspension arises out of the economic or financial problems of the establishment and may either take the form of lay-off or short time.
. Lay-off: It means the collective interruption of all or part of the work by the personnel of an undertaking due to accidents or force majeure or an unfavourable economic situation. Lay-offs usually occurs where the employer is unable to procure work because of curtailment or discontinuance of the business activity.
. Short-time: It is the situation where the employer cannot remunerate or fully remunerate the work done because of acute financial problems. Here the employer is in a dilemma as to whether he would suspend the worker’s contract of employment, but he can’t impose instances of suspension.
. Lock-out: Any lock-out by the employer will operate to suspend the contract of employment for its duration. All that is required of the employer is that he should respect the provisions of the code as to the prerequisite formalities and procedure. If the employer fails to do so, not only will the worker be entitled to his lost wages during the period of the purported suspension, but he will also be liable to sanctions under the labour code.