Ivory Coast employers turned every protective labor minimum into the ceiling workers actually received.

Evidence

Kair discovered that at no point was the worker informed of his rights; his legal work hours were ignored; the minimum wage, established by the Government General to protect the worker, had become the maximum wage protecting the employer’s interests; minimum food rations were the maximum allotment; no effort was made to recognize workers’ differing dietary traditions; sickness often ensued, with only one-fourth of wages paid out over eight days as compensation; a contract nevertheless could not be invalidated on the basis of poor health. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 848