Over half of the private security companies (PSCs) in Sierra Leone are operating without licenses and are therefore outside the law. Significant problems, particularly labor issues, plague the entire industry and impinge on the overall security of the post-conflict state...there are currently at least 11 major issues surrounding the labor standards within the security sector...: The minimum wages set in 2006 are not adequate...Even if a junior guard receives the full amount, he or she still makes less than $1 per day — not a sufficient wage in Sierra Leone...Many of the security companies do not pay their employees on time...Increasingly, guards are being asked to work 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, and occasionally work 24 hour shifts...A number of companies do not have adequate equipment or vehicles...Sierra Leone was an active participant, along with 16 other states, in the Swiss Initiative leading to the 2008 Montreux Document...Despite this somewhat lengthy catalogue of problems, there does seem to be some cause for optimism.