CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in November 2003 in reply to its previous comments. It further notes that the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), were ratified in March 2003 and recalls the Committee’s previous comments in which it raised concerns on a number of issues related to their application. The Committee also refers to its comments on Convention No. 122, in which it requested information on the measures taken to ensure that employment, as a key element of poverty reduction, is central to macroeconomic and social policies. The Government was also requested to inform on the status of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers as well as any evaluation on the impact of its programme to combat unemployment focusing on university graduates. With regard to Convention No. 117, the Committee asks the Government to include in its next report on the application of the Convention, an update on the way in which it is ensured that “the improvement of standards of living” is regarded as “the principal objective in the planning of economic development” and information on the results achieved in its fight against poverty (Article 2 of Convention No. 117).

Part IV of the Convention. Advances on wages. Remuneration of workers. The Committee recalls its previous comments on section 37(1)(b) of the Labour Code, which does not set a maximum amount of advances which may be made to workers by the employer or ensure that any advances in excess of the prescribed amount shall be legally irrecoverable, as required by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 12 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government’s report included an observation from the workers’ representatives participating in the tripartite committee established to revise the Labour Code of 1997. In considering section 37(1)(b) of the Labour Code, the workers’ representatives referred to section 74 of the Labour Code, which provides that the law shall not be interpreted in a manner which prevents employers from laying down conditions of employment which are more favourable to workers than those provided for under the Act. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any progress made through collective agreements, court decisions or administrative decisions to give full effect to paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 12 of the Convention.