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The Committee notes the Government’s report covering the period ending in September 2008 and the attached statistical data on the number of inspections conducted in 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, and of workers covered by these inspections.

Article 12, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention. Right of labour inspectors to enter freely workplaces liable to inspection. In its previous comments, the Committee pointed out that section 124(1)(a) of the 2003 Labour Act, which limits the timing of workplace inspections to “working hours”, is not compatible with Article 12(1)(a) of the Convention. It notes the Government’s indication that the above provision of the Labour Act is sufficient to uncover clandestine moves by employers. Referring to its General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection (paragraphs 268–271), the Committee wishes to recall that the conditions for the exercise of the right of free entry to workplaces laid down by the Convention are intended to allow inspectors to carry out inspections, where necessary and possible, to enforce the application of legal provisions relating to conditions of work. The protection of workers and the technical requirements of inspection should be the primordial criteria for determining the appropriate timing of visits, for example to check for violations such as abusive night work conditions in a workplace officially operating during the daytime, or to carry out technical inspections requiring machinery or production processes to be stopped. It should be for the inspector to decide whether a visit is reasonable and inspections should only be carried out at night or outside working hours where this is warranted. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to remove the restriction on the right of labour inspectors to enter freely workplaces from section 124(1)(a) of the Labour Act of 2003 and to keep the ILO informed.

Article 3, paragraph 1, and Articles 17 and 18. Inspection duties. Enforcement of legal provisions relating to the conditions of work and the protection of workers. Legal proceedings and provision of adequate penalties for violation of legislation. In its previous report, the Government indicated that it wishes to encourage compliance with legal provisions through the promotion of a social partnership attentive to the mutual interests of employers and workers, rather than through legal proceedings against employers who have committed a violation. The Committee requested the Government to provide practical information on any mechanisms established to that effect and to specify the role of labour inspectors in this regard. It notes that, in its report of 2008, the Government only reaffirms that it wishes to promote partnership and compromise between employers and workers. The report provides no information on the findings of the labour inspectors during the visits that they conducted in workplaces throughout the country in 2007, nor on any actions undertaken following such inspections. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to paragraph 280 of its General Survey, in which it emphasizes that, even if the credibility of any inspectorate depends to a large extent on its ability to advise employers and workers on the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions within its remit, it also depends on the existence and implementation of a sufficiently dissuasive enforcement mechanism, the functions of enforcement and advice being inseparable in practice.

The Committee requests the Government to take appropriate measures to ensure that legal provisions relating to the conditions of work and the protection of workers are effectively enforced through legal proceedings where necessary. It further requests the Government to provide information on the violations reported by labour inspectors and the fines imposed to employers in accordance with section 38 of the Labour Regulations adopted in 2007, during the reporting period, and to specify the value of a “penalty unit” and the manner in which such value may be revised to remain dissuasive in the event of monetary inflation. The Government is also requested to indicate the measures taken to ensure that such penalties were effectively enforced.

Articles 19, 20 and 21. Periodical reports and annual report on the work of the labour inspection services. While noting the information on the number of inspections carried out in 2007 and during the first quarter of 2008, the Committee emphasizes that, by virtue of the ratification of the Convention, the Government undertook to ensure that practical measures would be taken to centralize information required under Article 21, with a view to preparing an annual labour inspection report, the main purpose of which is to serve as a basis for the periodical assessment by the central inspection authority of the adequacy of the available resources in relation to needs and, consequently, to determine priority areas of action. The Committee requests the Government take measures rapidly to establish the conditions in which the central labour inspection authority can collect data on the activities of the services under its control with a view to publish an annual report on the work of the inspection system containing information on the following subjects:

(a)   relevant laws and regulations;

(b)   staff of the labour inspection services (including the number, geographical location and distribution of inspectors by gender and by category);

(c)   statistics of workplaces liable to inspection (number and geographical distribution) and the number of workers employed therein (men, women, young persons);

(d)   statistics of inspection visits (unannounced, scheduled and follow-up visits, visits following a complaint, etc.);

(e)   statistics of violations and penalties imposed (number of violations reported, legal provisions concerned, types of sanctions imposed, etc.);

(f)    statistics of industrial accidents (number of fatal and non-fatal accidents); and

(g)   statistics of cases of occupational disease (number and causes by industry and occupation).

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.