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Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - France (RATIFICATION: 1950)

Other comments on C081

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee refers the Government to its observation and wishes to raise the additional points below.

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional duties entrusted to labour inspectors. Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Reunion. The Committee notes the Government’s information that intervention by the labour inspectorate in the event of collective disputes is even more significant in the overseas territories, given that disputes remain frequent and concern working conditions or wages. The Government also reports that the collective action of February 2009 had support from labour administration control officers, who contributed, in the course of visits in connection with remuneration, to monitoring application of the wage measures adopted.

The Committee reminds the Government of the primary functions of labour inspectors under Article 3(1) of the Convention (to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers and to supply technical information and advice to employers and workers). It also recalls the guidance provided in Paragraph 8 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), which recommends that “the functions of labour inspectors should not include that of acting as conciliator or arbitrator in proceedings concerning labour disputes”. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the time and resources spent on mediation, conciliation or arbitration, in relation to the primary duties of the labour inspection as defined in Article 3(1) of the Convention.

Article 10. Labour inspection staff. Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Reunion. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, a new post of labour controller has been opened in Reunion and a control officer was to be replaced in Guadeloupe. However, it notes that according to the Government, support for control is insufficient in Martinique. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on the staff of the labour inspection system currently in service together with information on any measures or initiatives planned to increase the strength of the labour inspection services.

Articles 5 and 7(3). Effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and other public or private institutions involved in similar activities, cooperation with employers and workers or their organizations, and occupational risk prevention training for inspection staff. The Committee notes with interest the information on the main initiatives for cooperation among the players involved in prevention, and on the training of control officers. It also notes that, according to the Government, except in the area of activities to tackle illegal employment, relations with the other administrative departments and institutions are frequent, particularly with the prevention department of the General Social Security Fund (CGSS), the Regional Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions (ARACT), the Directorate for the Environment, Physical Planning and Housing (DEAL) and the Regional Health Agency (ARS). It also notes the information that, vis-à-vis potential offenders among enterprises, the national and European control campaigns are instructional and serve as a disincentive, and that this approach helps to enhance professionalism in the fields concerned thanks to the training provided to staff and the production of methodological tools. As to the impact of cooperation among the players involved in prevention, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the statistics of occupational accidents/diseases published by the CGSS for 2010 show a 7 per cent drop between 2009 and 2010 in the number of occupational accidents with absence from work, whereas the number of employees grew by 1.9 per cent over the same period. The Government also reports that the number of serious occupational accidents fell by 26 per cent, the frequency rate for occupational accidents with absence from work remained lower than the national rate, and the number of occupational diseases with ongoing compensation rose from 179 to 230 between 2009 and 2010. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effects in practice of the abovementioned cooperation activities together with information on other cooperation activities undertaken by the labour inspectorate with other public institutions and the social partners, and the results obtained in the light of the Convention’s objectives.

Articles 5(a), 13 and 17. Cooperation with the justice system. Informative exchanges. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the Observatory on Penal Proceedings (OSP), established in 2008, is a source of information, and allows analysis of both the proceedings themselves and any resulting penal action, and facilitates cooperation between the two ministries. It also notes the information that the increase in the number of proceedings referred to the courts of justice by the labour inspectorate is due to steady improvement in the use of the tool afforded by the OSP. The Government also reports that the Central Administration of the Ministry of Justice and the General Directorate of Labour formed a working group composed of inspectors and judges and that on completion of the group’s work, as from the end of the second half of 2012, pursuant to a guidance note, relations between the prosecution services and the decentralized labour services have been on a formal footing. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, the dialogue between the prosecution services and the labour inspectorate enhances the effectiveness of criminal policy in the area of labour, by taking account of mutual constraints, and adds to knowledge of the outcome of proceedings in terms of prosecutions and significant judgements penalizing reported offences particularly in the areas of the fundamental rights of employees and occupational safety and health. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide all relevant information on the strengthening of effective cooperation between the labour inspection system and the justice system, together with information on judicial follow-up to reports referred by labour inspectors, broken down by subject.