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Other comments on C129

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Previous comment

In order to provide a comprehensive view of issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on labour inspection, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 81 (labour inspection) and 129 (labour inspection in agriculture) together.
The Committee notes the joint observations of the General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière-Work, Employment and Vocational Training (CGT-FO-TEFP); the National Confederation of Labour-Work, Employment and Vocational Training (CNT-TEFP); the National Union of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training (SNTEFP-CGT); the SUD Union-Labour, Social Affairs; and the Single National Union-Work, Employment, Training and Professional Integration SNU-TEFI (FSU) submitted on 8 March 2021, alleging the violations of Conventions Nos 81 and 129 by the French Government during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee notes the information in response, provided by the Government.
Articles 3, 5(a), and 17 of Convention No. 81, and Articles 6(1) and (3), 12, 22 and 23 of Convention No. 129. Further duties entrusted to labour inspectors. Control of workers in an irregular situation (in agriculture). In response to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that the Labour Code empowers labour inspectors, judicial officers and personnel, and customs officers with detecting violations relating to the employment of undocumented foreign workers. The Government also indicates that the difficulty in conducting certain inquiries may justify coordinated action, under the aegis of the State prosecutor. As the coordination of the police with the labour inspectorate allows, in certain cases, for tighter control of the inspections, this assists labour inspectors in fully performing their functions of providing information and guidance. Labour inspectors do not participate in the operations of the immigration police, who target violations related to irregular stay, but focus on identifying any infringements, such as illegal employment for which the responsibility rests with the employer and the worker is disadvantaged, in terms of social security registration, wages, hours and conditions of work, and so forth. The Committee notes this information, which responds to its previous request.
Articles 4, 10 and 11 of Convention No. 81 and Articles 7, 14 and 15 of Convention No. 129. Territorial reform of the States and of French Guyana. Impact on the organization of the labour inspection system. In response to the Committee’s previous comment concerning the territorial reform of the State, the Government indicates that the Prime Minister’s circular of 12 June 2019 regarding the implementation of this reform, introduced a programme to clearly delimit the competences of the State territorial services and, in particular, resulted in the establishment of a public labour market inclusion service. This had no impact on either the competences of the labour inspectorate or the prerogatives of the central authority, the General Labour Directorate, which ensures that the envisaged pooling of departmental resources relating to property, budget and support functions does not adversely impact the tasks of the labour inspectorate. The Government refers to Decree No. 2020-1545 of 9 December 2020, which sets out that the new decentralized organization of the public labour market inclusion service does not impact the specific activities of the labour inspectorate, which maintain their hierarchical organizational structure. The Committee notes this information, which responds to its previous request.
In response to the Committee’s previous comment regarding the impact on the labour inspection system of the reform of the State services in French Guyana, the Government indicates that the entry into force, on 1 January 2020, of Decree No. 2019-894 of 28 August 2019 on the organization and functions of State services in Guyana has not had any major impact on the functioning of the labour inspection services. These services fall under the General Directorate of Communities, which, while appointed by the prefect, acts under the exclusive authority of the General Labour Directorate. The Committee notes this information, which responds to its previous request.
Articles 6 and 18 of Convention No. 81 and Articles 8 and 24 of Convention No. 129. Independence of labour inspectors and penalties for obstructing labour inspectors in the discharge of their duties. The Committee notes that, in response to its previous comments, the Government indicates that it is vigorously combating the obstruction of the duties of labour inspectors. In this regard, the Committee notes that the amount of the fine imposed for such an infringement has increased ten-fold since 2016. The Committee also notes that inquiry and interrogation methods have been optimized for the most serious incidents, and that the penalties are proportional to the gravity of the acts, with the most serious infringements prosecuted before the correctional court. In addition, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s information, the central authority, with the help of the National Council of Labour Inspection (CNIT), remains alert to the matter of handling any undue pressure or obstruction to the independence of labour inspectors, and that there seem to have been no cases that required interventions, except for simple guidance, over the course of the previous three years. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any new cases of obstruction faced by labour inspectors in the discharge of their duties, and on criminal and civil charges brought for cases of contempt, threats, assaults and violence against labour inspectors, and on the effective application of penalties.
Articles 12 and 16 of Convention No. 81 and Articles 16 and 21 of Convention No. 129. Powers of labour inspectors, and inspections as often and as thorough as necessary. In response to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that Act No. 2018-727 of 10 August 2018, for a State that serves a trust-based society, has not compromised the prerogatives of the labour inspectors subject to the above Articles as there have been no reports since its promulgation. The Committee notes that section 32 of this Act is applicable only on a trial basis in the Hauts-de-France and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions, and for a period of four years as from the issuance of the implementing decree to the Act. It notes that this trial must be subject to an assessment, particularly of its impact on administrative timelines, the results of which must be communicated to Parliament, six months before the completion of the trial period at the latest. The Committee also notes that the implementing decree, concerning the trial period on limiting the total time of inspections conducted by the administrations in certain enterprises, was adopted on 21 November 2018; and that this trial period has ended because, under section 6 of the decree, the provisions in question were applicable to inspections from 1 December 2018. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to communicate the results of the assessment of the trial period and to indicate whether section 32 of Act No 2018-727 remains in force. If so, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the scope of application of this section has been extended to other regions and, if so, to continue to provide information on the implementation of this section. It also requests information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that, in practice, the provisions of the above section 32 do not obstruct the powers of labour inspectors to enter workplaces, in conformity with Article 12 of Convention No. 81 and Article 16 of Convention No. 129, and to inspect them as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions, in conformity with Article 16 of Convention No. 81 and Article 21 of Convention No. 129.
Article 19 of Convention No. 81 and Article 25 of Convention No. 129. Periodic reports. Further to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that the “Wiki’T” application automatizes the input of information required for activity reports and management, that the volume of data collected through this application is increasing as it improves, and that the inspection officials see the usefulness of contributing to the tool. The “Delphes” pre-formatted query tool also provides many functions. Noting that these two tools are currently being revised, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the development of their functions in order to enable a more effective application of the obligations provided for in Article 19 of Convention No. 81 and Article 25 of Convention No. 129.

Matters specifically relating to labour inspection in agriculture

Article 19 of Convention No. 129. Notification to labour inspectorate of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease in Guadeloupe. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government in response to its previous comment, when the inspector is notified of an occupational accident, he or she requests the accident declaration form but that the information is difficult to obtain in cases of accidents in the informal sector, which are relatively high in the agricultural sector. Hence, over the previous three years, the inspections have focused on combating illegal labour in this sector and several legal proceedings have been initiated, with a view to securing dissuasive penalties that resonate throughout the sector. The Committee also notes that in 2019, meetings were organized to iron out the difficulties identified in the process to submit a declaration with the social security services. With regard to occupational diseases, the Committee notes that employers are not involved in the process of declaration of such diseases, and that those who initiate the process are the family doctors. As these diseases are under-declared in Guadeloupe, the Directorate for the economy, employment, labour and solidarity has committed to raising doctors’ awareness of the possible association between a pathology and an occupational cause, and to strengthening the relationships with the works doctors. This initiative concerns all sectors, not only the agricultural sector. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the results of the several approaches that have been taken are encouraging. The Committee notes, however, that although other initiatives relating to doctors were envisaged, the COVID-19 pandemic curbed them, and that, as there is no labour inspector-doctor in the Antilles, these initiatives can only be restarted at the completion of the current hiring process. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the hiring of a labour inspector-doctor in the Antilles and on the development of new initiatives aimed at facilitating the notification of labour inspectors of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease in the agricultural sector in Guadeloupe.
Article 27(b), (f) and (g) of Convention No. 129. Annual report of the labour inspection service. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government in response to its previous comment, 120 personnel are appointed to the labour inspection services in agriculture (Article 27(b) of the Convention) but that the share of activity dedicated to agriculture in each department cannot be precisely determined. With regard to the statistics and causes of occupational accidents and occupational diseases in the agricultural sector (Article 27(f) and (g) respectively), the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s information, the Mutualité sociale agricole - the social security scheme for this specific sector – compiles national statistics based on declarations of occupational accidents and occupational diseases. The Government indicates that the labour inspection services do not receive these declarations directly, but that everything is implemented by the central labour inspection system to remove organizational and technical obstacles, and obtain these declarations. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to enable the labour inspection system to obtain the declarations of occupational accidents and occupational diseases (Article 27(f) and (g)).
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