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Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Curaçao

Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention. Additional duties of labour inspectors. The committee notes the Government’s indication that the labour conditions section of the labour inspectorate is also in charge of ensuring compliance with the Ordinance on Work by Foreigners with regard to the need of foreign workers to hold a work permit, and that inspections related to the Ordinance resulted in 20 infringements including 8 instances referred for further prosecution. The Committee recalls that, pursuant to Article 3(1) and (2) of the Convention, the functions of the system of labour inspection shall be to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work (for example, provisions relating to hours, wages, occupational safety and health, child labour), and any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the functions assigned to labour inspectors do not interfere with the main objective of labour inspectors. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information regarding the role and responsibilities of labour inspectors in the application of the Ordinance on Work by Foreigners, including the time and resources of the labour inspectorate that are allocated to these responsibilities in practice, and whether the 8 infringements referred for prosecution involved prosecution of migrant workers, employers, or other entities. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on instances where inspectors took specific action to provide migrant workers with protection of labour rights equal to those enjoyed by citizens of Curaçao.

Article 7(3). Continuous training of labour inspectors. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the training activities provided to labour inspectors. It notes that, after recruitment, all inspectors are requested to attend courses in: law enforcement (4 months of 12 hours per week), labour laws (4 weeks of 3 hours per day), occupational safety and health (1 month of 8 hours per week), and many on-the-job training sessions. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the training given to labour inspectors, and to include information on the content, frequency, number of participants and the results achieved for each set of training sessions.

Articles 10, 11 and 16. Human and material resources of the labour inspection system. Frequency and thoroughness of inspections. In response to its previous comment, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report concerning the human resources of the labour inspectorate. It notes in particular that, in 2020, these resources encompass 28 employees, including: 9 inspection officers in the section of occupational safety and health, 9 inspection officers in the section of labour conditions, 6 inspection officers in the section of community care and social facilities and 4 persons in the role of Inspector General, Secretary, Head of Operations and Operations officer. The Committee notes that, in 2020, the section of labour conditions performed 327 inspections and that the section of occupational safety performed 343 regular inspections. The Committee also takes due note of the information provided by the Government concerning the material resources of the labour inspectorate. In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many business activities were closed during 2020 and that routine inspections were cancelled. It also notes that human resources from the labour inspectorate were diverted to different assistance tasks in response to the crisis generated by the pandemic. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of labour inspectors and on the number of labour inspection operations carried out. It further requests the Government to send information on the geographical distribution of labour inspectors.

Article 12. Powers of labour inspectors. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes that section 6 of the National Ordinance of Safety, section 34 of the Labour Regulation 2000 and section 16a of the Vacation Regulation 1949 establish the powers of labour inspectors with respect to supervising compliance with the legal provisions of these pieces of legislation. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the manner in which it is ensured that labour inspectors are empowered to make visits to workplaces liable to inspection without previous notice in conformity with Article 12(1)(a).

Article 13. Preventive measures in the event of a danger to the safety and health of workers. Following its previous comment, the Committee notes that section 2(3) of the National Ordinance of Safety provides that the Executive Council or the official appointed by him for that purpose shall be authorized to stop work in establishments where the regulations provided by or pursuant to this national ordinance are not observed and in cases where persons are directly endangered by such work. The Committee requests that the Government provide data on preventive measures that have been adopted when labour inspectors had reasonable cause to believe that defects in workplaces constituted a threat to the health or safety of workers (Article 13(1)). The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on preventive measures adopted with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health or safety of workers (Article 13(2)).

Article 14. Notification of occupational accidents and diseases to the labour inspectorate. Further to its previous request, the Committee notes that section 2(7) of the National Ordinance of Safety provides that the head or administrator of the enterprise shall immediately inform the labour inspection officers of any accidents. It also notes the Government’s indication that Social Insurance Bank is in charge of establishing cases of occupational diseases. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that occupational diseases are notified to the labour inspectorate. The Committee also requests the Government to take measures to ensure the collection and publication of statistical information on occupational accidents and diseases, in conformity with Article 21(g) of the Convention.

Articles 17 and 18. Effective enforcement and adequate penalties. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken, in law and in practice, to give effect to Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention, and to communicate copies of any relevant legal texts, as well as information on specific penalties assessed and implemented for violations of legal provisions.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication to the ILO of annual reports on the work of the labour inspection services. In its previous comment, the Committee noted that a computerized and integrated system, including a module for the registration of labour inspection data, was expected to be implemented to enable the labour inspectorate to publish and send to the ILO annual reports with detailed statistical information. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the decision was made to give priority to other sectors of the Ministry and to postpone the implementation. The Committee further notes that no annual labour inspection report has been received, but that the Government provides information on the number of labour inspections and the number of violations detected. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the possible implementation of the system enabling the registration of labour inspection data. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that annual labour inspection reports are prepared, published and communicated to the ILO, and that they contain information on all the subjects listed in Article 21(a)–(g).