Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - France (Ratification: 1937)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - France (Ratification: 2016)

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. In previous comments, the Committee noted the general clauses and conditions of employment of detainees within and outside prison establishments contained in the hiring contracts and circulars of the Ministry of Justice of 14 January 1986, and it requested the Government to supply information on the effect given in practice to the provisions of section 720 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and of hiring contracts, particularly regarding the following points: the proportion of detainees who wished to work and who were made available to hiring enterprises; the remuneration actually paid in relation to that of free workers and the deductions made in relation to the level of productivity, and the special conditions and deductions referred to in hiring contracts; the unemployment insurance covering detainees working outside or inside prison.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government concerning detainees who exercise an occupational activity or who receive training. It notes in particular that the activities of detainees working for the Prisons Industrial Board (RIEP) is organised and carried out within the framework of the prison administration and that productive activities are carried out by the above administration for other administrative departments and for private enterprises. As regards the activity of detainees who work for hiring enterprises, the prison administration makes available to the enterprises the premises on which the work is organised and the detainees are employed. Their remuneration is in theory negotiated at the same level as that of free workers, although the application of this principle encounters difficulties stemming, in particular, from the low skill levels of prison detainees and the productivity levels, which are lower than in external enterprises. According to the information supplied by the Government, the average daily remuneration for six hours of work was, in September 1989, FF75 for hired workers and FF90 in the RIEP. This remuneration is subject to deductions to cover social contributions in the fields of sickness, old-age and widows' insurance (both the worker's and the employer's contributions) and accident insurance, as well as deductions pertaining to the detainee's imprisonment (maintenance, the earnings that are retained and paid to prisoners upon their release, compensation for victims). The Government indicates that the prison administration is aware of the overall insufficiency of the level of remuneration and is endeavouring to pursue a policy of attracting enterprises that offer better paid work.

The Committee notes that under section 720(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure the employment relationships of detainees are not covered by employment contracts. The Committee also notes that the average hourly rate of remuneration was FF12.50 in September 1989, while the minimum wage (SMIC), which is the gross hourly wage rate under which no employee may be paid, was FF29.91. The deductions that were made amounted to around 80 per cent of the remuneration.

The Committee refers to paragraphs 97 to 101 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour in which it indicated that the employment of prisoners by private employers is only compatible with the Convention under the conditions of a free employment relationship, that is not only entered into with the consent of the person concerned but is also subject to certain guarantees as to the payment of normal wages and social security, etc.

The Committee notes that, according to the documentation supplied by the Government in its report, 400 private enterprises have employed 8,500 workers and attained a payroll of FF115 million, and it requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that the remuneration paid by hiring enterprises is of a comparable level to that paid to free workers, not only in overall terms, but also as regards individual wages. It also requests the Government to state whether, for hired workers, the employers' share of social contributions is paid by the detainee.

As regards entitlement to unemployment benefits, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that, under the general unemployment benefit scheme set up by Ordinance No. 84-198 of 21 March 1984, freed detainees benefit from public assistance in the form of the integration allowance that is awarded for a period of one year, and have access to training programmes intended for the long-term unemployed by virtue of a circular dated 15 February 1988.