Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1998. It requests the Government to provide further information on the following points:

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific provisions of the legislation of Guatemala that define the term "agricultural undertaking".

Article 5, paragraphs 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c). The Committee requests the Government to provide information as to what extent effect has been given to the provisions of the Convention with respect to the categories of persons working in agricultural undertakings mentioned in Article 5, paragraphs 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c).

Article 6, paragraph 1(c). Please indicate which provisions of the national legislation require labour inspectors to bring defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions to the notice of the competent authority.

Article 6, paragraph 3. The Committee asks the Government to indicate what measures have been taken or envisaged in order to ensure that additional duties of labour inspectors, set forth by articles 54; 73; 75; 84; 85; 140; 141; 143; 212; 223; 227; 229; 288; 375; 376; 389; 394 and 408 of the Labour Code; article 1 of resolution No. 777-94 of the Government, dated 23 December 1994; and resolution No. 24-91 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, dated 21 August 1991, do not interfere with the effective discharge of primary duties of the labour inspection or prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers.

Article 7, paragraph 3. The Committee asks the Government to provide the following information: (i) indication of the exact place of the Department of Labour Inspection in Agriculture in the system of the General Labour Inspection -- whether it is just another denomination of the Department of Agriculture within the General Sub-Inspectorate for the Guatemala Zone that is situated in the location of the General Direction of Labour or whether it is a separate body; (ii) information on the current number of General Sub-Inspectorates; and (iii) information on the current status of the National Department of the Inspection of the Agricultural Labour ("Departamento Nacional de Inspección de Trabajo Agropecuario"), and its place in the system of the General Labour Inspection.

Article 9, paragraph 2. The Committee asks the Government to provide details on the training opportunities for labour inspectors in the course of employment.

Article 10. Please provide information on the percentage of women appointed to the inspection staff in general and the relative percentage of women in higher grades of the labour inspection in particular.

Article 11. The Committee asks the Government to indicate measures undertaken or envisaged in order to ensure that duly qualified national technical experts and national specialists are associated in the work of labour inspection in agriculture (in particular, on the level not of the Ministry, but in on-the-spot visits).

Article 12, paragraph 1. The Committee asks the Government: (i) to provide information on the particular forms of cooperation between the labour inspection and the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Office ("Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos"), the Office of the Public Prosecutor ("Ministerio Público"), National Police ("Policía Nacional"), the General Directorate of Migration ("Dirección General de Migración"), and the Institute of Social Security; (ii) to indicate the measures that have been undertaken or are envisaged in order to ensure effective cooperation between the labour inspectorate and different government services in the area of prevention and supervision over the safety and health at work; and (iii) to indicate the body responsible for coordination of actions of inspection services and various governmental services in the area of safety and health at work.

Article 13. Please provide information on the number and the frequency of training seminars, information visits and discussions for dissemination of information about labour rights and the concrete arrangements made by the Government in order to promote such collaboration.

Article 14. The Committee asks the Government to indicate: (i) the total number of labour inspectors and the number of labour inspectors responsible for the supervision of agricultural undertakings; (ii) whether the ten inspectors assigned special functions should be counted toward the 60 inspectors located in the countryside; (iii) the number, nature, size and situation of the agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number and classes of persons working in such undertakings.

Article 15, paragraph 1. Please provide specific information on the number of local offices and their equipment as well as on the measures taken or envisaged since the submission of the report in order to increase the number of transport facilities necessary for the performance of the duties of labour inspectors.

Article 16, paragraph 1(a). The Committee notes that in accordance with paragraph (a) of article 281 of the Labour Code, labour inspectors have the right to visit workplaces of any nature at various hours of the day and during the night if the work is carried out during the night, with an exclusive purpose of supervision, set forth by article 278 of the Labour Code. Thus, it appears that under the legislation the inspector's power of entry is significantly restricted because the labour inspectors are not authorized to visit workplaces during the night if the undertaking is not in operation. The Committee hopes that the Government would take all necessary steps in order to bring paragraph (a) of article 281 of the Labour Code into conformity with Article 16, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention.

Article 16, paragraph 1(b). The Committee asks the Government to indicate how the national law gives effect to this provision.

Article 16, paragraph 1(c)(i). Please indicate whether labour inspectors possess the right to interview, alone or in the presence of witnesses, the employer or any other person in the undertaking on any matters concerning the application of the legal provisions.

Article 16, paragraph 1(c)(ii). Please indicate whether the legislation prescribes the keeping of books or registers relating to conditions of life and work of workers other than those mentioned in paragraph (b) of article 281 of the Labour Code and what legal provisions (if any) authorize labour inspectors to require the production of such documents.

Article 16, paragraph 2. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether the legislation contains any such norms specifically addressed to labour inspectors; and to provide information about the practical application of this provision in the work of labour inspection in agriculture.

Article 16, paragraph 3. Please indicate whether the legislation gives effect to this provision.

Article 17. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in which cases and under what conditions the labour inspection services in agriculture are associated in the preventive control referred to in this Article.

Article 18, paragraph 4. Please indicate whether the legislation of Guatemala contains a provision setting forth the procedure of notification of the representatives of the workers about defects noted by the inspector and about his respective orders.

Article 19, paragraph 1. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the procedure and time-limits of notification to the General Labour Inspection of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease.

Article 19, paragraph 2. Please describe the procedure of participation of labour inspectors in the investigation of the causes of the most serious occupational accidents and diseases and indication of measures taken or envisaged in order to adopt appropriate normative regulations.

Article 20, paragraph (a). Please provide information on the practical application of paragraph (a) of Article 20 of the Convention and, in particular, the criteria and the procedure for its enforcement.

Article 21. The Committee asks the Government to provide specific information on the practical measures taken to ensure the effectiveness of the inspection of agricultural undertakings, indicating the frequency rate of inspection visits.

Article 26. The Committee requests the Government to transmit a copy of the annual report within the time-limit set forth by paragraph 3 of Article 26 of the Convention and describe the procedure for access to the report by an interested party.

Article 27. The Committee asks the Government to take into consideration that annual reports published by the central inspection authority shall deal in particular with the subjects listed in Article 27 of the Convention, including, but not limited to, statistics of occupational accidents, including their causes and statistics of occupational diseases, including their causes (Article 27(f) and (g)).

The Committee also asks the Government to provide copies of the following documents mentioned in the report:

-- document establishing the prerequisites for the employment as labour inspector, determined by the National Office of the Civil Service;

-- agreement between the labour inspection and Human Rights Office ("Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos") aimed at achieving more efficient cooperation in accompaniment of inspections; and

-- regulations on travelling allowances ("Reglamento de Viáticos").