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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Niger (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the Government's reports and the partial information provided in reply to its previous comments. With reference to its observation on the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide additional information in its next report on the following points:

Article 3, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, in accordance with section L.510.1 of the Labour Code, the responsibilities of labour inspectors include supervising the application of provisions issued on employment and vocational training. The Government states that labour inspectors are also increasingly being called upon to give courses on labour law in schools and other vocational training centres. The Committee wishes to recall that, according to this provision of the Convention, the primary duties of the labour inspectorate are to secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers and that any further duties which may be entrusted to it, such as those relating to industrial relations, placement, the mobility of workers or vocational training and guidance, shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of its primary duties or to prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers. The Government is requested to indicate the manner in which it is ensured that the range of duties which now have to be discharged by inspectors do not interfere with the discharge of their obligation as set out in section 6 of Decree No. 67-126 of 7 September 1967 to carry out inspection visits in establishments subject to their control at least once a year.

Article 4, paragraph 1. The Committee notes that the organization and system for the control of the labour inspectorate, as described in section L.510.3, are unchanged with regard to the previous legislation. However, it notes the introduction of a provision submitting the activities of medical labour inspectors to the same system. Furthermore, according to Decree No. 67-126 above, the labour inspectorate and the occupational medical inspectorate are under the control of the central directorate of labour and social security. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply with its next report an organigramme of the Ministry of Labour and the external services discharging work related to labour inspection or contributing to it so that it can assess the manner in which effect is given to this provision, which provides that, so far as is compatible with the administrative practice, labour inspection shall be placed under the supervision and control of a central authority.

Article 7. The Committee notes the general nature of section L.510.5, under which the staff of the public service is composed of persons who are suitably qualified to discharge their functions and has access to the necessary training, as well as the Government's indication that inspectors are called upon to give courses on labour law in schools and vocational training centres. It requests the Government to provide information on the contents of the initial training required to exercise the functions of labour inspector.

Article 8. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the proportion of women in the categories of officials eligible for appointment to the labour inspectorate.

Article 12, paragraph 1(a) and (b). The Committee notes that, according to section L.510.10(a) of the Labour Code, inspections by day and night are carried out in establishments subject to such supervision only in the event that inspectors have reasonable grounds for believing that persons who are legally protected are engaged therein. It also notes that the Labour Code has not reproduced the former provision authorizing inspection by night in premises in which it is evident that collective night work is performed (section 151(b) of the former Code). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which supervision is carried out by the inspectorate of the possible presence in the above establishments of undeclared workers at times other than those when legally protected persons are engaged.

Article 14. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the reports of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease which employers are required to make under section 136 of the Labour Code are transmitted to the labour inspectorate and, if possible, to provide copies of the regulations governing this procedure.

Article 16. With reference to its comment under Article 3 above, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to ensure, in accordance with section 6 of Decree No. 67-126 above, that all the workplaces subject to such control are inspected annually and, where appropriate, to provide information on developments in the situation in the workplaces inspected resulting from the application of these measures.

Article 19. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would attach to its next report, in so far as possible, examples of the monthly reports of the labour inspectorate, as envisaged in section 6 of Decree No. 67-126 above.

Articles 20 and 21. The Committee notes that the legislation also provides for the preparation and transmission to the central authority of annual inspection reports. However, it notes with regret that the annual reports envisaged under Article 20 on the subjects set out in Article 21 have not been transmitted to the International Labour Office for many years, despite its repeated requests. The Committee emphasizes that inspection reports are not an end in themselves, but that they provide indications of the problems encountered by the labour inspectorate and the practical results of their activities and show the extent to which the objective is achieved of guaranteeing that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to give effect to these provisions of the Convention and to ensure that the above annual inspection reports are published and transmitted to the International Labour Office in due time.

Finally, the Government is requested to supply the International Labour Office with a copy of any text issued under the provisions of the new Labour Code respecting the missions of the labour inspectorate and any text which repeals the regulations issued under the former Code.