Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1960)

1.  The Committee notes the observations made by the Transport Workers’ Union of Costa Rica (SICOTRA) and the Union of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (SINDHAC), forwarded to the Government on 11 September 2000, and those made by the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN), forwarded to the Government on 22 September 2000, in relation to the failure to comply with Article 8, principally, and also with Articles 9 and 14 of the Convention. The above organizations indicate in particular that workers in certain public transport enterprises have their wages reduced in a systematic manner. The owners of these enterprises deduct wages to compensate for losses caused by the malfunctioning of the system for the electronic registration of users of the above services and for breakdowns suffered by the vehicles, or traffic accidents. Such deductions are practised with a view to workers being able to keep their jobs. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on these issues, with reference to the wage protection provisions set out in Article 1 (definition of the term "wages"), Articles 8 and 9 (deductions from wages) and Article 14 (information on the particulars of wages) of the Convention, and it hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with this Convention.

2.  The Committee also notes the observations made by the Union of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (SINDHAC), forwarded to the Government on 29 September 2000, concerning the failure of the Government to comply with Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the Convention. The above organization indicates in particular that workers do not receive wages for the overtime hours worked. It adds that, for the work performed outside normal working hours, they are compensated in free time.

3.  The Committee recalls that in its previous comment, with reference to an observation made by the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN) concerning the failure to comply in particular with Article 12, paragraph 1 (regular payment of wages), it requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Convention in the road transport sector, including for example extracts of official reports and records of inspections. The Committee notes that the Government has not yet provided any information in this respect and therefore requests it to do so in its next report.

4.  The Committee is bound to express its concern at the Government’s repeated silence in relation to the observations made by workers’ organizations. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the Government did not provide the information requested in its previous direct request concerning the observations made by the Association of Customs Officers (ASEPA).

5.  The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will soon provide detailed information on the various observations made by the above workers’ organizations.

6.  Furthermore, the Committee regrets to note that the Government’s report does not contain any specific reply to its previous comments. It therefore urges the Government to provide information on the following matters which it has been raising for some years:

Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention.  For several years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to adopt the necessary measures to resolve the incompatibility between the wording of section 165(3) of the Labour Code, which provides that coffee plantations may provide workers, in place of cash, with any representative token of the currency, provided that its conversion into cash is verified within a week of it being issued, and this Article of the Convention, which provides that wages payable in money shall be paid only in legal tender, and that payment in the form of promissory notes, vouchers or coupons, or in any other form alleged to represent legal tender, shall be prohibited. The Committee considers that, even though the intention of the above section of the Labour Code is to contribute to controlling the amounts paid to workers in the above plantations, as indicated by the Government in its previous reports, and despite the Government’s expressed intention to repeal the section as a whole, this provision is not sufficiently clear and precise to comply with the requirements of this Article of the Convention. Having noted once again that the wording of section 165(3) has not undergone any amendment, the Committee requests the Government to make every effort to amend this provision of the Labour Code so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention.

Article 4, paragraph 2.  With regard to the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure that allowances in kind are appropriate for the personal use of the worker and his family, and that the value attributed to them is fair and reasonable, as provided in this Article of the Convention, the Committee once again notes that the Government’s last report still fails to mention the adoption of the regulations envisaged under section 2 of Decree No. 11324-TSS respecting the evaluation of allowances in kind. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures in the near future to complete the preparation of the draft regulations and to proceed to their adoption.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2001.]