Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1960)

With reference to its observation, and noting that the Government has not provided a report on the application of the Convention and has not replied to its previous comments, the Committee hopes that the Government will not fail to comply with its obligations and recalls its previous request which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 1999. It notes the information provided in reply to its previous comments, particularly on the measures taken to improve the effectiveness of labour inspection, such as courses on labour law, administrative law, work by children and young persons, as well as the training agreement for labour inspectors concluded with the Latin American University of Science and Technology and the Inter-American University. The Committee notes that, in the context of the MATAC-ILO project, draft regulations are being prepared to provide better protection for workers’ rights by making the staff of the labour inspection services more pluri-disciplinary and professional. The Committee also notes, in reply to its previous observation concerning the contradictions between the estimates made by the Inter-Confederal Committee of Costa Rica (CICC) on the staff of the inspection services and the needs and figures provided by the Government, that information on an increase in the number of inspectors could soon be provided, and it requests the Government to indicate whether measures have been taken in this respect, particularly within the framework of the MATAC-ILO project and, where appropriate, to provide information on their implementation. It also requests the Government to provide detailed information on the current numbers and geographical distribution of the staff of the labour inspection services and on the plans to increase this staff with a view to improving observance of workers’ rights in the fields covered by the Convention.

The Committee notes the statement that the Government is continually endeavouring to develop the financial resources of the Ministry of Labour and it requests it to provide information on the measures taken, within the framework of the programme for the modernization of the labour administration, to give effect to the provisions of Article 11 of the Convention in relation to offices and transport facilities (paragraph 1(a) and (b)) and the reimbursement to inspectors of any travelling and incidental expenses which may be necessary for the performance of their duties (paragraph 2).

With reference to its direct request under Convention No. 129 concerning annual inspection reports, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to ensure that the central inspection authority, in accordance with Article 20, publishes and transmits to the ILO within the required time limits an annual report containing information on the subjects enumerated in Article 21(a) to (g).

The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Principal duties of the labour inspectorate. With reference to the provisions of Decree No. 28578 of 3 February 2000, and noting that the function of bringing to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions (Article 3, paragraph 1(c), of the Convention) is not included among the duties entrusted to inspectors, the Committee wishes to recall that this is one of the three principal duties prescribed by the instruments. It emphasized that this is a vital factor in social progress in paragraph 79 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection and explained that, if it is properly understood and carried out, it should promote the introduction of new protective measures. Noting that, as a result of their direct knowledge of the working environment, labour inspectors are ideally situated to alert the authorities to the need for new regulations that are better suited to the needs of workers, the Committee suggested that the normal channel for informing the competent authorities of the shortcomings of existing legal provisions is the periodical reports that the labour inspectors submit to their superiors, or through specific reports. The Committee hopes that the Government will not fail to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention on this important point and that it will keep the ILO informed promptly.

Under the terms of sections 9 and 24 of the above Decree, in addition to the duties set out in Conventions Nos. 81 and 129, labour inspectors are also entrusted with those deriving from the Organic Act of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and from other provisions, as well as the resolution of labour difficulties and disputes where they do not lie within the competence of the directorate of labour affairs. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to Article 3, paragraph 2, under the terms of which "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 or to prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers". It therefore requests the Government to indicate precisely all the duties entrusted to inspectors by the Organic Act of the Ministry of Labour, as well as under the other legal provisions mentioned above, and to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that these duties do not interfere with those set out in Article 3, paragraph 1(a) to (c), and do not prejudice the principles of the authority and impartiality of inspectors.

Powers of inspectors to enter freely at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 89 of the Organic Act of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, labour inspectors are authorized to enter workplaces at any hour of the day, as well as during working periods at night. The Committee wishes to emphasize that night inspections may be carried out not only to supervise the application of the relevant legal provisions while work is under way, but also to control the state of installations, equipment and machinery, which cannot be carried out during the course of work, as well as to ensure observance of working time and hours and conditions of employment. In accordance with Article 12, paragraph 1(a), labour inspectors must be legally authorized to enter at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection, even outside the hours or work of the above workplaces.

Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease (Article 14). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the cases and manner in which the National Insurance Institute is obliged to notify labour inspectors of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease.