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

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

1. With reference to its previous comment, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the comments made by the Union of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (SINHAC) concerning the failure to pay overtime hours performed by workers, and the comments made by the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN) and SINDHAC alleging non-compliance with Articles 8 and 9 (deductions from wages) and 14 (information on particulars of wages) of the Convention.

2. With reference to SINDHAC’s first allegation, the Committee notes the action taken by the Government, and particularly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the National Directorate of Labour Inspection, resulting in a positive solution to the problem raised by the organizations concerned.

3. With regard to the allegations of the CTRN and SINDHAC concerning Articles 8, 9 and 14 of the Convention, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the action taken to suspend implementation of the administrative instruction lowering the wages of workers who participated in the strike in July and August 1999.

4. However, the Committee regrets to note that the Government has not reported in detail as requested and has failed to provide information concerning the comments made by certain organizations alleging violations of certain provisions of the Convention and on other matters to which the Committee has been drawing attention for a number of years. The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide the requested information on the following points.

5. The Committee had noted the observations made by the Transport Workers’ Union of Costa Rica (SICOTRA), 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 are subject to wage deductions in a systematic manner. The owners of these enterprises make wage deductions 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 wage deductions are practised with a view to workers being able to keep their jobs. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on these practices which may be considered to be violations of 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 the Convention.

6. The Committee recalls that it had referred previously 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). The Committee had 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.

7. The Committee recalls that it expressed its concern at the Government’s persistent silence in relation to the comments made by certain workers’ organizations. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the Government did not provide the information requested in its previous comment concerning the comments made by the Association of Customs Officers (ASEPA).

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

9. Furthermore, the Committee regrets to note that the Government has not made any specific reply to its previous comments concerning the failure to apply certain Articles of the Convention. It therefore urges the Government to provide information on the following matters, which it has been raising for some years.

Article 3, paragraph 1. 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 quantities harvested 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 2002.]