Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1967)

Also with reference to its observation, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments. It would be grateful if it would provide additional information on the following points.

1. Article 3, paragraph 1(c), of the Convention. Contribution of the labour inspectorate to improving labour law. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would take measures to accord labour inspectors the legal and practical means to bring to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions.

2. Article 3, paragraph 2. Further duties entrusted to labour inspectors. According to the Government, the same inspectors do not carry out inspections and discharge conciliation and arbitration functions. Emphasizing that it is essential for the achievement of the objectives set out in the Convention that the human and material resources of the labour inspectorate are used principally for the effective discharge of the functions set out in Article 3, paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c), of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data in its next report on the geographical distribution of inspection staff by field of competence and volume of activities.

3. Necessity to give a legal basis to the powers accorded to labour inspectors. The Committee notes the information indicating that the practice in relation to the powers, prerogatives and duties of labour inspectors in the discharge of their functions is in conformity with the provisions of the Convention. It cannot overemphasize the need to strengthen the legitimacy of inspection activities by ensuring that they have a legal basis so as to ensure that they are carried out in a uniform manner throughout the national territory. On the one hand, the climate of confidence necessary in the relations between the labour inspectorate and employers and workers would be facilitated and, on the other, the competent authority or the judiciary would have a legal basis for dealing with any appeals that are lodged. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take measures to supplement the legislation so as to ensure that labour inspectors are duly authorized to:

–      enter by day any premises which they may have reasonable cause to believe to be liable to inspection (Article 12, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention);

–      require the production of any books, registers or other documents the keeping of which is prescribed by national laws or regulations relating to conditions of work (…) and to copy such documents or make extracts from them (Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(ii) and (iv)).

4. Articles 12, paragraph 2, and 15(c). Principle of the confidentiality of the source of any complaint. According to the Government, although an inspector is obliged by section 590 of the Organic Labour Act to notify the employer of the reason for the inspection, that does not mean that the inspector also has to reveal whether the inspection has been carried out following a complaint. Such a statement would appear at the very least to be paradoxical, as an inspector cannot both notify the reason for the inspection and remain silent on the same point. So as to prevent an employer suspecting the existence of a complaint and attempting to identify the source of the complaint with a view to possible reprisals, an inspector has to remain free to carry out the inspection without giving any indication in this respect, thereby guaranteeing the confidentiality of the source of any complaint, in accordance with Article 15(c). The inspector should also be authorized, in conformity with Article 12, paragraph 2, in the interests of inspection, to be able to refrain from notifying the employer of her or his presence in the establishment, and the inspector should be able to refrain from revealing the reason for the inspection unless such notification is necessary for the inspection and is not liable to prejudice the workers. The Committee hopes that the Government will not fail to take measures to amend section 590 of the Organic Labour Act through the deletion of the last part of the last phrase of its introductory paragraph, which is worded as follows: “but notifying the employer of the reason for the inspection” and that it will keep the Office informed of any development in this respect.

5. Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. The Committee notes that no annual inspection report has been communicated to the ILO since the report for the year 1998. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee however notes with interest that the statistics on inspection activities and their results in the field of child labour are currently being updated. It trusts that measures will rapidly be taken to ensure that an annual report on inspection activities is henceforth published and communicated to the ILO, in accordance with Article 20, and that it will cover all the matters set out in Article 21, as well as inspection activities in the context of combating child labour. The Government is requested to keep the Office informed of any progress achieved in this respect and, where appropriate, any difficulties encountered.