Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96) - Djibouti (Ratification: 1978)

1. The Committee notes that the Government has not submitted a report in response to its observation of 2006. However, it notes the observations by the General Union of Djibouti Workers (UGTD) on the implementation of Convention No. 96 received in August 2007 and sent to the Government in September 2007. The UGTD indicates that since Decree No. 11/PRE/97 on the liberalization of employment was issued, the number of private employment agencies has risen and that the activities of the National Employment Service (SNE) have decreased as a result. According to the UGTD, in order to ensure that Convention No. 96 is applied, it is essential that the regulatory body, namely the National Committee on Labour, Employment and Vocational Training, be put into operation to set up practical arrangements in the field for inspection services in order to detect anomalies and inconsistencies. The Committee takes note of Act No. 133/AN/05/5thL enacting the Labour Code of 28 January 2006, and particularly section 6 on private employment agencies and interim contracts. The Committee requests the Government to send a report containing specific information on the new legislative measures adopted to enforce each Article of the Convention, together with responses to the UGTD’s observations and the Committee’s observation of 2006 on the following points.

2. Part II of the Convention. Progressive abolition of fee-charging employment agencies conducted with a view to profit. In its observation of 2006, the Committee took note of the information in the Government’s report received in October 2005, and of the comments made by the Labour Union of Djibouti (UDT) and the UGTD on the application of the Convention. In its report, the Government referred to Act No. 75/AN/00/4thL on the organization of the Ministry of Employment and National Solidarity which liberalizes employment. The Government explained that in areas where it has no office, the SNE is represented by district commissioners and that, with employment liberalization, employers can recruit freely and then regularize the situation with the SNE. The Committee further noted that according to the UDT and the UGTD, fee-charging employment agencies have been legalized in Djibouti for the last three years. The unions alleged that these agencies act as filters for employment, charge jobseekers and even deduct sums illegally from workers’ wages. The Committee again asks the Government to provide precise information on the manner in which the provisions of the Convention are applied in practice, including a summary of the reports of the inspection services, information on the number and nature of contraventions reported and any other particulars regarding the hiring and placement of workers abroad.

3. Revision of Convention No. 96. The Committee recalls that the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), acknowledges the role played by private employment agencies in the operation of the labour market. The Governing Body of the ILO has invited States parties to Convention No. 96 to contemplate ratifying, as appropriate, the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), pointing out that this would entail the immediate denunciation of Convention No. 96 (document GB.273/LILS/4(Rev.1), 273rd Session, Geneva, November 1998). The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments which, in consultation with the social partners, might occur in this regard.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]