Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Also referring to its observation, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Content of reports under article 22 of the ILO Constitution with regard to developments in the application of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government continues to supply information concerning the applicable legislation, the organization and functioning of the labour inspectorate, and also the working methods followed which have already been described in previous reports. The Committee reminds the Government that subsequent reports should contain information, as provided for by the report form for the Convention, on any new legislative or other measures affecting the application of the Convention, replies to the questions in the report form on the practical application of the Convention, the content of which changes for each reporting period (statistics, results of inspections, judicial or administrative decisions), on the communication of copies of the report to the representative organizations of employers and workers, on any observations received from these organizations, and also replies to any comments from the ILO supervisory bodies. Since such information is of a recent nature, it underlines developments in the application of the Convention and is designed to enable the Committee to evaluate more easily the progress made or the difficulties encountered. It therefore requests the Government to take these instructions into consideration and supply all relevant information in the future.

Articles 10 and 16 of the Convention. Measures to ensure adequate numbers of inspectors for the number of workplaces liable to inspection. Further to its previous comments on the matter, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided the requested explanations regarding the substantial drop in recent years in the number of inspectors of all grades. It notes once again that their numbers have decreased even further during the reporting period. For all grades taken together, numbers have dropped from 946 to 900; the number of inspectors operating in the field has dropped from 724 to 697; and the number of senior managers responsible for supervision, coordination and synthesis has dropped from 222 to 203. Only the number of administrative staff has been reinforced, increasing from 717 to 760.

Under the terms of section 3 of Act No. 90-03 of 6 February 1990, labour inspection takes place in all workplaces where employees or apprentices of either sex are employed, with the exclusion of military personnel and establishments in which national defence or security requirements prohibit the presence of foreigners. In its previous comment regarding the meaning of the term “workplaces liable to inspection”, the Committee explained that, as defined by the Convention, this means industrial and commercial workplaces in respect of which legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work are enforceable by labour inspectors (Articles 2(1) and 23) and emphasized the importance of the ratio between the number of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workplaces inspected as an indicator of both the level of coverage of needs and the adequacy or inadequacy of the number of inspectors deployed on the territory. It notes that, despite the clarity of the abovementioned provision of Act No. 90-03 with regard to the determination of the bodies comprising its area of competence, the tables of statistics sent to the ILO in 2007 do not appear to reflect reality at all, the figure of 179,000 indicated for 2006 appearing to be clearly lower than that of all the workplaces covered by section 3 of Act No. 90-03 and at odds with the estimate made by the National Development and Investment Agency (ANDI) of 320,000 “enterprises” in 2007 – an enterprise being able to comprise a number of workplaces.

While noting the progress made by the Government and the central inspection authority in drawing up labour statistics, the Committee would nevertheless like to stress the importance of having data which reflect reality as closely as possible with regard to the number of workplaces liable to inspection, on the basis of the criteria defined by section 3 of Act No. 90-03. In the absence of such data, it is impossible for the Committee to evaluate the level of coverage achieved by the labour inspectorate or whether the number of inspectors is adequate. Moreover, for the same reason at national level, the competent authorities have no basis on which to justify the necessary budgetary and organizational measures for improving the performance of the labour inspectorate in relation to its objectives.

With regard to the number of persons employed in workplaces liable to inspection, the Committee notes that the tables of statistics mentioned above indicate a working population of 1,948,910 persons in 2006. However, information supplied by the Government to the ILO in 2007 in the context of a project to standardize labour inspection practices referred to a working population of 8.1 million persons. The abovementioned figure of 1,948,910 does not therefore appear to represent the total number of workers covered by labour inspection under the terms of section 3 of Act No. 90-03. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would ensure, in the light of the above information, that measures are taken by the central labour inspection authority so that reliable data on the basis of precise criteria concerning workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed in them are included in future reports from the general labour inspectorate. It hopes that the Government will state in its next report the reasons for the decrease in the number of inspectors in recent years, and provide information on the measures taken or contemplated, if applicable, to reinforce staff numbers.

Articles 8 and 21(b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) of the Convention, and Paragraph 9 of Recommendation No. 81. Level of detail of relevant information with regard to labour inspection activities and their results. The Committee notes from the June 2008 half-yearly activity report that the majority of inspection reports covered the services and construction sectors. However, the Committee notes that the report indicates the number of inspection visits but not the number or category of workplaces inspected. Similarly, the report does not distinguish between infringements reported and penalties imposed on those responsible in relation to the relevant legal provisions. However, it notes that, according to other sources of information available to the ILO, at the official opening of the national supervisory group for labour inspection, the general labour inspectorate was able to provide statistics on its activities and their results, clearly indicating, for certain categories, the number of bodies inspected and the number of inspections undertaken. It also supplied figures relating to infringements of certain provisions of the Labour Code and pointed out that 28 per cent of the 28,325 infringements reported were followed up by court decisions against 20 per cent of them in 2006. The general labour inspectorate therefore appears to have a sufficiently powerful statistical tool to enable it to include gradually in its annual report the detailed information required by the abovementioned clauses of Article 21, with the level of detail advocated by Paragraph 9 of Recommendation No. 81. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply in its next report further information on the scope of the expression “service enterprises”, in respect of which the annual reports for 2007 and 2008 indicate that they have been the recipients of nearly three times more inspection visits than industrial workplaces and nearly twice more than those undertaken in the construction industry.

The Committee requests the Government to ensure that, in view of the progress made in the availability of computer applications, detailed statistics on each of the subjects covered by Article 21 of the Convention on inspection activities and their results are included in the annual report of the general labour inspectorate and that this report is communicated to the ILO within the deadlines prescribed by Article 20. It hopes that statistics on labour inspection staff disaggregated by sex and also information on any specific tasks assigned to women inspectors will also be provided.

With reference to its general observation of 2007, the Committee requests the Government to send a copy of any available court decisions which have been issued further to infringements reported by the labour inspectorate and to indicate the practical measures taken or contemplated to develop effective cooperation between the labour inspectorate and the judicial bodies. With reference to the Government’s statement in its 2004 report under Part IV of the report form, to the effect that the courts had not issued any decisions concerning the implementation of the provisions of this Convention, the Committee notes the abovementioned information regarding the availability of data on the proportion of inspection reports which have given rise to court decisions.

Article 3, paragraph 2. Further duties entrusted to labour inspectors. Information available to the ILO refers to inspection activities targeting infringements of employment legislation, such as clandestine work, illegal employment of foreign workers, failure to complete formalities regarding placements, etc. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply further details on the manner in which it is ensured that the volume of such inspection activities does not result, given the proliferation of enterprises and industrial and commercial workplaces resulting from liberalization of the economy, in a reduction in the volume of activities to enforce the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work. It requests the Government to describe the follow-up action taken further to reports of infringements in these areas with regard to both the employer and the workers concerned.

Article 14. Notification of cases of occupational disease. The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the text implementing sections 68 and 69 of Act No. 83-13 of 2 July 1983 concerning industrial accidents and occupational diseases. It would also be grateful if the Government would communicate information on the manner in which labour inspectors are informed of cases of occupational disease and their role in the use of the fund whose establishment has been provided for by section 74 of the abovementioned Act to prevent the risk of occurrence of new cases.

Labour inspection and child labour. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), concerning inspection activities and their results in 2006 and 2007 in the area of combating child labour. It notes that the revision of the Labour Code will enable the insertion of provisions to strengthen the relevant mechanisms. With reference to its general observation of 1999, the Committee hopes that the annual report published by the general labour inspectorate will in future contain information on their actions in this field and that the social partners and the other public or private bodies and institutions concerned with this phenomenon or which have responsibility for action in relation to it will be able to take further action or make proposals with a view to the eradication of child labour in the industrial and commercial workplaces covered by this Convention.