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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Libya (Ratification: 1971)

Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Article 5(a) of the Convention. Cooperation between the labour inspection services and judicial bodies with a view to improving the implementation of the legislation covered by the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, labour inspectors periodically file their reports of offences at the police station responsible for their area, which forwards them to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic. The latter refers them to the competent court for processing and a decision. According to the Government, this procedure illustrates the close cooperation that exists between labour inspectors, the police services, the public prosecutor and the courts. The Committee nonetheless notes that the statistics of offences reported in 2007 in the course of inspection visits and the action taken on them show no judicial follow-up. Furthermore, the 2007 annual inspection report contains information on a large-scale inspection campaign targeting filling stations, restaurants, shops, hotels and other commercial establishments and focusing on the detection of work permit infringements and breaches of the legislation on foreign labour, and indicates that legal procedures have been set up to regularize the situation of the persons concerned in coordination with the Prosecutor General and the provincial prosecutors with a view to investigating and settling cases referred by the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes first that these controls focused not on conditions of work (hours of work, wages, leave, weekly rest, employment of women and young persons, etc.) and the protection of workers in the exercise of their occupation (freedom of association, social security, etc.), but on enforcement of the legislation on foreign labour and work permits, and secondly that no information has been supplied indicating that judicial proceedings were initiated or concluded. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would send copies of the legislative or regulatory provisions that constitute the basis in law for the cooperation between the labour inspectorate and judicial bodies, together with information on the number and the subjects of the judicial decisions handed down following reports of contraventions submitted directly or indirectly by the labour inspectorate.

Articles 20 and 21. Reporting obligations on the activities of the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes that, as is the case with the statistics so far sent by the Government, the annual labour inspection report for 2007 is not in the form of a publication, as required by Article 20. The purpose of this obligation is to inform any authority that may be interested or concerned, and particularly employers and workers and their respective organizations, concerning the way in which the labour inspectorate functions, so that they may make any comments they deem fit or any proposals for improvement.

Furthermore, while the report contains detailed information on the composition and geographical distribution and by sex of the inspection staff (Articles 8, 10 and 21(b)), the data on inspection visits Article 21(d) are too scant and imprecise to allow an assessment of their frequency and quality or to determine the legal provisions covered by inspections. Table No. 3 on inspection visits in the hydrocarbons sector shows that, between 3 and 12 March 2007, 15 worksites and 80 enterprises were visited and 180 infringements were noted. The figures contained in table No. 4 are 6,704 restaurants and cafes, 1,346 pastry shops and bakeries, 40,676 commercial establishments, that is a total of 48,726 workplaces, in which 49,315 Libyan and 25,909 foreign workers were employed. These figures would appear to relate to an inspection programme covering these categories of establishments with a view to regularizing the situation of the persons that they employ. The Committee regrets that it has to emphasize that this information cannot serve as a basis for any evaluation of the mandate of the labour inspectorate or its coverage (Article 21(c) and (d)).

The statistics set out in two other tables (Nos 5 and 9) are completely identical. One purports to show inspections in the area of occupational safety and health and the other inspections with no specification as to the legal aspects covered. Their results are set out under the titles “measures taken”, “measures already taken”, “time limits set” and “files opened”. Such data cannot serve as a basis for any form of evaluation of the application of the Convention. Furthermore, no information is supplied on any sanctions that may have been imposed on offenders (Article 21(e)), or on occupational accidents (Article 21(f)) or cases of occupational disease (Article 21(g)). The Committee however noted in its previous comments the existence of legal provisions requiring the notification of statistics of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease and the powers of labour inspectors in this respect. The Committee is therefore bound once again to emphasize to the Government how essential the annual report prescribed by the Convention is as an instrument for attaining the twofold objective assigned to it at both the national and international levels. The Committee invites the Government to refer to paragraphs 320 et seq. of the General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection, and to ensure that effect is given, at the earliest possible date, in both law and in practice, to Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention through the publication and communication to the Office of an annual report on the work of the inspectorate containing the information set out in Article 21(a)–(g). The Committee once again reminds the Government of the valuable guidance provided in the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), regarding the presentation and appropriate level of detail of the information to be included so as to allow an accurate evaluation of how the labour inspection system functions and the determination of the resources needed for its gradual improvement.