Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Pakistan (Ratification: 1953)

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period covering June 2009 to May 2010 received at the ILO on 8 June 2010 which basically contains the same information as the Government’s report sent to the ILO in 2007. The Committee equally notes the information contained in the report sent to the ILO by the Government in November 2008, as well as the observations made by the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU) received on 16 March 2010 and the observations made by the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) received on 30 July 2010.

The Committee is well aware of the difficult situation the country is facing, due to the devastating impact of the recent flood. However, it would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the following points.

Labour inspection policy and revision of labour law legislation. According to the report sent by the Government in 2008, a new occupational safety and health bill, based on the approach in the 2006 document on labour inspection policy (LIP 2006) by the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis (MLMOP), was in the course of being drafted and was expected to be adopted by the end of 2010.

The LIP 2006 document foresees various measures such as the establishment of a central labour inspection authority; the establishment of a computerized register of enterprises; the improvement of material means allocated to labour inspectorates; the establishment of integrative inspections also referred to as “one inspector, one enterprise”; the strengthening of training of labour inspectors; the increase of preventive measures; the recruitment of qualified technical experts and specialists; the increase of protection for workers in the informal economy which constitute 80 per cent of the workforce of the country and which are not covered by labour legislation; the risk assessment of enterprises and workplaces among other things through self-declaration or self-reporting by enterprises and the involvement of private actors in inspection.

According to a 2010 document on labour policy (LP 2010) published on the website of the MLMOP, it is envisaged to revise and consolidate labour legislation, to establish a tripartite council on occupational safety and health (OSH) and tripartite monitoring committees at district, province and federal levels to monitor implementation of labour laws, particularly in the area of payment of wages, working environment and working time.

In relation to labour inspection policy, the Committee notes that, according to the APFTU, “The previous Government has imposed a ban on the inspection of industries by the Labour Department, Social Security Department and Old Age benefits officers, not allowing them to inspect any industrial workplaces or departments.” The trade union adds that: “Accordingly, the Government has given open hand to employers to do whatever they want. Due to this, the previous Government has also given permission to employers to get labour from children and child labour has therefore increased in Pakistan.”

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would communicate any up-to-date documentation on national labour inspection policy and report on any steps taken to implement it.

Please provide information on any developments as regards the adoption of new labour law legislation and, if applicable, communicate a copy of any text thereof. Please also provide information on the intended establishment of the tripartite OSH council and the tripartite monitoring committees mentioned in the LP 2010 document and, if applicable, provide information on their activities and their impact on the operation and outcomes of labour inspection and provide a copy of any relevant document.

The Committee also requests the Government to make any comment deemed relevant on the issue raised by the APFTU.

Article 4 of the Convention. Supervision and control within the labour inspection system. The Government referred in its 2008 report to a review of inspection procedures at the provincial level, focusing particularly on the provincial government of Punjab. It further indicated that inspection visits continue to be under the control of provincial authorities. It indicates in its last report that it is envisaged to establish a national labour inspectorate as the central inspection authority to serve as the focal point for the nation’s inspection activities. The Committee also notes in this regard that the PWF, like other trade unions in the past, regrets once more the persisting absence of a system for supervising application of the legislation in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the ILO with information on any steps taken following the abovementioned review of the inspection procedures in the provinces of the country.

Please provide detailed information on the structure and organization of the labour inspection system in Punjab and Sindh and on its functioning in practice and, if applicable, a copy of any relevant legal provisions.

Please also provide information as regards the establishment of a national inspection authority and, if applicable, a copy of any relevant legal provisions.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would also make any comment deemed relevant on the points raised by the PWF.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication of annual inspection reports. The Committee recalls that the last annual report has been communicated to the ILO in 1995. It would like to come back to the information contained in the 2006 LIP document which indicates the intention to eventually establish a computerized register of enterprises, by various means such as the conduct of awareness-raising campaigns concerning the registration of workplaces and enterprises, the adoption of penalties for the non-registration with the provincial labour inspectorates, the use of existing data (e.g. information available by tax authorities) and the intended collaboration with trade unions and employers’ organizations to this end. The Committee has underlined, in its 2009 general observation, the essential character of the availability of statistics on industrial and commercial workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (Article 10(a)(i) and (ii) and Article 21(c)) and the usefulness of the availability of this data for the determination of the budgetary needs for the determination of the appropriate number of labour inspectors, the necessary material resources for the discharge of their functions (Articles 10, 11 and 16) or the provision of training (Article 7). The Committee asks the Government to endeavour to implement the abovementioned measures and, if applicable, additional measures with a view to establish a register of enterprises. It further asks the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that an annual report on the matters set out in Article 21 of the Convention is published and sent to the ILO. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to the guidance provided in Paragraph 9 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), which may serve as a basis for the disaggregation of the information required as well as to the possibility of ILO technical assistance for the establishment of annual inspection reports.