Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Mozambique (Ratification: 1977)

Legislation and training of inspectors to monitor the new provisions. While noting the Government’s indication of the adoption of Decree No. 45/2009 of 14 August 2009 regulating the general labour inspectorate, as well as the details provided on the content of its provisions in relation to those of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would send the ILO a copy of this text, as well as any other statutory text adopted for its application. The Committee will examine this together with the handbook for labour inspection activities in the area of hygiene, occupational safety and health, annexed to the Government’s report.

While also noting that, according to the Government, information on the impact of Act No. 12/2009 respecting the rights and duties of people living with the HIV/AIDS virus might be provided in its next reports, the Committee requests the Government to send this information accompanied by the implementing texts provided for under section 55 of this Act, as well as statistics on the labour inspectorate’s activities in the area covered.

Article 7(3) of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest that a training programme on HIV/AIDS legislation, funded by the ILO and organized in partnership with ECoSIDA (private sector initiative in the fight against HIV/AIDS) was dispensed to 140 inspectors in 2010. The Government is requested to provide details on the professional qualifications of the trainers, as well as on the contents and duration of the training programme in question. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would also send information on the material resources and specific methodological tools provided to the labour inspectors for their particular needs in supervising this Act, accompanied by any relevant documents.

Article 10. Establishing a register of establishments liable to labour inspection. According to the Government, the list of establishments liable for labour inspection is not computerized, but it undertakes to send the relevant data available in its next reports. The Committee requests the Government to send in its next report the data available on the establishments liable to labour inspection and to take measures to ensure cooperation with the other Government bodies and entities possessing relevant data, with a view to elaborating and regularly updating a register of establishments liable to labour inspection. Drawing the Government’s attention to its 2009 general observation under this Convention on the matter, the Committee asks the Government to keep the ILO informed of measures taken and results obtained.

Article 17. Role of labour inspectors in monitoring the working conditions of foreign workers found in an irregular situation. In its previous comments, the Committee reminded the Government that, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Convention, the labour inspectorate should control the application of the legal provisions respecting conditions of work and the protection of workers, without considering the legal nature of the employment relationship or the status of the worker. It invited the Government to refer to this matter under paragraphs 75 et seq. of its 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, and to make sure that the labour inspection services are responsible for ensuring that workers whose employment relationship is suspended on the grounds of the illegality of their employment, obtain the social entitlements they acquired during the period of their employment.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures taken or envisaged to guarantee that labour inspectors ensure that employers fulfil their obligations to foreign workers in an irregular situation, for the period of their actual employment, with regards to their wages and benefits, and their rights to leave and linked to seniority etc., before these persons are expelled by the authorities responsible for applying the provisions relative to irregular immigration.

Articles 13 and 14. Occupational safety and health. Statistics of industrial accidents. According to the information provided by the Government in reply to the Committee’s previous request, whenever an industrial accident occurs, an inquiry is immediately launched to ascertain the reasons in order to eliminate them and prevent the occurrence of similar accidents. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to facilitate cooperation between the inspection services, employers and workers (or their respective organizations) with a view to promoting an effective culture of prevention, particularly making use of the means advocated in Part II of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81). The Committee also asks the Government to send information on the application in practice of section 12(m) of Decree No. 45/2009, which, according to the Government, provides the labour inspector with the authority to take measures with immediate effect – such as the suspension of all operations under way in the event of serious and imminent danger for life, safety and health. Statistical information on the issue would be particularly appreciated.

Articles 10(b), 11(1)(b) and (2), and 16. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, transport facilities are available to labour inspectors. It points out that expenses incurred by labour inspectors when using their own vehicles are not reimbursed. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the material means and transport facilities made available to labour inspectors to enable them to carry out inspection visits (number of vehicles per service and, with respect to the number of inspectors, the size of the establishments liable to inspection and distances to be covered). The Committee requests the Government once again to describe the measures taken to ensure that visits of establishments take place frequently enough to ensure the effective monitoring of the provisions relating to the working conditions and protection of workers.

Recalling that under Article 11(2) of the Convention, the competent authority shall make the necessary arrangements to reimburse to labour inspectors any travelling and incidental expenses which may be necessary for the performance of their duties, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to this effect in the very near future and to provide relevant information, as well as a copy of any bill or text adopted on the matter.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication to the ILO of an annual inspection report. The Committee notes that despite the Government’s indication, the annual inspection report has not been received at the ILO. The Committee reminds the Government that the annual report must be published each year within the deadlines established under Article 20 and that a copy must be communicated to the Office with the same frequency. In its general observation of 2010, the Committee stressed the major importance it attached to the publication and communication to the ILO of the annual inspection report within the prescribed deadlines. When well prepared, the annual report offers an indispensable basis for the evaluation of the results in practice of the activities of the labour inspection services and, subsequently, the determination of the means necessary to improve their effectiveness. In this respect, the Committee recalls that extremely valuable guidance on the presentation and analysis of this information is provided in the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81). The Committee requests the Government to ensure, in accordance with Article 20, that an annual report on labour inspection activities containing as much as possible information required for each of the clauses (a)–(g) of Article 21 will be published by the central labour inspectorate, and that a copy will be sent to the ILO within the time limits provided in Article 20.