Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Malawi (Ratification: 1965)

Article 4(1) of the Convention. Need to re-establish a central authority entrusted with control and supervisory powers in the labour inspection system. The Committee notes the Government’s indications according to which the recommendations following an ILO technical assistance mission in 2006 in a corresponding audit (labour inspection audit 2006) remain yet to be implemented due to the delay in the functional review of the Ministry of Labour (MoL). The Government reiterates its commitment for the implementation of the recommendations in the labour inspection audit 2006 (in a phased manner) and refers to the recent appointment of a Chief Labour Officer, who will head and coordinate the inspectorate department of the MoL, as part of the recommendations for the re-establishment of a central labour inspection authority. However, the Government does not provide any further details with regard to the abovementioned implementation phases, nor does it provide any information with regard to the measures it announced in its report communicated to the ILO in 2007.

The Committee recalls that one of the central recommendations of the technical assistance mission concerned the creation of a special unit for labour inspections or the strengthening of the existing ones at the MoL (currently, there is one department in charge of occupational safety and health (OSH) inspections, and one in charge of general labour conditions) in order to allow it to play a more important role in the setting of annual targets, the monitoring of performance by both the field and headquarters and the evaluation of the quality of inspections. In this regard, the Committee recalls from its previous observations that the budgeting and funding of labour inspection in the country is decentralized in such a manner that each office is allocated funds directly by the Treasury according to the latter’s priorities. Consequently, offices with motorcycles or motor vehicles cover fuel and maintenance, while the Ministry only receives reports on the activities performed. Based on this information, the Committee observed that the very notion of a central labour inspection authority seems to have become devoid of all substance, as the Ministry’s only residual role consists of receiving activity reports from labour inspection offices, without any power to determine the needs of the labour inspection services in terms of financial and material resources with a view to their proper operation.

The Committee further recalls the findings of the labour inspection audit 2006, which indicated that there were no inherent or structural barriers for the operation of an effective and efficient labour inspection service; and that there was considerable room for improvement, in particular in policy, planning, management procedures, communications, equipment and training, and that this could be done by rationalizing, streamlining and consolidating the inspection functions in the field structure with minimal added financial resources. The Committee finally recalls that the labour inspection audit 2006 recommended that a high-level Departmental Working Group (DWG) comprising all relevant units at the MoL be entrusted with the follow-up of these recommendations.

Referring to its reiterated requests in this regard, the Committee urges the Government, once again, to provide details of the announced measures and steps as a follow-up to the recommendations in the labour inspection audit 2006.

Please indicate whether a committee or working group has been entrusted with the follow-up to these recommendations and provide information on the association of the social partners in this process.

The Committee once again urges the Government to adopt all the necessary measures to secure an inspection system operating under the supervision and control of a central authority (Article 4) that is provided with adequate human resources in terms of both numbers and skills (Articles 6, 7 and 10) and the material conditions necessary for the exercise of its functions in relation to labour inspections (Article 11), and to keep the ILO informed of any developments in law and in practice in this respect.

In view of the delay in the implementation of the 2006 recommendations and to overcome any difficulties encountered in this regard, the Committee suggests that the Government avails itself of renewed ILO technical assistance, with a view to the progressive establishment of a labour inspection system which meets the requirements of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on any formal step taken to this end.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual report on labour inspection activities. The Committee notes that, once again, no annual report has been received (the last annual report concerned the years 2000–02) and that the Government’s report does not contain any statistical information, which renders impossible an assessment of the current level of application of the Convention. However, the Committee notes the Government’s indications that the MoL will publish its annual report soon and that a copy will be sent to the Office. Recalling that one of the recommendations made in the labour inspection audit 2006 concerned the establishment of a register of enterprises, the Committee would like to indicate that technical assistance might also be sought for the conduct of a census of enterprises liable to inspection with a view to establish a register of workplaces, which as the Committee has emphasized in paragraph 326 of its 2006 General Survey on labour inspection and its 2009 general observation, is essential for preparing the annual report, and can be an important tool for assessing the effectiveness of external services and their personnel. The Committee requests the Government to make every effort to allow the central labour authority to publish and communicate to the ILO an annual labour inspection report (Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention), and to indicate the measures taken in this regard. It requests the Government, in any event, to provide with its next report statistical information that is as detailed as possible (industrial and commercial workplaces liable to inspection, number of inspections, infringements detected and the legal provisions to which they relate, etc.).