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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1973)

The Committee refers the Government to its observation and wishes to raise the following additional points.

Articles 3, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Supervision of working conditions and effective application of legal provisions. According to the Government, as part of the inter-institutional plan on labour inclusion and formalization, the committee in charge continues to promote and work for the formalization of certain sectors, for example by extending social security to cover certain workers. Foreign workers have been detected in several branches of activities, for example, in the Montes del Plata industrial complex in the department of Colonia, in the course of inspections of domestic work, in rural areas at borders and, in general, in the course of all the inspections carried out. It also notes that foreign workers coming under a social security agreement are covered by the country of origin. Where they are not covered by such an agreement, they are subject to the relevant Uruguayan legislation and must apply to the National Migration Directorate for a provisional work permit and then a definitive one. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on infringements detected in the course of joint operations carried out under the labour inclusion and formalization plan and the penalties imposed, and on progress made in terms of legalising the status of the workers. It would also be grateful if the Government would provide information on the procedure followed by labour inspectors in the event of failure to declare foreign workers without residence permits.

Articles 3(1)(a), 10 and 16. In its previous comments the Committee noted that there were 147 permanent inspectors, 63 of whom were assigned to the Environmental Working Conditions Division (CAT) and 84 (including eight vacancies) to the General Working Conditions Division (CGT). The Government states in its report, however, that a total of 126 labour inspectors are currently serving: 62 being assigned to the CAT and 64 to the CGT. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would give the reasons for the reduction in the strength of the labour inspectorate. It also asks the Government to indicate whether measures are planned to increase the number of serving labour inspectors and to specify the number of public employees who perform supervisory duties.

Article 5(b). Collaboration between staff of the labour inspection services and employers and workers or their organizations. According to the American Confederation of Labour Inspectors, the Inspector General of Labour aims, by means of a resolution, to make the participation of labour inspectors in tripartite committees on occupational safety and health mandatory (established by Decree No. 291/07 issuing regulations on the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155)), and to nominate the labour inspectors who should participate. According to the Confederation, participation in these committees was previously voluntary as it was considered an obstacle to the application of Article 3, owing to the fact that inspectors played a mediating role in the committees. Furthermore, the above Decree refers to the labour inspectorate and not to the inspectors in particular. The Confederation reports that the Government has indicated that failure to participate would place labour inspectors in the situations provided for by Decree No. 401/08 and would result in a salary reduction. According to the Confederation, by nominating the labour inspectors, the above resolution would facilitate the application of Decree No. 401/08 and of the sanctions therein, if the administration so wished.

The Government states that, in addition to their monitoring functions, labour inspectors provide advice and information to employers and workers, in conformity with ILO Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129). In addition, Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), also ratified by the Government, establishes a structure for tripartite dialogue on occupational safety and health. The labour inspectors who participate in the tripartite committees nominated themselves. A resolution was issued following discussions with the Association of Labour Inspectors of Uruguay (AITU) in order to avoid confusion at the time of assigning supervisory work and to take account of the time spent on work in the committees, a corresponding deduction being made from the supervision assignment in the interest of avoiding unfairness.

Article 7(1). Qualifications of labour inspection staff. The CIIT further objects that the posts of “supervisor” and “head” are filled by direct appointment and not by competition, which means that powers and responsibilities are assigned without heed to the specific training and skills needed for the posts. Furthermore, such appointments take no account of the careers of inspectors of higher rank.

The Government specifies that the persons concerned are in fact coordinators, whose job is to organize work teams. Coordinators are not members of the public administration and have neither the disciplinary authority or the responsibilities of a head. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would give details of the status of coordinators, their number, their duties and the duties of supervisors and heads.

Articles 13, 17, 18 and 21(e). Preventive function of labour inspection and effective application of legal provisions. The Committee notes that the number of occupational accidents in the building sector, into which the inspectorate conducted an investigation, rose from 16 (with three fatalities) in 2010, to 33 (with eight fatalities) in 2011 and to 69 (with 11 fatalities) in 2012. It further notes that in the course of 2012, there were 595 preventive closures of workplaces and that 1,423 complaints on safety and health were filed and processed. The Committee requests the Government to continue to send information on all preventive activities conducted by the labour inspectorate, particularly in the building sector, including in the tripartite committees. It would be grateful if the Government would provide statistics of occupational safety and health infringements recorded, broken down if possible by sector of activity (specifying the provisions that were breached), and the penalties imposed.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. The Committee notes the document attached to the report on Convention No. 129 concerning the activities of the labour inspectorate in 2012. It requests the Government to provide the ILO with a copy of the 2011 annual inspection report, and to ensure that annual reports on the work of the labour inspection services are in future transmitted to the ILO regularly and that they can contain information on all the subjects listed under Article 21.