Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Costa Rican Federation of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprise (UCCAEP), which were submitted with the Government’s report, and the observations of the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN), received on 2 September 2015.

Part II of the Convention. Progressive abolition of fee-charging employment agencies. The Government indicates in its report that the initiative to ratify the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), is still pending before the Legislative Assembly, as clarification is needed on the regulatory framework for employment placement, and there is a proposal for a preliminary draft bill to regulate the actions of the various actors providing employment services. During a workshop on the regulation of the subcontracting of workers and private employment agencies, held in October 2014 with the participation of the ILO, a discussion was held on the need to promote the draft bill to regulate the operation of private employment agencies. The Committee notes that, according to the conclusions of the workshop, it is necessary to update the text of the draft bill that was originally submitted to the National Assembly, to bring the draft bill into line with the national legislation in force in order to simplify the procedures for citizens, and to carry out this review through a process of tripartite consultation to ensure the timely and effective adoption of the reform. The UCCAEP indicates that, once the tripartite consultations have been held, it will participate actively to provide its technical viewpoint. The CTRN indicates that the National Labour Inspectorate has shown little interest in ensuring compliance with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the outcome of the ongoing initiatives to regulate the subcontracting of workers and private employment agencies. As Convention No. 96 is still in force in the country, the Committee also requests the Government to provide general information on how the Convention is being applied, including summaries of inspection reports and the number and nature of infringements reported, and other information related to the application of Part II of the Convention (for example, the extent of the activities of private employment agencies and the measures adopted by the competent authority to monitor the activities of these agencies).