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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Germany (Ratification: 1955)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report in response to its previous requests concerning cooperation between the various labour inspection units in the Länder and at the national level, as well as cooperation between the Länder and accident insurance providers; and the vocational training network for labour inspectors shared by six Länder, in the context of which common training courses were established (Articles 4, 5(a), 7 and 10 of the Convention).

Article 3(1) and (2). Additional labour inspection duties. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in accordance with section 2(2) No. 9, read in conjunction with section 6(1), of the Act to combat undeclared work (SchwarzArbG), there is cooperation between the Financial Monitoring of Undeclared Work Unit (FKS) of the customs administration and the competent federal occupational safety and health authorities (ASV) to combat undeclared work and illegal employment. It further notes that the two administrations exchange the information required to carry out their respective inspections. In this regard, the Committee notes that, under section 23(3) of the Occupational Safety Act (ArbSchG), in the event of firm evidence of the employment of irregular foreign workers, labour inspection services are required to notify the immigration services.

The Committee emphasizes that, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Convention, any additional duties that are not aimed at securing the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers should be entrusted to labour inspectors only in so far as they do not risk interfering with the effective discharge of their primary duties or prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality of inspectors. With regard to foreign workers in particular, the Committee emphasized in its 2006 General Survey on labour inspection (paragraph 78) that the primary duty of labour inspectors is to protect workers and not to enforce immigration law and that this objective can only be met if the workers covered are convinced of this. The Committee requests the Government to take steps, in conformity with Article 3(2), to ensure that the duties relating to the supervision of immigration law entrusted to labour inspectors do not interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties or prejudice in any way inspectors’ authority and impartiality in their relations with employers and workers.

The Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed information on the action taken by labour inspection services to ensure that employers meet their obligations relating to the rights of irregular foreign workers, such as the payment of wages and social security and other benefits, including compensation for occupational accidents, for the effective period of their employment relationship, especially in cases where such workers are liable to be expelled from the country. It also requests the Government to provide information on cases in which undocumented workers have been granted their due rights.