Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Senegal (Ratification: 1962)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes from the 2015 Annual Report on labour statistics referred to in the Government’s report and available on the website of the Ministry of Labour, Social Dialogue, Professional Organizations and Institutional Relations that the labour inspection services dealt with a significant number of individual and collective labour disputes in that year. The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Convention, any further duties which may be entrusted to labour inspectors shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties. In its General Survey of 2006, Labour inspection, the Committee recalled the importance of not overburdening inspectorates with tasks which by their nature may in certain countries be understood as incompatible with their primary function of enforcing legal provisions (paragraph 72). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the time and resources devoted by labour inspectors to the additional functions of conciliation and mediation in comparison with their primary functions (as provided for in Article 3(1) of the Convention).

Articles 10, 11 and 16. Human and material resources of the inspection system and inspection visits. The Committee previously noted that in 2013, the labour inspection staff was composed of 60 inspectors and 59 controllers (assistant inspectors). The Committee notes in this respect that the Government reiterates that there is a need to increase the means of the labour inspection services, and that the strengthening of the financial and logistical means and human resources of the labour administration is one of the objectives in the National Pact for social stability and economic emergence signed with the social partners in 2014. The Committee also notes that according to the 2016 report on labour statistics (referred to in the Government’s report and available on the website of Ministry of Labour, Social Dialogue, Professional Organizations and Institutional Relations), the number of labour inspection staff had significantly decreased to 30 inspectors and 34 controllers by 2016. The Committee notes, however, that the recent reports on labour statistics indicate a significant rise in the number of workplaces inspected, rising from 1,587 in 2014, to 1,931 in 2015 and 2,607 in 2016. Noting the rise in the number of labour inspections but a decline in the number of labour inspectors, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that workplaces are inspected as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions and urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that there are a sufficient number of labour inspectors to secure the effective discharge of their duties. In this respect, it requests the Government to provide information on any improvements concerning the human resources and material means of the labour inspection services. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number of labour inspection staff and the financial and human resources available to the labour inspection services, as well as the number of labour inspections carried out from 2017 onwards.

Article 13(2)(b). Measures with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health or safety of the workers. The Committee previously noted that Decree No. 2006-1255 of 15 November 2006 limits the application of measures with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health or safety of the workers to situations resulting from a failure to comply with occupational safety and health laws or regulations (section 18) except in the building sector (where no violation of the legislation is required for an order of cessation of work (sections 19 and 20)). The Committee notes the Government’s indication that these limitations are being considered in the context of the reflections concerning the strengthening of the legal powers of labour inspectors. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures in law and practice to ensure that, in accordance with Article 13(2)(b), inspectors may order immediate executory measures in the event of imminent danger to the safety and health of the workers, without necessarily establishing the existence of a violation of laws or regulations in all industrial and commercial establishments, and not only in the building sector. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged in the context of the consideration of the strengthening of the legal powers of labour inspectors.

Articles 17 and 18. Effective enforcement of adequate penalties for violations of legal provisions. The Committee notes the Government’s indications, in response to the Committee’s previous request, that there have not been any new developments concerning the proposed revision of the amounts of penalties for violations of the labour legislation. The Committee notes from the statistical information provided in the 2015 report on labour statistics that 1,931 labour inspection visits were undertaken in that year, and that labour inspectors requested employers to remedy violations detected, but that no reports of non-compliance were issued. It notes that this represents a significant decline from 2014, when 58 reports of non-compliance were issued, and it observes that only two reports of non-compliance were issued in 2016. The Government reiterates that a strengthening of the legal powers of labour inspectors is necessary and that the Minister of Labour had undertaken discussions with the Minister of Justice in that respect. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed statistics on the violations detected during inspection visits and the subsequent penalties imposed, as well as to indicate the reasons for the significant decline in the number of non-compliance reports issued. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on any measures taken to strengthen the powers of labour inspectors. It once again requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in the revision of the amounts of penalties for labour law violations.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.