Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Ghana (Ratification: 1986)

Articles 4, 5, 6(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Effective operation of the labour administration system. Adoption and implementation of a national employment policy. Application in practice. The Committee notes with interest the country’s adoption of the first ever comprehensive policy on employment aimed at addressing the challenge of growing unemployment, and targeting in particular, vulnerable groups, the youth, women and persons with disability. The Committee notes from the 2015 document containing the National Employment Policy (NEP) that the key employment policy objectives are: (i) creating more decent jobs to meet the growing demand for employment; (ii) improving the quality of jobs for those who are employed; (iii) increasing labour productivity; and (iv) strengthening governance and labour administration.

It notes from the information contained in the NEP that according to research and analysis, one of the ten key issues that must be addressed to generate sustainable employment is the coordination of employment creation interventions. In this regard, the Committee welcomes the assignment of concrete roles and responsibilities to the bodies entrusted with the implementation of the NEP, in particular the tripartite National Employment Coordination Council which shall be set up to assist with the implementation of this policy (see Chapter 4.5). The Committee requests that the Government provide information on the measures taken for the implementation of the NEP and their impact on improving the employment situation in the country. Noting from the NEP that annual monitoring and evaluation reports shall be submitted to the President, Cabinet Ministers and the Parliament to enable the tracking of the desired national employment outcome, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of these reports.

Article 7. Extension of the functions of the system of labour administration to workers, who are not, in law, employed persons. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the national conditions require the gradual extension of the functions of the labour administration system to cover the category of workers referred to in Article 7. It further notes from the document containing the NEP that one of the ten key issues that must be addressed to create sustainable employment opportunities concern the large informal sector employment that is characterised by low productivity, huge decent work deficits, vulnerable workers and the working poor. The Committee notes from the same source that the informal sector is estimated to employ about 90 per cent of the workforce, the majority of which are self-employed workers. The Committee requests that the Government provide information on the efforts undertaken, including through the implementation of the NEP, to extend labour administration functions (that is pertaining to employment promotion, labour relations, labour standards, among other things) to the informal sector.

Article 10. Human resources, conditions of service and training of the staff of the labour administration system. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided the information requested in its previous comment on the training provided to the staff of the labour administration services. It further notes from the NEP that challenges in the effective delivery of the service of the labour administration system include, among other things: the weak institutional capacity for labour administration (including ineffective labour inspection), the inadequate staff for the labour administration institutions, and the relatively low public sector wages and salaries. In this regard, the Committee welcomes the plans of the Government, described in Chapter 3, objective 4, to: (i) strengthen the institutional capacities of the bodies responsible for labour administration, including those responsible for securing compliance with labour law provisions; and (ii) preparing a national human resource development plan involving the identification of present and future skills needs and related training programmes. The Committee requests that the Government provide information on the steps taken, including through the implementation of the NEP, to improve the capacities of the bodies responsible for labour administration (the recruitment of additional staff, the training provided including relating to the number of participants, and the content, frequency and duration of such training.