Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 96) - Djibouti (Ratification: 1978)

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Part II of the Convention. Progressive abolition of fee-charging employment agencies conducted with a view to profit and regulation of other employment agencies. In its previous comments, the Committee reiterated its request to the Government to provide information on the measures taken to monitor the activities of the agencies covered by the Convention with regard to the recruitment and placement of workers abroad. The Government recalls that the operation of private employment agencies is regulated by Decree No. 2004-0054/PR/MESN. The Government nevertheless notes that most of these agencies do not comply with labour legislation, particularly as regards temporary workers. The Government indicates that it adopted Decree No. 2018-103/PR/MTRA, which defines the conditions governing the operation of private employment agencies. It points out that the new Decree introduces changes such as the annual renewal of private employment agencies’ licences, the introduction of licence fees, the revised amount of private employment agencies’ deposit with the public treasury, the obligation for private employment agencies to ensure favourable treatment of temporary workers, and enhanced requirements for private employment agencies operating abroad. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that, in accordance with the provisions of the new Decree, a private employment agency deploying a worker abroad must first ensure that the job is actually available (article 30). It is also required to register the worker with the embassy or consulate, and to provide medical assistance in the event of an employment injury abroad (article 31). It must also pay for their visas, transport, residence permits, insurance and social protection coverage (article 32). Private employment agencies must inform the Labour Inspectorate on a quarterly basis of the recruitment situation and send it an annual summary of all the contracts concluded (article 35). Private employment agencies that fail to comply with the provisions of the Decree are subject to penalties, which range from warnings to withdrawal of their licence (article 38). In this context, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on how the new regulations are applied in practice and on the Labour Inspectorate’s monitoring of the activities of the agencies covered by the Convention, by providing a summary of the reports of the inspection services, information on the infringements found and the penalties applied, and any other available information, particularly regarding temporary workers and workers deployed abroad.

Prospects for ratifying Convention No. 181. The Government once again indicates that, following analyses, it envisages the ratification of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and that it intends to consult the National Council for Labour and Social Security (CONTESS) on this matter. The Government repeats that Convention No. 181 perfectly responds to the current requirements of the labour market and to the role private employment agencies can play in its sound functioning. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, in consultation with the social partners, to pursue the ratification process of Convention No. 181, which would immediately lead to the denunciation of Convention No. 96.