Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2011, publiée 101ème session CIT (2012)

Convention (n° 81) sur l'inspection du travail, 1947 - Congo (Ratification: 1999)

Absence of practical information to enable the Committee to assess the operation of the labour inspectorate in relation to the provisions of the Convention and relevant national laws. The Committee notes that the report provided by the Government on the manner in which the Convention is given effect in law to a large extent reproduces the report received in 2008.

The Committee notes the updated information regarding the number and geographical distribution by category of labour inspection staff. It notes, by comparison with the data given in the report received from the Government in 2008, a substantial reduction in labour inspection staff, in particular labour inspectors (from 75 to 55) and principal controllers (from 96 to 72). The Committee recalls that, according to Article 10, in order to secure the effective discharge of the duties of the labour inspectorate, the number of labour inspectors must be determined with due regard to the importance of the duties which inspectors have to perform, in particular the number, nature, size and situation of the workplaces liable to inspection; the number and classes of workers employed in such workplaces; the number and complexity of the legal provisions to be enforced; the material means placed at the disposal of the inspectors; and the practical conditions under which visits of inspection must be carried out.

While the laws and regulations concerning labour inspection and its mandate and prerogatives are available, it must be noted that there are no numerical data on other areas defined in Article 10 and, as the Government admits, there are no specific measures for giving effect to the provisions of Article 11 concerning the material conditions of work of labour inspectors, who do not have access to the transport facilities required for them to carry out their duties. The Committee notes, on the other hand, that according to the Government, inspectors’ travel and related costs are reimbursed by the competent authority on presentation of invoices, which was not always the case, according to the report received in 2008.

With regard to the tools needed to assess the operation of the labour inspection system in practice, namely, the reports on inspection activities (Article 19) and the annual report of the central inspection authority, which under the terms of Articles 20 and 21 has to be published and transmitted to the ILO, the Committee notes with regret that none of the regional labour inspection activity reports referred to by the Government as having been transmitted to the Office since the date of ratification of this Convention has actually been received to date. Furthermore, the Government has not communicated a copy of Decree No. 2009 469 of 24 December 2009 concerning the organization of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The Committee notes, however, that the Government is preparing a memorandum with a view to improving the functioning of the labour inspection service and that the Labour Code is currently being revised, in particular with regard to the powers and prerogatives of the labour inspectors.

The Committee also notes that the Government refers for the first time to a draft text on the status and conditions of service of labour inspectors (Article 6), which was supposedly drawn up in 2000 and submitted to the ministry responsible for the civil service. According to the Government, the final examination of that draft will depend on the revision now under way of the general civil service statutes. The Committee notes that this document has not been received by the Office, although according to the Government it was transmitted.

The Committee once again requests the Government to provide in its next report all the available information needed to assess the application of the Convention in law and in practice. This information should cover, among other matters: (i) the up-to-date geographical distribution of public officials responsible for labour inspection as defined in Article 3(1) of the Convention; (ii) the geographical distribution of workplaces liable to inspection or, at the least, those for which the Government considers that the conditions of work require specific protection from the labour inspection services; (iii) the frequency, content and number of participants at the training courses provided for labour inspectors during their career; (iv) the level of remuneration and conditions for career advancement in relation to other public officials with comparable responsibilities; (v) the proportion of the national budget allocated to the public labour inspection services; (vi) a description of the cases in which inspectors visit enterprises, the procedure followed and the transport facilities that they use for this purpose, the activities that they carry out and their outcome; and (vii) the proportion of supervisory activities carried out by inspectors in relation to their conciliation duties.

The Committee also requests the Government to communicate a copy of any inspection activity reports originating from regional directorates, including the reports cited in the Government’s reports sent to the ILO in 2008 and 2011; a copy of the draft or final text of the regulations relating to the status and conditions of service of labour inspectors; copies of the proposed amendments to the Labour Code, and of the memorandum which was reportedly sent to the ILO and is intended to improve the functioning of the labour inspection service.

In order to establish a labour inspection system that will respond to the social and economic goals which are the object of the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to make every effort to adopt the measures needed to implement the measures described in the Committee’s general observations made in 2007 (concerning the need for effective cooperation between the labour inspection service and the judicial system), in 2009 (concerning the need for statistics on industrial and commercial workplaces subject to labour inspection and the number of workers covered, and 2010 (concerning publication of the content of an annual report on the functioning of the labour inspection system). The Committee recalls once again the possibility of obtaining technical assistance from the ILO and of requesting, within the context of international financial cooperation, financial assistance in order to give the necessary impetus to the establishment and operation of the labour inspection system, and would be grateful for any information on progress made and difficulties encountered.