Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Zambia (Ratification: 1980)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the attached documentation. It also notes the information provided in reply to its previous comments. It would be grateful if the Government would provide additional information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention.  The Committee notes with interest that, according to article 5 of the Government’s report, trade unions are free to enter direct negotiations with employers at the enterprise level covering general conditions of employment and that such negotiations are also undertaken at the sectoral level. The Committee also notes that the Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act does not apply in occupations where wages and conditions of employment are regulated through the process of collective bargaining under the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, which determines bargaining structures at the enterprise level and at the branch level. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the subjects relating to conditions of employment other than the minimum wage which are determined through collective bargaining and to provide, where appropriate, copies of the relevant texts and of collective agreements concluded at the sectoral level.

Article 5.  The Committee notes from article 3 of the Government’s report the establishment of a Tripartite Consultative Labour Council, which meets to consider matters referred to it by the Government or the social partners. As this is a national body, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, as envisaged in Article 5(2), consultation arrangements and bodies between the Government and the social partners also operate at the regional and local levels. Where appropriate, please indicate these arrangements or bodies, describe their composition and the manner in which they operate in practice and provide information on the subjects relating to labour administration which are addressed therein.

Articles 4 and 6.  The information provided by the Government in its report does not enable the Committee to assess the extent to which these fundamental provisions of the Convention are applied. These provisions envisage the establishment of an effective and coordinating system of labour administration and a distribution of roles between the competent bodies in the system with a view to the preparation and application of the laws or regulations which give effect to the national labour policy. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that coordination between the various bodies is carried out through the Tripartite Consultative Labour Council and it requests the Government to provide additional information, indicating the bodies involved in the functions of labour administration and which are responsible for the areas set out in Article 6(2)(a), (b) and (c).

Article 7.  The Committee notes the indication that the informal sector is progressively outgrowing the formal sector of the economy. It also notes the need felt by the Government, after discussions with organizations of employers and workers, to enter the informal sector and therefore to cover categories of workers who were not so covered until now, such as workers employed in cooperatives and agricultural workers. However, the Committee had already noted from the Government’s report of 1992 that the former already benefited from the extension of the coverage of the labour administration services. It would be grateful if the Government would supplement this information with an indication of the manner in which it is envisaged to identify the active population concerned, by occupational activity, with information on the labour administration services whose extension to the above categories of workers is under consideration.

Article 10.  The Committee once again notes the information concerning the regrettably low level of resources allocated to the Ministry of Labour. The Committee cannot overemphasize the prejudicial nature of the persistence and the worsening of this situation, which not only prevents the effective application of the Convention, but in particular is bound to contribute to a deterioration in the social situation of the country in general. The Committee refers the Government in this respect to the comments which it has made on this issue in paragraphs 160 to 166 and 196 to 200 of its 1997 General Survey on labour administration. It trusts that the Government will take measures in the near future reflecting the need to accord the labour administration the appropriate priority in budgetary allocations. The Committee also trusts that the implementation of Act No. 11 of 1997 establishing the Human Resources Management Council will lead to a substantial improvement in the functioning of the bodies which assist in labour administration. It would be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data on the human, material and financial resources allocated to the labour administration and on the impact of the measures which have already been taken, such as the establishment of the Human Resources Management Council, referred to above, and the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1996, as it relates to employment and work, and if it would indicate the measures envisaged to provide the labour administration with a level of resources which is in conformity with the requirements of Article 10(2).