Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1985)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in September 2006, in which reference is made to the Regulations to the Organic Labour Act adopted by means of Decree No. 4447 of 25 April 2006. The Committee notes the information submitted in October 2007 to the Freedom of Association Committee in the context of Case No. 2254 by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). The IOE states that according to the Organic Labour Stability Bill, prior authorization will be required from the competent administrative authority in order for an employment relationship to be terminated by the employer. The Committee invites the Government to comment on this matter and to provide with its next report any legislative texts that have been adopted together with relevant and up to date information on the application of the Convention in practice (Parts IV and V of the report form).

2. Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Recourse to fixed-term employment contracts. The Government indicates that “youth training contracts” and “temporary work enterprises” have been excluded. The Committee refers the Government to its previous comments and would be grateful if in its next report, it would continue to provide information on the adequate safeguards provided against recourse to contracts of employment for a specified period of time the aim of which is to avoid the protection resulting from this Convention.

3. Exclusions. Managers. Domestic workers. The Committee reiterates its request for information on any reforms introduced pertaining to categories that may have been excluded from the Organic Labour Act such as those referred to in section 112. In particular, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any special arrangements which, as a whole, provide protection at least equivalent to that afforded under the Convention for managers who have served their employers for more than three months and for domestic workers, and to provide details of the position of law and practice regarding the abovementioned excluded categories (see clauses (c), (d) and (e) of the report form for the Convention under Article 2, paragraphs 4–6).

4. Article 7. Procedure prior to termination. According to Article 7 of the Convention, the employment of a worker shall not be terminated for reasons related to the worker’s conduct or performance before he is provided an opportunity to defend himself against the allegations made, unless the employer cannot reasonably be expected to provide this opportunity. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that the law and practice examined showed that the measures referred to by the Government are taken after termination. The Committee invites the Government to indicate in its next report the manner in which law and practice have been brought into conformity with Article 7 of the Convention.

5. Consultation of workers’ representatives. In reply to the comments that the Committee has been making for many years, the Government indicates that the new Regulations to the Organic Labour Act consolidates action by the Ministry of Labour to protect men and women workers against mass dismissals. The Committee notes that, among other measures, sections 40–45 (suspension of mass dismissals) and 46–49 (termination or modification of the employment relationship for economic or technological reasons) of the Regulations confer authority on the Ministry of Labour to issue immediate preventive measures for the benefit of men and women workers. The Committee again refers the Government to Article 13 of the Convention, which lays down a right for the workers’ representatives concerned to be informed or consulted in the event of termination for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons. The Committee again requests the Government also to ensure that the workers’ representatives concerned shall receive relevant information and be given an opportunity for consultation in accordance with Article 13, paragraph 1(a) and (b), of the Convention.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]