Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Serbia (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report received in October 2007 in reply to its previous comments and contained in the annual reports on the work of the labour inspection services for 2005, 2006 and 2007. It notes in particular that both the Law on Labour and the Law on Safety and Health at Work (OSH) apply to the agricultural sector, the former applying to all employees and the latter to all persons working or taking part in the work process and to persons present in the workplace. With reference to its requests under Convention No. 81, the Committee also wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the following points.

Articles 6, paragraphs 1 and 2; 26; and 27 of the Convention. Activities of labour inspectors in agriculture and annual report. The Committee notes that the information provided by the Government in its report and the information available in the 2007 report of the labour inspectorate on the activities of labour inspectors in agriculture mainly concern OSH. The 2007 report shows that, in the field of OSH, regular and follow-up inspections, as well as investigations of industrial accidents conducted in agriculture, only represent 1 per cent of the total number of controls carried out.

The Committee notes that a campaign in which all labour inspectors took part was conducted in 2005 with a view to assessing the situation of agricultural undertakings in relation to OSH issues and to reducing the number of occupational accidents and diseases. The Committee wishes to recall that the functions of the labour inspection system in agriculture should not be limited to OSH legislation but should also include the enforcement of legal provisions and the supply of technical information and advice relating to the conditions of work of agricultural workers (wages, hours of work, rest periods, employment of young persons, etc.). The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply information on activities carried out by labour inspectors to ensure compliance with the legislation relating to general conditions of work and on measures taken to increase their activities in the agricultural sector. It also requests the Government to ensure that the next annual report will also include such information and that this information and the data collected in 2005 on undertakings, entrepreneurs and workers in the agricultural sector, will appear separately in the report. The Government is also requested to send to the ILO a copy of the 2005 report on inspection in agriculture, mentioned in its report as having been sent but which was not received.

Noting that the OSH Law also applies to persons present at the workplace, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply examples of any activities of labour inspectors relating to the conditions of life of agricultural workers and their families.

Article 9, paragraph 3. Training of labour inspectors in agriculture. The Committee notes that no specific training programme has been drawn up in the labour inspectorate with regard to agriculture. However, within the framework of the technical cooperation project “Developing a Serbian Labour Inspectorate for the 21st Century” (2003–05), one of the four national tripartite conferences was dedicated to labour inspection in agriculture. Workshops on safety and health in agriculture were also held for both labour inspectors and the social partners. Noting that there is no mention of training activities specifically concerning the agricultural sector in the annual report for 2007, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that labour inspectors who perform their duties in this sector receive adequate initial and further training, and to send information on any developments in this regard.