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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 1968)

The Committee refers the Government to its observation and draws its attention to the following points.

Articles 5(a), 18 and 21(e) of the Convention. Effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and the justice system. Effective application of appropriate penalties. The report on work of the labour inspectorate for 2007 indicates that no information was sent to the labour inspectorate on the action taken on 68 reports of violations drawn up by labour inspectors and controllers, because these cases are dealt with under the ordinary law. The report also points out the urgent need to establish labour courts. Referring to the Committee’s general observation of 2007, the Government states that it undertakes to make all necessary arrangements for judicial decisions to be made available to the general labour inspectorate so that it can put this information to good use in attaining its objectives and include it in its annual report. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the nature of the difficulties preventing the ordinary courts from forwarding information to the labour inspectorate on the court decisions regarding the abovementioned reports of violations. It asks the Government in any event to keep the Office informed of measures effectively taken for this purpose and for that of facilitating effective cooperation between the inspection services and the justice system for the attainment of the Convention’s objectives. The Government is also asked to provide information in its next report on any judicial body set up to deal with infringements reported by the labour inspectorate, and on the content of any decisions they may have handed down.

Article 5(b) of the Convention and Part II of Recommendation No. 81. Collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, particularly in the area of occupational safety and health. While noting from the report on the work of the inspectorate that collaboration between the social partners and the labour inspectorate took the form of over 6,000 consultations on various subjects in the course of 2007, the Committee nonetheless observes that the number of fatal industrial accidents was high (52 in the four provinces covered by the statistics). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would describe the procedures for holding these consultations together with information on the measures taken or envisaged to encourage collaboration between the inspection services and employers’ and workers’ organizations with a view to improving the conditions for workers’ safety and health, as proposed in Part II of Recommendation No. 81 accompanying the Convention.