Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Lesotho (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the Government’s report received on 17 November 2008. It would be grateful if the Government would provide particulars concerning the following points.

Article 4 of the Convention. Organization of the labour administration system. According to the Government, the Ministry of Labour has undergone restructuring since 2004, but the labour administration system was still poorly organized. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the ILO with detailed information on measures taken or foreseen to ensure the organization and effective operation of a system of labour administration, the functions and responsibilities of which are properly coordinated.

Article 5. Tripartite consultation. In its first report, received at the ILO in January 2005, the Government indicated that the Ministry of Employment and Labour holds consultations with the social partners on different issues relating to employment and labour, and referred in this regard to the National Advisory Committee on Labour (NACOLA), a tripartite statutory body which advises the Ministry on broad labour issues, legislation, working conditions, international labour conventions to be ratified by Lesotho, etc. In reply to the 2007 direct request under this Convention, the Government refers to the report under Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), which the Committee notes that it does not contain the information requested and deals with matters concerning the activities of the International Labour Organization. In paragraphs 167 and 168 of its General Survey of 1997 on labour administration, the Committee clarified that Convention No. 150 requires from the Government that employers and workers and their organizations participate actively alongside the public authorities in the design and implementation of the national labour policy, and that this participation by the social partners takes three forms: consultation of employers and workers by the public authorities within a body established in law with a mandate to put forward views; cooperation in actually managing certain labour administration activities, enabling the social partners to play an active role in tripartite cooperation; and negotiation of national agreements between public administration and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee stressed, in addition, that more than just users of the labour administration system, employers and workers are active participants, even in designing and managing its activities. In light of these clarifications, asking once again the Government to provide examples of questions addressed by the NACOLA and to indicate the extent to which they were taken into account, the Committee would also be grateful if the Government would give details on any other tripartite body in charge of tripartite consultation, as well as on any form of tripartite cooperation and negotiation in the area of national labour administration activities.

Article 6, paragraph 2(a). Employment policy. According to the Government, no progress has been made on the establishment of the National Employment Policy, the latest draft having not been adopted in the absence of a proper body designed to monitor its implementation. However, the Committee notes in the document entitled “Status of the Employment Policy” attached to the report, the indication of a national employment policy drafted in 2006 and institutional arrangements at the stage of finalization. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would clear up the situation with regard to the adoption of a national employment policy. In case it has already been adopted, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would communicate to the ILO a copy of it and information on any relevant developments on its implementation.

Article 7. Progressive extension of the functions of the system of labour administration. Referring to paragraphs 128–137 of its abovementioned General Survey on labour administration, the Committee recalls that the question of extending labour administration activities to workers who are not employed persons has become very important in many countries and that the informal sector has become increasingly important, concerning many of the workers mentioned in Article 7(a)–(d) of the Convention and accounting for a substantial part of the economy of many developing countries. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the ILO with information on measures taken to conduct the study on the informal sector mentioned by the Government in its first report, the purpose of which is to allow the Government to formulate a policy on the extension of the scope of labour standards to the informal sector. It also asks it to indicate any further measures taken or envisaged to extend the functions of the system of labour administration to workers who are not, in law, employed persons, such as those listed in Article 7(a)–(d) of the Convention.

Article 10. Staff and material resources of the system of labour administration. According to the Government, only three positions of labour officer have been funded in the districts of Maseru, Leribe and Mafeteng, the Ministry of Labour being still experiencing a serious problem with lack of sufficient financial resources, transport and high staff turnover. The Committee asks once again the Government to communicate to the ILO information concerning the criteria for the recruitment of the staff of the labour administration system, their composition, status, conditions of service and training. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would indicate any measures taken or envisaged to secure sufficient financial resources, staff and transport facilities in order to ensure the effective operation of the labour administration system, including the possibility of international financial assistance to this end.

Part IV of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. Referring to its 2008 direct request relating to the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), on labour inspection, particularly under Articles 19, 20 and 21, the Committee asks the Government again to send to the ILO extracts of any reports or other periodic information provided by the principal labour administration services concerning the application of the Convention in practice.

Part V of the report form. Technical cooperation. According to the Government, the Improving Labour System in Southern Africa project to improve labour administration in Lesotho was launched by the ILO in 2004 and transport facilities were donated to the ministry in the framework of the project. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the ILO with detailed information on the implementation of the abovementioned project and on its concrete impact on the labour administration system as a whole.