Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Jordan (Ratification: 1969)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Supervision of working conditions and protection of workers in special economic zones (SEZs). The Committee previously noted that various deficits had been identified in a joint migration and labour inspection audit of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), and that technical assistance was being implemented in Jordan to improve coordination between labour inspectors inside and outside of the Aqaba SEZ. In the absence of up-to-date information from the Government on this issue, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on labour inspection activities undertaken in the SEZs. It requests the Government to include information on the relationship between the ASEZA and the Ministry of Labour, as well as on the number of inspectors assigned to the SEZs, the number of inspections carried out, the number and nature of violations detected, and the sanctions imposed for all such violations.

Article 3(1)(a) and (2). Duties entrusted to labour inspectors in relation to conciliation and the enforcement of immigration law. Following its previous comments on the enforcement of immigration law by labour inspectors, the Committee notes that, according to 2019 statistics provided in the Government’s report regarding inspections, 6,989 decisions of repatriation were issued against migrant workers, and in 1,331 cases, the repatriation of a worker was cancelled by paying a fine. The Committee further notes that the inspectorate detected 3,407 infringements related to section 12 of the Labour Code, addressed to work permits for non-Jordanian workers. The 2019 statistics indicate 250 employer infractions for child labour; there is no data on employer infractions of wage provisions. In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the functions of labour inspectors include conciliation and settlement in the case of labour disputes.

The Committee recalls that, as indicated in its 2006 General Survey, Labour inspection, paragraph 78, the function of verifying the legality of employment should have as its corollary the reinstatement of the statutory rights of all the workers if it is to be compatible with the objective of labour inspection, which is to protect the rights and interests of all workers and to improve their working conditions. It also recalls that, pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Convention, any further duties entrusted to labour inspectors, including enforcement of immigration law and conciliation of labour disputes, shall not be such as to interfere with the effective discharge of labour inspectors’ primary duties or prejudice in any way the authority and impartiality which are necessary to inspectors in their relations with employers and workers. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that any additional duties entrusted to labour inspectors do not interfere with the effective discharge of their primary duties. Furthermore, in the absence of such information, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the actions undertaken by the labour inspectorate in the enforcement of employers’ obligations towards migrant workers, such as the payment of wages and other benefits, including for workers in an irregular situation and workers liable to deportation or who have already been deported.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government