Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 1999, Publicación: 88ª reunión CIT (2000)

Convenio sobre la inspección del trabajo, 1947 (núm. 81) - Madagascar (Ratificación : 1971)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending 1 September 1998, which arrived at the ILO too late to be examined by the Committee at its 1998 session. It notes that it contains partial elements of information regarding comments formulated at its 1998 session on the Government's reports from 1994 and 1995. The Government is therefore requested to supply additional detailed information concerning the abovementioned comments, to enable the Committee to ascertain the level of application of the present Convention. The comments read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government's report in reply to its previous comments for the period ending 30 June 1994 and the Government's report covering the period ending 30 June 1995. It also notes the report of the activities of the General Directorate of Labour and Social Protection for 1994 and the adoption in 1994 of Act No. 94-025 respecting the general conditions of service of employees of the State who do not have tenure, Act No. 94-027 issuing the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Code and Act No. 94-029 issuing the Labour Code.

Article 20 of the Convention. The Committee notes with regret that the annual inspection reports for 1995, 1996 and 1997 have still not been transmitted to the ILO. It requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which effect is given to paragraph 2 of this Article, which provides that annual reports shall be published within a reasonable time after the end of the year to which they relate and in any case within 12 months. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that in future a copy of these reports is transmitted to the ILO within the time limits set out in paragraph 3 of the same Article.

Article 6. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's reply to the effect that the independence and employment stability of labour inspectors is guaranteed by sections 72 and 73 of Ordinance No. 93-019 of 30 April 1993 respecting the general conditions of service of public officials, which provides for the titularization of certain employees of the State who do not have tenure, subject to a minimum length of service at the date on which the above Ordinance was issued, and the provisions of Decree No. 94-075 of 25 January 1994 establishing the conditions for the titularization as public officials of employees of the State who do not have tenure. The Committee notes that this Decree has been in abeyance, under the terms of section 7 of the Decree, since the adoption of the above Act No. 94-025 respecting the general conditions of service of employees of the State who do not have tenure. This Act provides in section 1 that employees of the State who do not have tenure are covered by contractual relations with the administration and, in section 2, that they shall be recruited under short-term contracts. The annual report on the activities of the inspection services for 1994 indicates that a number of labour inspectors are engaged on a contractual basis, which means that those who have a seniority of less than six years do not benefit from the stability of employment guaranteed to their colleagues with greater seniority. The same report contains a schedule of draft orders respecting promotion, titularization and reclassification submitted to the public service in 1994, which shows that no application for titularization concerns labour inspectors or supervisors and that the services responsible for social protection and social security are affected by great instability due to the fragility of the status of their staff. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to supply information in its next report on the measures which have been taken to guarantee these officials the employment stability and independence necessary for the fulfilment of their functions. It also hopes that future annual inspection reports will contain figures on the new distribution of labour inspectors and labour supervisors and will indicate their status following the implementation of the legislation referred to above.

Articles 10, 11 and 16. The Committee notes the information that 40 labour inspectors were to be recruited for the period 1996-2000. It requests the Government to indicate in its next report the effect given to this project and to supply, as appropriate, information on the impact of the strengthening of the inspection services on the application of the Convention. In a previous report, the Government announced that efforts were being made to furnish provincial labour inspectorates with offices and accommodation. The Committee has on many occasions requested the Government to provide detailed information on the measures which have been taken to enable inspectors to carry out their functions effectively by furnishing them with sufficient material and financial resources, including the necessary transport facilities. It notes from the report on the activities of the General Directorate of Labour and Social Protection for 1994 that, for reasons of a material and financial nature, the supervision of establishments which should, it is emphasized, be the principal activity of the labour inspection services cannot be carried out as often and as thoroughly as is necessary. The Committee also notes, as stated in the above annual report, that the geographical distribution of labour inspectors is very unequal. The Committee emphasizes that labour inspection is of fundamental importance in guaranteeing labour standards and should be given adequate priority in budgetary decisions. It therefore requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any measure that has been taken or is envisaged to give effect to these provisions.

Article 12. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest the provisions of section 133(3) of the Labour Code, which gives effect to points (a) and (b) of this Article of the Convention and, in part, to point (c). The Committee notes that section 134(1) of the Labour Code reproduces the provisions of section 110(2) of the former Code respecting the powers of investigation of labour inspectors and notes that the powers set out in points (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) are still not accorded by law to labour inspectors. The absence of such provisions is prejudicial to the fulfilment of the functions of the labour inspectorate. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to ensure that such provisions have been adopted, possibly in the context of the decree referred to in section 134 of the Labour Code or in any other relevant law or regulation.

Articles 14 and 21. In accordance with Article 14, the labour inspectorate shall be notified of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases in such cases and in such manner as may be prescribed by national laws or regulations. With reference to its previous comments, as well as its general observation of 1996 on the application of the Convention, the Committee notes that the above annual report does not contain any information on statistics of occupational diseases, as required by Article 21(g). It notes that, in accordance with section 170(2) of the Social Insurance Code of 1969, the employer is obliged to report any case of occupational disease to the National Social Insurance Fund within 15 days of the determination of the occupational nature of the disease. The Committee emphasized in its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection that notifying the labour inspectorate is not an end in itself but part of the more general aim of accident prevention. Its purpose is to enable the labour inspectors to conduct investigations in the enterprise to establish the causes of work accidents and occupational diseases and to have steps taken to avoid their recurrence. The Committee notes the cooperation established between the health inspectorate and the labour inspectorate in the framework of the technical supervision of the application of the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Code, issued by Act No. 94-027 of 18 March 1994, and hopes that the Government will also take measures for the coordination necessary between the central authorities which are responsible for health and the labour inspectorate, with a view to giving effect to these Articles of the Convention, to develop an appropriate system for the recording and reporting of occupational diseases and that it will indicate in its next report the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to this effect and that it will transmit the respective texts, as appropriate.

With regard to Article 8 of the Convention, the Committee notes the information that the reason there are proportionately fewer women in the labour inspectorate is not simply because the duties are difficult, but also arises from the provisions of section 5, subsection 2, of Decree No. 61-226 of 19 May 1961. The Committee therefore requests the Government firstly, to provide details on the type of difficulties which might prevent women from performing the duties of a labour inspector, and secondly, to indicate why the Decree cited above continues to take effect despite its express abrogation by Decree No. 78-225 of 24 July 1978, announced in an earlier report.

The Committee would also like to request the Government to supply examples of six-monthly activities reports of the inspection services, mentioned in the annex to its last report, which have not yet been received by the ILO.