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Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Morocco (RATIFICATION: 1958)

Article 11(2)(b) of the Convention. Means, transport facilities and modalities of reimbursement of travelling expenses of labour inspection officers. The Committee notes the Government’s explanation that the amount of the monthly indemnity covering travel expenses given to labour inspectors and deputy inspectors is higher or lower depending on their grade and other criteria such as the frequency of travelling and the unannounced character of certain interventions. The Government also indicates that officers who do not dispose of their own vehicle and who operate in regions without public transport can dispose of service cars. An annual budget line is also provided for reimbursement of all excess fees during inspection visits. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would specify the number and distribution, by inspection bureau, of vehicles for inspection visits available to labour inspectors operating in these bureaux, and to describe the procedure followed for reimbursing unexpected fees encountered by inspection officers to meet the needs in relation to enterprise visits. It would also be grateful if the Government would join include copies of any relevant document or form.

Articles 15(c), 12(2) and 16. Confidentiality regarding the source of complaints during inspection visits and freedom to take the necessary action to this end. According to the information provided by the Government regarding the manner in which effect is given to the obligation of confidentiality regarding the source of complaints, as prescribed by the Convention, labour inspectors have the same obligation of confidentiality and discretion required of all public officials, with respect to facts and information that have come to their knowledge during the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of their functions, including the identity of the author of a complaint. Referring to its previous comments on the insufficient character of a general obligation in this regard, the Committee wishes also to emphasize that it would in any case be desirable to provide specific legal basis for the obligation of treating as absolutely confidential both the source of the complaint as well as any link that may exist between a complaint and an inspection visit, as provided for in Article 15(c). The Committee recalls that, pursuant to this provision, the labour inspector should be prohibited from giving any intimation to the employer or his or her representative concerning the identity of the author of a complaint and the link between a complaint and a visit, the purpose of which is to ensure a maximum protection of the author of a complaint against any reprisal by the employer. Respect of this provision of the Convention is only possible if the method of inspection comprises an important number of routine inspections (Article 16). As such, a visit initiated by a complaint can be considered by the employer as any ordinary routine visit, and the inspector would be able to investigate the facts of the complaint in all discretion in the context of a broader inspection with a view to protecting the author of the complaint. Moreover, the labour inspector should be authorized not to inform the employer or representative of his or her actual presence (Article 12(2)), which implies that the inspector shall not be obliged to inform them systematically of the course of the visit. He or she would only do this in exceptional circumstances if the effectiveness of the inspection depends on it and if the obligation of confidentiality provided for by Article 15(c) can be strictly respected. The Committee requests the Government to take measures aimed at providing a legal basis for ensuring the specific obligation of confidentiality provided for in Article 15(c) vis-à-vis the employer or his or her representative with respect to the author of a complaint or a denunciation, as well as vis-à-vis any existing link that may exist between a visit and a complaint. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on any progress made to this end, as well as to provide a copy of any relevant draft or final text.

The Committee against requests the Government to provide practical information on the course of various types of inspection visits (routine, verification of injunction, in response to a complaint, etc.).

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and contents of the annual report on labour inspection activities. The Committee observes that since the report of 2008, no annual report on labour inspection has been received by the Office. The 2008 report only covered individual and collective disputes and the outcome of inspection interventions. The Government had, however, communicated for the same year, statistics on inspection visits, disaggregated by inspection delegation, with an indication of their results and the matters resulting in observation s (health, safety, minimum wage, employment of women and children, safety and health committee, workers’ representatives, trade union representatives, occupational physician). These statistics also included data on work-related accidents. The Committee reminds the Government that the annual report of the central inspection authority on the inspection activities should contain information on the subjects enumerated in Article 21 and must be published and communicated to the Office within the deadline prescribed in Article 20. Referring to its general observation of 2010 on the application of this Convention in this regard, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to publicize and communicate to the Office an annual report allowing the evaluation of the functioning of the inspection system and the level of application of the Convention. It also requests the Government to ensure that measures are being taken with a view to gradually lifting the responsibilities of labour inspection regarding functions of conciliation, as provided for in the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947, (No. 81), so as to allow them to concentrate their efforts on their mission to supervise the strict application of the legislation and to contribute as such to reducing social disputes. Finally, it invites the Government to refer itself to the recommendations contained in the 2007 general observation on the necessary cooperation between labour inspection and judicial bodies, and to the 2009 general observation on the importance of the availability of a register of workplaces and enterprises liable to inspection, as these are indispensable conditions for making the annual report an effective tool in light of the socio economic objectives of the Convention.