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Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85) - British Virgin Islands

The Committee recalls that the ILO Governing Body (at its 334th Session, October–November 2018), on the recommendation of the Standards Review Mechanism (SRM) Tripartite Working Group, confirmed the classification of Convention No. 85 as an outdated instrument, and has placed an item on the agenda of the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference (2024) concerning its abrogation. The Governing Body also called upon the ILO and its tripartite constituents to take appropriate measures to take follow-up action involving abrogation and withdrawal of outdated standards, giving due consideration to the availability of technical assistance to encourage ratification of up-to-date instruments. The Committee encourages the Government to follow-up the Governing Body’s decision at its 334th Session (October–November 2018) approving the recommendations of the SRM Tripartite Working Group and to consider taking the necessary steps towards extending the application of Convention No. 81, as the most up-to-date instrument in this subject area, to the British Virgin Islands. The Committee reminds the Government of the possibility to avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office in this regard.

Article 2 of the Convention. Training of labour inspectors. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, in response to its previous request that in 2018, labour inspectors and other staff of the Labour Department and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour underwent training on occupational safety and health (OSH), focused on the importance of management’s role in the area of OSH, particularly risk management. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the Labour Department continues to offer on-the-job training opportunities for labour inspectors, and that staff are participating throughout 2019 in ITC–ILO training courses for labour inspectors. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to provide adequate training to labour inspectors, so as to enable labour inspectors to perform their duties. It requests in this respect information on the subject matters covered by this training, as well as the frequency, attendance and impact of such training.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee welcomes the statistical information provided by the Government in relation to the inspections undertaken, the infringements detected, and the stop orders issued from 2014 to 2018. It notes that there has been an increase in the number of infringements of the Labour Code due to the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria: 96 infringements were detected in the course of 144 inspections in 2016; 138 in the course of 156 inspections in 2017, and 302 in the course of 266 inspections in 2018. Noting the increase in the number of inspections, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to address the increase in the number of infringements detected of the Labour Code, including the results of such measures. It also asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the application of the Convention in practice.